June 30, 2013

Book Blast & Giveaway: Desolation by Travis Simmons

Welcome to the Desolation Book Blast and Giveaway hosted by Book Nerd Tours!


Desolation
Author: Travis Simmons
Genre: Dystopia/Horror
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Wyrding Ways Press

Buy Links: Amazon 

Description:

Asher St Paul thought it was just a typical zombie apocalypse like in the movies, until the necromancers crawled out of the woodwork. Since the undead have chased the living into hiding, the necromancers are able to roam freely in a new America of their making. Asher is seeking safe harbor. The need for safety is what drove him from his home in Philadelphia Pennsylvania before it was shelled. He has searched from quarantine to quarantine, always finding them overrun with zombies until he hears of The Refuge, a military compound in Binghamton New York.

With his family and lover lain to rest by his own hand, he has nothing left to lose and gives everything he has to reach the safe haven. But questions arise when he reaches The Refuge, mainly, how has he been able to sustain multiple zombie bites and not change? He thinks he has found safety in the military compound turned quarantine, but he was wrong. Even now there is a necromancer trying to make The Refuge their kingdom of the dead.
  



I have always been a do-it-yourselfer. I haven’t had any formal education on writing, and I haven’t been raised around writer types. For that matter, I wasn’t even encouraged to read when I was a kid, even though plenty of people in my family read. When I was a teenager, I discovered Cliff’s Notes on Mythology, and it sparked something in me. It was like a floodgate had been opened, and all of these stories started rushing in. I would get ideas at random times, and I would jot them down. I have a pretty big file system of everything I have ever written. Someday I will get to them and put them all into electronic files. There is some good material in there, but there are a lot of bad stories too.
I started writing when I was thirteen or fourteen. At an early age I was already writing books of Saracin (the world The Bonds of Blood takes place in). The first book I wrote of that place was “The Calling of the Two” (not yet released). While I was writing that, I kept thinking of these characters Jovian and Angelica. I knew they had a part to play in the storyline, but they weren’t going to be in the same series. For that matter, they weren’t even going to be in the same age. As I finished the first draft of “The Calling of the Two” I went on to write the first book of Angelica and Jovian’s story. At that time it was The Mirror of the Moon. Later an editor told me it was so massive that I should make the one volume into two, and so The Bonds of Blood was born, and The Revenant Wyrd Saga went from a planned three to six.
That story has taken many forms until now, and I am sure if I didn’t declare that it was “done” it could continue to transform.
Along the way, I discovered my passion for research. I absolutely love researching. It would be nothing for me to sit for days on end, barely eating, just getting up to take care of necessities, and research really odd theories and stories. I get my ideas from them to be honest. Of course, my idea’s are never the main theme of the research I am doing, but it always seems to come from some obscure topic mentioned while I am researching. For instance one book I am outlining now is based on something I heard while watching Ancient Aliens.
Unlike most authors, I have not always loved reading and writing. I hated it until I was in 7th grade. My teacher wanted us to read the entire semester. We would read a book and write in a journal about it. Back then the teachers were allowed to spend more time on what their passions were, and actually foster something in their students, and she did just that. She made me love reading and writing. She told me to go to her book shelf and pick out a book that I was interested in. I found one of my first loves: David Eddings’ Pawn of Prophecy.
Back then I was in remedial reading, and my teacher (Mrs. Peters) would sit with me for the time I was in her classroom, taking turns reading the story out loud with me. We would read where the adventure was taking Garion, and then we would flip to the beginning and look at the map so we could follow them as well.
I think it was at that point, getting lost in a book I love to this day, that I knew I had to do this. I had to create the same magic for others that Mr. Eddings created for me.
At times it is boggling. I have three series of books started, and 2 more forming in my mind (and outlined on the computer). At this point I have to step back and finish the ones I have started before I can let myself move forward.
I feel that I am blessed in being able to write, and forging a life of my passion. It is tough at times, but that is what makes the payoff all the sweeter. The writing business is a huge adventure, trying to figure out what to do and what not to do; when to do things and when not to do anything. Currently I am planning the release of the second book to “The Bonds of Blood”. This is the first time I am armed with the knowledge of what I must do for a book release, and I finally understand why it nerves so many authors up, but it is that excitement that makes me love writing. Every time I hear a reader I don’t know praise my work, it makes my heart race and brightens my day.
Travis is the author of The Bonds of Blood, the first book in his epic fantasy series The Revenant Wyrd Saga. He has also written a young adult novel called A Lament of Moonlight which is book one of his pre-apocalypse series The Harbingers of Light. He is currently seeking publication for the first book of a third series, a zombie novel called Desolation. When he isn’t writing he is helping his family and trying to live a normal, under the radar life. His interests lie in cooking, gardening, green living, and human rights advocacy. He is a huge supporter of the Trevor Project and all agencies that seek to preserve natural resources and protect pets from abuse.”
Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TravisSimmons5
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Review: Elizabeth the First Wife by Lian Dolan

