Saturday, September 12, 2009

Birthday Loot

I had two gift cards from my birthday last week burning a hole in my pocket and I finally had a chance to get out and spend them today - despite my growing level of annoyance at Chapters today I managed to do okay.

Acacia - David Anthony Durham


Summary: Born into generations of prosperity, the four royal children of the Akaran dynasty know little of the world outside their opulent island paradise. But when an assassin strikes at the heart of their power, their lives are changed forever.

Forced to flee to distant corners and separated against their will, the children must navigate a web of hidden allegiances, ancient magic, foreign invaders, and illicit trade that will challenge their very notion of who they are. As they come to understand their true purpose in life, the fate of the world lies in their hands.

Why: I used to be very into fantasy novels but haven't purchased a new series in quite some time only because I have so many un-started fantasy series in my TBR pile already but I happened to detour down the fantasy aisle during my shopping trip and the shiny wonderfulness that is this cover caught my eye and I wanted to buy for that fact alone. Add to that the huuuuge size of it and the back cover blurb and I was sold.

Blood Rites - Jim Butcher

Summary: HARRY DRESDEN--WIZARD
Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or
Other Entertainment.

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, there have been worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Dodging flaming monkey poo, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a walking plant monster. Still, there's something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film's producer believes he's the target of a sinister entropy curse, but it's the women around, him who are dying, in increasingly spectacular ways.

Harry's doubly frustrated because he got involved with this bizarre mystery only as a favor to Thomas, his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can't quite figure out, until his investigation leads him straight to Thomas's oversexed vampire family. Harry's about to discover that Thomas's family tree has been hiding a shocking secret: a revelation that will change Harry's life forever...


Why: Because I'm in love with Harry Dresden. Oh and because this series keeps getting better with every installment.

A Reason To Live - Maureen McKade


Summary: How could I refuse the wish of a dying man?

May 30, 1865: During the War, I watched over too many young boys in the hospital, comforting them as they cried out for those they loved, as they whispered their final thoughts to me. Keepng a record of their names, families, and last words seemed a small tribute to their sacrifice -- until the war ended, and I found a new mission in life.

I would visit the loved ones of those poor soldiers and deliver their messages so that some comfort could be found even in grief...

But Laurel Covey never expected to find a man like Creede Forrester -- an ex-gunslinger who rode all the way from Texas to Virginia in the hope of finding his son and ended up saving her from a band of ruffians. It pains her deeply to tell him of his boy's death, and she believes that in his heart, Creede blames himself for driving his son away. But there is something more to this rugged, weary man. Something that draws Laurel closer to him ... something she cannot resist...


Why: Okay I didn't buy this one. I won it and it came in the mail a few days ago but I'm including it anyway. Thanks Wendy!!!!


Dead Girls are Easy - Terri Garey

Summary: There's something about almost dying that makes a girl rethink her priorities. Take Nicki Styx—she was strictly goth and vintage, until a brush with the afterlife leaves her with the ability to see dead people.
Before you can say boo, Atlanta's ghosts are knocking at Nicki's door. Now her days consist of reluctantly cleaning up messes left by the dearly departed, leading ghouls to the Light . . . and one-on-one anatomy lessons with Dr. Joe Bascombe, the dreamy surgeon who saved her life. All this catering to the deceased is a real drag, especially for a girl who'd rather be playing hanky-panky with her hunky new boyfriend . . . who's beginning to think she's totally nuts.
But things get even more complicated when a friend foolishly sells her soul to the devil, and Nicki's new gift lands her in some deep voodoo.
As it turns out for Nicki Styx, death was just the beginning.


Why: I don't know since I've sworn off buying any paranormals other than series I'm already invested in. I don't very often see ones about ghosts though and the third book in the series sounded interesting so I grabbed the first book.

Goddess of the Hunt - Tessa Dare

Summary: Ever the bold adventuress, Lucy Waltham has decided to go hunting for a husband. But first she needs some target practice. So she turns to her brother’s best friend, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, to hone her seductive wiles on him before setting her sights on another man. But her practice kisses spark a smoldering passion–one that could send all her plans up in smoke.

Jeremy has an influential title, a vast fortune, and a painful past full of long-buried secrets. He keeps a safe distance from his own emotions, but to distract Lucy from her reckless scheming, he must give his passions free rein. Their sensual battle of wills is as maddening as it is delicious, but the longer he succeeds in managing the headstrong temptress, the closer Jeremy comes to losing control. When scandal breaks, can he bring himself to abandon Lucy to her ruin? Or will he risk his heart and claim her for his own?

Why: Only because I've heard so much buzz about it on the AAR boards. Along with paranormal romances this is exactly the type of european historical I've sworn not to buy any more of but I can't resist the hype.

Gone - Michael Grant

Summary: In the blink of an eye.
Everyone disappears.
Gone.
Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help.
Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.
The first in a breathtaking saga about teens battling each other and their darkest selves, gone is a page-turning thriller that will make you look at the world in a whole new way.


