April 2011 Releases

Done with March 2011 Releases? Here are April 2011 Releases. To see further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

Richelle Mead
Iron Crowned (Dark Swan, Book 3)
Random House Bantam (AU: 1st April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear…Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation – one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…

Francine Pascal
Sweet Valley Confidential
HarperCollins (AU: 1st April 2011); Random House Arrow (UK: 14th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

It’s been ten years since the Wakefield twins graduated from Sweet Valley High, and a lot has happened. For a start, Elizabeth and Jessica have had a falling out of epic proportions, after Jessica committed the ultimate betrayal, and this time it looks like Elizabeth will never be able to forgive her. Suddenly Sweet Valley isn’t big enough for the two of them, so Elizabeth has fled to New York to immerse herself in her lifelong dream of becoming a serious reporter, leaving a guilt-stricken Jessica contemplating the unthinkable: life without her sister. Despite the distance between them, the sisters are never far from each other’s thoughts. Jessica longs for forgiveness, but Elizabeth can’t forget her twin’s duplicity. Uncharacteristically, she decides the only way to heal her broken heart is to get revenge. Always the “good” twin, the one getting her headstrong sister out of trouble, Elizabeth is now about to turn the tables…

Angie Smibert
Memento Nora
Marshall Cavendish (US: 1st April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Nora, the popular girl and happy consumer, witnesses a horrific bombing on a shopping trip with her mother. In Nora’s near-future world, terrorism is so commonplace that she can pop one little white pill to forget and go on like nothing ever happened. However, when Nora makes her first trip to a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic, she learns what her mother, a frequent forgetter, has been frequently forgetting. Nora secretly spits out the pill and holds on to her memories. The memory of the bombing as well as her mother’s secret and her budding awareness of the world outside her little clique make it increasingly difficult for Nora to cope. She turns to two new friends, each with their own reasons to remember, and together they share their experiences with their classmates through an underground comic. They soon learn, though, they can’t get away with remembering.

Rachel Vincent
Shift (Shifters, Book 5)
Mills & Boon Mira (AU: 1st April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Being the first female werecat enforcer isn’t easy. Scars accumulate, but I’m stronger in so many ways. As for my personal life? It’s complicated. Choices worth making always are. Ever since my brother’s death and my father’s impeachment, it’s all I can do to prevent more blood from spilling. Now our Pride is under attack by a flight of vicious thunderbirds. And making peace with our new enemies may be the only way to get the best of our old foe. With the body count rising and treachery everywhere, my instincts tell me to look before I leap. But sometimes a leap of faith is the only real option…

Jackie Morse Kessler
Rage (Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Book 2)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Graphia (US: 4th April 2011)
Review
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Missy didn’t mean to cut so deep. But after the party where she was humiliated in front of practically everyone in school, who could blame her for wanting some comfort? Sure, most people don’t find comfort in the touch of a razor blade, but Missy always was…different. That’s why she was chosen to become one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War. Now Missy wields a new kind of blade – a big, brutal sword that can cut down anyone and anything in her path. But it’s with this weapon in her hand that Missy learns something that could help her triumph over her own pain: control.

Kelley Armstrong
The Gathering (Darkness Rising, Book 1)
Random House Doubleday (CA: 5th April 2011); Hachette Atom (UK: 7th April 2011; AU: April 2011); HarperCollins (US: 12th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students – for every grade from kindergarten to twelve. Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya’s determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya’s home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts experiencing “bad vibes” about certain people and things. It doesn’t help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret…and he’s interested in one special part of Maya’s anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.

Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, Book 4)
Simon & Schuster Margaret K. McElderry (US & CA: 5th April 2011); Walker (AU: 5th April 2011; UK: 7th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and – most importantly of all – she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. And when Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Ann Aguirre
Shady Lady (Corine Solomon, Book 3)
Penguin Roc (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Whenever Corine Solomon touches an object, she immediately knows its history. But her own future concerns her more and more. Now back in Mexico, she’s running her pawnshop and trying to get a handle on her strange new powers, for she might need them. And soon. Then former ally Kel Ferguson walks through her door. Heavily muscled and tattooed, Kel looks like a convict but calls himself a holy warrior. This time, he carries a warning for Corine: the Montoya cartel is coming for her – but they don’t just pack automatic weapons. The Montoyas use warlocks, shamans, voodoo priests – anything to terminate trouble. And Corine has become enemy number one…

