TBR Tuesday: Some Quiet Place

I have to admit, the first thing that grabbed me about SOME QUIET PLACE was the cover.  That's right, I'm a cover whore lover.

But then I read the synopsis, and some of the advanced reviews, and I really thought I'd have to get my hands on this book when it releases on July 8th.

What do you think?

I can’t feel sadness, anger, or fear. I can’t feel anything. I’ve grown talented at pretending.

Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them in human form. Longing hovers around the shy, adoring boy at school. Courage materializes beside her dying friend. Fury and Resentment visit her abusive home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, except beautiful Fear, who sometimes torments her and other times plays her compassionate savior. He’s obsessed with finding the answer to one question: What happened to Elizabeth to make her this way?

They both sense that the key to Elizabeth’s condition is somehow connected to the paintings of her dreams, which show visions of death and grief that raise more questions than answers. But as a shadowy menace begins to stalk her, Elizabeth’s very survival depends on discovering the truth about herself. When it matters most, she may not be able to rely on Fear to save her.

Amazon  |  IndieBound  |  Goodreads

TBR Tuesday

I hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Day!

With the end of the school year this week, I'm in the mood of a fun summer romance read.  When I read the description for this one, I knew it was a must-read for me.  What do you think?

THE RULES OF SUMMER by Joanna Philbin

There are two sides to every summer.

When seventeen-year-old Rory McShane steps off the bus in East Hampton, it's as if she's entered another universe, one populated by impossibly beautiful people wearing pressed khakis and driving expensive cars. She's signed on to be a summer errand girl for the Rules -- a wealthy family with an enormous beachfront mansion. Upon arrival, she's warned by other staff members to avoid socializing with the family, but Rory soon learns that may be easier said than done.

Stifled by her friends and her family's country club scene, seventeen-year-old Isabel Rule, the youngest of the family, embarks on a breathless romance with a guy whom her parents would never approve of. It's the summer for taking chances, and Isabel is bringing Rory along for the ride. 

But will Rory's own summer romance jeopardize her friendship with Isabel? And, after long-hidden family secrets surface, will the Rules' picture-perfect world ever be the same?

TBR Tuesday

I thought I'd mix it up a little this week and NOT ONLY tell you about an upcoming release I'm looking forward to, but the next book that's getting dusted off and moved to the top of my current to-read list.

First, I just moved CREWEL by Gennifer Albin to the next in line on my personal TBR pile. I know this has gotten some mixed reviews, but it's one I've just got to read.  Should I be excited?

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own.
 
Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.
 
Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls.  Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power.  Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it.

And I'm really excited to read... BELLE EPOQUE by Elizabeth Ross

When Maude Pichon runs away from provincial Brittany to Paris, her romantic dreams vanish as quickly as her savings. Desperate for work, she answers an unusual ad. The Durandeau Agency provides its clients with a unique service—the beauty foil. Hire a plain friend and become instantly more attractive.

Monsieur Durandeau has made a fortune from wealthy socialites, and when the Countess Dubern needs a companion for her headstrong daughter, Isabelle, Maude is deemed the perfect adornment of plainness.

But Isabelle has no idea her new "friend" is the hired help, and Maude's very existence among the aristocracy hinges on her keeping the truth a secret. Yet the more she learns about Isabelle, the more her loyalty is tested. And the longer her deception continues, the more she has to lose. 

Inspired by a short story written by Emile Zola, Belle Epoque is set at the height of bohemian Paris, when the city was at the peak of decadence, men and women were at their most beautiful, and morality was at its most depraved.

It comes out June 11th, so less than 1 months away.  What have you been looking forward to lately?

TBR Tuesday: Reboot by Amy Tintera

It's Tuesday - time to talk about a book in our To Be Read stack.


Reboot by Amy Tintera actually hit stores today and I'm so excited to delve in!

Amy lives nearby and has been to several local author events. She's SUCH a sweetheart and this book looks amazing.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

Check out the trailer too!

TBR Tuesday: This is W.A.R.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you had a great Earth Day yesterday!

Today, I'm posting my TBR Tuesday about This is W.A.R. by Lisa and Laura Roecker.

Here's the description from Goodreads:

At Hawthorne Lake Country Club your trust fund can’t buy you happiness, but if it’s big enough, it almost always buys innocence. When Willa Ames-Rowan drowns in Hawthorne Lake everyone who’s anyone knows James Gregory is the one who killed her. But no one will ever say a word. Enter The W.A.R. Four girls, four motives to avenge Willa’s death, and only one rule: Destroy the Gregory brothers at any cost. The girls pool their trust funds and devise a series of elaborate pranks to deliver their own particular brand of vigilante justice. Innocence is lost, battles are won, but it’s the truth about what really happened that night that stands to destroy them all.

