Carys JonesRessenyes

An interesting premise and an attractive cover to grab your attention and make you want to read this book.

The plot was well written with quite a lot of interesting characters and focusing on the story of a dark friendship and hidden secrets. I enjoyed the twist at the end since it was clever and I was least expecting it. The remainder of the book while filled with lot of tension, did not excite me as much as I had expected it too.

Overall, a good read but left me wanting for something more.

Thank You to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for this E-Book!

I’d like to start my review by saying thankyou to Orion books for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of this deliciously dark and chilling novel. I was hooked from the very first paragraph and devoured it in two sittings, unable to tear myself away. This was one of the best Physiological Thrillers that I’ve read in a long time; I really thought that I knew what was coming, but I was left utterly shocked.

Beth Belmont is a deeply troubled character that suffers from terrible night terrors, alluding to a traumatic past. One of the reasons I couldn’t put this down was a desperate desire to find out what had happened in Beth’s past, wondering what was so bad that she couldn’t even tell her boyfriend who she trusts with her life. Finding the list understanably adds to the tension in Beth’s life, especially when she does some digging and finds out the first two people on the list have died. Beth becomes paranoid, always looking over her shoulder, convinced that someone is watching her and waiting to pounce. Her carefree boyfriend tries to reassure her that her name being on the list is just a coincidence and tells her to relax and forget about it, but it’s not so easy for Beth to push it aside. I thoroughly enjoyed joining Beth on her quest to find who wrote the list, who the other people were, and how they were connected to her.

The story was told through three points of view, including the author of the list. I particularly enjoyed reading from the author’s point of view as they became increasingly more sinister as the story progressed. This person is clearly very disturbed and relentless in their search for the people on the list. Beth has every reason to feel like she’s being watched as we can see from their perspective that they’ve been watching her every move. They know where she lives, where she jogs, and where she works, and I really enjoyed the slow burning tension building as they watched her and made their plans to reveal themselves.

There was a real sense of foreboding in this book; you know that something is coming but you don’t know when, where or how, leading you along on a twisted path, like you’re driving along a country lane always anticipating something dark around the next bend. There was also a distinct horror element which I really enjoyed. I almost felt like I was in Beth’s place, feeling her terror, especially since I could see her life from the outside, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the author of the list made their move.

I was completely drawn into this story which was very unsettling at times and had an ending that I didn’t see coming. Every time I read a Thriller I build an idea in my head, convincing myself that I know exactly what’s going on and what’s going to happen. I thought I knew the mystery author, so sure that I knew exactly who they were and what they had planned, but I was so very wrong.

Sometimes friends are better than family. These 4 friends are together through thick and thin. They all have baggage, some are larger than others.

Writing is good, storyline which started out so believable, suddenly became a little too unbelievable.

Thanks To NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own!

Prime Deception starts off slow, and builds up the pace. It is the story of a suicide that may not be a suicide. Further complicated by the fact that the victim was having an affair with the Prime Minister of England.

Initially, I liked the character of Charles, the Prime Minister. By the end of the book, I really didn't like him at all. It was funny how my perception of him changed over the course of the book.

We don't know much about Lorna, the suicide victim, other than other people's recollections of her. We never see her point of view, so she is put on an almost saint like pedestal. Her twin sister, Laurie, doesn't believe she killed herself, and instigates an investigation into her death.

As the story progresses, and we learn more about the various characters, everyone seems a possible suspect. Could it have been Charles? Or maybe his loyal secretary? What about Laurie's boyfriend, or Charles' wife? Or someone else? The story kept me guessing until the end.

This is the first book in The Avalon series and I will be looking for the next one. I received this book from an invite on Netgalley and promised an honest review. Once I started reading the book I wanted to finish. Aiden Connelly is a bigtown lawyer who moved with his wife Isla and his 2 year old daughter to the small town of Avalon to escape the hustle and work from the big city. His first case is the murder of the town hero by his wife. Brandy was the disgraced daughter of an addicted mother who disappeared when she was in her teens. She meets Brandon, the town football hero and eventually they get married. Five years later she is in prison for his murder and everyone but Aiden want her put to death. He takes on the defense of Brandy like he does all his cases. Soon the town hates him and his wife wants him to give up. A great story.

The second in the Avalon series is a continuation of Aiden's story. To give his young daughter a better quality of life, he leaves Chicago and takes his family to start a new life in Avalon. I did not enjoy this book as much as the first one, but will continue with the series because the story is well written.