Anya Bast
Dark Enchantment (Dark Magick, Book 3)
Penguin Berkley (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Tax consultant Charlotte Bennett isn’t the type to lose control. Until she’s seduced in a dream by a handsome, rugged man named Kieran. In her dream state, she decides to let loose, letting pleasure and desire lead the way. But she quickly discovers her “safe” night of passion has dangerous repercussions. The lust-driven dream was in fact a magick illusion that’s left Charlotte indefinitely bound to a controlling fae named Kieran. Under his order, she must find the last piece of a powerful relic. Only Charlotte knows the location of the bosca fadbh, but the knowledge is hidden deep within her bloodline – and only wicked magick can draw it out. Forced to work with the enticing Kieran, she finds it hard to escape their seductive chemistry. Even though he’s harbouring a deadly curse, one that puts Charlotte in danger – and could make this attraction fatal…

Holly Black
Red Glove (Curse Workers, Book 2)
Simon & Schuster Margaret K. McElderry (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe’s world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realised his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth – he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything – or anyone – into something else. That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she’s human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila’s been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila’s love is as phony as Cassel’s made-up memories, then he can’t believe anything she says or does. When Cassel’s oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue – crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too – they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can’t trust anyone – least of all, himself? Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

Rachel Caine
Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires, Book 9)
Penguin NAL Signet (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

While developing a new system to maintain Morganville’s defences, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she’s able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders. But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are – even the vampires. Soon, the town’s little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment – before she forgets how to save Morganville…

Lauren Dane
Mesmerized (Phantom Corps, Book 2)
Penguin Berkley (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

They call him the Shadow. Andrei Solace delivers death on silent feet as an assassin for the Phantom Corps. The perfect weapon in the fight against the Imperium, he’s sent to the same ‘Verse he left behind as a youth. Piper Roundtree is a mercenary prepared for anything – except for being rescued from Imperial lackeys by the man she hasn’t laid eyes on in eleven years. While she remembers every mesmerising sensation he gave her, she thought they were through. And against the backdrop of an impending war, their passion is reignited. The girl Andrei once loved is now a fierce woman who can pilot a ship through canyons at high speeds, and drive him wild with equal abandon. As much as Andrei tries to protect her from the darkness inside him, Piper admires his skills and the code he lives by. Now the lovers must join forces – in more ways than one – to save the Known Universe before the enemy hurls it into irreversible chaos…

J. N. Duncan
Deadworld (Jackie Rutledge, Book 1)
Kensington (US: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

She’s as tough as anything haunting Chicago’s streets. But to deal with an inhuman power that won’t stay buried, this FBI agent needs help that comes at an immortal price…Jackie Rutledge has seen her share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup…So Jackie is fine with any help rugged P.I. Nick Anderson can give – even if that includes the impish ghost and sexy vampire who make up his team. But Nick is hiding secrets of his own. And Jackie’s investigation has plunged them both into a vengeful game reaching back centuries – and up against a malevolent force hungry for more than just victory…

Jackson Pearce
Sisters Red
Hachette (US: 5th April 2011; UK: 7th April)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

The story of Scarlett and Rosie March, two highly-skilled sisters who have been hunting Fenris (werewolves) – who prey on teen girls – since Scarlett lost her eye years ago while defending Rosie in an attack. Scarlett lives to destroy the Fenris, and she and Rosie lure them in with red cloaks (a colour the wolves can’t resist), though Rosie hunts more out of debt to her sister than drive. But things seem to be changing. The wolves are getting stronger and harder to fight, and there has been a rash of news reports about countless teenage girls being brutally murdered in the city. Scarlett and Rosie soon discover the truth: wolves are banding together in search of a Potential Fenris – a man tainted by the pack but not yet fully changed. Desperate to find the Potential to use him as bait for a massive werewolf extermination, the sisters move to the city with Silas, a young woodsman and long-time family friend who is deadly with an axe. Meanwhile, Rosie finds herself drawn to Silas and the bond they share not only drives the sisters apart, but could destroy all they’ve worked for.

Janni Lee Simner
Thief Eyes
Random House (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

After her mother mysteriously disappears, sixteen-year-old Haley convinces her father to take her to Iceland, where her mother was last seen. There, amidst the ancient fissures and crevices of that volcanic island, Haley picks up a silver coin that entangles her in a spell cast by her ancestor Hallgerd, a sorceress intent on stealing another’s life to escape her own. To break the spell, Haley sets off on an epic adventure with gorgeous Ari, a boy with a dangerous side who appoints himself her protector. They soon learn that Hallgerd’s spell and her mother’s disappearance are connected to a chain of events that could unleash terrifying powers and consume the world. Haley must find a way to contain the growing fires of the spell – and her growing attraction to Ari.

Janni Lee Simner
Faerie Winter (Faerie, Book 2)
Random House (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Liza is a summoner. She can draw life to herself, even from beyond the grave. And because magic works both ways, she can drive life away. Months ago, she used her powers to banish her dangerous father and to rescue her mother, lost in dreams, from the ruined land of Faerie. Born in the wake of the war between humanity and Faerie, Liza lived in a world where green things never slept, where trees sought to root in living flesh and bone. But now the forests have fallen silent. Even the evergreens’ branches are bare. Winter crops won’t grow, and the threat of starvation looms. And deep in the forest a dark, malevolent will is at work. To face it, Liza will have to find within herself something more powerful than magic alone.

