Carries Book Reviews

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Title: The Backtrack

Author:  Erin La Rosa

Publisher: Canary Street Press

Publication Date: July 16, 2024

Page Count:  313

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

From the author of FOR BUTTER OR WORSE and PLOT TWIST comes a new speculative contemporary romance. One woman is sucked into the past—and shown glimpses of what her life could have been—as she listens to nostalgic hits on her old CD player. For fans of Rebecca Serle and Allison Winn Scotch.

When pilot Sam Leto jet-setted out of small town Georgia, she promised she’d never be back—even though it meant leaving behind her best friend, Damon Rocha. Now on a forced vacation home to pack up her childhood house (and help her injured grandmother), Sam is unexpectedly hit with nostalgia from her teens–especially her bedroom, perfectly preserved from the time she left all those years ago. Sam discovers an old CD player among her teenage possessions, and in listening to the burned disc inside, she receives flashbacks from her past life–senior prom, graduation, leaving home. But the memories aren’t as she remembers them. They show an alternate past. What could have been. If she never left Georgia all those years ago, would she now have the life (and love) she always wanted for herself?

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon /  Ripped Bodice / Bookshop.org / B&N

Excerpt:

Prologue

At fifteen years old, Sam Leto knew a few things: humidity was not her hair’s friend, she was going to graduate valedictorian of her class and music was life. 

“‘I Will Follow You into the Dark’ was by far the best song of last year.” Sam tucked her thumbs into the loops of her jeans, narrowly avoiding the spiky knobs of her metal studded belt. The spider-web chain she’d bought from Hot Topic slapped against her thigh as she walked across the asphalt of the Tybee Island High School parking lot. “It’s mesmerizing and so poetic, and Ben Gibbard—” 

“What are you talking about?” her best friend, Damon Rocha, interrupted. He threw his head back to get a strand of long dyedred hair off his forehead. He’d smudged dark black eyeliner all around his eyes to the point where he looked like he was cosplaying as the Hamburglar. She’d told him as much, but in the loving way they told each other everything. They walked so closely that they lazily bumped into each other, as if swaying to music only they could hear. “‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ reignited the genre.” 

Sam blew air out through her lips to suggest her disagreement, then added, “That song is tight, but there are way too many words in the chorus. You can’t even hear what Patrick Stump’s saying.”

“It doesn’t matter what he’s saying.” Damon hoisted his snare drum backpack higher on his shoulder. Night had settled, but the fluorescent glow from the football field lit their way to his car. “They owned that melody.” 

But Sam knew why Damon was making such a hard push for Fall Out Boy. “You just want me to like Pete Wentz so those dyed red tips make sense.” She gave him a half grin. 

“Whatever,” he said, holding back a smile of his own. Sometimes they agreed on music, but when they disagreed it was even more fun. And Sam knew she was right about this one. “I read in Kerrang! that Ben wrote the song in fifteen minutes. Can you believe that?” Sam looked off, knowing that if she was in a band, she’d be talented like that, too. 

“Yes,” Damon said. “I believe it only took fifteen minutes, because it’s not the best song of 2005.” 

She was choosing to ignore that dig. “What he wrote is totally romantic. To love someone so much that you’d follow them into the afterlife. It’s cool, don’t you think?” Sam realized she sounded a little ridiculous, but Damon always made her feel safe enough to say anything. 

“Yeah, or pretentious.” Damon pursed his lips. 

“Whatever,” Sam mimicked his sullen tone back. Then she jabbed him with the corner of her sticker-covered clarinet case. 

The sky was inky-black, and her arms prickled against the brisk air. Fall in Tybee was hard to plan for. The air was almost always balmy, because they were so close to the ocean, but it occasionally cooled down, as it had tonight. Still, she’d nearly sweat through her graphic skull T-shirt as their marching band played Beyoncé’s “Déjà Vu” during the football halftime show. 

