Archive for the ‘In My Mailbox’ Category

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

For Review:

Michele Gorman – Single in the City

It’s official.  Hannah has left her friends and family in the US behind and is following her dream.  To live in London.  Unfortunately she’s completely unprepared for what’s in store.
She’s going to find:
1. Her dream guy.  A prince or Hugh Grant would be nice.  Or does she have to settle for her half-naked Australian housemate or an “English gentleman” with terrible hygiene habits?
2. Her dream job.  Something fantastic in fashion.  So how has she ended up being the mini-me for an evil party planner who doesn’t even trust her to arrange the paperclips?
3. Her dream friends.  But everyone in London seems to have known each other for years and Hannah’s having trouble getting to know nice people.  Who’s she going to have fun with?
Dream life?  Should Hannah just dream on?  Maybe it would have been simpler and cheaper to just get a new haircut.  Was she mad to move 3,000 miles away from everyone she knows?  Will she ever find love and her perfect life in England?

Mia James – By Midnight (Thanks to UK Book Tours)

April Dunne is not impressed.  She’s had to move from Edinburgh to Highgate, London, with her parents.  She’s left her friends – and her entire life – behind.  She has to start at a new school and, worst of all, now she’s stuck in a creepy old dump of a house which doesn’t even have proper mobile phone reception.  Ravenwood, her new school, is a prestigious academy for gifted (financially or academically) students – and the only place her parents could find her a place, in the middle of term, in the middle of London, on incredibly short notice.  So she’s stuck with the super-rich, and the super-smart… and trying to fit in when the rest of the students seem to be more glamorous, smarter, or more talented than she is, is more than tough.  It’s intimidating and isolating, even when she finds a friend in the conspiracy-theorist Caro Jackson – and perhaps finds something more than friendship in the gorgeous, mysterious Gabriel Swift.  But there’s more going on at Ravenwood than meets the eye.  Practical jokes on new students are normal, but when Gabriel saves her from… something… in Highgate Cemetery, and then she discovers that a murder took place just yards away from where she had been standing, April has to wonder if something more sinister is going on… and whether or not she’s going to live through it…

Purchased:

Robert Masello – Blood and Ice

Troubled journalist Michael Wilde takes on a commission to write a feature about a remote research station deep in the frozen beauty of Antarctica.  On a diving expedition in the polar sea he discovers two bodies encased in ice.  The pair, a man and a woman chained together, their dress from the nineteenth century, are brought to the surface – along with a trunk containing a strange, but sinister, cargo.  As the ice around them begins to thaw, the mystery of these time-bound lovers begins to unravel.  Michael is gradually drawn into a horrific story that starts in the London barracks in the 1850s and leads to the bloody battlefields of the Crimea and the tragic Charge of the Light Brigade.  Now, in the Antarctic wastes, the Cavalry officer and his lover are reawakened into a world where the midnight sun lasts for months, where there’s nowhere to hide and no place left for the living to run… In this chilling supernatural thriller, spanning five continents and several centuries, Robert Masello weaves together an extraordinary tale of eternal life and undying love.  Gripping and intensely moving, “Blood and Ice” will take its readers on an enthralling and unforgettable journey.

Lesley Pearse – Stolen

Sussex, 2003.  When a beautiful blonde girl is found half-drowned on a beach, she has no memory of who she is or what horrors have left her there.  But an article about her in a Brighton newspaper rings alarm bells for beautician, Dale, who shows the police photographs of Lotte Wainright.  The girls met working on a cruise ship and their friendship blossomed as they sailed the seas of South America, until Lotte fell under the sinister influence of an older American couple.  To her regret, Dale hasn’t seen Lotte since leaving the ship months earlier… but the girl on the beach – although badly bruised – is indeed her much missed friend.  Their reunion only marks the beginning of a dangerous tidal wave of secrets, lies and nightmares.  Where has Lotte been?  Who is the man who seems to want to kill her?  And what has become of the baby she’s recently given birth to?  Dale and Lotte must dig deep and find the strength to hold on against the odds if they are to rebuild their friendship and survive Lotte’s stolen – and deadly – past.

Library:

Maggie Stiefvater – Linger

In SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in LINGER, they must fight to be together.  For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets.  For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past… and figuring out a way to survive the future.  But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected…

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

 In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

Gifts:

Stephenie Meyer – Breaking Dawn

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan.  Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, she has endured a tumultuous year of temptation, loss and strife to reach the ultimate turning point.  Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fate of two tribes hangs.  Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating and unfathomable consequences.  Just when the frayed strands of Bella’s life – first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed… forever?

Alyson Noel – Shadowland

Ever and Damen have travelled through countless past lives – and fought off the world’s darkest enemies – in search of each other.  But just when their destiny seems finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon them.  A single touch of their hands, a soft brush of their lips will mean death for Damen – cast into the darkness of the Shadowland.
But as she seeks to break the curse, Ever meets Jude – a green-eyed, golden surfer boy who understands magick, and understands Ever better than she realises.  She thought Damen was her destiny – but what if fate has other plans?

Contest Wins:

Nicole Peeler – Tempest Rising (Thanks to Carolyn at Book Chick City!)

Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn’t quite fit in with so-called normal society.  During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.  Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures that are terrifying, beautiful and deadly – all of which perfectly describe her new ‘friend’ Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.  It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never – ever – rub the genie’s lamp.

What was in your maolbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I only got one book this week but I think you’ll agree that it is a good one! 

For Review (From UK Book Tours):

Lauren Oliver – Before I Fall

What if you had only one day to live?  What would you do?  Who would you kiss?  And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all — looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend.  Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life.  Instead, it’s her last.  The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning.  In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I got two books in my mailbox this week and I am very, very excited about both of them!!!

For Review:

Lauren Kate – Torment

How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for?  In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.  Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her.  At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean – and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives.  Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future… and that Daniel hasn’t told her everything.  What if his version of the past isn’t actually the way things happened… what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else?

Janet Evanovich – Wicked Appetite

Seven Stones of Power.  No one knows when they were created or by whom, each said to represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature.  The list is long – Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few.  Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues’ gallery of power seekers.  He’s an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary.  Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.
That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones.  She’s freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston’s North Shore.  With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle’s bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track… until it’s suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.
Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat.  She’s not sure about Diesel.  He’s offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire.  The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.
The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy wrath, sloth and gluttony.  That pretty much covers everything that is wicked.  Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything that’s fun.  And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about.

