March 2023 Releases

(NOTE: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Goodreads links to my star-ratings and thoughts.)

V. C. Andrews: Midnight Whispers: Kindle Edition & Paperback & Mass Market Paperback

Marianna Baer: The Inconceivable Life of Quinn: Kindle Edition & Hardcover & Paperback

Marianna Baer: Wolfwood: Kindle Edition & Hardcover

Julianna Baggott: I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here with You, and Other Stories: Kindle Edition

Darcey Bell: Woman of the Year: Kindle Edition & Paperback: Goodreads

Tara Isabella Burton: The World Cannot Give: Kindle Edition & Hardcover & Paperback

Sylvia Day: So Close: Kindle Edition & Hardcover & Paperback

Ren DeStefano: How I’ll Kill You: Kindle Edition & Hardcover

Fran Dorricott: The Loch: Kindle Edition

Megan E. Hart: A Dark, Cold Touch: Kindle Edition & Paperback

Amelia Kahaney: All the Best Liars: Kindle Edition & Hardcover & Paperback: Goodreads

Demitria Lunetta: The Shining City: Paperback

Amy McCulloch: Breathless: Kindle Edition & Paperback: Goodreads

Mindy McGinnis: A Long Stretch of Bad Days: Kindle Edition & Hardcover

Seanan McGuire: Backpacking Through Bedlam: Kindle Edition & Paperback

Francine Pascal: Little Crew of Butchers: Kindle Edition

Jodi Picoult: Change of Heart: Kindle Edition & Paperback & <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1668012766?tag=tesa06-20 (Mass Market Paperback): Goodreads

Veronica Rossi: Roar of the Tides: Kindle Edition & Hardcover & Paperback

Lisa Scottoline: Loyalty: Kindle Edition & Hardcover

Megan Shepherd: Dog Star: Kindle Edition & Hardcover & Paperback: Goodreads

Lilja Sigurðardóttir (translated by Quentin Bates): Red as Blood: Kindle Edition & Paperback

Francesca Zappia: Greymist Fair: Kindle Edition & Hardcover

Now Available for US Pre-Order

These are all the books I added to my wishlist from July 1st onwards. Because I’m so behind, some of these books have already been published. So click what takes your fancy, and maybe you’ll be in luck to buy and read straight away.

Tara Altebrando: TAKE ME WITH YOU: 1st June 2021: US Paperback

V. C. Andrews: THE UMBRELLA LADY: 2nd February 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Hardcover

Kelley Armstrong: CURSED LUCK: 4th May 2021: US Kindle Edition

Keri Arthur: MAGIC MISLED: 23rd February 2021: US Kindle Edition

Claire Askew: NOVELISTA: 15th October 2020: US Kindle Edition

Chris Beckett: TWO TRIBES: US Kindle Edition

Oyinkan Braithwaite: TREASURE: US Kindle Edition

Kylie Chan: SCALES OF EMPIRE: 1st September 2020: US Paperback

Naomi Clark: THE WITCH’S GUIDE TO WEREWOLVES: US Kindle Edition

Katelyn Detweiler: THE PEOPLE WE CHOOSE: 4th May 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Hardcover

Janet Edwards: EARTH PRIME: US Kindle Edition

Nicci French: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR: 27th April 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Paperback

Tess Gerritsen & Gary Braver: CHOOSE ME: 22nd June 2021: US Kindle Edition

R. Z. Held: UNJUST THEFT: US Kindle Edition

Kristi Helvig: STRANGE SKIES: US Kindle Edition

Karen Ann Hopkins: BLOODY TIES: 22nd September 2020: US Kindle Edition

Emiko Jean: TOKYO EVER AFTER: 25th May 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Hardcover

Seanan McGuire: CALCULATED RISKS: 23rd February 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Paperback

Seanan McGuire: ANGEL OF THE OVERPASS: 11th May 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Paperback

Saundra Mitchell: ALL THE THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK: 16th February 2021: US Paperback

Francine Pascal: LITTLE CREW OF BUTCHERS: 25th May 2021: US Paperback

Parker Peevyhouse: STRANGE EXIT: 27th April 2021: US Paperback

Tiffany Reisz: A MIDWINTER NIGHT’S DREAM: 1st December 2020: US Kindle Edition & US Paperback

