Waiting on Wednesday - #20: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

{ ++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

I'm Waiting On...

 It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.


When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?


Enchanted by Alethea Kontis |  Goodreads
Expected publication: May 8th, 2012 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Why it's swoon-worthy: This one sounds SO SO cute, a total retelling of the Frog Prince, but the author has definitely added her own touch.  And oh, sweet cover, too! Update: HEE.  I just got an ARC of this one!  SO HAPPY.  Thanks to HMH! 


{ ++ } What are YOU waiting on this week?

Waiting On Wednesday - #19: Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini

{ ++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

I'm Waiting On...

 Life altering mistakes are meant to alter lives…

When Elliot dies for the third time, she knows this is her last shot. There are no fourth-timers in this afterlife, so one more chance is all she has to get things right. But before she can move on to her next life, Elliot will be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people she’s killed.

As she pieces together the mistakes of her past, Elliot must earn the forgiveness of her best friend and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if it means losing them both forever.

Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini  |  Goodreads
Expected publication: September 4th, 2012

Why it's swoon-worthy: the synopsis leapt out at me and I knew I HAD to mark this book as TBR.  It sounds really kind of unique!  Plus. That cover is gorgeous, right?  Be sure to add this one to YOUR TBR, and tell me what you're waiting on this week!

Waiting On Wednesday - #19: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

{ ++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

I'm Waiting On...

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Further information: Goodreads | Amazon

Expected publication: May 8th, 2012 (HarperCollins Children's Books)

( ++ ) Why this book: First, the cover looks absolutely stunning and gorgeous.  And the plot?  VERY wolfy/urban fantasy, and just has me on the edge of my seat already. 

What's YOUR WOW pick this week?

Waiting on Wednesday - #17: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

{ ++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

I'm Waiting On...

Emma and her friend Chloe are spending vacation in Florida. When Emma (literally) runs into a hot guy named Galen on the beach, little does she know he’s a prince of the Syrena. Galen and Emma both feel something strange – is it attraction? – and Galen suspects that Emma might well be the girl he’s heard of – a human who can communicate with fish.

What follows is a deadly scene with a shark in which Galen witnesses Emma’s gifts. He must know more about her, and follows her back to New Jersey, and high school, to find out for sure if she’s the key to saving his kingdom. Soon, Emma can’t deny her feelings for him, but can’t explain them, either – and both she and Galen must learn more about where she comes from and what her powers are before they can trust one another and their feelings.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Expected publication:05.22.2012

Further info: Goodreads | Amazon

Why this book: The cover is absolutely stunning!  I am a sucker for the name Galen.  And I am kinda digging the mythology plots these days! Plus?  Anna is totally a sweetheart and fun to follow on Twitter!

{ ++ } What's YOUR WoW this week?  :)

"Waiting On" Wednesday - #16: Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

{ ++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

I'm Waiting On...

Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

Illuminate is an exciting saga of a teen’s first taste of independence, her experience in the lap of luxury, and her discovery she may possess strength greater than she ever knew.

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Expected publication: 03.06.2012 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt )

Further info: Goodreads | Amazon

{ ++ } Basically this book looks decadent, heart-pounding and kinda awesome.  I'm in love with the cover, and the plot sounds like a story I'll really love.  Plus I follow Aimee on Twitter, and she seems super sweet and interested in her fans!  

{ ++ } What's everyone's WoW pick this week? 

Waiting on Wednesday - #15: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

{ ++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

I'm waiting on...

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.


New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

 Darker Still by Leanna Renee Heiber

Expected publication: 11.08.2011 (Sourcebooks)
Further info: Goodreads | Amazon

{ ++ } First of all, the cover is gorgeous.  And secondly, the plot sounds really spooky and kind of awesome.  I definitely feel drawn to this book and am going to give it a try!

{ ++ } What about y'all?  What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday - #14: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

{++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue. 


An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn. 

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Expected publication: 01.12.2012
Further info: Goodreads | Amazon
Find the author online: Site | Twitter

Why This Book?

Romanov history and that whole era just fascinates me, for some reason.  And the whole thought of a girl living in those times that's a necromancer sounds really awesome!

Waiting On Wednesday - #13: Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto

{++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max; same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose; he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.

As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem; how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up? Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down; if it is really Max and along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to.

Published: 08.02.2011 (Crown)

Further info: Goodreads | Amazon

Find the author online: site | twitter

Why This Book?