What arrived in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

For Review:

Michael Scott – The Necromancer

Sophie and Josh have returned to San Francisco.  They must protect themselves from the Dark Elders, but they’ve not yet mastered the magic they’ll need to do so.  Their trust in Nicholas Flamel is shaken, and their friend Scatty is missing.  Unbeknownst to the twins, John Dee has amassed an enormous army of foul creatures, with which he plans to battle Nicholas and his wife, Peronelle.  In order for his plan to work, he must train a necromancer to raise the Mother of the Gods from the dead.  The twins of legend will make the perfect pupils in his diabolical scheme.

Richard Jay Parker – Stop Me

Forward this email to ten friends.  Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends.  Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends.  If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won’t slit the bitch’s throat.
Can you afford not to send this onto ten friends?
Leo Sharpe’s life is shattered when his wife Laura suddenly disappears.  His desperate need to find her turns to obsession when he becomes convinced she’s the latest victim of The Vacation Killer who has claimed eleven lives already – is Laura going to be the twelfth?  The MO is the same every time – a woman disappears and within hours inboxes around the world receive a threatening email.  A few days later, grim evidence of the victim’s death is delivered to the police.  But in Laura’s case, nothing is sent.  Has the killer spared her life?  Why?  And for how long?  For Leo, the clock is ticking – he needs to do everything in his power to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Library:

Kresley Cole – No Rest for the Wicked

A vampire warrior who yearns for death…  Three hundred years ago, Sebastian Wroth’s brothers forced him to become a vampire – a nightmare in his mind.  Shamed and alone for ages, he longs to die.  Until an exquisite creature comes to kill him, inadvertently saving him instead.Â
A beautiful assassin dispatched to destroy him…  When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow – accidentally extinguishing all of her emotions.  Yet whenever she encounters the vampire with his grave eyes, her feelings – particularly lust – emerge multiplied.  For the first time, she’s unable to complete a kill.  The prize is a key powerful enough to resurrect her sisters.  Not understanding the key’s import, Sebastian hinders her against other opponents by using her new feelings to seduce her and earn her love.  But when Kaderin is forced to choose between finally killing Sebastian and reuniting her family, how can she live without either…?

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I got loads of great books this week and I’m very excited about reading them!!!

For Review:

Jane Costello – The Nearly-Weds (This was passed on to me from Book Chick City to review)

What’s the worst thing that could happen to a blushing bride?  To somebody warm, loving, and fun – like Zoe Moore? When she finds herself jilted at the altar by her fiance Jason, Zoe knows she doesn’t deserve this heartache and humiliation.  Unable to face the pitying faces of her friends and family, Zoe takes drastic action: she flees to America.  Specifically, to Boston, where she takes up a post as nanny to five-year-old Ruby Miller and her little brother Samuel.  Ruby and Samuel have lost their mother in an accident.  They may as well have lost their father, too, for Ryan Miller is so wrapped-up in his grief that he barely notices his two attention-starved children.  As Zoe sets about tidying up Ruby and Sam’s home, and injecting some fun back into their lives, she finds herself gaining their trust and love.  At the same time, Zoe grows more and more frustrated with Ryan’s bullying behaviour, and his shameful neglect.  Whatever happened to the loving man she keeps hearing about from his neighbours?  Zoe can’t find any sign of him.  The only thing saving Zoe from despair is the small, close-knit group of British nannies who quickly befriend her.  There’s boisterous Trudie, man-mad but hiding a painful secret; Sloanie traveller Amber, who sports a Buddhist tattoo that, unbeknownst to her, reads ‘Batteries Not Included’.  And chilly, tight-lipped Felicity, whose cut-glass voice gives little away.  But will these new friends be able to save Zoe, when she discovers that the past isn’t all that easy to escape, no matter how far you go?

Christine Feehan – Water Bound

For Lev Prakenskii, the last thing he remembers is being lost in the swirling currents of the ocean and sucked deeper into the nothingness of a freezing black eddy off the coastal town of Sea Haven.  Just as quickly, just as miraculously, he was saved – pulled ashore by a beautiful stranger – but Lev has no memory of who he was – or why he seems to possess the violent instincts of a trained killer.  All he knows is that he fears for his life, and the life of his unexpected saviour.  Her name is Rikki, a sea-urchin diver in the small town of Sea Haven.  She always felt an affinity for the ocean and the seductive pull of the tides – and now, for the enigmatic man she rescued.  But soon they will be bound by something even stronger – each other’s tantalising secrets that will engulf them both in a whirlpool of dizzying passion and inescapable danger.

Martin Millar – Curse of the Wolf Girl

Scottish teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is in London trying to settle down and live a normal life.  Her new friends support her as she goes to college to learn to read and write, but her old enemies won’t leave her alone.  Many powerful werewolves want Kalix dead, and the Guild of Werewolf Hunters is still dedicated to wiping out the entire MacRinnalch werewolf clan.  Life might be easier for Kalix if her werewolf family were able to help, but her sister the Enchantress needs all of her sorcerous powers to locate the perfect pair of high heels, her brother Markus is busy in Scotland organising an opera, and her cousin Dominil is engaged in her own merciless vendetta with her enemies.  Kalix must carry on alone but she’s finding it difficult enough to pay the rent and cope with her anxiety and depression, while struggling with werewolf hunters and exams at the same time…

Kate Brady – Last to Die

She’ll charm you, punish you, then kill you…  Mia Kettering is a ruthless killer who hides in plain sight.  Indeed, no one believes that a beautiful, wealthy socialite could be capable of murder.  But now she’s begun her master plan that will leave six women dead, punished for their dark pasts.  Detective Dani Cole is determined to track down a serial killer whose victims include a young woman she pulled out of a life of crime.  Her investigation leads her to Mitch Sheridan, who once saved her life but then disappeared.  With danger hot on their heels, Dani and Mitch unearth a deathly chain of deception that leads to a killer who is closer than they think – and more terrifying than they imagine…

Kat Richardson – Labyrinth

Just back from London, Harper picked up some new skills while she was away.  But instead of taking the time to hone them, she’d rather focus on what’s important.  Like finding the two-bit perp who ‘killed’ her.  She’s convinced he’s a valuable clue in the puzzle of her past and her missing father, as well as a key to figuring out who’s trying to manipulate her powers and why.  There’s just one problem.  Turns out the man who ‘killed’ her was murdered himself while she was away.  Lucky for Harper, she has an airtight alibi, but that doesn’t mean the police are going to play nice.  With Seattle’s recent surge in violence – thanks to the vampires – she’s already under suspicion.  Which means Harper has to watch her step.  Because finding the ghost of her ‘killer’ – and rescuing her father – will mean entering into the Grey.  And with her growing powers pulling her more deeply into that paranormal world, Harper’s afraid she may not be able to come back out…

Library

Amy Meredith – Shadows

Fifteen-year-old Eve Evergold is cute, sassy and enjoying a busy social life.  What she doesn’t know yet is that someone close to her is an evil demon that only she has the supernatural power to defeat.  She needs to work out who it is – and fast!  Because although there’s something very attractive about the dark side… dating a demon?  Pure hell!