Now, though, they weren’t marching across a field lit by hot lights, and she shivered. Damon pulled her in close as they walked. He’d often tuck her under his arm this way. Sam was tall, close to six feet, but Damon always made her feel delicate in those moments. It was something she got unexpected comfort from, but didn’t dare tell him.

When she looked up, Damon looked down with the most genuinely sweet smile she’d ever seen. His mouth quirked up as they reached someone’s Ford Explorer. 

“Hope you don’t hate Fall Out Boy too much, because I put one of their songs on this.” He pulled a CD sleeve out of his back pocket and handed it to her. His slanted writing and doodles were visible through the clear plastic, and Sam bit her lip. 

They were constantly trying to impress each other through music—a kind of unspoken game of who could make the best mixes. And while Sam prided herself on finding obscure bands, Damon had the uncanny ability to put together songs that made her feel something. She wanted to listen immediately, but wouldn’t show her excitement that easily. Before she could think of something nonchalant to say, he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. 

Sam was taken aback by the gesture and nervously touched the spot his fingers had just left. She’d spent nearly a half hour flat-ironing it that morning, but now it was frizzed and tangled. As her fingers clumsily tried to untangle a knot, her earring fell to the ground. Before she knew what was happening, just as Sam went to reach for her earring, Damon closed the gap between them. 

“You look really great.” He longingly admired her face. Damon reached for Sam’s hand and squeezed her open palm. 

She instinctively squeezed back, but her heart raced. Damon and Sam were best friends. They had been since middle school. Yes, Damon was inarguably cute. He understood her like no one else did, and she had already admitted to herself that she had a crush on him…but he was also all she had, in so many ways. Her mom had left her a year ago. Damon was her only friend.

Sam knew that what he was doing might lead to a kiss, and she needed to stop him before he said something that would change them forever. She couldn’t lose his friendship, but if he tried to make them more, then she’d have no choice. Because she wasn’t going to end up stuck in Tybee. 

Before she could find the words, he tilted her chin up gently with an index finger. His eyes locked on to hers as he asked, “Can I kiss you?” 

Sam sucked in a deep breath to slow the intense rush of adrenaline that flew through her at his words. Damon wanted to kiss her. And her heart soared at that fact, until her mom’s voice broke through. 

Don’t end up stuck in this place. 

That’s what her mom, Bonnie, had told Sam right before she’d left. And Sam had taken the warning to heart. 

She was getting out, even if that meant she had to leave Damon behind. 

As Damon searched her eyes, Sam silently implored him to stop. They could still be friends, couldn’t they? If she gave him another few moments, maybe he’d take the words back, or say he’d just been joking. 

She waited, but he was waiting, too. And she was going to have to answer him, even if what she said irrevocably changed them. 

She took a step away and looked down at her Converse sneakers. She’d have to lie. She’d never lied to Damon before, but now she would. Her lower lip trembled, as unsure of the words as she was. “Actually, I’m not feeling well.” 

And she didn’t feel well. She felt nauseous from this whole situation and the confusion that flashed across Damon’s face. 

“Oh,” Damon said. “Let’s, uh, let’s bounce, then.” He ran a hand through his hair and avoided her eyes. 

As Damon turned toward the driver’s side of the car, Sam instinctively reached for him. Maybe she should just do what her heart wanted and kiss him. Because what if not kissing him meant he wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore? 

But then, she also knew Damon. Knew that he wanted to stay close to his family. Knew how much he loved Tybee. And knew that if she didn’t break him now, she’d do it when she left. 

Sam pulled her hand back and hoped that he could forgive her. She held on to his CD so tightly she was sure it would snap in half, but it didn’t. In fact, the CD seemed to pulse in her hand with the throbbing of her heart. As she walked herself to the passenger side of the car, she tried to forget how the light in his eyes dimmed just before he’d turned away from her.
Excerpted from The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa, Copyright © 2024 by Erin La Rosa. Published by Canary Street Press.

The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa is a contemporary romance story that has a touch of magical realism to it in the form of visions of how things might have been. The visions bringing up the past are triggered from an old CD player bringing a lot of nostalgia into the story with the soundtrack of the main character’s earlier life.

