New Release Tuesday: August 9, 2011

New releases for the week of August 8- 12

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Blood & Moonlight, by Amanda Ashley, Barbara Monajem,

and Lisa Cach

Siren's Storm by Lisa Papademetriou

The Cupid War, by Timothy Carter

Gryphon Unleashed, by Kathleen Nance

All You Desire, by Kirsten Miller

A Long, Long Sleep, by Anna Sheehan

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox (4)

First off, In My Mailbox is a feature that was started over at The Story Siren. Where we share what books we receive in the mail each week.

 

 

 Won/Gift: The Song of Fire and Ice Series by George R.R. Martin

Thanks to Random House

Review: Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

Title & Author: Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
Series & Genre: Young Adult, (probably a trilogy)

Published on May 10, 2011 (reprint)

Trade paperback, 400 pages

Where did I get this book: Bought

Blurb: After her sister Athena's tragic death, it's obvious that grief-stricken Persephone "Phe" Archer no longer belongs in Los Angeles. Hoping to make sense of her sister's sudden demise and the cryptic dreams following it, Phe abandons her bubbly LA life to attend an uptight East Coast preparatory school in Shadow Hills, MA — a school which her sister mysteriously mentioned in her last diary entry before she died.

Once there, Phe quickly realizes that something is deeply amiss in her new town. Not only does Shadow Hills' history boast an unexplained epidemic that decimated hundreds of its citizens in the 1700s, but its modern townies also seem eerily psychic, with the bizarre ability to bend metal. Even Zach — the gorgeous stranger Phe meets and immediately begins to lust after — seems as if he is hiding something serious. Phe is determined to get to the bottom of it. The longer she stays there, the more she suspects that her sister's untimely death and her own destiny are intricately linked to those who reside in Shadow Hills.

Review:  The book starts out with Phe having a vision/dream of herself in a graveyard, the same dream that she's been having ever since the death of her sister Athena. The story centers around Phe, and her search to find answers regarding her sister's death. While finding clues to why Athena mentioned Shadow Hills, Ma in her diary, she encounters Zach a gorgeous townie who is harboring secrets of his own and like everyone else in the town. 


I really enjoyed this young adult novel more than I expected. Ms. Hopcus is a very talented writer, and her descriptions/details are beautiful. I love Phe and Zach and all the supporting characters like Brody, and even Adriana. This is a fun and different young adult novels, not like what's currently out right now..vampires, werewolves or dystopians. 


Highly recommended to those who love to read YA or something fresh. 


Rating: ★★★★

Cover Spotlight

New Covers I found on various sites.

August 2011

August 2012

 

 

August 2013

 

 

 

 

February 2012

October 

 

 

September 2011

October 2011

WoW: Waiting on Wednesday

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly post started by Breaking the Spine, to show books that we are patiently waiting for.

Blurb: The year is 1871, and Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and it binds the rulers of England and the realm of Faerie to peace. With the ring missing, a rebel group of faeries hopes to break the treaty with dark magic and blood—Tiki’s blood.

Unbeknownst to Tiki, she is being watched—and protected—by Rieker, a fellow thief who suspects she is involved in the disappearance of the ring. Rieker has secrets of his own, and Tiki is not all that she appears to be. Her very existence haunts Prince Leopold, the Queen’s son, who is driven to know more about the mysterious mark that encircles her wrist.

Prince, pauper, and thief—all must work together to secure the treaty… 

Release date: September 27, 2011

Blurb: It's about a servant girl named Tess in 1912, who wants to escape from the house where she works, and most particularly the lecherous young lord of the manor. But that's not her biggest problem. While on a voyage to America, where she plans to escape and start a new life, she meets Alec, who's ruggedly handsome, fabulously wealthy, intelligent and yet so clearly troubled that she'd rather not fall for him, but she does. That also is not her biggest problem. Alec, it turns out, is a werewolf ... one cursed to change every night, unless and until he surrenders his independence and joins the Brotherhood, a pack of violently misogynistic werewolves who have been tracking him for months. You'd think that would be their biggest problem, wouldn't you?

But no. Their biggest problem -- though they don't know it yet -- is that they're aboard the RMS Titanic

Release date: September 13, 2011

New releases Tuesday

New Releases Tuesday August 2, 2011

Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough 
Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede

The Vampire Next Door by Ashlyn Chase
Plain Fear: Forsaken by Leanna Ellis
The Lady of the Storm by Kathryne Kennedy

The Dark Elite by Chloe Neill
Darkness Descending by Devyn Quinn
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
Eternal by Gillian Shields

 

 

 

 

Storm's Heart byThea Harrison
Blood Curses byErica Hayes
Retribution bySherrilyn Kenyon
Water to Burn byKatharine Kerr
Master of Shadows by Angela Knight
Midnight Sins by Lora Leigh
Blood Ties by Marianne Mancusi
Another Kind of Dead by Kelly Meding

Home Improvement: Undead Edition by Charlene Harris
Real Vampires Don't Wear Size Six by Gerry Bartlett
Blood Hunt by Shannon K. Butcher
Downpour by Kat Richardson

Review: Viper Moon by Lee Roland

Title & Author: Viper Moon by Lee Roland
Series & Genre: Urban Fantasy, Earth Witches #1

Published on July 5, 2011 by Signet

Mass market paperback, 352 pages

Where did I get this book: Bought

Blurb: Cassandra Archer is the Huntress. She has faithfully served the Earth Mother for years, rescuing kidnapped children from monsters-both human and supernatural-dwelling in the ruins of the Barrows District. But when two children are kidnapped under similar circumstances, all clues point to a cataclysmic event on the next dark moon. Now Cass must race against the clock and prevent a sacrifice that could destroy the entire town...

Review: Cass is a Huntress (kinda like a witch), who was chosen to be the Huntress by the Earth Mother at the age of 18 years old. Her main job is to find and rescue lost/abducted children. The main story is center around two main children, one belonging to the city's biggest crime boss and another to a detective. The book kinda started out slow, it didn't hold my attention like other books I read. Every time I picked it up, I never got pass 5-6 pages...and ended up putting it down. About more than halfway through the book, the story finally picked up more momentum. The plot was somewhat predictable and not really inventive. The main villain of the story "the darkness" who was not scary like he was described throughout the book but kinda lame. When the ending came it was anti-climatic, and I felt like everything that led up to that point ended up losing steam...like the author just wanted it to end or ran out of ideas.

The main heroine was likeable and main hero not so likeable, but that's probably because while reading it they reminded me of another exact couple that I've read before. Both characters reminded me of Gin Blanco and Donovan Caine from Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series. I wonder if the author read Mrs. Estep's book, and kinda based her ideas off of those characters. Overall the book was good not all bad. I just found out this is where Cassandra's journey ends and the next earth witches book will feature another Huntress. I like following books with the same characters in a series, so I will not be picking up the next book.

Would I recommend this to other? Yes, if you enjoy reading UF, maybe you'll even like it more than I did. I would say borrow from a library or friend if possible...not a shelf keeper.

Rating: ★★★