Tiffany Reisz: A WINTER SYMPHONY: 1st December 2020: US Kindle Edition & US Paperback

Tiffany Reisz: THE PEARL: 1st December 2020: US Paperback

Laura Ruby: THIRTEEN DOORWAYS, WOLVES BEHIND THEM ALL: 27th April 2021: US Paperback

Lisa Scottoline: EXPOSED: 29th December 2020: US Paperback

Lisa Scottoline: ETERNAL: 23rd March 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Hardcover

Andrew Shaffer: LOOK MOM I’M A POET (AND SO IS MY CAT): 11th May 2021: US Paperback

Lilja Sigurðardóttir: BETRAYAL: 1st May 2021: US Paperback

Karin Slaughter: THE SILENT WIFE: 20th April 2021: US Paperback

Maria V. Snyder: DEFENDING THE GALAXY: 2nd December 2020: Australian Kindle Edition

Victoria Helen Stone: THE LAST ONE HOME: 23rd March 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Paperback

Amy Tintera: ALL THESE MONSTERS: 15th June 2021: US Paperback

Paul Tremblay: NO SLEEP TILL WONDERLAND: 20th April 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Paperback

Andy Weir: PROJECT HAIL MARY: 4th May 2021: US Kindle Edition & US Hardcover

Francesca Zappia: NOW ENTERING ADDAMSVILLE: 13th April 2021: US Paperback

May 2020 Releases

The following is a list of books released in May 2020, which was last month.

30th October 2012 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Kylie Chan
Hell to Heaven (Journey to Wudang, Book 2)
HarperCollins Voyager (US: 30th October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Emma Donahoe teeters on the edge of becoming fully demon, and must make a journey to the Kunlun Mountains in the West, home of the reclusive ancient goddess Nu Wa, in an attempt to regain her humanity. Travelling with Emma is Xuan Wu’s daughter, Simone, who is struggling with her growing power and trying to defend herself from the demons who want to destroy her. And Michael is trying to come to terms with the shock of finding out he might be half demon…and a danger to them all.

Darynda Jones
Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet (Charley Davidson, Book 4)
Macmillan St. Martin’s (US: 30th October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Sometimes being the grim reaper really is that. Grim. And since Charley’s last case went so awry, she has taken a couple months off to wallow in the wonders of self-pity. But when a woman shows up on her doorstep convinced someone is trying to kill her, Charley has to force herself to rise above. Or at least get dressed. She quickly realises something is amiss when everyone the woman knows swears she’s insane. The more they refute the woman’s story, the more Charley believes it. In the meantime, the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, has been cleared of all charges. He is out of prison and out of Charley’s life, as per her wishes and several perfectly timed death threats. But his absence has put a serious crimp in her sex life. While there are other things to consider, like the fact that the city of Albuquerque has been taken hostage by an arsonist, Charley is having a difficult time staying away. Especially when it looks like Reyes may be involved. Just when life was returning to normal, Charley is thrust back into the world of crime, punishment, and the devil in blue jeans.

Richelle Mead
Succubus Dreams (Georgina Kincaid, Book 3)
Kensington Zebra (US: 30th October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
First, Georgina Kincaid, a shape-shifting succubus who gets her energy from seducing men, can’t have sex with her gorgeous bestselling author boyfriend Seth Mortensen – in case she inadvertently kills him. Second, Georgina’s under demonic orders to mentor the new (and surprisingly inept) succubus on the block. Third, someone’s manipulating her dreams, 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 a crisis point. Georgina needs to 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…

Francine Pascal
The Sweet Life (Sweet Valley Confidential, Book 2)
Macmillan St. Martin’s (US: 30th October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are back in Sweet Valley and inseparable once more. Things are looking up for both twins: Elizabeth is a star reporter at the LA Tribune, and Jessica’s PR career is on the fast-track. But while the professional lives of the Wakefield sisters are secure, their personal lives may be in jeopardy. Jessica, now a mother, finds that managing parenthood, marriage, and a job is harder than she expected, while Elizabeth and Bruce must face a scandal that could strengthen their bond…or tear them apart forever. Meanwhile, life goes on in Sweet Valley. Families are made, hearts are broken, and…Lila Fowler is a reality TV star? Some things never change.

