Before, there were January 2010 Releases. Now come the February 2010 Releases. For future scheduling, check out the Reading Wishlist.
Mario Acevedo
Jailbait Zombie (Felix Gomez, Book 4)
HarperCollins Eos (AU: 1st February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Private Investigator Felix Gomez thought he had seen it all since becoming a vampire: horny aliens, maniacal nymphos. But now he’s facing everyone’s worst nightmare. As far as being undead goes, vampires are indisputably the more civilised – intelligent, rational (on occasion), good conversationalists. Zombies, on the other hand, are just violent, walking, rotting, flesh-eating meat with no redeeming qualities. And now there’s a ravenous army of them heading this way. So it’s vamps versus zombies, round one. And Felix’s only hope of stopping the stinking, hungry horde is a precocious and much-too-hot-for-her-britches teenager with clairvoyant powers. But she’s not going to help unless Felix agrees to make her immortal.
Carrie Jones
Need
Bloomsbury (UK: 1st February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
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…
Gemma Malley
The Returners (The Declaration, Book 3)
Bloomsbury (UK & AU: 1st February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Will Hodges’ life is a mess! His mother is dead, he has no friends and he thinks he is being followed by a strange group of people who tell him they know him. But Will can’t remember them…at first. And when he does, he doesn’t like what he can remember. While Will is struggling with unsettling memories, he learns that his past is a lot deeper than many people’s, and he has to find out if he is strong enough to break links with the powerful hold that history has on him.
Linda Robertson
Hallowed Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, Book 2)
Simon & Schuster Pocket (AU: 1st February 2010; UK: 4th February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Persephone Alcmedi has been persuaded to compete for the position of High Priestess of the Cleveland, Ohio, coven – now that the former priestess, Vivian Diamond, has strangely gone missing. Unfortunately, there are a few small problems with the idea. Not only does Seph know rather more about Vivian’s disappearance than the other witches realise, but the epic struggle she’s just survived has left her with some highly unusual powers – ones that could be dangerous to reveal. Despite her reluctance, she agrees to participate, if only to prevent snooty Hunter Hopewell, an obnoxious but talented witch, from ending up in the winner’s circle. Can Seph hide her secrets – including her connection to the master vampire-wizard Menessos – from the terrifyingly wise judges? Plus, there’s her rock ‘n’ roll werewolf boyfriend, Johnny, and some angry fairies to deal with… Once the competition begins, a finalist turns up dead. It looks as if one of the contestants is willing to do anything – including murder – to win. Suddenly Seph has even more on her plate than she thought: from solving a murder to working out what her new powers really are…and exactly why they’re creating so much havoc in her love life.
Rachel Vincent
Pride (The Shifters, Book 3)
Harlequin MIRA (US: 1st February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
I’m on trial for my life. Falsely accused of infecting my human ex-boyfriend – and killing him to cover up the crime. Infecting a human is one of three capital offences recognised by the Pride – along with murder and disclosure of our existence to a human. I’m two for three. A goner. Now we’ve discovered a rogue stray terrorising the mountainside, hunting a wild teenage tabbycat. It’s up to us to find and stop him before a human discovers us. With my lover Marc’s help, I think I can protect the vulnerable girl from both the ambitious rogue and the scheming of the territorial council. If I survive my own trial…
Rachel Vincent
Prey (The Shifters, Book 4)
Harlequin MIRA (US: 1st February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Sometimes playing cat and mouse is no game… Play? Right. My Pride is under fire from all sides, my father’s authority is in question and my lover is in exile. Which means I haven’t laid eyes on Marc’s gorgeous face in months. And with a new mother and an I-know-everything teenager under my protection, I don’t exactly have time to fantasise about ever seeing him again. Then our long-awaited reunion is ruined by a vicious ambush by strays. Now our group is under attack, Marc is missing and I will need every bit of skill and smarts to keep my family from being torn apart. Forever.
Laurell K. Hamilton
Flirt (Anita Blake; Novella)
Penguin Berkley (US: 2nd February 2010); Hachette Headline (UK: 2nd February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss. But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn’t the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs Bennington’s grave would not be the lovely Mrs Bennington. Not really. And not for long.
Deidre Knight
Butterfly Tattoo
Samhain (US: 2nd February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Michael Warner has been drifting in a numb haze since his lover was killed by a drunk driver. As the anniversary of the wreck approaches, Michael’s grief grows more suffocating. Yet he must find a way through the maze of pain and secrets to live for their troubled young daughter who struggles with guilt that she survived the crash. Out of the darkness comes a voice, a lifeline he never expected to find – Rebecca O’Neill, a development executive in the studio where Michael works as an electrician. Rebecca, a former sitcom celebrity left scarred from a crazed fan’s attack, has retreated from the limelight and from life in general, certain no man can ever get past her disfigurement. The instant sparks between her and Michael, who arrives to help her during a power outage, come as a complete surprise – and so does her uncanny bond with his daughter. For the first time, all three feel compelled to examine their inner and outer scars in the light of love. But trust is hard to come by, especially when you’re not sure what to believe when you look in the mirror. The scars? Or the truth?
