Book Chick City: In My Mailbox (#27)

Press Release:

Shale knows of no other world than the desert. He knows that his life - and the lives of his family - depend on one thing and one thing only: water. Water is life for all the citizens of the Quartern and it is the Stormlord who brings the rains to the desert. But the magic is disappearing. The Stormlord's heirs lack the talent to bring the water from the distant seas and young students with a certain promise tend to die, mysteriously, out in the wastes. Shale may be the saviour of every life in the Quartern. He can do what no mere Rainlord can, and may be the newest, and the last, Stormlord - if he can learn to control the waters of life and, of course, if he lives that long. Shale's entire civilization stands at the brink of disaster. Water is life and the wells are going dry...

The Price

Alexandra Sokoloff (Piatkus)

Publication Date: 4 Feb 2010

Paperback: 310 pages

Genre: Horror

Goodreads Summary:

Boston District Attorney Will Sullivan dreams of becoming the next great governor of Massachusetts. He has a beautiful wife, Joanna, an adorable daughter, Sydney, and a name that the citizens of Massachusetts respect. But Will's plans are shattered the night Joanna discovers a malignant tumor growing in Sydney's stomach. At that devastating moment, both parents resolve to do anything to save their daughter's life. But in the twilight world of Briarwood Medical Center, nothing is as it seems.Patients on the brink of death are not only surviving, but thriving, while others are withering away.

The more time Will spends in the labyrinthine hospital, the more he fears he's losing his grip on reality. When a mysterious, charismatic counselor appears and starts talking to Joanna, she grows more and more distant, until she hardly resembles the woman that Will married. Yet suddenly, miraculously, Sydney is improving.As winter closes in around the hospital and his dark suspicions build, Will must gather the strength to confront the evil at hand before he loses his family, his political aspirations, his sanity, and possibly his life.

Everlost

Neal Shusterman (Simon & Schuster)

Publication Date: 6 July 2009

Paperback: 377 pages

Genre: Supernatural Thriller

Tags: Young Adult

Goodreads Summary:

Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth.

When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he he's found a home. But Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.

Blonde Bomshell

Tom Holt (Orbit)

Publication Date: 6 May 2010

ARC: 362 pages

Genre: Science Fiction

Press Release:

The year is 2017. Lucy Pavlov is the CEO of PavSoft Industries. Home of a revolutionary operating system that every computer in the world runs on. Her personal wealth is immeasurable, her intelligence is unfathomable, and she's been voted 'Most Beautiful Woman' for three years running. To put it simply - she has it all. One thing, however, is not quite right in Lucy's life. She doesn't realise it yet, but she is in fact a bomb. And not just any old bomb. Lucy is a very big and very smart bomb, and her mission is to blow up the planet known as Earth.

Going Bovine

Libba Bray (Delacorte Press)

Publication Date: 22 Sept 2009

Hardback: 477 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Tags: Young Adult

Goodreads Summary:

Cameron Smith, 16, is slumming through high school, overshadowed by a sister “pre-majoring in perfection,” while working (ineptly) at the Buddha Burger. Then something happens to make him the focus of his family's attention: he contracts mad cow disease. What takes place after he is hospitalized is either that a gorgeous angel persuades him to search for a cure that will also save the world, or that he has a vivid hallucination brought on by the disease.

Either way, what readers have is an absurdist comedy in which Cameron, Gonzo (a neurotic dwarf) and Balder (a Norse god cursed to appear as a yard gnome) go on a quixotic road trip during which they learn about string theory, wormholes and true love en route to Disney World. Bray's surreal humor may surprise fans of her historical fantasies about Gemma Doyle, as she trains her satirical eye on modern education, American materialism and religious cults (the smoothie-drinking members of the Church of Everlasting Satisfaction and Snack 'N' Bowl). Offer this to fans of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy seeking more inspired lunacy.

Oath of Fealty

Elizabeth Moon (Orbit)

Publication Date: 4 March 2010

Paperback: 469 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Amazon Summary:

A death has made Kieri Phelan king of Lyona. Here humans and elves live in uneasy peace, united only by their failure to see the dangers at their borders. Harmony has never been more important - or elusive. But will Kieri's soldier background allow him to navigate these difficult politics? And can he awaken the powers his mixed blood confers? An older evil also threatens, affecting not just Lyona but all surrounding kingships.

The Verrakai family has been practicing forbidden blood magic for generations, and its scions are becoming bold. When they infiltrate a foreign court and assassinate key nobles, it's clear they must be controlled or eradicated. Phelan will send Dorrin, the only Verrakai he can truly trust, on this mission. She must overcome her abhorrence of the power that is her birthright and awaken her own hidden magic. This will lead to secrets and a mystery that neither Phelan nor Dorrin could have anticipated.

Dark Secrets: Legacy of Lies & Don't Tell

Elizabeth Chandler (Simon & Schuster)

Publication Date: 4 March 2010

Paperback: 431 pages

Genre: Paranormal Suspense

Tags: Young Adult

Press Release:

LEGACY OF LIES

When Megan arrives at her grandmother's house she immediately feels that there is something curiously familiar about the place. She's been there in her dreams, or rather her nightmares, but still cannot place what exactly it is that gives her the creeps. All Megan wants to do is get through the visit without any drama, but as the house starts to reveal it's secrets and the past comes to light, Megan finds herself caught up in a twisted love triangle with potentially fatal consequences.