It releases July 2! 

I was rather behind on my TBR pile and only recently read Lisa and Laura's first book Liar Society. Boy, was it a mistake to wait! I really enjoyed The Liar Society--more than just about any recent release I've read in the past few months. I'm about to start the second Liar Society book, The Lies That Bind, and I cannot wait to read This is W.A.R.

What about you? What books are you looking forward to? What books have you recently read that blew you away?

TBR Tuesday: Furious by Jill Wolfson

Those of you who know me, know I have a bit of a "thing" for Greek mythology.  So this novel, coming out next week, has my interest piqued.  I admit, I haven't read any of Jill Wolfson's other novels, but the whole description of this one draws me in.  And I love that one of the characters is a foster kid.  Talk about a teen who deserves to be angry!

           

We were only three angry high school girls, to begin with. Alix, the hot-tempered surfer chick; Stephanie, the tree-hugging activist; and me, Meg, the quiet foster kid, the one who never quite fit in. We hardly knew each other, but each of us nurtured a burning anger: at the jerks in our class, at our disappointing parents, at the whole flawed, unjust world.

We were only three angry girls, simmering uselessly in our ocean-side California town, until one day a mysterious, beautiful classmate named Ambrosia taught us what else we could be: Powerful. Deadly. Furious.

Yes, that’s us. The three Greek Furies, come to life, ready to take our revenge on everyone who deserves it. And who doesn’t deserve it, really? We’re done with chances. We are angry. The Furies have come to town.

About the Author

Jill Wolfson has worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines around the country. Her award-winning novels for young people include What I Call Life; Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies; and Cold Hands, Warm Heart. Jill has taught writing at several universities and is a long-time volunteer in a writing program for incarcerated teenagers. She lives by the ocean in Santa Cruz, California.

Praise For Furious…

"For readers moving beyond Percy Jackson into the more complex realm of teen angst, this is an enthralling and chilling tale that uses Greek mythology to create a timely fable." -- Kirkus Reviews

So, what do you think???

Reads I Must Have

*TBR Tuesday is the Oasis Team's meme for highlighting books each of us desire to read.*

My ginormous mountain of wanted reads grows with each and every passing day; I'm sure your pile does too. This fact always makes it so difficult for me to choose which book to share with you. I've decided to share two books with you, today. Both deal with death but in very different ways.  

The first is a book I saw highlighted somewhere in cyberspace. The main character takes the reader on a journey of her last months on earth. I have this book, but have yet found the courage to read it. I must...soon.

Tessa has just a few months to live.

Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is sex.

Released from the constraints of 'normal' life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up.

Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out.

BEFORE I DIE is a brilliantly-crafted novel, heartbreaking yet astonishingly life-affirming. It will take you to the very edge

My second choice is one that first caught my eye and ear, not because of the story, but because of the author. YA Author Bridget Zinn passed away before she saw her book see the light of the publishing world. Her personal journey is amazing, as is the book she's written. 

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.
But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.
Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?
Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

Have you read either of these books? What book do you most currently covet?

Longing For Reads

If you're a writer, you most likely have a pile (maybe two), of books you ache to read. But 'alas, life doth chuck a wrench in thy dreamy plans. 

I decided to share with you a few stories teetering on the peak of my TBR pile aka Mount Book-a-saurus.

First we have a tale that comes right out of the nineteenth century; well, beginning in the twenty first century, actually. 

THE MIST ON BRONTE MOOR  by Aviva Orr

Released: January 2013; 257 pages

Description: When fifteen-year-old Heather Jane Bell is diagnosed with alopecia and her hair starts falling out in clumps, she wants nothing more than to escape her home in London and disappear off the face of the earth. 

Heather gets her wish when her concerned parents send her to stay with a great-aunt in West Yorkshire. But shortly after she arrives, Heather becomes lost on the moors and is swept through the mist back to the year 1833. There she encounters fifteen-year-old Emily Brontë and is given refuge in the Brontë Parsonage. 

Unaware of her host family’s genius and future fame, Heather struggles to cope with alopecia amongst strangers in a world foreign to her. While Heather finds comfort and strength in her growing friendship with Emily and in the embrace of the close-knit Brontë family, her emotions are stretched to the limit when she falls for Emily’s brilliant but troubled brother, Branwell.

Will Heather return to the comforts and conveniences of the twenty-first century? Or will she choose love and remain in the harsh world of nineteenth-century Haworth?

Next is a Book IV in a series; one I'm sure most are familiar with. I was given an ARC of Book II, Beautiful Chaos, by the publisher earlier last year. I hadn't read the first two books, but became an instant fan of these authors and the story they've created!