Elizabeth the First Wife
Author: Lian Dolan
Genre: Women's Fiction
Release Date: May 1, 2013
Publisher: Prospect Park Books

Description:

Elizabeth Lancaster, an English professor at Pasadena City College, finds her perfectly dull but perfectly orchestrated life upended one summer by three men: her movie-star ex-husband, a charming political operative, and William Shakespeare. Until now, she’d been content living in the shadow of her high-profile and highly accomplished family. Then her college boyfriend and one-time husband of seventeen months, A-list action star FX Fahey, shows up with a job offer that she can’t resist, and Elizabeth’s life suddenly gets a whole lot more interesting. She’s off to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the summer to make sure FX doesn’t humiliate himself in an avant-garde production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

As she did so skillfully with her first novel, Helen of Pasadena, which spent more than a year on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list, Lian Dolan spins a lively, smart, and very funny tale of a woman reinventing her life in unexpected ways.
  



Elizabeth the First Wife is a fun and witty women's fiction novel that follows leading lady Elizabeth Lancaster, who is currently a professor of English at Pasadena City College in California. Normally Elizabeth leads a predictable and boring life outside her classroom, but one summer she finds her life turned upside down as three different men demand her attention. The first is her ex-husband - a movie star, the second a political operative, and third is none other than William Shakespeare. Elizabeth takes off for the Sheakespeare Festival in Oregon to make sure her ex doesn't humiliate himself or the bard as he takes part in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Elizabeth's boring and sensible life will never be the same.




This was a really charming novel that follows the wonderful main character of Elizabeth and a summer of unexpected reinvention. Elizabeth is a great lead - she's funny, intelligent, witty, and devoted to friends and family. She likes her regular, normal life - it's so different from the life of her ex-husband and her family. I immediately liked her character and her attitude, which enabled me to identify with her early on in the novel. The plot wasn't completely original, but the author wrote it with such vivid detail and smart dialogue that it completely sets it apart from other novels in the genre. There are some romantic issues in the book, but the way that the author approached them wasn't cheesy, but actually enhanced the overall story line. The writing itself was very well done and shows the talent of the author throughout each page. The plot was seamless with a good pace and dialogue that flowed effortlessly. This was a breezy and lighthearted novel that would be perfect for fans of women's fiction and chick lit.




Review: Missing ni Machu Picchu by Cecilia Velastegui

Missing in Machu Picchu
Author: Cecilia Velastegui
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Libros Publishing

Description:

High in the Andes Mountains on the legendary Inca Trail, four thirty-something professional women embark on an Ivy League hike to help them confront their online dating dependency, only to find themselves victims of a predator’s ruse, and soon in a fight for their very lives. The women are eager to leave relationships behind for a while, but their intent to cast off their search for a soul mate falls by the wayside when handsome, magnetic Rodrigo, their hike leader, proves too mesmerizing to resist. Friend is pitted against friend as the women vie for Rodrigo’s attentions. Rodrigo manipulates them into participating in a heinous ancient sacrifice that will guarantee the success of his megalomaniacal dreams. But unbeknownst to the hikers, they have been under the vigilant presence of Taki and Koyam, two elderly indigenous women who understand the danger the women are facing at the hands of Rodrigo. 


Missing In Machu Picchu is a contemporary fiction novel that follows four friends who get together to hike the Andes Mountains and to catch up with each other's lives. Along the way, they realize they have been misled and must now find a way to survive. Enter in the gorgeous hike guide named Rodrigo, and the friends find themselves vying for his attention while turning on each other in the process. Only Rodrigo isn't who he seems and the four women will find out just what they are made of if they are going to make it back alive.