This book follows Aidens second case and the problems during this case and those problems that follow him from the case before. This looks to be a simple paternity case, trying to determine the father of a local boy. When Aiden finds out how this case ties in with "Brandy" his secret love, he heads off to Chicago to see her. Meanwhile back at home Isla continues to receive notes telling her to leave town. She is worried that Aiden is falling out of love with her. This book is more of Aiden's personal story than a crime or mystery story. The ending of the story leads into the next book.

This is the third book in the Avalon series and even though the characters are the same, the stories are all so different which keeps it interesting. My only complaint with this book and the reason I did not give it 5 stars are the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

Aiden is back in Avalon and he and Isla are trying to repair their relationship. She tells him she is pregnant and he decides that he needs to stay with her and contacts Brandy to tell her that he can no longer see or call her. As well, his mentor, Edmond Cope is sick with cancer and his health is deteriorating fast. Edmond jokes and tried to tell Aiden that he will be back to work soon, but everyone knows that is not going to happen. Out of the blue, Aiden gets a visit from a childhood friend who wants him to head back to Greensburg to investigate the death of their friend 10 years ago as the whispers are that his motorcycle accident was not really an accident. While he is gone, Isla gets angry and when he returns she tells him she was not really pregnant and that she wants a divorce. You can't leave out Buck, his brother and Clyde White. They make appearances in the story and show us another side of Aiden. Even though there seems to be several plotlines, they all tie together nicely and tell Aiden's story as he continues to grow in Avalon. This book is hard to pick a genre for, there is some mystery, some romance, and some drama. I enjoy this series and look forward to starting Fourth to Cry.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Not sure where this book lies in genre. It is a mystery, romance, thriller all rolled into one. The one think I did not like about this story was the fact that the Deputy Prime Minister seemed to almost be running the country and of course as a politician has an affair with his intern. Other than that, it was interesting and I was unable to figure out whether it was a murder or a suicide right until the end. I do not want to give away the story so will leave it there.

Happy Publication Day!!! I am 3/4 through this book and I had to stop my reading to let you know that you MUST add this to your TBR list!! Like bump it up to the number 1 position!! Hopefully without giving too much away, this book is about 4 besties brought together by a common bond. They are put to the test which challenges their friendship bond as well as their own character. One benefit to writing a review 3/4 into the book? No chance that I can let a spoiler slip. :)

This novel was interesting enough to keep me reading, but I definitely didn't love it. I'm trying to figure out a way to talk about this book without spoiling too many things. So, from the get-go we learn that Amanda used to be a hacker, which was super exciting for me because I've always found the dark net and hacking to be an interesting topic. However, the novel really doesn't get into too much detail on this, and that let me down a lot. I mean... if you're a brilliant hacker, I want to know how it works and what you do and how it helps you. Also, Amanda really isn't the smartest cookie. It took her ages to make the connection between the phone call and her husband and even then, she didn't act on it until close to the halfway point in the story. Most of the doubting comes from her mother, not from her, who is terribly unsupportive and is constantly undermining Will; too much of the same words can get to be really annoying after a while! There was also a love triangle thrown in there that made me cringe a bit. Amanda is out looking for her husband who has literally just disappeared. It's only been two days so why is she suddenly talking about her relationship with her ex and mentioning buried feelings? Definitely not a great time for that! Based on the description I read, I was hoping for super devious stuff and a crazy plot twist, but the reveal was a let-down and everything was just super predictable after that. The ending was rushed, and I didn't understand why everything was happening so fast, until I saw that there is a sequel for this novel coming out in May. I hate being left hanging waiting for what happens next, so I have half a mind to read the sequel just to see how the story progresses! Overall, not a bad job for a debut novel but it was definitely not branded right and so, it didn't meet my expectations.

I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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You will DEFINITELY want to have read the first one, Wrong Number, or you won’t get the full context of the story and if you go back to read it after having read this it kind of ruins some of the suspense in that novel.

If you loved the first then you will love this because it has the same fast paced, thrilling suspense that will have you turning pages so fast you’ll be at risk of spraining the joints in your hand. Carys Jones knows how to write a female character that practically rivals the scariness and determination of the one from Basic Instinct only thankfully she’s trying to use those qualities for a good reason. She has to be strong in order to face everything she must on her road to revenge.

Turn off the phone, stay away from social media and just let yourself dive full on into this book because it’s worth the trip.

I wanted to like this one, I really did. The premise sounds interesting, and it does have promise. I just...couldn't.

I don't know exactly what it is about this book, but it gives me the feeling of "blech" and makes me want to stick out my tongue. It may be the fact it's cliche and not terribly original. It could be the fact it seems way too dramatic for the story given. It could be the incredibly annoying set of male characters. Whatever it is though, I just didn't like it all that much.