BEAUTIFUL REDEMPTION by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Released: October 2012; 451 pages

Description: Is death the end . . . or only the beginning? 

Ethan Wate always dreamed of leaving the stifling Southern town of Gatlin. But he never dreamt that finding love with Lena Duchannes would drive him away. Lena is a Caster girl whose supernatural powers unveiled a secretive and cursed side of Gatlin, so powerful it forced him to make a terrible sacrifice. 

Now Ethan must find a way to return to Lena - and Gatlin - as she vows to do whatever it takes to get him back. Even if it means trusting old enemies or risking their loved ones' lives. Can Ethan and Lena rewrite their fate and their spellbinding love story in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series?'

Lastly, here's a book that seems to have it all, not to mention one of the sweetest and most genuine writers I've ever met - via cyberspace, of course.

LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger

Released date: March 5th, 2013; 416 pages.

Description: A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

There you have it, folks. A few snippets from my ever-crumbling Mount Book-a-saurus. What's whispering sweet nothings to you from your Mount Book-a-sauras?

TBR Tuesday: RENEGADE by our very own J.A. Souders

Can you believe it?  In one week - seven short days - our very own J.A. Souders will see her debut YA novel available in print in the US!  Cue the confetti!

 I'm sure Jess can hardly believe this dream is about be reality, but for anyone who has read RENEGADE, it's no mystery to us why her book got picked up by Tor Teen - it's freakin' awesome!  And look at that cover - amazing.

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

If you want to get in on the goodness too, add RENEGADE to your TBR list on Goodreads.  You won't be sorry!  But before you go, be sure to tell Jess congrats.  :)  AND WHILE WE'RE CELEBRATING, TODAY IS LARISSA'S BIRTHDAY!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE VERY SWEET AND TALENTED OASIS SISTER!

What Does FAKING IT Look Like To A YAer?

A special treat has arrived for all you Oasis Seekers. To honor our TBR Tuesday post, I'm highlighting a fabulous book by a dear cyber friend. Okay, yeah I'm cheating. I've read it. Yes and I loved it! But it's a story so different from what I normally read, I wanted to share it with all of you.

Anyone heard of Janet Gurtler, author of the YA contemporary novels I'm Not Her and If I Tell? Well, this book reminds me of those.

the Truth about Faking by Leigh T. Moore

Jason just wants a date with Harley. 
Harley just wants a date with Trent. 
Trent's still getting over Stephanie.

When Harley and Jason decide to fake date, they uncover a school of deceptions. Trent's got a secret, but so does Jason. And the more time Harley spends secretly kissing her fake boyfriend, the further she gets from her dreams with Trent. 

Worst of all, Harley's mom is getting cozy with her hot massage therapy student, and even Harley's Reverend Dad can't fake not being bothered by it. But when the masks finally come off, can everyone handle the real truth?

Now available on Amazon, B&N Nook, Kobo, & Smashwords!

I'll be releasing my official review soon over on Writer's Alley. 

Seriously, if you're looking for a true contemporary novel, not over-played by too much of today's moral, political, or social issues, then this is your book.

What's On Your Reading List?

For today's To-Be-Read Tuesday, I've chosen a book that has recently come to my attention. I knew the moment I read the blurb I just had to have it.

Meet Jane.

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask. 

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin. 

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help. 

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey. 

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

Title: Ironskin
Author: Tina Connolly
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Books
Released: October 9, 2012
Pages: 304

Purchase: Macmillian site, Amazon, Barnes & Noble. Add to your Goodreads list.

What do you think is most intriguing about this blurb? Or what's missing?

TBR Tuesday: Time Between Us

Not only do I love books with elements of the paranormal, but I LOVE a heart-wrenching love story.  So when I read the description for this book and saw all the advance praise it's getting, I knew it had to go on my TBR list.  And lucky for me, it comes out TODAY!

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.

Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

"A beautifully written, unique love story." -- Melissa Marr, New York Times best-selling author of The Wicked Lovely series 

“A warm, time-bending romance… [that] will have readers rooting for the couple that keeps daring fate.” -- Publishers Weekly

"Time Between Us is the very best kind of love story -- heart-pounding, intense, and unputdownable!" -- Elizabeth Scott, author of Bloom and Perfect You

"The story will hold readers with its twists and turns, present and future; its love, sadness, and anger; and especially, its surprising secrets." -- Booklist

Anyone else adding it to their must-read list??

TBR Tuesday: Decatur Book Festival Haul

I know going around, meeting authors, and getting signed copies of books may be old hat to some of you, but this was my first experience.  And I came away with a collection of books I'm really looking forward to reading.