Carrie Jones – Need

Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect Facebook friends.  It’s little wonder, since she’s had a fairly rough life.  Her father left when she was a baby, her stepfather just died and her mother’s almost given up – in fact, she’s sent her to live with her grandmother in cold and sleepy Maine to ‘keep Zara safe’.  Zara doesn’t think she’s in danger; she thinks her mother just can’t cope.  Zara’s wrong.  The man she sees everywhere – the tall, creepy guy who points at her from the side of the road – is not a figment of her imagination.  He’s a pixie.  But not the cute, sweet kind with little wings.  Maine’s got a whole assortment of unbelievable creatures.  And they seem to need something – something from Zara…

Carrie Jones – Captivate

Zara and her friends knew they hadn’t solved the pixie problem for good.  Far from it.  The king’s needs grow deeper every day he’s stuck in captivity, while his control over his people becomes weaker.  It’s made him vulnerable.  And now there’s a new king in town.  A turf war is imminent.  The new pixie king is moving in quickly.  He swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he’s one of the good guys.  Zara isn’t so sure.  Despite herself, she wants to trust the new king, but there’s a lot more than her relationship with boyfriend Nick at stake.  It’s her life – and his.

Rachel Hawkins – Hex Hall

In the wake of a love spell gone horribly wrong, Sophie Mercer, a sixteen-year-old witch, is shipped off to Hecate Hall, a boarding school for witches, shapeshifters and faeries.  The traumas of mortal high school are nothing compared to the goings on at “Freak High.”  It’s bad enough that she has to deal with a trio of mean girls led by the glamorous Elodie, but it’s even worse when she begins to fall for Elodie’s gorgeous boyfriend, Archer Cross, and frankly terrifying that the trio are an extremely powerful coven of dark witches.  But when Sophie begins to learn the disturbing truth about her father, she is forced to face demons both metaphorical and real, and come to terms with her own growing power as a witch.

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

For Review:

Evie Parker – 100% Gleek: The Unofficial Guide to Glee

”High School Musical” with a difference, ”Glee” is the hottest TV show of the year.  This all-singing, all-dancing musical dramedy follows a bunch of aspiring misfits and underdogs as they attempt to make their school choir cool.
The perfect guide to the cynical, sweet and downright funny hit show, this companion book is packed with behind the scenes facts, set gossip and full colour photos – it’s a must-read for all you Gleeks!

Amanda Hocking – Switched

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her.  It isn’t until eleven years later that Wendy finds out her mother might’ve been telling the truth.
With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed – and it’s one she’s not sure if she wants to be a part of.

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

Purchased:

Philippa Gregory – The White Queen

Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets.  They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.
The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty.  While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown.  From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.
With The White Queen, Philippa Gregory brings the artistry and intellect of a master writer and storyteller to a new era in history and begins what is sure to be another bestselling classic series from this beloved author.

Library:

Kresley Cole – A Hunger Like No Other

A mythic warrior who’ll stop at nothing to possess her…
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire.  Or partly one.  This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy…
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents – until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle.  There, her fear of the Lykae – and their notorious dark desires – ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
An all-consuming desire…
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Nalini Singh - Angels’ Blood

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she’s the best — but she doesn’t know if she’s good enough for this job.  Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear — failure is not an option… even if the task is impossible.
Because this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track.  It’s an archangel gone bad.
The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other… and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion.  Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may.  For when archangels play, mortals break…

Elizabeth Noble – The Girl Next Door

What makes a house a home?
For Eve Gallagher, home is miles away in England since she and her husband relocated to an apartment building on New York’s Upper East Side.  And life isn’t remotely coming up roses.
What makes a neighbour a friend?
Violet has lived in the building for decades but she’s always kept herself apart, until Eve’s loneliness touches her heart and friendship blossoms.
What makes a wife a lover?
Jason Kramer in Apartment 6A is no longer sure he loves his wife, but he’s head-over-heels for Rachael Schulman in 6B.
What makes the girl next door the woman of your dreams?
Meeting Emily Mikanowski from 3A turns Trip Grayling’s world upside down.  It’s love at first sight, but he needs help from Charlotte, the shy romance addict in 2A, if he’s going to win the girl.
Dreams come true, hearts are broken and no one is left unchanged when the secrets and desires hidden behind closed doors are finally brought into the light.

Jill Mansell – Nadia Knows Best

When Nadia Kinsella meets Jay Tiernan, she’s tempted.  Of course she is.  Stranded together in a remote Cotswold pub, with a snowstorm raging outside… let’s face it, who would ever know?  But Nadia’s already met The One.  She and Laurie have been together for years — they’re practically childhood sweethearts, and she still gets goose bumps at the sight of him.  Okay, maybe she doesn’t see that much of him these days, but that’s not Laurie’s fault.  She can’t betray him.  Besides, when you belong to a family like the Kinsellas — bewitchingly glamorous grandmother Miriam, feckless mother Leonie, stop–at–nothing sister Clare — well, someone has to exercise a bit of self–control, don’t they?  I mean, you wouldn’t want to do something that you might later regret…

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

For Review:

Janet Evanovich – Sizzling Sixteen

It’s summertime in Jersey And all across the land It’s time for Summer Reading And working on your tan.  But no vacation can start Or go off without a hitch Unless you’ve packed your bag With the latest Evanovich.  Yes, it’s time for Stephanie and gang To get up to their old antics With Grandma, Lula, Connie too— Mrs. Plum, she will be frantic! See, someone wants to kill Vinnie Who? The list is long And Mooner returns to brighten our day Complete with his favorite bong.  And Lula’s involved in a Ponzi scheme Stand back!  You know she’ll be pissed While Stephanie’s chasing a dangerous skip He thinks he’ll never be missed.  With Ranger days and Morelli nights (Or perhaps it’s the other way ‘round) This sixteenth Stephanie Plum adventure Will wear the blockbuster crown.  So grab some donuts and Cluck-in-a-Bucket And get ready for grand-scale fun Number sixteen is a sure-fire bet For bestseller lists: number one!