It would have been a one star, and probably should be. What prompted me to give it two, however, is the fact it is mildly interesting enough to read if I get into a vampire-story binge. It would be a good intermediate between other vampire books, but it would be one of the ones I'd read for the blech factor, in order to chill me out for the next series. Not exactly a compliment, but it does have a place in my library, which means it gets a star.

Past that, this isn't a book I'd recommend, unless you're looking for the blech kind of dramatic fantasy.

*I received an eCopy of this book, from the author, to read in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this one, I really did. The premise sounds interesting, and it does have promise. I just...couldn't.

I don't know exactly what it is about this book, but it gives me the feeling of "blech" and makes me want to stick out my tongue. It may be the fact it's cliche and not terribly original. It could be the fact it seems way too dramatic for the story given. It could be the incredibly annoying set of male characters. Whatever it is though, I just didn't like it all that much.

It would have been a one star, and probably should be. What prompted me to give it two, however, is the fact it is mildly interesting enough to read if I get into a vampire-story binge. It would be a good intermediate between other vampire books, but it would be one of the ones I'd read for the blech factor, in order to chill me out for the next series. Not exactly a compliment, but it does have a place in my library, which means it gets a star.

Past that, this isn't a book I'd recommend, unless you're looking for the blech kind of dramatic fantasy.

*I received an eCopy of this book, from the author, to read in exchange for an honest review.

See full review @ The Indigo Quill

Special thanks to Netgalley and Carina UK for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

John Quinn is a journalist for The Shadow, England's top-selling tabloid newspaper. His job is to expose the scandals and corruption of his society, and make a decent dollar for doing it. John has been approached by a young woman with the biggest kids-and-tell story of the year, not because of the event itself, but because of the man it involves. However, his awareness of the story comes with severe consequences.

Carys Jones was introduced to me through this novel, and I'm kind of on the fence. The premise of Prime Deception sounds good, but I wasn't convinced it would be delivered to satisfaction. In a lot of ways, I was presently surprised in a lot of ways. Once I got into the book, I couldn't put it down. It's like devouring a novel-long tabloid that you know you shouldn't be so interested in, but you just. can't. stop. The contents of this book is like nuggets of gold to the mystery-reader who enjoys a bit of scandal. Jones has a way of hooking the reader into intrigue, wanting to know more and divulge in it.

The writing was definitely good. I enjoyed that part of it. And for the most part, the story itself was interesting. But I had a love-hate relationship with this book. The main character, Charles is honestly a guy I don't even like. I don't feel sorry for him, and I think he's kind of a jerk...and several other choice names. He desperately lacked self control. But for some reason, I had to know what happened. I just had to. Well played, Jones, well played.

If you like mystery, murder, juicy scandals, and a touch of steamy romance, pick up this book for a light read.

The Deputy Prime Minister of England, Charles Lloyd, reads a tiny article about Lorna Thomas’ suicide. He’s devastated. She was his mistress for a time but he called it off because it was too dangerous to continue seeing each other. It was important that he and his wife, Elaine, keep up the façade of their marriage. Now he’s pondering if he could be the reason Lorna killed herself? Six months later he sees Lorna’s ghost. No, wait! It’s her twin, Laurie. But why hadn’t Lorna ever told him she had a twin? Lorna had been an intern working with his assistant, Faye. And now Laurie wants to step into the position for one reason. She wants Charles to help her to investigate Lorna’s death. She’s convinced her sister would not take her own life. She tells Charles that Lorna was getting ready to leak their affair to the press. Nevertheless, Charles regrets that he never told Lorna that he loved her. He begins to become obsessed with Laurie. He agrees to obtain the police report; he contacts people he can trust to keep the investigation under wraps. Things aren’t happening fast enough for Laurie and she begins taking matters into her own hands.

Carys Jones created a great premise. Prime Deception becomes prime reading. The story pulled me in early and didn’t let go. The mystery is enticing and keeps the reader guessing as the author gradually brings it all together. I have two concerns. One was that of Laurie’s character. She seemed so confident when she is first introduced and so it seemed a bit out of character for her to allow herself to become dependent on Charles. The second is that the Deputy Prime Minister is in the public eye. He seemed to give quite a lot of time to that of pondering his relationship with Lorna; then Laurie. I rated Prime Deception at 3.5 out of 5.

http://www.fictionzeal.com/prime-deception-carys-jones/

Prime Deception is a standalone novel by author Carys Jones. When Lorna Thomas is found dead in her car everyone believes that she has committed suicide. But the day after her death Lorna was set to sell a scandalous story to a newspaper. For six months she was having an affair with the Deputy Prime Minister. Her twin sister Laurie doesn't believe that she would have committed suicide and sets out to prove that it was murder even if it means working with the man she was having an affair with.

