Waiting On Wednesday - #6

{++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  She's way too awesome, and put this event together in order to bring us bloggers together.  Some of us like me are relatively new; others have been here longer, but the gist of it is,  we all need an opportunity to reveal our can't-wait-to-read-'em, omg-gotta-have-'em-books, (and maybe make a few new friends along the way.)  Here are my picks this week!

It's the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia's world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she's not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.  

Publication date: 03.07.2011 (I have ordered this one and it should be arriving soon!)
Summary from Amazon.com - book page

{ ++ } Okay seriously how awesome does this book sound?  (I have a slight fetish for the name Amelia...full disclosure.)  The summary, the gothic potential, the gorgeous cover...all of it makes me want to start reading this one the moment it hits my mailbox (soon!)

Possessed by the demon of Defeat, Strider cannot lose a challenge without suffering unimaginable pain. For him, nothing stands in the way of victory. Until Kaia, an enchanting Harpy, tempts him to the razor’s edge of surrender.

Known among her people as The Disappointment, Kaia must bring home the gold in the Harpy Games or die. Strider is a distraction she can’t afford because he has an agenda of his own – steal first prize, an ancient godly artifact, before the winner can be named. But as the competition heats up, only one prize will matter – the love neither had thought possible…

Publication date: 09.27.2011
Summary from Goodreads.com - book page


{ ++ } Ummm Gena Showalter + The Lords = YES PLEASE.  Gena is one of my absolute favorite paranormal romance authors and each book in her Lords of the Underworld series just gets better, bringing the plot and characters to a new level of awesome. 

Free-spirit Skyla Plinka has found the love and stability she always wanted in her reliable husband Thomas. Settling into her new family and roles as wife and mother, life in rural Wisconsin is satisfying, but can’t seem to quell Skyla’s growing sense of restlessness. Her only reprieve is her growing friendship with neighbor Roxanne, who has five kids (and counting) and a life in constant disarray – but also a life filled with laughter and love.

Much to the dismay of her intrusive mother-in-law, Audrey, Skyla takes a part-time job at the local bookstore and slowly begins to rediscover her voice, independence and confidence. Throughout one pivotal year in the life of Skyla, Audrey and Roxanne, all three very different women will learn what it means to love unconditionally. 

Publication Date: 08.10.2010
Summary from Amazon.com - book page

{ ++ } This one struck me as...interesting.  I loved the cover, and I generally thoroughly enjoy stories about people finding themselves, when those stories are well written.  I know this one has already been published, and I bought it recently, but I felt like it deserved to be spotlighted.  : )

{ ++ } What are your WoW picks this week?

latest & greatest: the darkest secret

 While exploring a few other blogs today, I stumbled across a great idea, which basically boils down to me squee'ing over books that are due out soon, that I cannot wait to get my hands on.  Some of these are ones I will be able to read right away; others are ones I am a ways off of reading, but that nevertheless, have my heart beating a little faster in anticipation. 

I don't know how often I'll do this, but like I said, I thought the idea was cool, and it might draw some good attention to authors who some of you have never tried before. 


I'm tentatively calling this "feature", "latest and greatest."  The name may change if I think of something cooler, but here we go.  :)

(image from amazon.com)

Goodreads page (to avoid spoilers)

Publication date: March 29, 2011

Gena Showalter writes paranormal romance, and while yes, the romance is at times a little "hot and heavy," what I like best about this series is that the romances are not the primary focus.  There is a plot here.  A good, solid plot that builds with every book, becoming more intricate.  A band of immortal warriors who opened the mythical Pandora's box were each cursed to house a demon (defeat, secrets, pain).  Suffice to say, they do not lead normal lives.  And the quest they are engaged in - finding Pandora's box to atone for their sins - only ramps up the danger, yet each book tells the story of one of the warriors, and how through finding love, they learn to survive their demons.  

So yes, the plot works.  Showalter finds new angles to spin it in, with each book.  And another thing I adore is that the same characters we met in the first few books are in the most recent ones.  It's not a case of, character A had his/her book, so now they're relegated to the shadows.  Far from it.  Just because a couple found their happily-ever-after doesn't mean they're out of the picture.  These characters all work together.  And I love that we are meeting new characters who are just as interesting and compelling.  

Add in to that that Amun (the hero of The Darkest Secret and keeper of the demon of secrets) has always made me curious, and in this book, Showalter seems to be planning to (maybe literally) put him through hell, not to mention, pair him up with one of the series most controversial females, and I will definitely be buying a copy as soon as this one hits the shelves!