Current Events:

I have been doing some thinking and I've come to the conclusion that I need to take a temporary break from book blogging. NOTE: Any tour stops that I've committed to will be honored. I have decided that I want to combine my love of books, blogging, knitting, movies digital photography and life in general into 1 blog so that I don't feel so overwhelmed. Right now I feel like my book blogging is a job, I already have one of those. My plan is to come back in the near future with a new blog and a new plan.

My Weight Loss Progress

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Discussion Post ~ Conquering your TBR pile/mountain

This morning I was checking out some of the blogs that I follow and I came across this post posted by the ladies over at Everything To Do With Books.  Which led me to find the inspiration for the post over at Down The Rabbit Hole.  Which led me to think about my TBR mountain and how I'm failing on my fail boat to conquer it.  So now I'm asking you, what steps have you implemented to conquer you TBR pile/mountain?

I will spare you all the "gory" details about my TBR mountain.  Let's just say that it's REALLY scary almost to the point of being beyond scary and I am looking for a way to work towards conquering that particular mountain.

So fellow book bloggers I am asking for your help in conquering my TBR mountain.  An overflowing bookcase and stacks of books all over the place say I NEED to conquer my mountain.  So Thank You in advance for any suggestions, tips, or ideas that might come from this post.  I really appreciate it a lot.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

Steel

Title:  Steel
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Genre: YA/Time Travel


Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure.

The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

Time travel, swordplay, and romance combine in an original high-seas adventure from New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn.


Review:

I saw this book one day when I was looking on the Barnes and Noble web page and thought that the premise was good enough to add it to my shopping cart.  After checking out it's page on Goodreads I found that Steel got mixed reviews.  A lot of 3 and 4 star ratings.

I thought that the idea behind the story was right up my alley...mainly because it was a new-to-me idea.  I think reading Steel helped me get into the proper frame of mind for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie that came out last weekend.

I thought Jill overall was a like able character, though in the beginning she was a little bit to "woe is me" for me personally.  There is being dedicated to your sport then there is addicted.  I think that at the beginning of the book she was leaning closer to addicted....To the point of NOT being able to enjoy a family vacation a MONTH after her last match.  Which leads up to Jill being transported back to the 18th century and becoming a member of the crew on the pirate ship Diana.  The more time that Jill spends on the Diana the more she's able to not only conquer her own issues she's also able to help the crew with some of their own problems.  When Jill is finally transported back to her own time she takes the lessons that she has learned on the Diana with her to use in her life from that point on.  Plus, there is a REALLY COOL "souvenir" too.

The pirate portion of the book was my favorite part of the book, meaning I'm not really a fan of the beginning but it got much better.  There was a TON of action.  The captain of the Diana was a WOMAN and I learned a TON.  Did you know that pirate ships are where the first forms of democracy were formed?  The main positions (captain, quartermaster, first mate, etc.) were all voted on.  Each ship has it's own rules which are known as in Steel the "articles."  Also, I really enjoyed that Carrie Vaughn brought actual pirates out of the history books and put them in her book.

The only part I had a slight misgiving with was the "romance."  There were plenty of hints at it but there was only 1 real kiss in the whole book.

Overall, I would recommend this book if you are looking for a fun, quick read, or a slight departure from what you've been reading recently.

RATING:
4/5

Sunday, May 22, 2011

In My Mailbox May 22

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kirsti of The Story Siren.

*Library Books*

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels--A Love Story



"That's when I saw him—the cowboy—across the smoky room."
I'll never forget that night. It was like a romance novel, an old Broadway musical, and a John Wayne western rolled into one. Out for a quick drink with friends, I wasn't looking to meet anyone, let alone a tall, rugged cowboy who lived on a cattle ranch miles away from my cultured, corporate hometown. But before I knew it, I'd been struck with a lightning bolt . . . and I was completely powerless to stop it.
Read along as I recount the rip-roaring details of my unlikely romance with a chaps-wearing cowboy, from the early days of our courtship (complete with cows, horses, prairie fire, and passion) all the way through the first year of our marriage, which would be filled with more challenge and strife—and manure—than I ever could have expected.
This isn't just my love story; it's a universal tale of passion, romance, and all-encompassing love that sweeps us off our feet.
It's the story of a cowboy.
And Wranglers.
And chaps.
And the girl who fell in love with them.
Drought
Ruby Prosser dreams of escaping the Congregation and the early-nineteenth century lifestyle that’s been practiced since the community was first enslaved.