Sam Leto left her hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia nearly twenty years ago now with the dream of becoming a pilot. Sam saw her dreams come true and has been living in Paris as she flies around the world traveling nearly non stop but when her aging grandmother Pearl calls Sam for help she immediately knows she needs to return home.

Sam’s one regret after leaving Tybee Island was leaving behind her best friend, Damon Rocha. Sam knew though that the pull of becoming a pilot and not being trapped on the small island was greater than anything she could have had with Damon beyond friendship but there was always that little niggle of doubt of what could have been so when Sam picks up her old CD player and is transported back to those moments with Damon she can’t help but want to see more and more.

Having read another book by Erin La Rosa in the past which was strictly contemporary romance and really enjoying it I was immediately drawn to this new novel with the added touch of magical realism with being someone that enjoys mixing things up in my reads. This was a great second chance love story and I loved that the author chose to form this around music that would relate to the actions in the story and was completely engaged in watching how the alternate version of the couple would have been. Definitely an author I will return to again in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

About the author:
ERIN LA ROSA is the author of For Butter or Worse and Plot Twist, and on her way to writing romance, she’s also published two humorous nonfiction books, Womanskills and The Big Redhead Book. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and four daughters (two humans, two felines). Find her on Twitter and Instagram @erinlarosalit and on TikTok @erinlarosawrites.

Author website / IG / FB / X / TikTok

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Molly
Shanna Hatfield
(Pendleton Promises, #2)
Publication date: June 11th 2024
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance

Inspired by the Hello Girls, America’s first women soldiers who helped win World War I.

She longs to make a difference.

He yearns to claim her heart.

After years of managing the Pendleton telephone office, Molly Thorsen answers the call for women to serve as telephone operators during World War I. Upon her arrival in France, she navigates the challenges of working near the front lines and battles the prejudices and skepticism of the men around her. Determined to prove her worth and skill, Molly faces adversity head-on while unexpectedly falling in love with a charming soldier.

Friday Fitzpatrick may not have been eager to engage in combat, but when he is drafted into the American Expeditionary Forces, he embraces the role of a soldier with unwavering determination. While fighting to survive the harrowing battlefield experiences, he clings to his sanity by dreaming about the captivating Hello Girl who has captured his heart. Though his opportunities to see her are limited, she serves as a beacon of hope in the midst of his darkest days.

Through their shared experiences and the trials they endure, Molly and Friday find comfort and encouragement in each other’s company, forging a connection that defies the chaos of a world in conflict. As the war draws to a close and they return home, will civilian life bring them together or pull them apart?

Find out in this sweet and wholesome historical romance filled with hope, faith, courage, and love.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Molly! What a surprise!” Harley John swung Molly off her feet into a wide circle, then kissed her cheek before he set her down.

Hoping none of her superiors had witnessed the display, Molly frowned at Harley John, but playfully swatted his shoulder before straightening her cap he’d knocked askew with his exuberant greeting. She gave him another hug, unable to keep from sharing her pleasure in seeing him. Oh, Harley John! I’d hoped to see you, but had no idea where you’d be. Have you been here long?”

No. We just arrived this morning. How long have you been here?” he asked.

A few weeks. It’s so good to see you.” Molly gave him a studying glance, then grinned, concluding Harley John had changed since he’d been drafted. You look wonderful. I take it being a soldier agrees with you.”

Harley John shrugged. No more than anyone else here, but I get along well enough.”

Bosh and nonsense. You look quite handsome and so grown up. If Sadie saw you, she’d likely swoon.”

He grinned at her and squeezed her hand. I can tell you for a fact she nearly did when I saw her recently. She was taking a few days of rest at the home of a patient’s sister. Other than divine intervention, there is no way to understand how we happened upon one another. We’d both gone to pick some grapes and found each other in the vineyard. Can you believe it?”

Stunned by his story, Molly could only imagine what seeing Harley John had been like for Sadie. Her sister would have treasured every precious moment with him. How is she? Is she well? Was she thrilled to see you? Tell me everything.”