Andy Mulligan – Trash

Raphael is a dumpsite boy.  He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it.  Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael’s world turns upside down.  A small leather bag falls into his hands.  It’s a bag of clues.  It’s a bag of hope.  It’s a bag that will change everything.  Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives.  Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking, fast-talking to stay ahead.  As the net tightens, they uncover a dead man’s mission to put right a terrible wrong.  It’s three street-boys against the world…

Sasha Wagstaff – Wicked Games

Feuding families, star-crossed lovers… let the fireworks begin!
Debonair and dynamic, millionaire Judd Harrington is back at Brockett Hall.  With his socialite wife and family in tow, he’s returned from LA a glittering success.  But as he stares across the valley at Lochlin Maguire’s beautiful country house, all he can think of is revenge.
Meanwhile Judd’s arch-rival has troubles of his own.  Lochlin’s record label is losing major talent to an unknown competitor, his wife Tavvy is distracted and he can’t seem to see eye to eye with his son Shay.  And, unbeknownst to Lochlin, his talented singer daughter Iris has fallen for irresistible racing driver Ace Harrington out in LA.  Ace is under orders from Judd to break Iris’s heart.  What he hadn’t bargained for was losing his own in the process.  Can he go against his father’s wishes?  Or will Judd’s wicked games ruin love’s young dream?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

For Review:

Pamela Samuels Young – Buying Time

Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer.  But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems.
In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash.  But there’s a catch.  His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime.  Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars – including a hefty broker’s fee for himself – in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath.
The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General.  When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson – who has some skeletons of his own to hide – are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I had a great week this week!  I received 5 books for review – more than I’ve ever had before in one week!!! Very exciting!

For Review:

Jill Mansell – Take a Chance on Me

Cleo Quinn doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to men, but now Will’s come along she’s optimistic. Handsome, attentive and an absolute gentleman when it comes to her questionable cooking skills, he could be her Mr Right.  Things are definitely looking up for Cleo… apart from one small problem with a rather large ego.  Johnny LaVenture, sculptor extraordinaire and her childhood adversary, is back in Channing’s Hill and tormenting Cleo as if he’d never been away.  But life never goes to plan, does it?  Johnny isn’t the only one stirring up trouble and, for Cleo’s family and friends, all kinds of sparks are starting to fly.  If you think you can put the past behind you, think again…

Priya Basil – The Obscure Logic of the Heart

A devoted daughter; a secret love; an impossible dilemma…  Lina has always been the apple of her father’s strict eye.  When she meets Anil, a wealthy, cultured and decidedly liberal student of architecture from Kenya’s Asian community, the intensity of her feelings for someone so different takes her by surprise.  She is political and he is not; she is of modest background and he is not; she is a Muslim and he is not…  While Lina’s parents still dream of a suitable boy for their eldest daughter, she engages in an intricate game of deceit to hide her blossoming relationship.  When Lina’s mother chances upon a suitcase of their love letters, a moral chasm threatens to tear the family and the lovers apart.

Jo Cotterill – Star Crossed

Fliss isn’t exactly outgoing.  But on stage she really comes alive.  And this summer, she’s playing Juliet opposite her dream Romeo – Tom Mayerling.  If only she could tell him how she feels!  But unless Fliss finds some inner confidence, she’s going to miss her chance with Tom.  Because someone else has her eyes on Fliss’ role – and her leading man…

Julie Hyzy – Grace Under Pressure

Everyone wants a piece of millionaire Bennett Marshfield, owner of Marshfield Manor, and letters are coming in daily from those claiming to be poor relations.  The elderly, reclusive heir trusts no one but his aged curator, Abe.  But when Abe is killed in a case of mistaken identity, the tide changes…
Although shaken by the murder, Grace Wheaton, whose lifelong dream has been to work at the manor, steps up to the challenge of assuming Abe’s job.  But now some of the letters arriving for Bennett have taken a nasty turn, demanding millions – or else.  When an uninvited stalker shows up at the manor and at Grace’s home, she and handsome groundskeeper Jack Embers must protect their dear old Marshfield.  But to do this, they’ll have to investigate a botched Ponzi scheme, some torrid wheaton family secrets – and sour grapes out for revenge…

Matt Haig – The Radleys

Meet the Radleys: Peter, Helen and their teenage kids Clara and Rowan.  An everyday family who live in a pretty English village and juggle dysfunctional lives.  So far, so normal.  Except, as Peter and Helen know (but the kids have yet to find out), the Radleys happen to be a family of abstaining vampires.  When one night Clara finds herself driven to commit a bloodthirsty act of violence, her parents need to explain a few things: why is their skin is so sensitive to light, why do they all find garlic so repulsive, and why has Clara’s recent decision to go vegan had quite such an effect on her behaviour…?  But when mysterious Uncle Will swoops into the village, he unleashes a host of shadowy truths and dark secrets that threaten to destroy the Radleys and the world around them.

Purchased:

Beth Fantaskey – Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit in to Jessica Packwood’s senior-year “get a life” plan.  But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth and he’s her long-lost fiance.  Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess.  But Jessica has never even been kissed – how can she possibly commit herself to a long-term relationship?  Or an eternal relationship, for that matter?

What was in your mailbox this week?

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I only got two books this week and they were both late birthday presents – and I am very excited about reading both of them!

Richelle Mead – Spirit Bound

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice.  And she made the wrong one…  After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s Academy — and to her best friend, Lissa.  But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he’s out there, somewhere.  She failed to kill him when she had the chance.  And now her worst fears are about to come true — Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her.  Only this time, he won’t rest until Rose joins him… forever.

Jodi Picoult – Change of Heart

June’s first husband was killed in a car crash.  Against all the odds, her daughter was uninjured and, in another miracle, June found love again with the policeman who rescued them.  Six years on they are a happy family, June pregnant with their own child.
But now June’s second daughter is dying without the new heart she so urgently needs.  And her first daughter, along with her husband, is dead, killed by Shay Bourne, an itinerant workman they welcomed into their home.  The crime was so heinous that Shay has been given the death penalty for the first time in 69 years in New Hampshire.  Shay is going to die, and he is looking for redemption.  He wants to give June’s daughter his heart . . . daughter, along with her husband, is dead, killed by Shay Bourne, an itinerant workman they welcomed into their home. The crime was so heinous that Shay has been given the death penalty for the first time in 69 years in New Hampshire. Shay is going to die, and he is looking for redemption. He wants to give June’s daughter his heart…

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  As it was my birthday yesterday I received a nice little haul this week!