She plots to escape the vicious Darwin West, his cruel Overseers, and the daily struggle to gather the life-prolonging Water that keeps the Congregants alive and gives Darwin his wealth and power. But if Ruby leaves, the Congregation will die without the secret ingredient that makes the Water special: her blood.

So she stays.

But when Ruby meets Ford, the new Overseer who seems barely older than herself, her desire for freedom is too strong. He’s sympathetic, irresistible, forbidden—and her only access to the modern world. Escape with Ford would be so simple, but can Ruby risk the terrible price, dooming the only world she’s ever known?

The False Princess


Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court.  But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection.  Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.

Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks.  But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

A dazzling first novel, The False Princess is an engrossing fantasy full of mystery, action, and romance.

Play Dirty


Heartthrob bounty hunter Greg King knows how to work it—and he knows that he can have any woman he wants. But there’s more to Greg than meets the eye…and he’s still haunted by the memory of his beautiful, estranged wife. Much as he’s tried to move on, he’s never been able to stopstopped wondering why Haley left him. Or what he could have done to make their marriage better—and make her stay…

After putting a vicious criminal behind bars, Haley King had no choice but to leave her loved ones behind and enter the witness protection program. Turns out that, in her new life, Haley has once again found herself in serious trouble—and needs help from the only person she can trust: her husband. Now, as old secrets threaten to tear them apart and danger closes in from all sides, it’s up to Greg to keep Haley safe…and convince her that this time, he’s playing for keeps.


*For Review*

Creed's Honor (Montana Creeds, #6)


Conner Creed knows exactly who he is: a hardworking rancher carrying on his uncle's legacy in Lonesome Bend, Colorado. Maybe a small-town cowboy's life isn't his dream, but he owes the man who took him in as a kid. Until the identical twin brother he's been estranged from for years reenters his life.

Conner struggles with identity issues as he gets to know his wilder brother. And then he meets Tricia McCall, a beautiful woman who knows a thing or two about living someone else's dreams. Together, they just might find their own dreams right here in Lonesome Bend….

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #1
Genre: YA Dystopia

Synopsis:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.


Review:

Alrighty then....I am jumping on the "fan girl" band wagon!  I LOVED this book!  I'm really glad that I paid the extra money to have it arrive at my house on release day.  Best $28 I've spent in a LONG time!  FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!  And just for effect I'll add a SQUEEEEEEEEE in there too!

This book has literally jumped its way to the top of my MUST READ list to all of my friends/family/co-workers.  Divergent has been compared to The Hunger Games trilogy and I can honestly see a lot of similarities between the two series.

Leading up to me purchasing Divergent I hadn't heard much about it.  But when I looked it up on Goodreads close to its release date I saw a plethora of "Awesome," "YOU MUST READ THIS," "It will hook you and not let go" type of reviews.  I was still a little skeptical, because its sort of a natural tendency for me to be a little bit leery about purchasing an item that gets so much positive hype.  Let me tell you this....Divergent DEFINITELY earned all that positive hype.

I mean look at the cover!  The cover is what sold me on buying the book.  I'm a sucker for a great cover!  If you haven't picked up this book yet you should!  What are you waiting for!?

There are so many great things about this book that I really don't even know where to start!  Honestly, there isn't just one or two things that stand out to me that make this book great.  It's the total package.  The characters, the story itself, the world that the author creates...all great things that meshed together in a solid bond to create an UNFORGETTABLE book!

This book REALLY does have the power to suck you in and not let go.  It happend to me and it has happened to others who have read Divergent.  The only drawback is that we have to wait until 2012 for the next installment of the series:(

RATING:

5+/5

New review "Award"

In the past couple of months I have read SEVERAL really AWESOME books.  So many that I have decided to create a new review "Award" for the truly awesome.  I am calling this "Award" the Awesome Sauce award.  If I could bottle all that Awesome I could make one hell of a profit!