This novel had an interesting premise and the plot sounded promising, but the writing and the lack of character development made it come up short for me. The writing itself was done well enough, but the dialogue felt forced and unnatural and the descriptions seemed to be overdone. The characters were all stereotypical and not developed at all - they didn't really have any personalities and I wasn't able to identify on a deeper level with any of them. Things did get a big cheesy when they all fight over their typical "hot and mysterious bad-boy" tour guide. After that, the book completely lost it's grip on me and I didn't have much interest left. The ending wasn't bad, but what happened in the middle of the book could have been done in a more accessible way for the reader to invest in both the plot and in the characters. The writing was pretty good and flowed well most of the time, but there were parts that felt false and choppy. 
 


Review: Jane Austen's World: The Life and Times of England's Most Popular Author by Maggie Lane

Jane Austen's World: The Life and Times of England's Most Popular Author
Author: Maggie Lane
Genre: History/Non-Fiction
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Carlton Books

Description:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of the world's most popular novelists, a sharp and witty writer whose stories enchant on their own and in numerous film and TV adaptations. Jane Austen's World takes a look at the woman behind the literature, revealing her private life and examining the world she inhabited—a time when England was developing into a colonial power, the Napoleonic Wars raged, and the Regency took hold. No other book truly captures Austen's spirit as well.


Jane Austen's World: The Life and Times of England's Most Popular Author is a beautiful and insightful look into Jane Austen's life and the England that she would have lived in. In the book, there is a biography of Ms. Austen, along with a time line of her life. The book itself is divided into five chapters, each representing a major factor pertaining to Jane Austen and her life in England. Along with discussing the author, the book details what daily life in England during that time period would have been like, the society and what people believed in and enjoyed - such as art, farming, vacationing, wars, and more. Finally, the last chapter is devoted to the ways that Jane Austen has been immortalized in various films, texts, museums, and many other ways. Along with the text, the book features interesting facts, beautiful illustrations, mementos, and pictures of items from Jane Austen and the period in which she lived. This book is a wonderful and truly fascinating inside look at Jane Austen and what her life in England would have been like. Definitely a must read or even a must have for true Austen fans and those curious about life in historical England and the author's life.

Review: Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger

Raven Girl
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Genre: Fairy Tale
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Abrams

Description:

Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a Raven.

So begins the tale of a postman who encounters a fledgling raven while on the edge of his route and decides to bring her home. The unlikely couple falls in love and conceives a child — an extraordinary raven girl trapped in a human body. The raven girl feels imprisoned by her arms and legs and covets wings and the ability to fly. Betwixt and between, she reluctantly grows into a young woman, until one day she meets an unorthodox doctor who is willing to change her.

One of the world’s most beloved storytellers has crafted a dark fairy tale full of wonderment and longing. Complete with Audrey Niffenegger’s bewitching etchings and paintings, Raven Girl explores the bounds of transformation and possibility.
 



Raven Girl is a strange short story that feels like a fairy tale. The story tells the tale of a Postman who finds a baby raven one day on his route. He proceeds to take her home with him, cares for her, and they eventually fall in love. Soon after they are married (enter weirdness), the raven lays an egg that continues to grow and grow. When it's time for the egg to hatch, a human girl emerges from the shell. (More weirdness.) The girl grows up and although she is human in appearance, she speaks in caws like a raven. She also feels like she has been born into the wrong body and she really is meant to have the body of a raven. The girl, who is known only as Raven Girl, grows up and attends university, where she finds a doctor who agrees to give her surgery to turn her arms into wings. (Even more weirdness.) In true fairy tale form, the story ends with a happily ever after.
 

This was a really odd and kind of creepy fairy tale that definitely reaches the edge of one's imagination. Parts of it had me wondering what the heck was going on - like the part where the man and the raven have an egg/baby together. Weird. The story itself was well written and I was fascinated enough to keep reading to see what would happen to the Raven Girl. Luckily there's a happy ending and I honestly didn't know if there would be one. Among the pages of the short story are dark and strange illustrations. They are mostly of the Raven Girl, although they follow along with the story. All of the drawings are dark with little to no color in them and only a couple show happy scenes from the story. This was definitely a book that I wasn't expecting from the description, but I'm glad I got to experience it. It's not for everyone, but those who do find that type of fiction appealing will love it's gothic feel and strange fairy tale telling.