We've got:
The Childe and Dark Days by C.A. Kunz (fellow Florida authors)
Meant to Be by Tiffany King (fellow Florida author)
Origin by Jessica Khoury (an author made of awesome)
Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover (amazingly sweet!)
Significance by Shelly Crane (a fellow Florida author)
Anathema by K.A. Tucker (super nice!)
On the Bright Side by S.R. Johannes (fellow Indelible)
Don't Fear the Reaper by Michelle Muto (fellow Indelible)
Wildflower by Amy Jones (sweetheart)

(Plus, I got to have breakfast one day with Margie Stoll and Kendare Blake AND Nancy Holder came to our booth and hung out and was BEYOND amazing.)  So that's the really sort summary of my Decatur adventure.

Do any of these books interest you? Have you read any of them? I'd love to know how to better order by ever-growing TBR pile!

TBR Tuesday: An AToMR Tours Special!

Our regular TBR Tuesday has a little extra spice added in today. 

The Oasis Sisters are proud to be part of the cover reveal for the YA novel, VENGEANCE BOUND, by Justina Ireland and Simon and Schuster, with an expected release date of April 2, 2013. This tour is hosted by AToMR Tours.

Description: The Goddess Test meets Dexter in an edgy, compelling debut about one teen’s quest for revenge…no matter how far it takes her.

Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.

Cory’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Cory’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? 

As Cory’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Cory will have to put everything on the line to hold on to what she’s worked so hard to build.

Be on the lookout for this one!! I love the purity of the cover, yet the dirt and evil that lies beneath. Just look at those snakes!

Here's where you can find more about this book: Goodreads, Amazon, BN: Not up yet, & Indiebound.

TBR Tuesday: THE UNQUIET

THE UNQUIET by Jeannine Garsee

The title alone kind of creeps me out.  And then you read the description...

Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she’s bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother. 

After a suicide attempt, and now her parents' separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home, undaunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom. At school, her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless séance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends—yet not to her—Rinn is determined to find out why she can’t be "touched" by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exists. 

With the help of Nate Brenner, the hunky “farmer boy” she’s rapidly falling for, Rinn devises a dangerous plan to uncover the truth. Soon reality and fantasy meld into one, till Rinn finds it nearly impossible to tell the difference. When a malevolent force threatens the lives of everyone she cares about--not to mention her own--she can't help wondering: who should she really be afraid of?

Annaliese? Or herself?

So yeah, I want to read it.  And as luck would have it, it releases today. #win  To get your own copy, here's the Amazon link.  What do you think?

SANCTUM ~ TBR Tuesday

Whenever I'm up on a Tuesday, I'm forced to fan through my mountainous to-be-read pile. I honestly don't believe I'll ever see the bottom of it. However, from the vast variety of my pile, it goes to show the wonderment in young adult literature today.

I've chosen a book from a wonderful writer, blogger, and friend.


Official Description: A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos's best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance – hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn't just anyone – she's determined to save her best friend's soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife. 

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she's captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city's endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn't – the dark city isn't the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

Author Sarah Fine and I had a conversation a few months back about this book. From the moment she explained the premise, I was hooked. It's approximately 433 pages and has an expected publishing date of October 2012. I am so ansty to get my hands on a copy of this story. Won't you add it to your TBR list??

TBR Tuesday: Born Wicked

I was sucked into this story from the moment I saw the cover. Her haunting eyes, the blurred background, and the stand out color of the flowers in the forefront all got me. And I haven't even mentioned yet, how I'm all giddy over the title. Any title with the word wicked in it draws my curiosity. Just does.


Then I noticed it is Book I in a Chronicle. I'm a fan-girl for stories that keeps going and going. 



Title: Born Wicked
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Pages: 330

Description: Blessed with a gift...cursed with a secret.

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship - or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood - not even from each other.

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Author Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook 

TBR Tuesday: WRECKED

I'll be honest, before I started browsing the upcoming releases, I had no idea what I was going to pick. But then I stumbled upon a book called WRECKED ... one I'd not heard of before and whose cover was unfamiliar to me.

The description intrigued me, so I read the teaser. And well, let's just say that I'm pretty well hooked. Let's see if it does the same for you.

WRECKED by Anna Davies
Release: May 1st
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Secrets of the sea have never been sexier than this.


Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control.


But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.


Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.