Why: Personally, I think this cover is hideous and I never would have picked it up had it not been the one lone non-vampire looking cover on the young adult table. The blurb on the back and the first few pages convinced me though. I think this one is going to be moved up the TBR heap very quickly.

A Hint of Wicked - Jennifer Haymore


Summary: CAUGHT BETWEEN DUTY AND DESIRE . . .


Sophie, the Duchess of Calton, has finally moved on. After seven years mourning the loss of her husband, Garrett, at Waterloo, she has married his cousin and heir, Tristan. Sophie gives herself to him body and soul. . . until the day Garrett returns from the Continent, demanding his title, his lands-and his wife.

TORN BETWEEN TWO HUSBANDS . . .

Now Sophie must choose between her first love and her new love, knowing that no matter what, her choice will destroy one of the men she adores. Will it be Garrett, her childhood sweetheart, whose loss nearly destroyed her once already? Or will it be Tristan, beloved friend turned lover, who supported her through the last, dark years and introduced her to a passion she had never known? As her two husbands battle for her heart, Sophie finds herself immersed in a dangerous game-where the stakes are not only love . . . but life and death.

Why: Because difficult love triangles are one of my favourite plot devices. I love the angst that comes along with them. Twice Loved by LaVyrle Spencer and Midnight Honor by Marsha Canham are among some of my most favourite reads. Slightly off topic here - Do these bullshit generic titles really sell more books? I would never have even bothered picking this one up off the shelf had I not read the review online first. There are so many of these titles in the bookstores I can't even be bothered to pick them up.

Mister B. Gone - Clive Barker

Summary: Mister B. Gone marks the long-awaited return of Clive Barker, the great master of the macabre, to the classic horror story. This bone-chilling novel, in which a medieval devil speaks directly to his reader--his tone murderous one moment, seductive the next--is a never-before-published memoir allegedly penned in the year 1438. The demon has embedded himself in the very words of this tale of terror, turning the book itself into a dangerous object, laced with menace only too ready to break free and exert its power.
A brilliant and truly unsettling tour de force of the supernatural, "Mister B. Gone" escorts the reader on an intimate and revelatory journey to uncover the shocking truth of the battle between Good and Evil.


Why: I'm a long time fan of Clive Barker and the fact that his name was on this book at all was enough to make me buy it. Add to that the intriguing synopsis, a cleverly written introduction in which the book instructs me to burn it immediately, the $9.99 hardcover price tag and the way the pages were made to look yellowed and aged and feel wonderful and I didn't have a chance.

The Perils of Pleasure - Julie Ann Long

Summary:"A rescued rogue . . . "
Scandal has rocked the city of London. Colin Eversea, a handsome, reckless unapologetic rogue is sentenced to hang for murder and, inconveniently for him, the only witness to the crime disappears. Then again, throughout history, the Everseas have always managed to cheat fate in style: Colin is snatched from the gallows by a beautiful, clever mercenary.
"A captivating captor. . . "
Cool-headed, daring Madeleine Greenway is immune to Colin's vaunted charm. Her mission is not to rescue Colin but to kidnap him, and to be paid handsomely for it. But when it becomes clear that whoever wants Colin alive wants Madeline dead, the two become uneasy allies in a deadly race for truth. Together, they'll face great danger—and a passion neither can resist.


Why: What? Another european historical you say? Well that's what I said to myself when I was looking over my purchases before I left the store but - I read about this one on a blog post about bad girl heroines and I'd never read one before so I made a point of picking this one up. And yes another dumb generic title that I wouldn't have glanced twice at in the store.

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon


Summary: Barcelona, 1945—A great world city lies shrouded in secrets after the war, and a boy mourning the loss of his mother finds solace in his love for an extraordinary book called "The Shadow of the Wind", by an author named Julian Carax. When the boy searches for Carax’s other books, it begins to dawn on him, to his horror, that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book the man has ever written. Soon the boy realizes that "The Shadow of the Wind" is as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget, for the mystery of its author’s identity holds the key to an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love that someone will go to any lengths to keep secret.


Why: My doctor told me I had to read it, then the girl in the bookstore went on and on and on about it and she convinced me. I'm still not entirely sure what it's about.

Wild Heat - Bella Andre


Summary:He's a hotshot firefighter addicted to risk.
She's the sultry beauty he never saw coming.

Maya Jackson doesn’t sleep with strangers. Until the night grief sent her to the nearest bar and into the arms of the most explosive lover she’s ever had. Six months later, the dedicated arson investigator is coming face-to-face with him again. Gorgeous, grinning Logan Cain. Her biggest mistake. Now her number one suspect in a string of deadly wildfires.

Risking his life on a daily basis is what gets Logan up in the morning. As the leader of the elite Tahoe Pines Hotshot Crew, he won’t back down from a blaze—or from beautiful, lethal Maya Jackson. She may have seduced him with her tears and her passion, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before Logan lets down his guard again. But when Maya’s life is threatened, his natural-born-hero instincts kick in, and Logan vows to protect the woman sworn to bring him down. And as desire reignites, nothing—not the killer fire nor the killer hot on their trail—can douse the flames.…

Why: I have a thing for fire fighters.

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