Gifts:

Marjorie M. Liu – The Iron Hunt

During the day, Maxine’s tattoos are her armour and she is invincible.  At night they peel from her skin to take on forms of their own, leaving her human and vulnerable, and revealing themselves to be demons sleeping beneath her skin.  But these demons are the best friends and bodyguards a woman could have.  And Maxine needs bodyguards.  She is the last in a line of women with power in their blood, trained to keep the world safe from malignant beings who would do us harm.  But ten thousand years after its creation, the prison dimension that kept the worst of these from us is failing, and all the Wardens save Maxine are dead.  She must bear the burden of her bloodline and join the last wild hunt against the enemy.

Patricia Briggs – Hunting Ground

Anna Latham didn’t know how complicated life could get – until she became a werewolf.  And now she’s not just part of any pack, but under the direct supervision of Bran, leader of the North American werewolves.  And her mate is his son Charles, the pack enforcer.  With all the advances that have been made in forensics, the werewolves will not be able to hide their existence from humans much longer – and Bran wants their coming out party to be on his terms.  But his European counterparts don’t see things the same way.  Anna and Charles are chosen to represent Bran at a key meeting.  But when a French werewolf, one of Bran’s most vocal opponents, is found murdered, Charles’s reputation shoots him to the top of the suspect list.  And among the wolves, there is one penalty for breaking the law: death.  The killer must be found, or Charles will take the fall.

C.J. Sansom – Dissolution

Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen.  Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries.  There can only be one outcome: the monasteries are to be dissolved.
But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control.  Cromwell’s Commissioner Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body.  His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege – a black cockerel sacrificed on the alter, and the disappearance of Scarnsea’s Great Relic.
Dr Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell into this atmosphere of treachery and death.  But Shardlake’s investigation soon forces him to question everything he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes…

Jane Costello – My Single Friend

At 28, Lucy is doing well for herself.  She’s got a great job in PR, her boss loves her, and her best girlfriends Dominique and Erin think she’s great.  More important than anyone’s opinion is that of her flatmate, and oldest friend in the world, Henry.  For twenty years they’ve been inseparable: beauty and the geek.  Henry thinks the world of Lucy.  So why does she feel the need to lie outrageously on dates?  From rock-climbing to Chekov: when it comes to prospective boyfriends, Lucy is compelled to embellish her C.V. with unlikely porkies that always backfire – with hilarious results.  Henry can’t understand it.  Lucy is so loveable: why can’t she just be herself?  But when Lucy turns the spotlight on Henry, he wishes he’d never brought it up.  With a penchant for jumpers and NHS-style specs, Lucy decides that Henry is in need of a makeover – big time.  Enlisting the help of Dom and Erin, it’s not long before the girls have Henry out of the flat, and into the Topman changing rooms.  A new haircut, contact lenses, a flirting master-class from Dom… poor Henry doesn’t know what’s hit him.  But nothing can prepare them for the surprise results!  Before long, Lucy realises that their lives will never be the same again.

Dorothy Koomson – Goodnight, Beautiful

Nova Kumalisi would do anything for her closest friend, Mal Wacken.  She owes him her life.  So, when he asked her to be the surrogate mother for him and his wife, in spite of her fears about how it would alter their friendship, Nova agreed.  Eight years later, Nova is bringing up their son alone, and she and Mal don’t speak.  Months into the pregnancy, Mal’s wife changed her mind about the surrogacy agreement.  Already suspicious of how close Nova and Mal were, Stephanie realised her strained marriage was in serious trouble when she found a text from her husband to Nova, saying, ‘Goodnight, Beautiful’.  She asked Mal to cut all ties with his closest friend and unborn child.  Now, seven-year-old Leo is critically ill and Nova, despite her anger and hurt, wants Mal to have the chance to know his son before it’s too late.  Will it take a tragedy to remind them how much they mean to each other?

For Review:

Tabitha Suzuma – Forbidden (Received from Random House Children’s Books)

She is pretty and talented – sweet sixteen and never been kissed.  He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future.  And now they have fallen in love.  But… They are brother and sister.  Forbidden will take you on an extraordinary emotional journey.  Passionate and shocking, this is a book you will remember long after you have put it down.

Eric Cyphers – Sex and the City 2: The Official Companion Book (Received from Headline)

Carrie on.
Fast on the heels of the wildly popular companion to Sex and the City: The Movie come this equally sexy and stylish companion to the sequel.  SEX AND THE CITY 2 picks up two years after the first movie left off, where our four favourite friends are embarking on the trip of a lifetime to the exotic world of the Middle East.
The book gives readers an all-access tour of the movie-making processs, with behind-the-scenes stories from producer and star Sarah Jessica Parker and writer and director Michael Patrick King, as well as Kim Catrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, and the movie’s other key cast members and special guest stars: a look at the challenges of filming in both New York and Morocco; and the work that went into choosing the locations and building the sets.
The book’s comprehensive fashion section includes a scene-by-scene look at every outfit Carrie wears in the film, from dresses to shoes to bags, along with commentary by Sarah Jessica Parker herself.  Full of exclusive stories and lush photos not available anywhere else, this behind-the-scenes, luxurious volume is a must-have for anyone who simply can’t get enough of Sex and the City.

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  Only one book for me this week but it sounds really good and I can’t wait to read it!

For Review:

Adele Geras – Dido (Received from Random House Children’s Books)

Aeneas leaned forward a little and kissed her on the mouth.  Just one swift, soft touch of his lips on hers and then he turned and walked away.
Love can be deadly.  Especially when two young women fall for the same man – one a queen, the other her serving maid.
Elissa knows she is playing with fire, but she can’t resist.  Queen Dido suspects nothing, until one fateful night… Secrets are revealed, hearts are broken and as dawn breaks, a terrible tragedy unfolds.
A passionate tale of love, betrayal and revenge.

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I haven’t been able to take part in this meme for a few weeks due to my gorgeous baby boy keeping me very busy (see post here for details), so this is a catch up of all the books I have received in the last three weeks.

For Review:

Martin Stratford – Double Jeopardy (Received from the author)

Detective Sergeant Julie Cooper has been working undercover to crack a major drugs ring.  With the drugs baron jailed, Julie thinks she can relax until she becomes the victim of a drive-by shooting that leaves her seriously injured and her aunt dead.  Fuelled by grief, anger and guilt, Julie hires private detective Alec Tanner to help her track down the killers.  Set in the fictitious English city of Havenchester, “Double Jeopardy” follows Julie and Tanner as they investigate a number of potential suspects, including a vicious gangland boss who is plotting to avenge himself on his cheating girlfriend.  As their personal lives become increasingly entangled, Julie and Tanner find themselves in a race against time to uncover the truth and prevent more murders, including their own…

Jude Morgan – The Taste of Sorrow ( Received from Headline Review)

Charlotte.  Emily.  Anne.  The Brontë sisters – the drama, the passion, and a story that lives for ever…
Once upon a time there were three sisters, bound by love and suffering, growing up in wild isolation in a lonely house on the moor.   Their story will astonish you: their passionate, dangerous closeness; their struggle against the world; their determination to rise above the fates of their parents and their other lost sisters, to become more than the world ever thought they could be.  You don’t know their story, but you think they do.  They were the Brontës.