The first recipient of the Awesome Sauce award will be posted shortly.  This book truly deserves this award.  I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Blog Tour/Giveaway ~ The Shepherd by Ethan Cross

Title: The Shepherd
Author:  Ethan Cross
Genre: Suspense/Thriller

Synopsis:

Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman Jr. both have a talent for hurting people. Marcus, a former New York City homicide detective, uses his abilities to protect others, while Ackerman uses his gifts to inflict pain and suffering. When both men become unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of our government, Marcus finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse trapped between a twisted psychopath and a vigilante with seemingly unlimited resources. Aided by a rogue FBI agent and the vigilante's beautiful daughter--a woman with whom he's quickly falling in love--Marcus must expose the deadly political conspiracy and confront his past while hunting down one of the most cunning and ruthless killers in the world.


Review:

I was approached about joining the blog tour for this book a little while ago and I agreed based on the premise alone.  The Shepherd sounded like a book that would trip my trigger so to speak.  I'm glad that the book lived up to my expectations for it!

Marcus Williams is a former New York City homicide detective, who has just moved to town.  He really didn't think that his first job would come so soon after moving to town.  It seems that a mad man has made his way to the town that Marcus now calls home.  Now Marcus and our mad man are going to face off, unfortunately, there can be only one winner. Will evil prevail? or will good triumph?  In the end, who is going to be The Shepherd?

Francis Ackerman Jr. is our mad man.  He has basically been conditioned from a young age to become the monster that he is today. Ackerman has escaped a mental health facility and is making a terrifying tour across many states.  Only leaving behind a trail of bloody and mangled bodies.

If you are a person who enjoys suspense/thrillers I highly recommend this book.  There has been a fair amount of praise bestowed upon the book and I found that The Shepherd was definitely worthy of the praise.  If you do pick up this book, read it while it's light out (big mistake on my part).  It has THAT much creep factor to it.  The Shepherd, I found to be a very fast read with plenty of twists and turns and creep factor. 

RATING:
4/5

GIVEAWAY:

I am giving away my gently used copy of The Shepherd.

Rules:

1. Open to US/Canada addresses.
2. Please leave your email address in the comments section below.
3. Giveaway will conclude on May 26 @ 11:59 pm.
4. Winner will be announced Friday May 27.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Teaser Tuesday ~ Divergent Edition

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:



  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!  

Here's my teaser..
"Do it," hisses a voice next to me.  It is female, but harsh, like it's cluttered with rocks and broken glass.  It sounds like Jeanine.

Divergent pg. 394

Monday, May 9, 2011

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?!


It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  D  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

What I Read Last Week:

Nothing really, been preparing for a move that is taking place in the family.

What I'm currently Reading:


In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.


What I Hope To Read:

A murderer is loose in New York City ...

... and the victims are Downworlder children. Clary Fray and her fellow Shadowhunters have a strong suspicion that Valentine, Clary's father, may be behind the killings. But if he is the murderer, then what's his true motive? To make matters worse, the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, has been stolen, and the mysterious Inquisitor has arrived to investigate, with his eyes vigilantly targeted on Clary's brother, Jace.

Clary will need to face some terrifying demons and even more terrifying family decisions. No one said that the life of a Shadowhunter would be easy.


Saturday, May 7, 2011

A MASSIVE In My Mailbox ~ SEVERAL WEEKS worth of books


In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.
This is what I got in my mailbox this week.  I hope you enjoy what I got and I hope you’ll leave a link to your IMM so I can check out what you got this week. NOTE:  This IMM is absolutely MASSIVE...Getting caught up on all the books that I've gotten recently can be quite time consuming. :)

*RAK Program*

A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.
Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.
Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will’s dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She’ll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.
Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.


Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but atleast she got a guardian angel out of it: a mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But, despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever and even worse, he's started spending time with Nora's arch-enemy, Marcie Millar.

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Path hadnt been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feeling that he's hiding something.

Haunted by images of her murdered father, and questioning whether her nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death, Nora puts herself increasingly in dangerous situations as she desperatly searches for answers. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.