Richelle Mead
Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, Book 3)
Penguin Puffin (UK: 4th February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
It’s springtime at St. Vladimir’s Academy and Rose is close to graduation, but since making her first Strigoi kills, things haven’t felt quite right. She’s having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all…might be seeing ghosts. Consumed by her forbidden love with her tutor Dimitri and protecting her best friend, the Moroi princess Lissa, Rose is in no state to see the deadly threat that will change her entire world – and make her choose between the two people she loves most.
Richelle Mead
Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, Book 4)
Penguin Puffin (UK: 4th February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
The recent Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir’s Academy was the deadliest ever in the school’s history, claiming the lives of many. Even worse, the Strigoi took some of their victims with them – including Dimitri. He’d rather die than be one of them, and now Rose must abandon her best friend, Lissa – the one she has sworn to protect no matter what – and keep the promise Dimitri begged her to make long ago. But with everything at stake, how can she possibly destroy the person she loves most?
Jeff Somers
The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3)
Hachette Orbit (UK: 4th February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Avery Cates is a wanted man. After surviving the worst bioengineered disaster in history, Cates finds himself incarcerated – in Chengara Penitentiary. As Chengara has a survival rate of exactly zero, the System’s most famous gunner must do some serious plotting. And a betrayal or so later, he achieves his goal. At a price. All he has to do next is defeat some new personal demons, forge some unlikely alliances, and figure out why the people he’s killed lately just won’t stay dead. Plus pull off the biggest assassination of his career…
Joss Ware
Embrace the Night Eternal (Envy Chronicles, Book 2)
HarperCollins Avon (US: 9th February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Everything they knew is gone. From the raging fires, five men emerge with extraordinary new powers. They must learn how to survive this dark, ravaged world…but they cannot do it alone. Simon Japp will never forget his violent past. But when civilisation is all but destroyed, he sees his chance for redemption. Blessed with a strange “gift,” he’s determined to help the resistance against the Strangers, the mysterious force that stalks them at every turn. He can’t afford to get distracted, even by the stunning, soft-spoken woman fighting by his side… Sage Corrigan has learned to be careful where she places her trust. But she sees something good in Simon, even if he can’t see it in himself. Posing as lovers to infiltrate a group key to their fight, they find that their staged affection soon develops into a desire that will leave them fighting for their lives in the night eternal…
Kim Harrison
Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows, Book 8)
HarperCollins Eos (US: 23rd February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter – and lived to tell the tale. But she’s never faced off against her own kind…until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment – at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief. It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.
Mark Henry
Battle of the Network Zombies (Amanda Feral, Book 3)
Kensington (US: 23rd February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)
In Seattle’s undead circles, Amanda Feral is one of the beautiful zombies. Of course, when you’re socialising with werewolves, devils, and rampaging yetis, there’s not that much competition. Still, Amanda has a stylish rep to maintain, which is getting tricky now that her tanking ad agency is obliterating her finances. The fastest way to make some cash: appear on a new reality show, American Minions, hosted by lecherous wood nymph Johnny Birch. Classy? Maybe not, but a girl’s gotta eat. With zombie gal pal Wendy posing as her bitchy agent, Amanda settles in to “Minions Mansion,” crowded with 24/7 video cameras and undead fame whores. When Johnny is found incinerated in a locked room, Amanda decides to channel her inner Miss Marple (minus the fugly cardigans) and find out who’s responsible. Was it Hairy Sue, the white trash stripper yeti? Tanesha, the glamorous trannie werewolf? Angie, the Filipino vampire with a detachable head? Unveiling the culprit in a heart-stopping finale won’t just save the show from cancellation, it might just keep Amanda alive – or as close as a ghoul can get…
Blood of the Demon (Kara Gillian, Book 2)
Random House Bantam (US & CA: 23rd February 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Welcome to the world of Kara Gillian, a cop with a gift. Not only does she have the power of “othersight” to see what most people can’t even imagine, but she’s become the exclusive summoner of a demon lord. Or maybe it’s the other way around. The fact is, with two troublesome cases on her docket and a handsome FBI agent under her skin, Kara needs the help of sexy, insatiable Lord Rhyzkahl more than he needs her. Because these two victims, linked by suspicious coincidence, haven’t just been murdered. Something has eaten their souls. It’s a case with roots in the arcane, but whose evil has flowered among the rich, powerful, and corrupt in Beaulac, Louisiana. And as the killings continue, Kara soon realises how much there’s still to learn about demons, men, and things that kill in the night – and how little time she has to learn it.
My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers, Book 1)
Harlequin Mira (AU: February 2010)
Review
Buy (US) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Something is wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh… She doesn’t see dead people, but… She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally. Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next…
Tez Says 