Cynthia Roberts – Wind Warrior (Received from the author)

Leslie Michaels is a visionary, and only those close to her know of her special gift and the visions that come when her mind and body surrender to sleep.  Fate has a way of righting many wrongs, and for Leslie it is a destiny that changes her life dramatically. But not before she is forced to flee into the wilderness to escape a murderous trapper bent on claiming her for his very own.  Faith and a strong will to survive are her only companions, until she encounters Winnokin, the handsome Seneca war chief who first came to her in her dreams.  Not only does he prove to be her rescuer and protector, he teaches her that tragedy can breed happiness and the passion to live and love deeply once again.
Wind Warrior plunges readers into the intimate depths of a relationship that unfolds like a live drama before their eyes while painting an insightful and intriguing portrait of Native Indian life in the 1800s.  It is a story of longing, of a wanton need to survive all odds, and a love so strong it conquers human evil. Wind Warrior expresses with cunning words the simple, raw human emotions that hold readers spellbound and captivates their hearts.

Won in a contest hosted by Book Chick City:

Dave Shelton – Good Dog, Bad Dog

Kirk Bergman and Duncan McBoo are pedigree police: the finest canine cops in all Muttropolis.  And they’re never short of work.  The city is heaving with cunning crooks and malevolent mongrels who would sell their own mother for a bone.  Join our dog detectives as they chase leads, sniff out crime, collar the bad guys and generally get their teeth into adventures full of action, suspense and …milkshakes.  Criminals beware: McBoo and Bergman are on your tail!

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

Purchased:

Bree Despain – The Dark Divine

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared – the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood – but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.
The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude’s high school.  Despite promising Jude she’ll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel’s shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.
The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night.  Grace must discover the truth behind the boy’s dark secret… and the cure that can save the ones she loves.  But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it – her soul.

Rachel Caine – Dead Girl’s Dance

Claire has her share of challenges.  Like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains; homicidal girls in her dorm, and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead.  On the up side, she has a new boyfriend with a vampire-hunting dad.  But when a local fraternity throws the Dead Girls’ Dance, hell is really going to break loose.

Won in a contest hosted by Book Chick City:

Megan Abbott – Bury Me Deep

In October 1931, a station agent found two large trunks abandoned in LA’s South Pacific Train Station.  What he found inside ignited one of the most scandalous tabloid sensations of the decade.  Inspired by this notorious true crime, Bury Me Deep is the story of Marion Seeley, a young woman abandoned in Phoenix by her husband.  At the medical clinic where she finds a job, Marion becomes fast friends with Louise, a vivacious nurse, and her roommate, Ginny. Before long, the demure Marion is swept up in the exuberant life of the girls, who supplement their scant income by entertaining the town’s most powerful men with wild parties.  At one of these events, Marion meets – and falls hard for – the charming Joe Lanigan, a local rogue and politician on the rise, whose ties to all three women bring events to a dramatic and deadly collision.

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I had another great week this week and I am starting to get seriously worried about the TBR mountain that is growing out of control!!!

For Review:

Polly Williams – How to be Married

Sadie Drew thinks she must be the world’s worst wife.  She only needs to walk into a room to make it untidy.  She wears flannel pyjamas in bed.  Furry things breed in her fridge.  But she’s a busy working mother not a wifebot and husband Tom loves her as she is.  Until he gets a hot new job and things change.  There are alpha-wives to entertain.  Nuclear rows.  Unsettling secrets.  And the smell of another woman’s perfume on his suit.  Sadie risks losing everything if she can’t transform herself into the perfect wife…
But what is a perfect wife anyway?

Linda Kelsey – The Twenty Year Itch

Can love survive long-term in the twenty-first century?  Julie is beginning to doubt it.  When her husband of twenty years announces that he is chucking his job to embark on an adult gap year leaving his salary and Julie behind, she puts her marriage under the microscope.
Turning to her friends for comfort and advice, Julie finds that their relationships are falling apart too.  Surely they can’t all be innocent victims?  Or all bad wives?  Is there no such thing as an enduring marriage?  Does that twenty-year itch just have to be scratched?
While this emotional maelstrom rages around her, meeting someone new is the last thing on Julie’s mind.  Until a chance encounter propels her onto a sexual collision course with a man who spells danger…

Sam Baker – The Step-Mothers’ Support Group

Eve has never imagined herself as a stepmother.  But when she falls in love with Ian, he comes with a ready-made family of three children.  And, to make matters worse, he’s a widower.  The ghost of his glamorous and well known wife haunts them.  Clare, a teacher and single mother, is Eve’s best friend.  She is the only person Eve can talk to about how on earth a journalist in her thirties can win round three wary children.  But despite Clare’s years of practice with her own teenage daughter, it’s Lily, her younger sister, who provides the truly sympathetic ear.  Mel is sent along to Eve’s so-called ’support group’ by a colleague.  With a fledgling relationship and a new business to get off the ground, she has a very different set of pressures to the other women.  And Mandy is the stay-at-home mum, whose relationship comes with stepchildren, and who wants more than anything to stitch together a happy family life for herself, her kids and her new step-kids.  As a cup of coffee turns to a bottle of wine and the get-togethers become a regular fixture, conversations about new families evolve into ones about relationships, life and each woman’s deepest hopes and dreams.  But the friendship is tested and feelings about lovers, husbands and step-children challenged when the five women are forced to confront new futures as well as unwelcome figures from the past…

From the Library:

Kelley Armstrong – Bitten

Elena Michaels is a model woman for the 21st century: self-assured, keenly intelligent, fighting fit.  And like every modern woman, she has her secrets.  Nothing extraordinary about that.  Except that Elena really is extraordinary.  In fact, she may well be the most extraordinary woman alive.  She is, after all, the only female werewolf in the world… Ten years ago, against her will, Elena’s lover turned her into a werewolf.  Some days it feels like a gift.  Most days it feels like a curse.  A year ago, she decided to live as a human.  Now she has to go back to New York State, her old home.  Her pack is under seige by a new group of violent, psychotic werewolves that shows no respect for the old ways, and no respect for territory.  Forced into helping her old friends, Elena soon slips back into the reassuring camaradarie of the pack, though she struggles against her dangerous, unpredictable desires.  Hunting down her enemies, Elena prowls through territories usually barred to women.  From dangerous back alleys to the dark, luscious forests of New York State, she must hunt and destroy the renegade pack before they destroy her.