*Library*
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder – much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing – not even a smear of blood – to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know….
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

R. A. Nelson takes us on a supernatural thrill ride, a modern-day vampire story set on a NASA base and filled with space-and-science intrigue. Seventeen-year-old Emma feels cursed by her epilepsy—until the lost night. She’s shocked to wake up in the hospital one morning, weak from blood loss. When her memories begin to return, she pieces together that it was a man—a monster—who attacked her: a vampire named Wirtz. And it was her very condition that saved her: a grand mal seizure interrupted Wirtz and left Emma with all the amazing powers of a vampire—heightened senses, rapid speed—but no need to drink blood. Is Emma now a half-vampire girl? One thing soon becomes clear: the vampire Wirtz is fierce and merciless, feared even by his own kind, and won’t leave a job undone.

Janie Gorman wants to be normal. The problem with that: she’s not. She’s smart and creative and a little bit funky. She’s also an unwilling player in her parents’ modern-hippy, let’s-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment (regretfully, instigated by a younger, much more enthusiastic Janie). This, to put it simply, is not helping Janie reach that “normal target.” She has to milk goats every day…and endure her mother’s pseudo celebrity in the homemade-life, crunchy mom blogosphere. Goodbye the days of frozen lasagna and suburban living, hello crazy long bus ride to high school and total isolation—and hovering embarrassments of all kinds. The fresh baked bread is good…the threat of homemade jeans, not so much.
It would be nice to go back to that old suburban life…or some grown up, high school version of it, complete with nice, normal boyfriends who wear crew neck sweaters and like social studies. So, what’s wrong with normal? Well, kind of everything. She knows that, of course, why else would she learn bass and join Jam Band, how else would she know to idolize infamous wild-child and high school senior Emma (her best friend Sarah’s older sister), why else would she get arrested while doing a school project on a local freedom school (jail was not part of the assignment). And, why else would she kind of be falling in “like” with a boy named Monster—yes, that is his real name. Janie was going for normal, but she missed her mark by about ten miles…and we mean that as a compliment.
Frances O’Roark Dowell’s fierce humor and keen eye make her YA debut literary and wise. In the spirit of John Green and E. Lockhart, Dowell’s relatable, quirky characters and clever, fluid writing prove that growing up gets complicated…and normal is WAY overrated.

In the summer of 2001, twelve year old Fadi’s parents make the difficult decision to illegally leave Afghanistan and move the family to the United States. When their underground transport arrives at the rendezvous point, chaos ensues, and Fadi is left dragging his younger sister Mariam through the crush of people. But Mariam accidentally lets go of his hand and becomes lost in the crowd, just as Fadi is snatched up into the truck. With Taliban soldiers closing in, the truck speeds away, leaving Mariam behind.
Adjusting to life in the United States isn’t easy for Fadi’s family and as the events of September 11th unfold the prospects of locating Mariam in a war torn Afghanistan seem slim. When a photography competition with a grand prize trip to India is announced, Fadi sees his chance to return to Afghanistan and find his sister. But can one photo really bring Mariam home?
Based in part on the Ms. Senzai’s husband’s own experience fleeing his home in Soviet controlled Afghanistan in the 1970s, Shooting Kabul is a powerful story of hope, love, and perseverance.

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

After her sister Athena’s tragic death, it’s obvious that grief-stricken Persephone “Phe” Archer no longer belongs in Los Angeles. Hoping to make sense of her sister’s sudden demise and the cryptic dreams following it, Phe abandons her bubbly LA life to attend an uptight East Coast preparatory school in Shadow Hills, MA — a school which her sister mysteriously mentioned in her last diary entry before she died.

Once there, Phe quickly realizes that something is deeply amiss in her new town. Not only does Shadow Hills’ history boast an unexplained epidemic that decimated hundreds of its citizens in the 1700s, but its modern townies also seem eerily psychic, with the bizarre ability to bend metal. Even Zach — the gorgeous stranger Phe meets and immediately begins to lust after — seems as if he is hiding something serious. Phe is determined to get to the bottom of it. The longer she stays there, the more she suspects that her sister’s untimely death and her own destiny are intricately linked to those who reside in Shadow Hills.

*Goodreads Swap*


The young widower arrives ready to roll up his sleeves and build a place of worship and welcome, but he needs some help. And the Lord works in mysterious ways. With her tight shirts and short skirts, "pastor's assistant" is not a phrase that springs to mind when Noah meets brassy, beautiful Alicia Baldwin. But the former exotic dancer needs a respectable job so she can regain custody of her children. So the pastor and the stripper revitalize a church . . .