I will. Right after you meet my friend.” Harley John directed her over to where the good-looking soldier who’d elbowed him stood near the mess hall. Molly, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Friday Fitzpatrick. Friday, this is Sadie’s sister Molly.”

Friday politely tipped his head to Molly and offered her a look she wasn’t certain how to interpret. It left her unsettled and anxious, but interested at the same time. She gave the man a half-smile before she pointed to a bench constructed by one of their engineers from a fallen tree. Let’s sit there and visit, Harley John. I have a few minutes before I report for duty.”

Harley John guided Molly to the bench. Despite her intentions to ignore him, she twice glanced over her shoulder at Friday. The silly man remained exactly where they’d left him, as though his boots had been set in cement. The look on his face could only be described as dumbfounded.

She and Harley John sat and visited about family, France, and the war. She cast a glimpse over to where Friday continued to stand as stiff as a statue. Tell me about your friend Friday.”

Harley John smirked at her, and she blushed.

Normally he doesn’t look like such a dunce, but I think you left him awestruck,” Harley John said as he looked at his friend. He’s from Oregon. His folks have a nut orchard south of Portland. He has four sisters, and he’s a fine fellow and a good friend. He intends to return to the orchard when the war ends, but you know it’s only a few hours by train between there and Pendleton.”

 

Author Bio:

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield writes sweet romances rich with relatable characters, small town settings that feel like home, humor, and hope.

Her historical westerns have been described as reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

When this farm girl isn’t writing or indulging in rich, decadent chocolate, Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller. She also experiments with recipes, snaps photos of her adorable nephew, and caters to the whims of a cranky cat named Drooley.

To learn more about Shanna or the books she writes, visit her website http://shannahatfield.com or find out more about her here: linktr.ee/ShannaHatfield

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GIVEAWAY!

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Another pretty short post this week with just picking up two books that I’ve had my eye on and of course when you behave completely for the week that is an excuse to get a reward, right?? 😇

As always clicking the covers will take you to the book on Amazon!**

New additions from Netgalley July 7th  – July 14th

SISTERS…FOR LIFE.

It’s been ten years since Priscilla and her Zeta Phi Zeta sorority sisters graduated college. Ten years since they were all in the same room together. Ten years since one of them died. And now Lupe’s killer has been released from prison on a technicality, days before their ten-year reunion.

Priscilla decides that the party must go on; Lupe would have wanted it to. And besides, an epic reunion bash might be the perfect distraction. Back together, the Zetas party like it’s 2012, and it’s wild, just the way it used to be. Maybe too wild. At least everyone makes it out alive this time…or so they think.

When one of them doesn’t return home after the party, Priscilla begins to realize that there might be more to Lupe’s murder and that someone is out for blood. With the murderer in their midst circling closer and closer, the Zetas are forced to confront what really happened the night Lupe died—and the secrets each of them swore to keep.

Is he the real deal…or did she truly summon a golem?

Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy.

Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone.

That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right?

When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory…

But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Title: The Art of Catching Feelings

Author:  Alicia Thompson

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: June 18, 2024

Page Count:  380

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for in the next swoony romance by USA Today bestselling author Alicia Thompson.

Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.

Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.

Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?

The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson is a new standalone contemporary romance novel. The story in The Art of Catching Feelings is one that does change the point of view between the main characters giving both sides of the story.

Daphne Brink is just finishing up her divorce when she decides she’s going to attend a baseball game, mainly to keep the tickets out of her ex’s hands. As Daphne tries to fit in with the fans around her and let’s admit also to entertain herself watching a sport she doesn’t understand she begins to heckle the players the way those around her do.

When Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler is up and Daphne tosses out one of her new heckling jabs Chris ends up crying on the field. Mortified that her actions hurt someone like she had Daphne tries to private message Chris and apologize but she accidentally deletes the important part of the apology, her admission of guilt, and instead strikes up a friendship over text with Chris instead.