Mary Janice Davidson – Undead and Unwed

It’s been a hell of a week for Betsy Taylor.  First she loses her job.  Then she’s killed in a freak accident only to wake up in a morgue to discover she’s a vampire.  On the plus side, being undead sure beats the alternative.  She now has superhuman strength and an unnatural effect on the opposite sex.  But what Betsy can’t handle is her new liquid diet…  And whilst her mother and best-friend are just relieved to find out that being dead doesn’t mean Betsy’s can’t visit, her new ‘night-time’ friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen.  The scrumptious Sinclair and his cohorts want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious power-hungry vampire in five centuries.  (A Bella Lugosi wannabe who’s seen one to many B-movies.)  Frankly Betsy couldn’t care less about vamp politics.  But Sinclair and his followers have a powerful weapon in their arsenal – unlimited access to Manolo Blahnik’s Spring collection. Well, just because a girl’s dead – er undead – doesn’t mean she can’t have great shoes…

J.R. Ward – Dark Lover

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers.  There also exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Among them, none relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood…  The only pure-bred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago.  But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed – orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate – Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead…  Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn’t there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes.  His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her.  But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both…

Tanya Huff – Blood Price

It began with blood and death.  And Vicki Nelson, PI was at the scene.  The victim had been brutally, inhumanly opened up.  Messy work.  She’d had to cover the corpse with her coat.  It had sort of made her feel involved.  Now Vicki is caught up in the deadly pursuit of a mass murderer with an inhuman appetite for mayhem and destruction. And her advisor on the case is doing nothing to dampen her growing sense of foreboding.  But then, with a being of unspeakable evil stalking the city, only Vicki Nelson would ally herself to Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate child of Henry VIII and a five-hundred-year-old vampire.

Colleen Gleason – The Rest Falls Away

Vampires have always lived among them, quietly attacking unsuspecting debutantes and dandified lords as well as hackney drivers and Bond Street milliners.  If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long taken over the world.  In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake.  But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous, moonlit streets, Victoria’s heart is torn between London’s most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her enigmatic ally, Sebastian Vioget.  And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make the choice between duty and love.

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  I had a great week this week – I get the feeling I will be very busy for a while!!!

For Review:

Julie Kagawa – The Iron King

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny – one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six.  She has never quite fit in at school, or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth – that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war.  Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face.  And to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Julie Kagawa – The Iron Daughter

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere.  Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen.  As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron Fey, iron-bound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen.  But no one believes her.  Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off.  She’s alone in Faery with only her wits for help.  Trusting anyone would be foolish.  Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly.  But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Michelle Hauf - Her Vampire Husband

She may resist his bite, but she can’t resist his charms.
Werewolf princess Blu Masterson won’t allow her seductive vampire husband to consummate their marriage with his bite, marking her forever.  Alone in a secluded estate with her sworn enemy, Blu curses the marriage arranged to bring their rival nations together, especially since Creed Saint-Pierre calls out to her most feral desires.
When Blu uncovers her pack’s secret plot to destroy the vampire nation – and Creed – she is forced to confront her growing feelings for her sexy undead husband.  Will she choose the only life she’s ever known or accept his vampire bite?

Carolyn Meyer – The Bad Queen

History paints her as a shallow party girl, a spoiled fashionista, a callous ruler.  Perhaps no other royal has been so maligned – and so misunderstood – as Marie-Antoinette.
From the moment she was betrothed to the dauphin of France at age fourteen, perfection was demanded of Marie-Antoinette.  She tried to please everyone – courtiers, her young husband, the king, the French people – but often fell short of their expectations.  Desperate for affection and subjected to constant scrutiny, this spirited young woman can’t help but want to let loose with elaborate parties, scandalous fashions, and unimaginable luxuries.  But as Marie-Antoinette’s lifestyle gets ever more recklessly extravagant, the peasants of France are suffering from increasing poverty – and becoming outraged.  They want to make the queen pay.

Laura Anne Gilman – Hard Magic

My name’s Bonnie Torres.  Recent college grad, magic-user and severely unemployed — until I got a call out of nowhere to interview for a job I hadn’t applied for.  It smelled fishy, but the brutal truth was I needed the work, so off I went.  Two days later, I’m part of the Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations (PUPI) team with four other twenty-somethings, thrown into an entirely new career in forensic magic.  The first job we get is a doozy: proving that the deaths of two Talents were murder, not suicide.  Worse, there are high-profile people who want us to close up shop and go away.  Looks like this job is gonna get interesting.  The only problem is, we’re making it up as we go along…

Meagan Hatfield – Shadow of the Vampire

Vampire princess Alexia Feodorovna has been undead for 125 years, so it’s been a while since any man has made her pulse race.  Until Declan Black.  One look at his bronzed body and a fire like no other consumes her.  Then she discovers that he’s a dragon lord come to take revenge on the vamps who killed his parents.  And claim a crystal said to imbue its owner with incredible powers.
Alexia is ordered to torture and kill the dragon lord.  Yet with each reckless encounter, she finds herself
consumed by his fiery passion.  A passion Declan battles, as well.  Will he be able to resist the fire of lust she kindles within him and keep revenge in his heart?  Or will he risk everything to quench the burning desire and claim the vampire as his own?

From the Library:

Richelle Mead – Succubus Nights

Georgina Kincaid’s job sucks.  Literally.  Love hurts, and no one knows it better than Georgina Kincaid.  If she so much as kisses her new boyfriend, she’ll drain his life force.  Georgina is a succubus – a demon who draws her power from other men’s pleasure.  Admittedly, the shapeshifting and immortality perks are terrific, and yes, Georgina did choose to join the ranks of hell centuries ago.  But it seems completely unfair that a she-demon whose purpose is seduction can’t get hot and heavy with the one mortal who knows and accepts her for who she is.  It’s not just her personal life that’s in chaos.  Doug, Georgina’s co-worker at a local bookstore, has been exhibiting bizarre behavior, and Georgina suspects that something far more demonic than double espressos is at work.  She could use help finding out, but Bastien, an irresistibly charming incubus and her best immortal friend, is preoccupied in the suburbs with corrupting an ultra-conservative talk radio star – and giving Georgina some highly distracting come-hither vibes.  Georgina is going to have to work solo on this one – and fast because soon, Doug’s life won’t be the only one on the line…