Review: A Very Witchy Spelling Bee by George Shannon

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee
Author: George Shannon
Illustrator: Mark Fearing
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Description:

Cordelia loves to spell in every way: studying spelling and practicing spells. She especially likes to double spell, turning her C-A-T into a new C-O-A-T by zapping it with the letter O. So when she sees a sign for the Witches' Double Spelling Bee, she knows it's meant just for her. Cordelia is determined to W-I-N—but so is the thirteen-time champion Beulah Divine, age two hundred and three. Has Cordelia studied and practiced enough to outspell the most fiendish witch at the bee?  

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee is an illustrated children's book that tells the story of a young witch named Cordelia, who loves doing two things: casting spells and spelling. She does both of these at the same time, mostly by spelling an object near her out loud and then adding a letter to the word to change it into a new object. Cordelia comes across a flyer for the Witches' Double Spelling Bee and she knows that she can win. In order to prove her double spelling powers, Cordelia must go head to head against the thirteen-time winner - Beulah Divine - who isn't a very good sport and isn't about to lose.

This was a really fun children's book that teaches valuable lessons underneath the exciting story. The book teaches children about the importance of practicing things, such as spelling words, along with being nice to others - even if they aren't nice to you, and believing in yourself. These are important lessons for young children to learn and the author does it in a way where the morals are tucked away in the heart of the story. The illustrations really bring the story to life. They are very colorful and have lots going on in them. Kids will especially like the pictures of Cordelia turning objects into different things using her spells. The illustrations are on every page, and there are quite a few full page pictures, which will definitely capture the children's imagination. Highly recommended for kids of all ages!

 

June 29, 2013

Book Blitz & Giveaway: We Are Made of Stardust by Mimi Strong



We Are Made of Stardust (Peaches Monroe #1)
Author: Mimi Strong
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 28, 2013

Buy Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble 

Description:

Peaches Monroe, age 22, is the sassy, plus-sized manager of a bookstore in the small town of Beaverdale, Washington.

One Saturday afternoon, she's balancing precariously on a chair, in a bridesmaid dress, when a handsome dark-haired man comes running into the bookstore. He knocks Peaches over, she lands in his muscular arms. They lock gazes, and ...

She recognizes him.

As the sexy vampire heartthrob she watches on TV every week.

Peaches and Dalton Deangelo are completely wrong for each other. He's only in town temporarily, working on an indie movie. She should stay away. He should stay away, too.

But they're drawn to each other. Dalton claims it's because they're made from the same stardust.  



 
Mimi Strong writes chick-lit, erotic romance, sex comedy, and new adult contemporary romance. Most of her characters have a strong sense of humor.

Here's what she has to say:

I've always had a lot of sides. Sometimes I'm vulnerable, and sometimes I go after what I want without a single doubt.

My favorite person is my husband. If I can crack him up and see his eyes crinkle at the corners, my day is made. In fact, I love making everyone around me laugh.

I've always enjoyed empowering stories about kick-butt women who don't hold back and the awesome men who are smart enough to love them. Now that I'm writing these stories, I couldn't be happier. I hope you enjoy them too!

LINKS:


 
Giveaway: (2) ebook copies of We Are Made of Stardust - Open Internationally!

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Cover Reveal: Owlet by Emma Michaels (Summer Edition!)





Owlet
Author: Emma Michaels
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date: October 13, 2012
Publisher: Tribute Books


Description:

Somewhere between falling and flying… there is a girl.

Iris has a secret. She lost her memory eight years ago and never told a living soul. After an asthma attack one night she finds out that her dreams of a strange house on a snowy island may be a memory resurfacing but the more she learns about the past the more she realizes the life she has been living is a lie. As the façade her father has built starts to crumble around her she will have to decide which means more to her; the truth or her life.  
Emma Michaels is a cover artist and the author of Owlet. As the founder of The Writers Voice blog (http://OurBooksOurVoice.Blogspot.com) she loves to connect authors and readers. Her love of blogging started when she created a review blog in 2009 (www.EmmaMichaels.com) which gave her the courage to finally submit her own novels to publishers.
 
Feel free to stop by www.EmmaMichaels.com and follow to receive the latest updates!

Author Links:



What do you think of the cover? Leave a comment!