I didn't get a chance to spotlight this one before it was published.  From the first time I read the synopsis, it just jumped out at me.  Something said "watch for this book."  Maybe it's the time travel element, or the romance, or just how awesome the story sounds.  But I think it's gonna be a good one.  : )


{ ++ } What's everyone's WoW pick this week?

Waiting on Wednesday - #12: Tempest by Julie Cross

{++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

  Tempest by Julie Cross

To be published: 01.03.2010 (St Martin's Griffin)

Further info: Goodreads  | Amazon

Find the author online: blog | twitter

Why This Book?

{ ++ } Time travel!  Romance mixed in, and a male protagonist?  I'm sold!  Plus it has a gorgeous cover, and just something about the synopsis really draws me in and makes me think this one will be something worth reading!

{ ++ } What are YOUR WoW picks this week?  And what do you think of Tempest?

Waiting on Wednesday: - #11: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

{++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

  Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

To be published: 11.15.2011 (Harper Teen)

Further info: Goodreads / Amazon

Find the author online: site | twitter

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. 

Why This Book?

Okay, where to start.  DYSTOPIAN.  The main character's name is Juliette.  *SWOONING ALREADY*  Plus the premise sounds absolutely fantastic, and after following the author for awhile on Twitter (go do it!) I can tell you she is both sweet and down-to-earth.  I cannot WAIT to read this book.  : ) 


{ ++ } What are everyone's WOW picks this week?! 

Waiting on Wednesday - #10 : Darker After Midnight

{++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian

To Be Published: 01.19.2012 (

Further info: Goodreads / Amazon

In the dark of night, a blood war escalates within the hidden world of the Breed. After existing in secret for many long centuries, maintaining a fragile peace with the humans who walk beside them unaware, a single act of retaliation has put the entire vampire nation at risk of discovery. It falls to the Order—a cadre of Breed warriors pledged to protect their own and humankind alike—to stop Dragos, the power-mad vampire at the center of the conflict, before his push for domination can explode into catastrophe.

At the center of the Order’s quest is Sterling Chase, once a morally rigid enforcer of Breed law, now a warrior fallen from grace, whose biggest battle is the one he wages against his own savage nature. With addiction beckoning him toward eternal darkness, Chase’s path to redemption has never seemed more out of reach. But when his eyes meet those of Tavia Fairchild, a beautiful witness who identifies him at the scene of a mission gone terribly wrong, Chase finds himself drawn to the woman—and convinced she is something much more than she seems.

Pulled into a vortex of intrigue and danger she can neither resist nor understand, Tavia is uncertain whom to trust. And while everything sane and logical warns her against getting close to Chase, she cannot deny that the handsome, deeply haunted male stirs something primal and ravenous within her. But even as she surrenders to her cravings, nothing can prepare her for the shattering truth of who—and what—she truly is.


As the Order’s enemy mobilizes for the battle of the ages, Dragos and his Minions unleashing a hell on Earth like nothing ever seen before, Chase and Tavia are thrust into the heart of the violence. With time running out and the streets running red with the blood of innocent lives, both Breed and human, together Chase and Tavia must find a way to defeat Dragos once and for all—or die trying. 

Why this book?

{ ++ } It's Chase's story.  Oh...do I need more of a reason than that?  Okay okay, this series is pretty sexy and fun and awesome, and this book has inspired me to re-read the series and catch up on the two books I'm behind on.  I love the Order - the alpha males, and the Breedmates.  And well.  Chase is the best.  :D

{ ++ } What's everyone's WoW pick?

Waiting on Wednesday - #9 { The Pledge }

{++ }  This weekly event/feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.  You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat.  We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week. 

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

To be published:  11.15.2011 (Margaret K McElderberry)

Further info: Goodreads / Amazon

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country’s only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.


  

Why this book?

{ ++ } Well, it's Kimberly Derting.  AND.  The cover is gorgeous.  AND.  The premise actually sounds pretty fascinating.  I am really looking forward to reading this book to see how I like it!  I love trying different things, and this looks a little bit thriller bordering on dystopian, very cool hopefully.

Waiting on Wednesday - #8 (Pandemonium)

{++ }  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 is my pick this week!







Pandemonium
Lauren Oliver
Expected publication: 03.06.12 - Harper Teen
(Synopsis provided by Goodreads.)

Lauren Oliver captivated readers with Delirium, the first book in a thrilling dystopian trilogy in which Lena Haloway dared to fall in love with Alex and escape the cure, the government-mandated procedure that renders a person immune to the disease of love. Lena and Alex staked their lives on leaving their oppressive society, but only Lena broke free.

