Countdown: Missed Titles (2)

While trying to get back into the swing of things on the blog after my crazy, wedding filled Summer, I of course decided to bring back the countdowns.  They're some of my favorites posts to prepare and doing the research on them is always exciting because I seem to always end up pleasantly surprised by how many titles out there that I end up wanting to read in the worst possible way.

So while I've got a huge list already compiled of all the great titles coming out in 2013, I wanted to come back and start first by featuring some reads that I somehow missed in the past year or two.  I'm always both upset and excited to find titles that somehow went under my radar.  Upset because I already feel like I'm behind, and have possibly missed out on great reading experiences, but also excited to finally come across them so that I'll have the chance to make up for lost time and dive right into these intriguing reads.  So here's the start to the missing titles countdown.  Since these have been on the shelves for a while now, if you see any that you've read or heard anything about, let me know and give me your opinion....should I rush them to the top of my TBR pile, or possibly hold off???

Countdown Pick #1:  She's So Dead To Us (He's So/She's So, #1) by Kieran Scott

Ally Ryan would rather be in Maryland. She would rather be anywhere, in fact, than Orchard Hill, site of her downfall. Well, not hers exactly—but when your father’s hedge fund goes south and all your friends lose their trust funds, things don’t look so sunny for you. Her mother moved her to Maryland to flee the shame, but now they’re moving back. Back to the country-club, new-car-every-year, my-family-came-over-on-the-Mayflower lifestyle that Ally has outgrown. One bright spot, however, is gorgeous, intense Jake Graydon. But it won’t be easy for the two of them to be together—not if his friends (her former friends) have anything to say about it. Is Ally ready to get thrown back into the drama of the life she left behind?

Who doesn't love a story every once in a while about girl cattiness and the social pitfalls that come hand in hand with high school and all the drama that inevitably falls into everyone's lap at one time or another.  It's unavoidable and sometimes it's just nice to be able to sit back and read about other people's drama rather than dwell on your own, don't you think?  This will be my first experience with Scott's writing but I've heard great things and can't wait to see for myself if it lives up to the hype.

Countdown Pick #2:  Crave (Crave, #1) by Laura J. Burns

Shay could never do the things her friends could--never try out for sports, never go to parties, never fall in love. Because of the mysterious and incurable blood disorder she was born with, she can barely make it through three days of school a week.

But now, her doctor-turned-stepfather has a brand-new treatment that he thinks will change everything. And it does. As soon as the new blood starts pumping into Shay's veins, she has visions of a different life...Gabriel's life. She sees an orphanage, loss, fangs, blood, and lust that she can't explain.

Is Gabriel real? And if he is, could he really be what she thinks he is?

Again with the mysteries, but to be honest, the cover of this title alone had me intrigued.  The colors, the images, it all screams to be taken off the shelf if you ask me.  So I'm starting to form my own theories where this title is concerned and I'm looking forward to having them tested out.  Have you guys read this one yet?  The only good thing about missing out on titles when they first come out is that when you finally do get around to reading them, there's usually plenty of readers out there that can give you a heads up if it's a title worth moving to the top of your list or possibly waiting a bit before diving right in.  So what's the verdict?  Is this a title I should jet straight to the top of my TBR?

Countdown Pick #3:  Belles (Belles, #1) by Jen Calonita

Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she's ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn't go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls' lives forever.

Yet again a story of an underdog that I'm already rooting for.  Isabelle already has me on her side and to hear that she's got all of this drama to contend with already on top of dealing with the tragedy that caused her uprooting....well I think the girl deserves a hand, don't you think?  I can already see the kind of cattiness she'll have to deal with and the obstacles that will be in her way, but what I'm really curious about is this secret that will unfold, and what it could possibly involve that it would be so life altering...only time will tell right?

Countdown Pick #4:  Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful, #1) by Yvonne Woon

On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder.

After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”

It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.

Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.

Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul.

I'm on board for this one.  Each new line of this book's description had me inching closer to the screen to see what I'd read next.  I love a good boarding school story, and with most of those comes the mysteries and secretive pasts of both the institutions and the classmates that surround the main characters.  Sounds to me like the makings of a fun and adventurous ride.

Countdown Pick #5:  Blood Warrior (The Alexa Montgomery Saga, #1) by H.D. Gordon

When her home is attacked by murderous vampires, 17-year-old Alexa is forced to leave her mother for dead in order to save her sister. She soon learns that she is the last known member of an elite race of supernatural Warriors, and is thrust into a world full of vampires and werewolves who all seem to regard her as some sort of savior. Meanwhile, Alexa battles a monster within herself that seeks to gain control; a monster that seeks blood.

The hidden city she finds herself in appears perfect, but Alexa's instincts tell her that all is not right within its walls. When she is asked to attend a school of fighters, whose exams consist of gladiator-style competitions, she must decide who she can trust among the smiling faces. And, when she meets Kayden, a vampire she feels undeniably drawn to, she must decide if she can trust herself.

We've got the makings of a truly kick butt heroine here by the sounds of things.  The cover is chalk full of great details and images, the book's description is intriguing and mysterious, and with all of that rolled together I've got myself yet another title that I couldn't resist adding to my TBR list.  Gladiator style exams to weed out and cull the warrior numbers???  Oh yeah, this one sounds like a page turner without a doubt.