Marine corporal Rick Sudder is home early from Iraq—his tour ended abruptly on the battlefield. The carefree boy is gone, replaced by a man who believes his future is as bleak as his mirror image. But can the passion and commitment of a young woman who has never given up on him mend his broken body and shattered heart?
 
As the people of Virgin River rally around Rick, another recent arrival tests the tightly knit mountain town's famous welcoming spirit. Dan Brady has a questionable past, and he's looking for a place to start over. He'd like it to be Virgin River…if he can find a way in. But he never expects to find it in the arms of a woman who was as much an outcast as himself.

For a favorite son returned from war and an outsider looking for a home, Virgin River offers them a chance to make peace with the men they once were…and to find the dreams they thought they'd lost.

Four years ago, Air Force sweethearts Franci Duncan and Sean Riordan reached an impasse. She wanted marriage and a family. He didn't. But a chance meeting proves that the bitter breakup hasn't cooled their sizzling chemistry.
 
Sean has settled down in spite of himself—he's not the cocky young fighter pilot he was when Franci left, and he wants them to try again. After all, they have a history…but that's not all they share.
 
Franci's secret reason for walking away when Sean refused to commit is now three and a half: a redheaded cherub named Rosie who shares her daddy's emerald-green eyes. Sean is stunned—and furious with Franci for the deception.

News travels fast in Virgin River, and soon the whole town is taking sides. Rebuilding their trust could take a small miracle—and the kind of love that can move mountains.


Colin Riordan came to Virgin River to recuperate from a horrific helicopter crash, the scars of which he bears inside and out. His family is wonderfully supportive, but it's his art that truly soothes his troubled soul.
 
Stung personally and professionally by an ill-advised affair, PR guru Jillian Matlock has rented an old Victorian with a promising garden in Virgin River. She's looking forward to cultivating something other than a corporate brand.

Both are looking to simplify, not complicate, their lives, but when Jillian finds Colin at his easel in her yard, there's an instant connection. And in Virgin River, sometimes love is the simplest choice of all….

With her beloved younger siblings settled and happy, Erin Foley has empty nest syndrome. At age thirty-five.
 
So she's hitting the pause button on her life and holing up in a secluded (but totally upgraded—she's not into roughing it) cabin near Virgin River. Erin is planning on getting to know herself…not the shaggy-haired mountain man she meets.
 
In fact, beneath his faded fatigues and bushy beard, Aiden Riordan is a doctor, recharging for a summer after leaving the navy. He's intrigued by the pretty, slightly snooty refugee from the rat race—her meditating and journaling are definitely keeping him at arm's length. He'd love to get closer…if his scruffy exterior and crazy ex-wife don't hold him back.

But maybe it's something in the water—unlikely romances seem to take root in Virgin River…helped along by some well-intentioned meddling, of course.


Detective Nate Darling has put up with a lot of weird things since he's moved back to San Francisco—healing crystals, free range tofu, the SF Giants. But he's drawing the line at psychic dream interpretations.

Tabitha March claims she can see other people's dreams. In fact, she insists she "saw" a murder, and even provides Nate with explicit details of the crime. There's no doubt the curvaceous blue-eyed blonde knows something, but how is she involved? Is she the murderer? Because there's just no way that Tabitha can really "see" the killer's dream.

Then another body is discovered, just the way Tabitha described it would be. Now evidence suggests she may be the next victim. And Nate has to reconsider his beliefs or risk losing the woman he has fallen in love with . . . forever.

*Bought - Bound Books*


In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.


They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.

Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. 

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
The tougher they are, the harder they fall…

Professional mercenary Dare Macintosh lives by one hard and fast rule: business should never be personal. If a cause appeals to him and the price is right, he'll take the mission he's offered. But then the lovely Molly Alexander asks him to help her track down the men who'd had her kidnapped—and for the first time, Dare's tempted to combine work with pleasure.

Fiercely independent, Molly vows to trust no one until she's uncovered the truth. Could the enemy be her powerful, estranged father? The ex-fiancé who still holds a grudge? Or the not-so-shy fan of her bestselling novels? As the danger heats up around them, the only anchor Molly has is Dare himself. But what she feels for him just might be the most frightening thing of all…

After her divorce Sandra swore off any involvement with men for a year. On the anniversary of Sandra’s divorce, her friend, Aimee, suggests she make a list of sexy things she’s never done, but would like to. After Sandra makes a few safe suggestions, Aimee cajoles her until Sandra opens up and pulls out her deeper, darker fantasies. Thus, The List is born.