Jeri Smith-Ready
Shade (Shade, Book 1)
Simon & Schuster Pulse (US & CA: 5th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan’s band playing a critical gig and Aura’s plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend’s life. She never thought it would be his last. Logan’s sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He’s gone. Well, sort of. Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost. It doesn’t help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding – and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit. As Aura’s relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura’s heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift.

Mira Grant
Feed (Newsflesh, Book 1)
Hachette Little, Brown Orbit (UK: 7th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Shaun and Georgia are orphans of the Rising, the cataclysmic event which left the world reeling in the aftermath of the zombie uprising. Adopted by the Masons and raised in the strange world of the post-Rising media, they’ve spent their lives chasing the next big story, the one that will allow them to break into the big leagues once and for all. Now, in Senator Peter Ryman’s run for the Presidency of the United States, they’ve finally found it. All they have to do is survive until the election. In a world filled with the constant threat of both the living and the living dead, it will be all that Shaun and Georgia can do to keep themselves in one piece. Accompanied by the rest of their blogging team, Senator Ryman’s staff, and a whole lot of caffeine, they might succeed…or they might finally answer the big question of their post-Rising world: When will you rise?

Carrie Ryan
The Dark and Hollow Places (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Book 3)
Hachette Orion Gollancz (UK: 7th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister’s face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters. Annah’s world stopped that day and she’s been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn’t feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again. Except, Catcher has his own secrets – dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah’s longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it’s up to Annah – can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return’s destruction?

Ann Aguirre
Enclave
Macmillan Feiwel & Friends (US: 12th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

In Deuce’s world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed “brat” has trained into one of three groups – Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember. As a Huntress, her purpose is clear – to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning. Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn’t like following orders. At first she thinks he’s crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don’t always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling the truth. Her partner confuses her; she’s never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using his knives with feral grace. As Deuce’s perception shifts, so does the balance in the constant battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat only due to their sheer numbers, show signs of cunning and strategy…but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. Despite imminent disaster, the enclave puts their faith in strictures and sacrifice instead. No matter how she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she’s ever known.

Stephenie Meyer
The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide
Hachette Little, Brown (US, UK & AU: 12th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Full-colour throughout with nearly 100 illustrations and photographs and with exclusive new material, character profiles, genealogical charts, maps, extensive cross-references, and much more.

Teri Hall
The Line (The Line, Book 1)
Penguin (US: 14th April 2011; CA: 19th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Rachel lives with her mother on The Property. The good thing about living there is that it’s far from the city where the oppressive government is most active. The bad thing, at least to most people, is that it’s close to the Line – an uncrossable section of the National Border Defence System, an invisible barrier that encloses the entire country. She can see the Line from the greenhouse windows, but she is forbidden to go near it. Across the Line is Away, and though Rachel has heard many whispers about the dangers there, she’s never really believed the stories. Until the day she hears a recording that could only have come from across the Line. It’s a voice asking for help. Who sent the message? What is her mother hiding? And to what lengths will Rachel go in order to do what she thinks is right?

Megan McCafferty
Bumped
HarperCollins Balzer + Bray (CA: 15th April 2011; US: 26th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food. Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job. Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from. When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realise they have so much more than just DNA in common.

Lili St. Crow
Defiance (Strange Angels, Book 4)
Penguin (US & CA: 19th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Dru Anderson has always been a good listener. She listened to her dad, but had to gun him down herself when he turned zombie. She listened to the Order, but got nothing but lied to in return. She listened to Christophe, and lost the only friend she had left. Time to buckle up, boys and girls. Dru Anderson is done listening. From here on out, she’ll face the King of the Vampires on her own terms. And if the Order has a problem with it, they can kiss their sweet little svetocha goodbye…

Becca Fitzpatrick
Crescendo (Hush Hush, Book 2)
Simon & Schuster (UK: 28th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Nora should have known her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described as anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can’t figure out if it’s for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy, Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. The further Nora delves into the mystery of her father’s death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim bloodline has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn’t answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

Caragh M. O’Brien
Birthmarked (Birthmarked, Book 1)
Simon & Schuster (UK: 28th April 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the walled Enclave and those, like sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone, who live outside. Following in her mother’s footsteps Gaia has become a midwife, delivering babies in the world outside the wall and handing a quota over to be “advanced” into the privileged society of the Enclave. Gaia has always believed this is her duty, until the night her mother and father are arrested by the very people they so loyally serve. Now Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught, but her choice is simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.

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