Pandemonium continues Lena’s gripping story. After escaping from Portland, Maine, Lena makes it to the Wilds and becomes part of an Invalid community, where she transforms herself into a warrior for the resistance. A future without Alex is unimaginable, but Lena pushes forward and fights, both for him and for a world in which love is no longer considered a disease. Swept up in a volatile mix of revolutionaries and counterinsurgents, Lena struggles to survive—and wonders if she may be falling in love again.

Full of danger, forbidden romance, and exquisite writing, Lauren Oliver’s sequel to Delirium races forward at a breathtaking pace and is sure to appeal to fans who crave the high-stakes action of The Hunger Games and the bittersweet love story of Romeo & Juliet

Why this book?

{ ++ } I loved Delirum.  Loved it.  I had a couple aspects I wish had been fleshed out more - little more backstory, little more world-building, and a lot more attention to the love interest - but I really enjoyed Delirium.  My favorite books are the ones that make you think, the ones that stick with you after you've closed the book and finished it - and Delirium did that.  I'm hoping Pandemonium takes it to the next level. ...Plus, the cover is pretty.  : ) 

{ ++ } What are y'all's WoW picks?

Waiting on Wednesday - #7 (The Winters in Bloom)

{++ }  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 is my pick this week!

Together for over a decade, Kyra and David Winter are happier than they ever thought they could be.  They have a comfortable home, stable careers, and a young son, Michael, who they love more than anything.  Yet because of their complicated histories, Kyra and David have always feared that this domestic bliss couldn’t last - that the life they created was destined to be disrupted.  And on one perfectly average summer day, it is: Michael disappears from his own backyard.


The only question is whose past has finally caught up with them: David feels sure that Michael was taken by his troubled ex-wife, while Kyra believes the kidnapper must be someone from her estranged family, someone she betrayed years ago.


As the Winters embark on a journey of time and memory to find Michael, they will be forced to admit these suspicions, revealing secrets about themselves they’ve always kept hidden.  But they will also have a chance to discover that it’s not too late to have the family they’ve dreamed of; that even if the world is full of risks, as long as they have hope, the future can bloom.  

+ Summary from Amazon.com - book page
+ Expected publication: 09/13/2011

Why this book?

{ ++ } Something about this book just spoke to me when I first saw it featured in another blogger's WoW.  I've never read anything by this author before, but the premise seems very solid and like a story that will draw me in and hold me rapt from start to finish.  I'm a big fan of stories that examine human nature, and push characters to the breaking point, but put them back together again.

{ ++ } What are ya'll's WoW picks this week?

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?

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 of this week!

Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could...

Expected publication: May 24, 2011  (just haven't picked up a copy yet!)

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.


It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

Expected publication: September 27th, 2011

{ ++ } What did ya'll choose this week?

Waiting On Wednesday - #5

{ ++ }  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 is my pick this week

Amber’s life is spinning out of control. All she wants is to turn up the volume on her iPod until all of the demands of family and friends fade away. So she sneaks off to the beach to spend a day by herself.

Then Amber meets Cade. Their attraction is instant, and Amber can tell he’s also looking for an escape. Together they decide to share a perfect day: no pasts, no fears, no regrets.

The more time that Amber spends with Cade, the more she’s drawn to him. And the more she’s troubled by his darkness. Because Cade’s not just living in the now—he’s living each moment like it’s his last.

 @goodreads.com  / @ amazon.com
[expected publication: 06/28/1011]




{ ++ } OK, I can admit it.  This one has a gorgeous cover, which is part of the draw for me, but I am also interested in the premise, and to see where this one goes.  I'm not sure if I'll buy it in hardback or wait on the paperback, but I will be checking out this book. 

{ ++ } What are your picks this week?  :)

Waiting on Wednesday - #4 + Giveaway Gossip

{ ++ }  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!

Seven deadly sins. Seven souls to save. And a man and a woman treading the lines of danger, desire and deliverance ...As the son of a serial killer, homicide detective Thomas DelVecchio Jr grew up in the shadow of evil. Now, on the knife-edge between civic duty and blind retribution, he atones for the sins of his father. Hired to monitor Veck is Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly, whose interest in Veck is both professional and arousingly personal. But Veck and Sophia have a common interest. He's Jim Herron, a mysterious stranger enlisted to save the soul of a killer's latest victim, one precariously hovering between heaven and hell. Before Herron's job is done, Veck and Sophia will be inexorably drawn into a battle of good against evil, where the risk is nothing less that total damnation.   @ goodreads.com   /  @ amazon.com  (Expected publication: September 6 2011)

{ ++ } JR Ward has this ability to create lead males that just make me go "MINE!"  Her Fallen Angels series is, I suppose you could say, a spin-off series to her bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series, but in this book, the third Fallen Angels series, we have our first solid cross-over between the two series.  Not only are those in peril, caught between good and evil always compelling, but angels Jim, Eddie, and Adrian are always a trip to have around.