Devlin is in love with Sandra, but knows she’s not ready for a committed relationship yet, so he and Aimee hatch a plan to get Sandra to go away to a secluded hideaway for a weekend, complete with two gorgeous hunks, to make The List come true.

But Sandra experiences something more intoxicating that’s not on The List…falling in love.



 
It was once said that you must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible . . .
Alli Carson has been through her own personal hell. With her father, the President of the United States, recently dead and her mother in a coma from a terrible accident, she has poured herself into her training to become one of the best FBI agents at the Fearington Institute. Her inspiration and solace comes from the one man with whom she has ever felt a kinship, National Security Adviser, Jack McClure. But when Alli becomes the prime suspect in a murder at Fearington, a wide ranging investigation is triggered, involving local homicide detectives,  the secret service, the FBI itself, and Alli’s own uncle, the billionaire lobbyist Henry Carson.  And yet nothing is what it seems.

What follows is a treacherous journey that leads Jack and Alli into a complex web of lies and deceit. Using Jack’s unique gifts to see the through the labyrinth of manipulation, their investigation leads them into the dark heart of the international slave trade, tied to a powerful Albanian crime lord whose ability and influence in global terrorism grows with each day.

The two find themselves in the crosshairs of vast global enterprise, one that lurks in the shadows of power and has infiltrated Washington and their lives in ways neither of them could ever have imagined. And hidden deep among it all sits a terrifying criminal mastermind, someone fueled by a hatred that can never be quenched, and a mind that knows neither feeling nor mercy.

 
HE VOWED HED COME FOR HER . . .
 
Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlord Aidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and again into new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives.
 
SHE AWAITS HIS RETURN . . .
 
When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier, she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive, intending retribution against all immortals—unaware that he belongs to their world.
 
TO SATE A DESIRE MORE POWERFUL THAN DEATH . . .

Yet every reincarnation comes with a price, for Aidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself from Declan’s torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they once shared—even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love?

Lucas Davenport had reason to be relieved when he was called off a morals case -- involving a Minnesota state senator accused of having sex with a minor -- and assigned to a double murder. For one thing, the killing of affluent widow Constance Bucher and her maid isn't politically sensitive; for another, it seems like a prosecutorial slam-dunk. The messy crime scene looks like the calling card of drug-addled thieves who, like many others before them, blundered into a situation they couldn't control. Looking closer, though, Davenport detects the scent of more sophisticated plunderers. And then the other murders begin .


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.

A unique approach to the topic of self-mutilation, Rage is the story of a young woman who discovers her own power and refuses to be defeated by the world.

Born into a sprawling ranching family, rugged Harden Tremayne was the toughest, wildest man ever to come out of Texas cattle country. And the loneliest. Until he met Miranda Warren, the lovely Chicago widow who aroused feelings too long denied—and a yearning for something that could never be his….

Miranda had never felt anything as overwhelming as her passion for the long, lean cowboy. But was her love enough to melt his hard, hungry heart and help them make a new life—together?

Ever since she could remember, Anna Cochran had been passionately, shamelessly in love with tall, quiet Evan Tremayne. But the stubborn man was so focused on protecting her from rough-and-tumble cowboys like him that he wouldn't acknowledge the fierce yearning she awoke in him.

So it was up to Anna to draw Evan out of his shell and prove that she was the only woman for him now…and always.

After one troubled college-age student disappears and two are found slashed to death, Lucas Davenport finds himself hunting what appears to be a modern-day Jack the Ripper. But Lucas keeps getting the sneaking suspicion that there is something else involved. Something very bad, very dark, and as elusive as a phantom.