DON"T TELL

Lauren knows that by returning to the town where her mother "accidentally" drowned seven years ago, she'll be reliving one of her most haunting memories. When she arrives, she is propelled into a series of mysterious events that mimics the days leading u to her mother's death. Could it be that her mother's downing wasn't an accident after all? And as the past unravels around her Lauren begins to wonder whether she might be next.

Living La Vida Loca

Belinda Jones (Hodder)

Publication Date: 10 June 2010

ARC: 370 pages

Genre: Romance/Chick-Lit

Press Release:

Carmen has been feeling the need to break free for too darn long. So when her equally frustrated best friend, Beth, suggests the ultimate escape - dancing their way through a series of exotic locations - she can't resist! There's just one catch... they can only go on this adventure if they participate in a reality TV show - one intent on teaching them the passionately theatrical tango in Argentina, the feisty, foot-stomping flamenco in Spain and the sassy, celebratory salsa in Cuba!

As they travel from Buenos Aires to Seville and finally steamy Havana, each dance has a profound effect on the girls - and, indeed, the sexy gauchos, matadors and dirty dancers who partner them. But when the sun goes down, do they have what it takes to go beyond the uno, dos, tres of the steps and free their hearts for love?

If I Grow Up

Todd Strasser (Simon & Schuster))

Publication Date: 4 March 2010

Paperback: 222 pages

Tags: Young Adult

Amazon Summary:

In the Frederick Douglass Project where DeShawn lives, daily life is ruled by drugs and gang violence. Dropping out of school and joining a gang is the norm and every kid knows someone who's died. Gunshots ring out on a regular basis. DeShawn is smart enough to know he should stay in school and keep away from the gangs. But while his friends have drug money to buy anything they want, DeShawn's family can barely afford food for the month. How can he stick to his principles when his family is hungry? In this gritty novel about growing up in the inner-city projects, award-winning author Todd Strasser opens a window into the life of a teenager struggling with right and wrong under the ever-present shadow of gangs.

Darklight

Lesley Livingston (HarperTeen)

Publication Date: 22 Dec 2009

Hardback: 312 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Tags: Faery

Goodreads Summary:

Much has changed since autumn, when Kelley Winslow learned she was Faerie royalty, fell in love with changeling guard Sonny Flannery, and saved New York City from a rampaging Faerie war band. When a terrifying encounter in Central Park sends Kelley tumbling into the Otherworld, her reunion with Sonny is joyful—but cut short. For they’ve been plunged into a game of Faerie deception and wavering allegiances in which the next move could topple a kingdom...or part them forever.

The Favourites

Mary Yukari Waters (Pocket Books)

Publication Date: 11 March 2010

Paperback: 279 pages

Tags: Saga

Goodreads Summary:

Kyoto 1978. Fourteen-year-old Sarah Rexford returns to Japan with her mother for the first time in five years, to stay with the family at her mother's childhood home. Having begun her teenage years in America, where she is popular, confident and assured, it is a shock for Sarah to find herself ill at ease and unsure of what to say or how to say it, whilst her usually quiet, rather shy mother at once returns to her engaging, accomplished and respected former self in the company of family and old friends.

As Sarah begins to reaquaint herself with her relatives and learn more about the culture she came from, she discovers a secret that stretches across three generations, its presence looming over the family home. Personal boundaries are firmly drawn in traditional Kyoto, and actions are not always what they appear. In this carefully articulated world, where every look and gesture has meaning, Sarah must learn the rules by which her mother, aunts and grandmother live.

**As this is not my cup of tea, I won't be reading/reviewing this book, so if you have a review blog and would like my copy, email me! Only condition is that you review it**

Before I Fall

Lauren Oliver (Hodder)

Publication Date: 4 March 2010

Paperback: 344 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Tags: Young Adult

Goodreads Summary:

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life? Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.

Trust Me, I'm A Vet

Cathy Woodman (Arrow Books)

Publication Date: 15 April 2010

Paperback: 372 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Amazon Summary:

City vet Maz Harwood has learned the hard way that love and work don't mix. So when an old friend asks her to look after her Devonshire practice for six months, Maz decides running away from London is her only option. But country life is trickier than she feared. It's bad enough she has to deal with comatose hamsters, bowel-troubled dogs and precious prize-winning cats, without having to contend with the disgruntled competition and a stubborn neighbour who's threatening to sue over an overzealous fur cut! Worse still, she discovers Otter House Veterinary Clinic needs mending as much as her broken heart. Thank goodness there's an unsuitable distraction, even if he is the competition's deliciously dashing son...

The War of the Dwarves

Markus Heitz (Orbit)

Publication Date: 4 March 2010

Paperback: 719 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Amazon Summary:

The dwarves have gone to battle and they have been victorious. But outside the realm, dark forces are working ...A secret army of Orcs, made immortal by the hidden powers of the Black Water, now marches towards Girdlegard, set to unleash its fury upon the kingdom. Sooner than they realise, Tungdil and his comrades will need to summon all their courage to do battle against this bloodthirsty horde. The Orcs are not the only threat. An unspeakable new power is growing and threatens the very existence of the dwarves. But both enemies have forgotten one very important truth: a dwarf is never more dangerous than when total obliteration seems inevitable ...

Shadowrise

Tad Williams (Orbit)

Publication Date: 14 March 2010

Hardback: 564 pages

Genre: Fantasy