This didn't quite turn into the political conspiracy thriller that I was expecting but is much more a standard private investigator murder mystery. Read the full review here

This is a well written books with several well developed characters. The story is told more from the Deputy Prime Ministers point of view, a fact I believe is not so clear on the synopsis. The book starts fast and by 50 pages I was addicted and knew I had to read more. There is a slow portion of the book in the middle section but this did not alter my overall enjoyment of the book. There are places in the book where I remember feeling uncomfortable about the Deputy Prime Minister and that is a credit to the writing. I had worked out the who done it before the end but this again did not spoil my enjoyment. I would have like to give this book 3.5 stars at it is clearly better than 3 stars but not epic enough for 4. Well worth a read.

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I chose to review this book because I loved the premise! I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and I can't say no to the 'sacrificing anything for love' theme...especially when it has unexpected consequences.

I rate this book four stars - I couldn't put it down and I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel.

This story begins in a small town called Fandova in the mid-19th century. Fandova is presumably somewhere in the American midwest. Dawn is dying, and her mother is ready to let her go, but her fiance, Thomas, is not. Against Dawn's mother's wishes, he seeks out the help of the town's eccentric doctor, who turns her into a vampire.

The first part of the book is very focused on Thomas, and in the beginning he's an extremely likable character. You can feel his love for Dawn and his need to save her life, which pushes him to the ultimate limit, although he doesn't immediately realize the consequences of his actions.

However, when he does find out the consequences, he turns into a completely different person. Dawn, who is reluctant to drink human blood and even hesitates at killing animals to feed, is horrified when she finds out Thomas is not only happy she is a vampire - he wants her to make him one, too. What Dawn sees as a horrible curse, Thomas sees as an opportunity for power and gain.

Thomas seeks out the doctor, who turns him, and rather than feeding on animals, he begins to feed on humans. Unable to stop him, Dawn contemplates suicide, but when she walks into the sun something unexpected happens. She learns she is the first vampire to be able to withstand sunlight.

Fast forward to modern day in New York City. Dawn, hoping that Thomas and the other vampires believe her to be dead, camouflages herself and lives among humans, eating blood sausage to survive. When she falls in love with a human, she is terrified of dragging him into her world, but Ryan accepts her completely. And she believes for awhile that they might be safe...but she learns that it's impossible to hide from the past.

The first part of the book is intriguing but stumbles a bit - the writing does not flow quite as well and there are definitely elements of the story that feel more British than American (the culture of Fandova and some of the wording, like the use of 'black pudding' to describe blood sausage). But the story picks up and the background in the historical part of the book gives the overall plot much more depth than it would have had otherwise.

Dawn is a brilliant, likable heroine - she is strong and though she has her flaws, especially in her desire to believe in Thomas at first, she is also clever and not afraid to go as far as is necessary to protect herself and those she loves. Ryan is supportive and holds his own as a character - their relationship is beautifully written.

I found the mythology of vampires in Carys's world to be extremely interesting - the idea that Dawn is viewed more or less as the savior of the vampires because of her ability to withstand sunlight, and yet she is terrified and resists her powers because she knows that the sadistic, power-hungry vampires would use this ability to torment humans. I am fascinated by the little bits and pieces that Carys reveals sparingly as the book unfolds, and it is this that really kept me hanging on the edge of my seat through the end.

- See more at: http://inksugar.typepad.com/blog/2014/01/review-and-author-interview-sunkissed-b...

Sometimes you have to fight for the things that matter most.
An exciting adventure that you won't be able to put down! The story had me riveted from the very beginning with the beautiful imagery and charismatic characters. There was always a bit of mystery shrouding the characters in the beginning and I had a great time figuring everyone out. The mystery and action were well done and had me on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the next turn of the page.
Dawn is a strong and courageous girl who I really admired. She had some tough decision to deal with in the course of the book and even when she wasn't sure of herself she still kept on going, which took a lot of courage. I also really liked that no matter what bad things were thrown at her she never really lost her sweetness. She was still a kind and caring woman who would do anything to help those she loved.
I also liked how the villains of the story weren't just plain evil for no reason. They had depth to them and their actions weren't always strictly black and white. It mad the story that much more interesting.
Ryan is a sweet man and I adored him. He wasn't always sure of himself, but he did his best to be good and help Dawn.
The romance was sweet and not rushed at all. I really liked how the romance developed slowly and how these two characters interacted with one another. I hope to see more of them in future books.
For an exciting and romantic adventure check out Sunkissed by Carys Jones!