Veronica Roth
Insurgent (Divergent, Book 2) [Collector’s Edition]
HarperCollins Katherine Tegen (US: 30th October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
This deluxe collector’s edition includes: Free Four: This pivotal thirteen-page scene from Divergent, retold from Tobias’s point of view, reveals unknown facts and fascinating details about Four’s character, his past, his own initiation, and his thoughts about new Dauntless initiate Tris Prior. A ribbon bookmark. An exclusive, full-colour foldout poster. Faction tattoos. Deckled edges. Forty-eight pages of bonus content, including interviews with Veronica Roth, playlists, faction party tips, and much more! One choice can transform you – or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves – and herself – while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable – and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

October 2012 Releases

Done with September 2012 Releases? Here are October 2012 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

3 New Covers (Cohn, Mahoney, Pascal)

[REVIEW] Sweet Valley Confidential – Francine Pascal

Francine Pascal
Sweet Valley Confidential
HarperCollins (AU: 1st April 2011); Random House Cornerstone Arrow (UK: 14th April 2011); St. Martin’s (US: 3rd January 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

I was raised on British comedy TV, so books provided my US insight. Growing up in Australia, reading Sweet Valley was an escapist bizarro world of cultures that seemed very foreign: cheerleaders, school spirit, every sixteen-year-old had a car, etc. And they were always shopping, even though none of them worked. Lila Fowler must’ve used credit cards paid for by her dad, but that doesn’t explain the others. So everyone in Sweet Valley seemed rich.

Like most long-running series, Sweet Valley jumped the shark – namely when Sweet Valley High switched to SVH Senior Year, Sweet Valley Twins to Sweet Valley Jr. High, and Sweet Valley University to…well, the twins moved into a duplex, and then came the biggest shark-jump of all: an Upstairs, Downstairs four-book series entitled Elizabeth, in which Elizabeth Wakefield runs away to England, calls herself Elizabeth Bennet, and works as a scullery maid for some kind of British royalty. I am not kidding. I wish I were.

After the first Elizabeth novel, I dropped all Sweet Valley. I moved onto chick lit, then crime for a good chunk of time, then urban fantasy in the early-2000s.

My memory is a sieve, but Sweet Valley Confidential leads me to believe my brain isn’t an entire wasteland:

SWEET VALLEY CONFIDENTIAL / MY BRAIN
Lila Fowler’s dad is Richard / Lila Fowler’s dad is George
A. J. Morgan is blond / A. J. Morgan is a redhead
Aaron Dallas was a dick in high school / Aaron Dallas was not a dick in high school

Basically my beef with Sweet Valley Confidential is that I don’t know what’s canon (or even what “canon” means):

Canon: Events that are set in stone, and affect future storylines
E.g. Maude dies in The Simpsons
Not canon: eg. The Simpsons never age, even though they’ve had so many Christmases

Confidential references events from SVU: Jessica Wakefield was married to Mike McAllery; Elizabeth had a long-term relationship with Tom Watts. But it forgets that Enid Rollins became Alexandra.

A series should stay true to the characters all the way. Francine Pascal throws that out the window, turning villains into heroes, and heroes into villains: Jessica and Todd are engaged. Elizabeth and Bruce are BFFs.

Class clown Winston Egbert formed a dot-com biz; became rich and a douchebag. I really liked him before, and sleazy Bruce was great fun – the Chuck Bass of the ’90s. Lila Fowler was also a favourite, but she barely gets page-time in Confidential; just hosts a party.

The plot is weak, but the novel was published for nostalgia. Lyrics from Beyoncé’s “Broken-Hearted Girl” and Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” immediately date the story, and are unnecessary. The book is mostly meh, but Chapter 14 is when all hell breaks loose, a brilliant set-piece. At their grandmother’s birthday dinner, the twins face off, the guests get involved, Ned Wakefield escapes the table, and Alice Wakefield screams to bring in the cake. I don’t know if this scene is supposed to be hilarious, but it’s a hoot!

In short, you’re probably better off not reading Sweet Valley Confidential, but you’d be a fool to miss the shenanigans of Chapter 14. I can’t buy eBooks, so I’ll miss the upcoming e-serial, unless it emerges in a print book.

April 2011 Releases

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

March 2011 Releases

Done with February 2011 Releases. Here are March’s. To see future titles and dates, check out Reading Wishlist.

9 New Covers