"The Republicans are coming to St. Paul for their convention. Throwing a big party is supposed to be fun, but crashing the party are a few hard cases the police would rather stayed away. Chief among them is a crew of professional stickup men who've spotted several lucrative opportunities, ranging from political moneymen with briefcases full of cash to that armored-car warehouse with the weakness in its security system. All that's headache enough for Lucas Davenport - but what's about to hit him is even worse." "A while back, a stray bullet put a pimp and petty thief named Randy Whitcomb in a wheelchair, and, ever since, the man has been nursing his grudge into a full head of psychotic steam. He blames Davenport for the bullet, but it s no fun just shooting him. That wouldn't be painful enough. Not when Davenport has a pretty fourteen-year-old adopted daughter that Whitcomb can target instead." And then there' the young man with the .50 caliber sniper rifle and the right-wing-crazy background, roaming through a city filled with the most powerful politicians on earth.

Like many homicides, it wasn't supposed to happen that way. The three gangsters who broke into the hospital pharmacy had planned to grab bags and bags of drugs and disappear into the Minnesota countryside. But something went horribly, tragically wrong and one of the pharmacy workers wound up dead. Worse yet, there might have been a witness: a pretty blonde surgeon. What the inadvertent killers don't know is that the doctor in question is Weather Karkinnen, the wife of an investigator named Lucas Davenport. It can't get more exciting than this; a Father's Day gift nonpareil.


 
In the sequel to the New York Times bestselling Heat Wave, Richard Castle does it again with his thrilling new mystery. Tough, sexy, professional, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. In what's sure to be another smash sensation by blockbuster author Richard Castle, readers will once again follow Nikki Heat and hotshot reporter Jameson Rook as they trade barbs and innuendos all while on the trail of a murderer!



Famed fighter Harry Destry comes back from jail a changed man. The town thinks he no longer has what it takes to defend himself, but Destry's innocent act covers a plot for vengeance against the men who set him up.

Originally published as Gunman’s Chance in 1941, this gripping western puts an honorable man square in the gun sights of someone he used to call a friend. When gun-for-hire Jim Garry takes a job with Tate Riling, providing a little muscle for a dispute between homesteaders and a cattle rancher, it doesn’t occur to him that his old friend might be misrepresenting the situation. And when it turns out Tate is planning an elaborate swindle to take some land from its rightful owner, Jim sides with the intended victim, putting his own life at risk. Jim Garry is a fairly standard genre character, the gunman who knows where to draw the moral line, but with a twist: he does most of his fighting with his brain, not his gun. The book is structured like a caper novel, with the hero, Garry, working his own scam so that the villain will be brought down by his own arrogance and greed. The book was made into one of the first “noir westerns” in 1948, with Robert Mitchum as Garry; and the novel, back in print after a long absence, should be considered required reading for genre fans. --David Pitt

West of the TularosasPelona was a strange town, and Ward McQueen was a stranger to it. The stalawart foreman of the Tumbling K had come to the high country to take possession of the Firebox range. But the sight that greeted him when he arrived was an ugly one: the battle-scarred cabin and bullet-ridden body of its former owner. It was clear that young Jimmy McCracken had gone out fighting: his killers left behind a trail of blood. Now McQueen has followed that trail–straight into Pelona, a town so full of double-dealing and trickery that the truth can only be uncovered from behind the barrel of a gun . . .

 
Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure.

The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

Time travel, swordplay, and romance combine in an original high-seas adventure from New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn.



New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters—or Freaks—who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight, in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs. As the two are guided by Fade’s long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they’ve ever known.



Single dad Emmett Deverell thought moving to Jacobsville, Texas, would mean "quality time" with his children. Then he realized the truth—his kids were uncontrollable! He knew the three little rapscallions needed a woman's influence. But the only female available was Melody Cartman...and Emmett trusted her about as far as he could throw her.
Melody's new charges were a force to be reckoned with. But it was their father who proved a handful. That sexy wink of his was enough to send a woman into orbit. She knew Emmett would never forgive her past, though, which was definitely a problem. Because being part of Emmett's family was a habit Melody didn't want to break.


When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?
 
This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.
 
Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.
 
And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Rugged as an oak, moody as a thundercloud, rancher Callaghan Hart awed women and intimidated men. So how could one scrappy little redhead nearly bring Callaghan to his knees?

Easy! Tess Brady, the ranch's new housekeeper, was soft and sweet. Her youthful innocence drew him like a moth to a flame. But there was no way Callaghan would ever consider marriage, and a casual fling was out of the question. Somehow, he had to resist her, no matter how tempting she was….