  

June 28, 2013

Cover Love!

 

I don't do posts on covers very often, but I've been seeing some really beautiful and exciting covers the past week or so and I thought we could drool over them together! (Click on the cover to go to the Goodreads page so you can add it to your shelf!)


Dissonance 
Author: Erica O'Rourke
Expected Release Date: August 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BYR 

Description:
Delancy Sullivan has always known there's more to reality than what people see. Every time someone makes a choice, a new, parallel world branches off from the existing one. Eating breakfast or skipping it, turning left instead of right, sneaking out instead of staying in bed ~ all of these choices create an alternate universe in which an echo self takes the road not travelled and makes the opposite decision. As a Walker, someone who can navigate between these worlds, Del's job is to keep all of the dimensions in harmony. Normally, Del can hear the dissonant frequency that each world emits as clear as a bell. But when a training session in an off-key world goes horribly wrong, she is forbidden from Walking by the Council. But Del's not big on following the rules and she secretly starts to investigate these other worlds. Something strange connecting them and it's not just her random encounters with echo versions of the guy she likes, Simon Lane. But Del's decisions have unimaginable consequences and, as she begins to fall for the Echo Simons in each world, she draws closer to a truth that the Council of Walkers is trying to hide ~ a secret that threatens the fate of the entire multiverse.





Frozen (Taken #2)
Author: Erin Bowman
Expected Release Date: April 15, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

The Heists were only the beginning.

Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core: A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.

Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or enemy—is truly what they seem…
  






House of Ivy & Sorrow

Author: Natalie Whipple
Expected Release Date: April 15, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

Josephine Hemlock has spent the last 10 years hiding from the Curse that killed her mother. But when a mysterious man arrives at her ivy-covered, magic-fortified home, it’s clear her mother’s killer has finally come to destroy the rest of the Hemlock bloodline. Before Jo can even think about fighting back, she must figure out who she’s fighting in the first place. The more truth Jo uncovers, the deeper she falls into witchcraft darker than she ever imagined. Trapped and running out of time, she begins to wonder if the very Curse that killed her mother is the only way to save everyone she loves. 








Rebel Belle
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Expected Release Date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Description:

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.
 




Starling (Secrets of the Eternal Rose #3)

Author: Fiona Paul
Expected Release Date: March 20, 2014
Publisher: Philomel

Description:

The thrilling final chapter in the Secrets of the Eternal Rose trilogy.



















The Mirk and Midnight Hour (Strands of Bronze & Gold #2)
Author: Jane Nickerson
Expected Release Date: March 11, 2014
Publisher: Knopf BYR

Description:

A Southern girl. A wounded soldier. A chilling force deep in the forest.
All collide at night’s darkest hour.

Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey has been left at home in Mississippi with a laudanum-addicted stepmother and love-crazed stepsister while her father fights in the war—a war that has already claimed her twin brother.
       When she comes across a severely injured Union soldier lying in an abandoned lodge deep in the woods, things begin to change. Thomas is the enemy—one of the men who might have killed her own brother—and yet she's drawn to him. But Violet isn't Thomas's only visitor; someone has been tending to his wounds—keeping him alive—and it becomes chillingly clear that this care hasn't been out of compassion.
       Against the dangers of war and ominous powers of voodoo, Violet must fight to protect her home and the people she loves.
       From the author of Strands of Bronze and Gold comes a haunting love story and suspenseful thriller based on the ancient fairy tale of “Tam Lin.”
 




Ruins (Partials #3)

Author: Dan Wells
Expected Release Date: March 11, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Description:

None at this time.



















Promise of Shadows 
Author: Justina Ireland
Expected Release Date: March 11, 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BYR

Description:

Zephyr Mourning has never been very good at being a Harpy. She'd rather watch reality TV than learn forty-seven ways to kill a man, and she pretty much sucks at wielding magic. Zephyr was ready for a future pretending to be a normal human instead of a half-god assassin. But all that changes when her sister is murdered--and she uses a forbidden dark power to save herself from the same fate.

Zephyr is on the run from a punishment worse than death when an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend (a surprisingly HOT friend) changes everything. Because it seems like Zephyr might just be the Nyx, a dark goddess made flesh that is prophesied to change the power balance. For hundreds of years the half-gods have lived in fear, and Zephyr is supposed to change that.