I will admit the whole sports romance thing is not usually one that appeals to me but having read several books by author Alicia Thompson in the past and enjoying them I couldn’t help but take a chance on this one. When finished I was completely happy that I had picked this one up and it was definitely a story I fell into enjoying quickly and didn’t want to put down. The story was humorous while also being heartwarming as the couple navigates their obstacles and I was onboard all the way for it.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Alicia Thompson is a writer, reader, and lover of baseball. She has never caught a foul ball but she was once two seats down from a Jumbotron proposal and that has to count for something. She’s currently taking in home games in sunny Central Florida with her husband, two children, and a cat named Luna who has yet to hit for the cycle (aka has not escaped out of every door in a single day, although with the numbers she’s been putting up . . .)

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Title: Come Shell or High Water

Author:  Molly MacRae

Publisher: Kensington Cozies

Publication Date: June 25, 2024

Page Count:  302

My rating: 2 1/2 stars

About the book:

When widowed folklorist Maureen Nash visits a legendary North Carolina barrier island shell shop, she discovers its resident ghost pirate and the mystery of a local’s untimely death . . .

As a professional storyteller, Maureen Nash can’t help but see the narrative cues woven through her life. Like the series of letters addressed to her late husband from a stranger—the proprietor of The Moon Shell, a shop on Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. The store is famous with shell collectors, but it’s the cryptic letters from Allen Withrow, the shop’s owner, that convince Maureen to travel to the small coastal town in the middle of hurricane season. At the very least, she expects she’ll get a good story out of the experience, never anticipating it could end up a murder mystery . . .
 
In Maureen’s first hours on the storm-lashed island, she averts several life-threatening accidents, stumbles over the body of a controversial Ocracoke local, and meets the ghost of an eighteenth-century Welsh pirate, Emrys Lloyd. To the untrained eye, all these unusual occurrences would seem to be random misfortunes, but Maureen senses there may be something connecting these stories. With Emrys’s supernatural assistance, and the support of a few new friends, Maureen sets out unravel the truth, find a killer, and hopefully give this tale a satisfying ending . . . while also rewriting her own.

Come Shell or High Water by Molly MacRae is the first book in the new paranormal cozy A Haunted Shell Shop Mystery series. As with most cozy mystery series the A Haunted Shell Shop Mystery will feature a new mystery to be solved in each book so they can be read as a standalone if choosing to do so. Of course there will be some character development carrying over from book to book for those who follow from the beginning.

Maureen Nash was recently widowed and is retired from her job as a malacologist, someone who studies mussels, and is also a folklorist weaving stories. When Maureen received letters address to her former husband from a man who owns The Moon Shell, a shop on Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina she can’t help but be curious and decides to visit the Island but just happens to arrive right after a hurricane has passed.

What Maureen didn’t expect to find on the Island was a dead body as soon as she arrived and when it’s found to be the very man she came to see she becomes a suspect looking to clear her name and with the help from some new friends and a ghost she finds on the island Maureen vows to find the murderer herself.

I am normally a huge fan of books that cross over genres with being someone who likes to read a lot of different genres myself so Come Shell or High Water by Molly MacRae seemed to be right up my alley. Unfortunately though this one got off to a very rocky and dare I say confusing start for me so I found myself trying to keep up. It sort of dumps a reader in but also then switches back and forth between different things in the beginning so it was hard to get hooked into the story. Probably not a series I will return to myself but others did enjoy this one more than I did so if you like a cozy with some paranormal and a lot of quirkiness this may be for you.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Molly MacRae writes the Highland Bookshop Mysteries, about four women who reinvent their lives when they buy a bookshop in Inversgail on the west coast of Scotland, and the award-winning Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, about a textile preservation specialist in Blue Plum, Tennessee, who ends up with a depressed ghost on her hands.

Molly spent twenty years in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northeast Tennessee, where she managed the Book Place, an independent bookstore; may it rest in peace. Before the lure of books hooked her, she was the curator of the history museum in Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest town. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine for more than twenty years, and she won the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Molly lives with her family in Champaign, Illinois, where she connects children with books at the public library.