The Undivided are divided. The psychic twins, Ronan and Darragh, have been separated by the traitor Druid, Amergin, who has kidnapped Ronan and thrown him through a rift into another reality. Now time is running out for Darragh. If Ronan isn't found soon, they will both die. But his twin brother is lost in a reality where Druids are legend, and there is no magic. Somehow, before the Autumn Equinox, they must find one young man in a world of six billion people...

Meanwhile, Ren Kavanagh has no notion of where he comes from. He is plagued by strange injuries that appear from nowhere and everyone is convinced he is deliberately harming himself for attention. Then he meets the enticing and mysterious Trasa, and before he can figure out how it happened, he is in serious trouble - arrested for arson and possibly murder.   @ goodreads.com

{ ++ }  Jennifer Fallon is, hands down, one of my favorite authors.  She has this mad ability to write these characters that I just want to hug forever, people that by the time their story is done, I am half in love with, and am never quite able to forgive.  I've been a HUGE fan of hers ever since I read her Second Sons trilogy.  I'm definitely looking forward to this book!  (It is, I believe, out in Australia, so about this time next year, I'll be able to get it here in paperback...)

{ ++ } Last thing, I wanted to mention a few awesome giveaways currently going on!  We've got Reading With Rebecca's May Giveaway (an awesome looking book called Home Safe), Kristi @ The Story Siren's Summer Giveaway (Moonglass and We'll Always Have Summer (synopsis included for both) a Sloppy Firsts giveaway over at Elegantly Bound Books (I'd love to win this one!), and at the same blog, her 200 Followers giveaway!  Ya'll check those out if you like.  : )


{ ++ } Finally, I am off work for nine glorious days starting this Saturday so look for hopefully a new layout, some revamping and house-cleaning, and a few reviews, as I have several books I want to finish up!  Until then.... love and peace!

Waiting on Wednesday: Close Your Eyes

{ ++ }  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 new friends!  Here's my pick this week.

 What would you risk to bring the truth to light?

On the night their mother was killed, Alex and Lauren were asleep in their backyard tree house. Their beloved father was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. Twelve years later, Lauren is a real estate agent who can't believe in love, and Alex is still trying to understand what happened to shatter his idyllic childhood. Only one stranger, a pregnant woman on the run from her boyfriend in Colorado, holds the clues that can free Lauren and Alex. (synopsis from the author's site.)

@ amazon.com / @ goodreads.com
Publication date: 07/26/11

{ ++ } I first discovered Amanda Eyre Ward when I read How To Be Lost several years back, and since then, I've had a soft spot for her.  Her writing style was rather unique, and I easily found myself drawn into the stories she tells, and identifying with her characters.  I absolutely can't wait for this book, and I hope it brings her all the sucess she deserves!

"waiting on" wednesday: 03/30/11

{ ++ } This is, I think, a fantastic thing started over at Breaking the Spine, that I recently decided to get involved in.  Basically, this is a chance to go on a little bit about the books we're anxiously awaiting either to read or to be published.  It seems like I'm always finding new things to read, be it a new series, or a stand-alone, and there's a peculiar kind of anticipation that comes from knowing a new book by a favorite author is thisclose to being released.

So, here's a few of mine, and the why's.

                                     

                            expected publication 2011

                                   @amazon.com

                                   @goodreads.com

No summary up yet, but this is the first novel in the spin-off to Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series.   I'm quite excited about this one.  It's currently expected out this year.  I had some mixed emotions on how the final book in the VA series ended, and how some plot lines there were handled, but, this book looks like it has a lot of potential.  So I will definitely be reading it.

                  Hardcover, 320 pages

         Expected publication: April 26th 2011

                         @amazon.com

                        @goodreads.com

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.
Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.  (synopsis from goodreads.com)

I don't know why the summary for this one grabbed me so much, but it did.  I've never even read anything by this author before, but I saw this book online and knew I'd have to check it out.  I love paranormal stuff, and this one seems like it has some potential.  

Okay folks, that's it for this week!  So many of the books I want to read aren't due out for awhile, or are series I am catching up on, etc, so I don't know how many reads I have that are coming out in the immediate future, BUT, I look forward to participating!  

Everyone have a lovely evening!