5 New Covers (Garner, Hart, Metcalf, Pfeffer, Rainfield)

4th September 2012 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Ann Aguirre
Outpost (Razorland, Book 2)
Macmillan Feiwel & Friends (US: 4th September 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Deuce’s whole world has changed. Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn’t fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight. To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out. Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols – those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.

Carolyn Crane
Head Rush (Disillusionist, Book 3)
Samhain (US: 4th September 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
In an attempt to put her unhappy past behind her, Justine Jones throws herself into nursing school and planning her wedding to Otto Sanchez, the man of her dreams. But something is off. Random details aren’t adding up…and is it her imagination, or are her friends and fiancé keeping secrets from her? And what’s with the strange sense of unease, and her odd new headaches? Justine tries to stay upbeat as Midcity cowers under martial law, sleepwalking cannibals, and a mysterious rash of paranormal copycat violence, but her search for answers leads her into the most dangerous mind game yet. With the help of unlikely allies, including her paranoid dad and best frenemy Simon, Justine fights her ultimate foe…and unravels the most startling mystery of all.

Megan Hart
The Space Between Us
Harlequin Mira (US: 4th September 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Tesla Martin is drifting pleasantly through life, slinging lattes at Morningstar Mocha, enjoying the ebb and flow of caffeine-starved customers, devoted to her cadre of regulars. But none of the bottomless-cup crowd compares with Meredith, a charismatic force of nature who can coax intimate tales from even the shyest of Morningstar’s clientele. Caught in Meredith’s sensual, irresistible orbit, inexpressibly flattered by the siren’s attention, Tesla shares long-buried chapters of her life, holding nothing back. Nothing Meredith proposes seems impossible – not even Tesla sleeping with Meredith’s husband, Charlie, while she looks on. After all, it’s all in fun, isn’t it? In a heartbeat, vulnerable Tesla is swept into a spectacular love triangle. Together, gentle, grounded Charlie and sparkling, maddening Meredith are everything Tesla has ever needed, wanted, or dreamed of, even if no one else on earth understands. They’re three against the world. But soon one of the vertices begins pulling away until only two points remain – and the space between them gapes with confusion, with grief and with possibility…

Melissa Marr
Carnival of Souls
HarperCollins (US & UK: 4th September 2012; AU: 5th September 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures – if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live. All Mallory knows of The City is that her father – and every other witch there – fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it’s only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.

Sophie Morgan
Diary of a Submissive (Memoir)
Penguin Gotham (US & CA: 4th September 2012)
Review
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Sophie Morgan candidly explains what exactly an independent, 21st century woman gets out of relinquishing her power and personal freedom in a submissive relationship with a dominant man for their mutual sexual pleasure. Here is a memoir that offers the real story of what is means to be a submissive and follows Sophie’s story as she progresses from her early erotic experiences through to experimenting with her newfound awakened sexuality. From the endorphin rush of her first spanking right through to being collared, she explains in frank and explicit fashion her sexual explorations. But it isn’t until she meets James that her boundaries and sexual fetishism are really pushed. As her relationship with James travels into darker and darker places, the question becomes: Where will it end? Can Sophie reconcile her sexuality with the rest of her life, and is it possible for the perfect man to be perfectly cruel?

Caragh M. O’Brien
Prized (Birthmarked, Book 2)
Macmillan Square Fish (US: 4th September 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumour to guide her, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code, but how can she deny her sense of justice, her curiosity, and everything in her heart that makes her whole?

Jackson Pearce
Fathomless
Hachette Little, Brown (US: 4th September 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant – until Celia meets Lo. Lo doesn’t know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea – a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid – all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she’s becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she’s tempted to embrace her dark immortality. When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude’s affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there’s only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her…and steal his soul.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
Blood Wounds
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (US: 4th September 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother. Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harboured secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? But as Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she also keeps her own secret – one that has the potential to tear apart all she holds dear.

September 2012 Releases

Done with August 2012 Releases? Here are September 2012 Releases. For future titles, check Reading Wishlist.

September 2011 Releases

Finished August 2011 Releases? Here are September 2011 Releases. To see further titles, check Reading Wishlist.

[COVER ART] The Curse of Four, Succubus Revealed, Blood Wounds, Wicked Pretty Things & Brave New Love

Persnickety Snark’s FIVE Challenge, Day 3: Great Series

Today, December 23, is the third day of Persnickety Snark’s FIVE Challenge, and today’s particular challenge is…Great Series!

Adele’s list may be YA only, but I’m including all age brackets. Oh, and these aren’t all published in 2010 – I just read them in 2010. Better late than never

Anyhoo, here we are, counting down from 5 to 1 – yes, I do play favourites:

[REVIEW] The Dead and the Gone – Susan Beth Pfeffer

Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Dead and the Gone (The Last Survivors, Book 2)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Graphia (US: 18th January 2010); Scholastic Marion Lloyd (UK: 3rd May 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Since I read both the first and final books in this trilogy beforehand, The Dead and the Gone – the middle novel – is unessential, but nonetheless a wrenching, emotional story showcasing how big world problems can affect one’s daily life. Certain scenes are devastatingly haunting, such as the one in Yankee Stadium, and Alex Morales’s first body shopping trip.

An extraordinary, unforgettable trilogy, don’t miss out on this amazing series.

[REVIEW] This World We Live In – Susan Beth Pfeffer

Susan Beth Pfeffer
This World We Live In (The Last Survivors, Book 3)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (US: 1st April 2010); Scholastic (UK: 3rd May 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

A year ago, the moon was pushed closer to the Earth, and since then the Evans family has been coping as best each can. Miranda’s eldest brother returns from a fishing trip with another mouth to feed: his new wife. And six more additions arrive, forcing the group to breaking point. With some deciding to move out, all should have extra space, but it also brings much more emotional turmoil. And just when everyone seems to have come to terms, one final disaster could prove to be the family’s ultimate undoing.

Definitely read Life As We Knew It beforehand, but The Dead and the Gone isn’t essential. I haven’t read the latter, but This World We Live In supplies enough information. Miranda has matured since we last read her journals, and is more affable for it. Even her new romance seems believable, and doesn’t make me cringe (YA romances usually do).

I binge-read this book in just a handful of hours, and I strongly suggest you do the same. The dramas, both interpersonal and meteorological, are riveting and cause compulsive reading. Whilst the religious aspect is annoying, it is an obstacle for the characters, one which they thankfully overcome – so I’ve forgiven its presence.

The Last Survivors trilogy is further proof that dystopian YA is producing the most fascinating and engrossing stories, by taking enormous external issues and making them extremely personal. Many thanks to author Susan Beth Pfeffer for her awesome contribution to the genre, and long live dystopian YA!

May 2010 Releases

Done with April 2010 Releases? Here are May 2010 Releases. To see further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

April 2010 Releases

Done with March 2010 Releases? Here are April 2010 Releases. To look into the future, check Reading Wishlist.