But how is she supposed to save everyone when she can’t even save herself?
  





Let the Storms Break (Sky Fall #2)
Author: Shannon Messenger
Expected Release Date: March 4, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Description:

Vane Weston is haunted. By the searing pull of his bond to Audra. By the lies he's told to cover for her disappearance. By the treacherous winds that slip into his mind, trying to trap him in his worst nightmares. And as his enemies grow stronger, Vane doesn’t know how much longer he can last on his own.  













The Shadow Throne (The Ascendance Trilogy #3)
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Expected Release Date: March 1, 2014

Description:

War is Coming...

A first look at book #3: http://www.jennielsen.com/archives/835
  
















Perfect Lies (Mind Games #2)
Author: Kiersten White
Expected Release Date: February 18, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

Annie and Fia are ready to fight back.

The sisters have been manipulated and controlled by the Keane Foundation for years, trapped in a never ending battle for survival. Now they have found allies who can help them truly escape. After faking her own death, Annie has joined a group that is plotting to destroy the Foundation. And Fia is working with James Keane to bring his father down from the inside.

But Annie's visions of the future can't show her who to trust in the present. And though James is Fia's first love, Fia knows he's hiding something. The sisters can rely only on each other - but that may not be enough to save them.
  





Split Second (Pivot Point #2)
Author: Kasie West
Expected Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

Life can change in a split second.

Addie hardly recognizes her life since her parents divorced. Her boyfriend used her. Her best friend betrayed her. She can’t believe this is the future she chose. On top of that, her ability is acting up. She’s always been able to Search the future when presented with a choice. Now she can manipulate and slow down time, too . . . but not without a price.

When Addie’s dad invites her to spend her winter break with him, she jumps at the chance to escape into the Norm world of Dallas, Texas. There she meets the handsome and achingly familiar Trevor. He’s a virtual stranger to her, so why does her heart do a funny flip every time she sees him? But after witnessing secrets that were supposed to stay hidden, Trevor quickly seems more suspicious of Addie than interested in her. And she has an inexplicable desire to change that.

Meanwhile, her best friend, Laila, has a secret of her own: she can restore Addie’s memories . . . once she learns how. But there are powerful people who don’t want to see this happen. Desperate, Laila tries to manipulate Connor, a brooding bad boy from school—but he seems to be the only boy in the Compound immune to her charms. And the only one who can help her.

As Addie and Laila frantically attempt to retrieve the lost memories, Addie must piece together a world she thought she knew before she loses the love she nearly forgot . . . and a future that could change everything.
  




The Tinker King (The Unnaturalists #2)

Author: Tiffany Trent
Expected Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BYR

Description:

After Vespa, Syrus and Bayne defeated the Grue and restored order to their world, they thought their future was secure. Empress Olivia, committed to peace and equality for humans and Elementals alike, was a fair and just ruler. And the Creeping Waste had vanished for good, giving them hope for the first time.

But rebellion is brewing in the far-off city of Scientia, and dark Elementals are plotting war in the ruins of New London. When a wave of unimaginable terror threatens to destroy everything in its path, Vespa, Syrus and their friends are plunged into a new swamp of intrigue, deception and magic---and the cost of survival may be more than any of them are willing to pay.






Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter #2)
Author: Megan Shepherd
Expected Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Description:

To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.
  




Touch (Queen of the Dead #2)

Author: Michelle Sagara
Expected Release Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: DAW Hardcover

Description:

Nathan died the summer before his final year in high school. But he wakes in his room—or in the shrine of his room his mother’s made—confused, cold, and unable to interact with anyone or anything he sees. The only clear memory he has is a dream of a shining city and its glorious queen, but the dream fades, until he once again meets his girlfriend Emma by the side of his own grave.

Nathan wants life. He wants Emma. But, even if Emma can deliver what he desires, the cost may be too high to pay...
  









Face of Death (Touch of Death #3)
Author: Kelly Hashway
Expected Release Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Description:

Having fallen at the hands of Hades, Jodi's enduring torture like she never imagined. Worse, she has to watch her Ophi friends suffer along with her--the punishment doled out by the very people she'd sentenced to life in Tartarus. Hell. This is one reunion Jodi hoped would never happen, but now she must find a way to free them all.

Except the underworld is nearly impossible to escape.

Jodi's one chance may rest in raising the human soul she killed when she drank Medusa's blood.