Excerpt. [borrowed from Amazon]

In many ways, Whym Island is like any of the hundreds of tiny islands dotting the South Carolina coast. It’s got year-rounders, plus an infusion of visitors that swells its population to more than five times its off-season size. It has windswept cottages, sprawling resorts, and a coastline that makes visitors catch their breath and immediately do some mental math, desperate to find some way to live there year round. And, like all islands, it has secrets. Everyone knows that, in the 1960s, the mayor ran off with his gardener’s wife, and everyone knows people can occasionally hear an otherworldly keening by the beach on Bloody Point thanks to a nineteenth-century shipwreck.



During the summer, year-rounders will avoid the ferry dock, the Hardware Store bar and restaurant, Burton Park, and the town square commons, because they know these spots will be overrun by tourists. On the beach, the two groups, indistinguishable from each other to outsiders, will barely acknowledge each other with anything besides a chilly nod. Just like all the other islands in the Calibogue Sound.



Except the one thing that Whym has that other nearby islands—like Breton or Johns or Adventure Island—don’t, is an air of mystery. For one thing, Whym has unusual tides, which don’t always conform to the tide chart. This is annoying to fishermen, enchanting to visitors. Called witch tides by locals, low tide can suddenly, in an instant, turn into a relentless rushing high tide. Oceanographers say it’s a natural phenomenon caused by unusual plate tectonic activity. The locals explain that there’s a sunken island beneath the sea, ruled by a sea witch.



The visitors can’t get enough of that story. Which is why, during the summer, there are sea witch tours instead of whale watch tours, sea witch specials at all the seafood restaurants, and, of course, plenty of sea witch souvenirs at the postage-stamp size Souvenir Shoppe, a weather-beaten shack that lies to the right of the Faunterloy Ferry dock. The Souvenir Shoppe, too, is just like any other souvenir shop on any other island. You know the ones: The floors are perpetually gritty with sand, there’s a thin layer of dust on all the shot glasses, ashtrays, and bells that are perched on high shelves, and there’s a line of cheap candy at eye-level for five-year-olds. On Whym, the Souvenir Shoppe also contains handmade puppets of the mermen and mermaids believed to live beneath the sea. They all have slight smiles and hair made out of yarn and are usually only purchased by well-meaning grandmothers. Next to them is a shelf of mermaid food, which is simply multicolored fish pellets that children enjoy throwing into the water as the ferry is departing, as well as mermaid gloss, a sparkly lip gloss popular with visitors under ten.



And then, of course, there’s a shaky rack of postcards. The postcards always show the most beautiful images of the islands. They’ll show the sunset, the line of gorgeous willow trees that hide the row of mansions that regulars live in, a couple walking on the beach, just hazy enough to be unidentifiable.

On all of them, the same tagline: “Whym Island: Some things have to be seen to be believed.”



But that’s not exactly correct. What it should read is: “On Whym Island, some things have to be believed to be seen.”

TBR Tuesday: SLIDE by Jill Hathaway

This debut novel by Jill Hathaway - a high school teacher - is hitting the shelves in 1 week.  It's like a contemporary thriller and paranormal all rolled into one.  I, for one, cannot wait! And how about that cover?  

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister's friend Sophie didn't kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn't actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else's mind and experiences the world through that person's eyes. She's slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed "friend" when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie's slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can't bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting distant lately, especially now that she's been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

Bonus -- you get to watch the trailer too!

Slide by Jill Hathaway by HarperTeen

UNTIL I DIE

I could have gone with a generic title. You know, the whole TBR list and all. But I could not resist using the title of the book I'm highlighting from the mountain of books I long to read.


UNTIL I DIE, by Author Amy Plum


Seriously? It gives me chills, makes me think, and gives me visions. Love it!!

Okay, so now I'm going to gush about the cover! 

It's gorgeous!!

I need to make a confession. I don't choose books for their cover art very often. I read the story blurb and about the author. I usually thumb through the book and then read a chunk of pages here and there. 

I did choose this book, initially, for its cover. TO DIE FOR. 

Description: 

I wish there was only today, just right now, and no forever.

It seems fitting that I fell in love in Paris, the most beautiful city in the world. And if I pretend, I can almost believe that my life is normal and everyone I care about is safe.

But as long as I’m with Vincent, “normal” doesn’t exist. Gorgeous, charming, and witty, he’s everything you could ask for in a boyfriend—but his destiny is so much more.

Even more terrifying than his destiny are his dangerous enemies, enemies who will kill for immortality. How are Vincent and I supposed to be together forever if we’re always in danger?

I know I’ll do whatever it takes—even if it means lying to the people I love—to fight against a fate that is trying to tear us apart.

Yeah. Yummy, right? But you'll have to wait to get it on its Book Birthday, May 8th, 2012; publisher: HarperCollins

Take a better peek over at Barnes and Noble.