Richelle Mead – Succubus Dreams

Some days, a girl just can’t catch a break… especially when the girl in question is Georgina Kincaid, a shape-shifting succubus who gets her energy from seducing men.  First there’s her relationship with gorgeous bestselling writer Seth Mortensen, which is unsatisfying on a number of levels.  It’s not just that they can’t have sex in case Georgina inadvertently kills him (generally a turn-off for most guys).  Lately, even spending time together is a challenge.  Seth’s obsessed with finishing his latest novel, and Georgina’s under demonic orders to mentor the new (and surprisingly inept) succubus on the block.  Then there are the dreams.  Someone, or something, is preying on Georgina at night, draining her energy, and supplying eerie visions of her future.  Georgina seeks answers from Dante, a dream interpreter with ties to the underworld, but his flirtatious charm only leaves her more confused – especially as the situation with Seth reaches crisis point.  Now Georgina faces a double challenge – rein in her out-of-control love life, and go toe-to-toe with an enemy capable of wreaking serious havoc among mankind.  Otherwise, Georgina, and the entire mortal world, may never sleep easy again…

Richelle Mead – Succubus Heat

Georgina Kincaid has been a bad, bad succubus… which should be a good thing.  But she’s in a foul mood after breaking up with her boyfriend Seth and has been so wicked that uber-demon Jerome decides to ‘outsource’ Georgina to a rival – and have her spy for him in the process.  Then Jerome is kidnapped, and all immortals under his control mysteriously lose their powers.  With her life-sucking ability gone, Georgina finds herself caught up in a sinister plot. Is she the only one who can stop all Hell breaking loose?

Rachel Vincent – Stray

Female werecats are disappearing and the Pride is helpless to stop the stray responsible.  Confined to home for her own protection, Faythe Sanders must face everything she went to College to escape: the family she left behind, the love she turned her back on, and the destiny tradition says she’s bound to fulfil.  And when it all becomes too much to handle, an emotionally charged error in judgment leads her into the unsheathed claws of the kidnapper himself. Armed with nothing but animal instinct and a serious attitude, Faythe must free herself and stop the kidnappers before their horrific plot robs her Pride of its most valuable asset: its own continued existence.

Rosemary Clement-Moore – The Splendour Falls

Sylvie Davies is a ballerina who can’t dance.  A broken leg ended her career, but what broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage.  Still reeling Sylvie is shipped off to stay with relatives in the back of beyond.  Or so she thinks, in fact she ends up in a town rich with her family’s history… and as it turns out her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew.  More unnerving, though, are the two guys she can’t stop thinking about.  Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, is the expected choice.  But handsome and mysterious Rhys has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.  Then Sylvie starts seeing things – a girl by the lake and a man with dark unseeing eyes peering in through the window… Sylvie’s lost nearly everything – is she starting to lose her mind as well?

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought. 

For Review:

Roland Vernon – The Maestro’s Voice

New York, 1926.  Rocco Campobello, the great tenor – one of the most revered entertainers in the world – collapses on stage.  He emerges from this brush with death a changed man: a fallen, but enlightened colossus.  Casting off the mantle of celebrity, he embarks on a journey into his dark and sinister past which takes him back to his impoverished early life and to the city that made him: Naples.  There he is forced to confront the truth about himself, his ruthlessness and treachery and to address ghosts from his past that he now seeks to lay to rest.  Magnificent, flamboyant, yet impoverished and decaying, Naples is a city caught in the throes of change.  The old ways, embodied in the activities of the camorra, the Italian mafia, are fighting to survive in the face of the brutal new politics of Mussolini and his Fascists.  Don Graziani, head of one of the city’s most respected – and feared – families, has much to lose if the great tenor’s career falls apart.  In league with Campobello’s near-estranged wife, he conspires to re-launch the great voice in magnificent fashion.  When persuasion fails, he reveals his true colours and resorts to brutal blackmail as the means to force the tenor to go along with their plans and return to the stage.  Rediscovering his own integrity, Campobello is compelled to hatch a dangerous counter plot of his own in order to outmanoeuvre them all and reclaim his life as his own…

From the Library:

Jenna Black – The Devil Inside

Morgan Kingsley, is an exorcist who precariously walks that fine line between heaven and hell.  She lives in a world in which demons co-exist with humans.  Normally hailed as heroes, these demons can heal, help, and make strong the willing hosts who gladly accept their corporeal possession - unless a demon steps outside the boundaries of the law. That’s where Morgan, comes in.  She is an expert in getting rogue demons to leave their unwilling hosts.  But now the unthinkable has happened: Morgan’s got a demon of her very own sharing – possibly overtaking – her body.  But this sexy beast is so enticing that he may tempt Morgan to re-evaluate her prejudice against demons – if he doesn’t get her killed first.  For a war is brewing in the demon realm, and Morgan has just been forced to take sides.

Richelle Mead – Storm Born

Just typical.  No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants…  Eugenie Markham is a powerful shamen who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world.  Mercenary, yes, but a girl’s got to eat.  Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite.  Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy – one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie’s first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.  Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne’er-do-well, and the ones who don’t want to knock her up want her dead.  Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this.  She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction.  But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her.

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.  This week I managed to get another couple of good books from the library.

J.D. Robb – Immortal in Death

‘She’d come to New York to be a cop, because she believed in order.  Needed it to survive.  She had taken control, had made herself into the person some anonymous social worker had named Eve Dallas’.  But in a few weeks she won’t just be Eve Dallas, lieutenant, homicide.  She’ll be Roarke’s wife.  But Eve’s wedding plans may have to be put on hold as her private and professional lives collide…  The victim in her latest murder investigation is one of the most sought-after women in the world.  A top model who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted – even another woman’s man. And Eve’s chief suspect is the other woman in this fatal love triangle – her best friend Mavis.  Putting her job on the line to head the investigation, Eve discovers that the world of high fashion thrives on an all-consuming passion for youth and fame.  One that leads from the runway to the dark underworld of New York City where drugs can fulfil any desire – for a price…

James Patterson – Pop Goes the Weasel

Alex Cross calls them the Jane Doe murders.  Each body has been dumped, abandoned without clothes, without ID. There is no set pattern to the killings and officially they are unconnected.  But Alex knows that one man is responsible, a man who’s living dangerously - a new enemy he’s named Weasel.

I got these to help with a couple of the reading challenges that I am participating in: the In Death Reading Challenge and the James Patterson Reading Challenge.

What was in your mailbox this week?