But splitting her human soul from her Ophi soul means living a double life: One as an Ophi experiencing unspeakable torture and the other as the human she could have been if she never came into her powers. With her two worlds colliding, Jodi will have to make the toughest decision she's faced yet.
 





Warrior (The Dragon King Chronicles #2)

Author: Ellen Oh
Expected Release Date: December 31, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

First an outcast, now a hero.

But her fight rages on.

Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer who fiercely protected her kingdom—and the crown prince—has been proclaimed the Dragon Musado of the prophecy. With the defeated the evil shaman.

But it wasn’t enough.

Hansong is in chaos. The Demon Lord’s minions have infiltrated the city, treason is brewing among the military ranks, and Kira is buried by the overwhelming loss of her parents. She’s also plagued by the annoying feelings that blossom whenever she’s around Jaewon. But she is determined that nothing will stop her from finding the second treasure needed to fulfill the Dragon King’s prophecy. Not even the army of half-breed demons hot on their trail. If only she could learn to trust others…

Her father always said one person can change the world. Will it be Kira?
  





The Inventor's Secret (The Inventor's Secret #1)
Author: Andrea Cremer
Expected Release Date: April 22, 2014
Publisher: Philomel

Description:

Sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain’s industrial empire. Though they live by the skin of their teeth they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape from the coastal cities or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits all those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire’s Machineworks.

The Inventor’s Secret is the first book of a YA steampunk series set in an alternate nineteenth-century North America where the Revolutionary War never took place and the British Empire has expanded into a global juggernaut propelled by marvelous and horrible machinery.
 





Sea of Shadows (Age of Legends #1)

Author: Kelley Armstrong  
Expected Release Date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

They hear the spirits.They must obey.

In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire's worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned.

Only this year, the souls will not be quieted.

Ambushed and separated by an ancient evil, the sisters' journey to find each other sends them far from the only home they've ever known. Accompanied by a stubborn imperial guard and a dashing condemned thief, the girls cross a once-empty wasteland, now filled with reawakened monsters of legend, as they travel to warn the emperor. But a terrible secret awaits them at court--one that will alter the balance of their world forever.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a captivating new series that blends elements of fantasy and horror with the pulse-pounding action and romance that have earned her a devoted readership worldwide.
  





White Space (Dark Passages #1)
Author: Ilsa J. Bick
Expected Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: Egmont USA

Description:

Ilsa Bick’s WHITE SPACE, pitched as The Matrix meets Inkheart, about a seventeen-year-old girl who jumps between the lines of books and into the white space where realities are created and destroyed – but who may herself be nothing more than a character written into being from an alternative universe, to Greg Ferguson at Egmont, in a two-book deal, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (NA).  











All That Glows

Author: Ryan Graudin
Expected Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

Emrys—a fiery, red-headed Fae—always embraced her life in the Highlands, far from the city’s draining technology, until she’s sent to London to rejoin the Faery Guard. But this isn’t any normal assignment—she’s sent to guard Prince Richard: Britain’s notorious, partying bad boy and soon-to-be King. The prince’s careless ways and royal blood make him the irresistible for the dark spirits that feed on mortals. Sweet, disheveled, and alive with adventure—Richard is one charge who will put Emrys’s magic and heart to the test.


When an ancient force begins preying on the monarchy, Emrys must hunt through the London’s magical underworld, facing down Banshees, Black Dogs and Green Women to find the one who threatens Richard’s life. In this chaos of dark magic, palace murders and paparazzi, Emrys finds herself facing an impossible choice. For despite all her powers, Emrys has discovered a force that burns brighter than magic: love.
 





Burn (Pure #3)
Author: Julianna Baggott
Expected Release Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Description:

None at this time.  


















Landry Park (Landry Park #1)

Author: Bethany Hagen
Expected Release Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Dial

Description:

Madeline Landry is born into a world of influence and luxury, a world of estates and gardens fueled by nuclear power and maintained by a caste of people called the Rootless. When a Gentry girl is attacked, it is the Rootless who are blamed, even though Madeline knows better.

As she searches for the truth, she can't escape the rumors of revolution and retribution circulating through the ballrooms, and neither can she escape the city's new golden boy, Captain David Dana, who has secrets of his own. Soon, she finds herself forced to choose between her duty and her desires, her ancestral destiny and her conscience, and her choice will shake the very foundations of the world she was born to rule.
  





Infinite (Newsoul #3)
Author: Jodi Meadows
Expected Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Description:

DESTRUCTION
The Year of Souls begins with an earthquake—an alarming rumble from deep within the earth—and it’s only the first of greater dangers to come. The Range caldera is preparing to erupt. Ana knows that as Soul Night approaches, everything near Heart will be at risk.

FLIGHT
Ana’s exile is frightening, but it may also be fortuitous, especially if she can convince her friends to flee Heart and Range with her. They’ll go north, seeking answers and allies to stop Janan’s ascension. And with any luck, the newsouls will be safe from harm’s reach.

CHOICE
The oldsouls might have forgotten the choice they made to give themselves limitless lifetimes, but Ana knows the true cost of reincarnation. What she doesn’t know is whether she’ll have the chance to finish this one sweet life with Sam, especially if she returns to Heart to stop Janan once and for all.

With gorgeous romance and thrilling action, the final book in the Incarnate trilogy offers a brilliant conclusion to the compelling questions of this fascinating world, where one new girl is the key to the lives of millions.
  




Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)

Author: Veronica Rossi
Expected Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

None at this time.  



















Fragile Spirits (Shattered Souls #2)
Author: Mary Lindsay
Expected Release Date: January 23, 2014
Publisher: Philomel

Description:

Paul has always known he was a Protector, fated to serve a Speaker who could hear the voices of spirits lingering after death and help those souls find peace.

Vivienne ignores the voices of the dead.

Paul has always followed the Protector’s rule book, preparing diligently for the day when he’d be matched with his Speaker and fulfill his destiny.

Vivienne never does what she’s told.

So when Paul is matched with Vivienne, they both find the pairing less than satisfactory. But a kidnapping, a malevolent spirit and power stronger than both of them may just prove that they are two halves of the same whole.

In a stunning story about the beauty of fate and the power of secrets, Mary Lindsey returns to the world of Shattered Souls with a breathtaking thrill-ride of a novel.
  





Evertrue (Everneath #3)
Author: Brodi Ashton
Expected Release Date: January 21, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Description:

None at this time.  


















Avalon
Author: Mindee Arnett
Expected Release Date: January 21, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Description: 

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light years from First Earth—and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn’t care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.
  




The Woken Gods

Author: Gwenda Bond
Expected Release Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Strange Chemistry

Description:

The more things change…

Ten years ago, the gods of ancient mythology awoke all around the world.

The more things stay the same…

This morning, seventeen-year-old Kyra Locke was late for school.

But that’s not out of the ordinary in a transformed Washington, D.C., dominated by the embassies of divine pantheons and watched over by the mysterious Society of the Sun that governs mankind’s relations with the gods. What is unusual is Kyra’s encounter with two trickster gods on her way home, one offering a threat, and the other a warning.

Kyra escapes with the aid of young operatives from the Society, who inform her that her scholarly father has disappeared from its headquarters at the Library of Congress and taken a dangerous Egyptian relic with him. The Society needs the item back, and they aren’t interested in Kyra’s protests that she knows nothing about it.

Now Kyra must depend on her wits and the help of everyone from a paranoid ex-boyfriend to scary Sumerian gods to operatives whose allegiance is first and always to the Society. She has no choice if she’s going to clear her father’s name and recover the missing relic before the impending summer solstice.

What’s at stake? Just the end of the world as Kyra knows it.

From the author of Blackwood comes a fresh, thrilling urban fantasy that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Rick Riordan…

  



The Glass Casket
Author: McCormick Templeman
Expected Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte

Description:

Death hasn’t visited Rowan Rose since it took her mother when Rowan was only a little girl. But that changes one bleak morning, when five horses and their riders thunder into her village and through the forest, disappearing into the hills. Days later, the riders’ bodies are found, and though no one can say for certain what happened in their final hours, their remains prove that whatever it was must have been brutal.

Rowan’s village was once a tranquil place, but now things have changed. Something has followed the path those riders made and has come down from the hills, through the forest, and into the village. Beast or man, it has brought death to Rowan’s door once again.

Only this time, its appetite is insatiable.
 





Alright - time to dish! What do you think of the amazing covers? Are any of these titles on your TBR?? Leave a comment!