Countdown: June 2013 (3)

While it might not feel like Summer is right around the corner right now it's not that far away.  May might mark the beginning of Summer and all the fun that comes with it, but when June rolls around I'm always ready to get into the full swing of things.  I'm ready to pack up my cold weather clothing and instead of curling up on the sofa with a book I'd rather take one out either poolside or to the beach.  Who doesn't like to lay around in the sun and enjoy a great book at the same time?  I've been known to like to grab a tan and soak up the sun but I can only lie around in the heat for so long without getting antsy so that's when I pull out the good books.  They get me through the hotter temperatures and keep me entertained while I try to get all the vitamin D a girl could want.  What's on your June 2013 list to pick up at your favorite bookstores?

Countdown Pick #1:  Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn (06/11/2013)

Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself.

He’s part Win, the lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy. The guy who shuts all his classmates out, no matter the cost.

But he’s also part Drew, the angry young boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who spent a fateful summer with his brother and teenage cousins, only to endure a family secret so painful it led three children to do the unthinkable.

Over the course of one night, while stuck at a party deep in the New England woods, Andrew battles the pain of his past and the isolation of his present. Before the sun rises, he’ll either surrender his sanity to the wild thoughts inside his mind or learn that surviving can mean more than not dying.

OK so if I was going based only on this book's description I'm not sure that I'd be adding this one to my list.  It confused me to be quite honest.  But then I scrolled down a little and found some early reviews and from what I read Kuehn's writing is wonderful.  Based on all those recommendations how could I pass up the chance to add this one to my TBR list and countdown.  A new debut is always hard to pass up and after hearing all these raves I'm going to take a chance.

Countdown Pick #2:  Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller (06/08/2013)

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong? 

In the Bermuda Triangle—a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that these "alternate realities" could become permanent.

She just has to ask herself one question—how the hell is she going to get out of this mess?

As a big fan of cruise ships I am not happy to hear that all this scary and wacky stuff goes down on board, but other than that I'm totally excited.  I can't begin to imagine where Miller will take her readers with this alternate reality and confusing situation that her main character has landed in, but I'm game to find out.

Countdown Pick #3:  Thundering Lux by L.M. Preston (06/01/2013)

Jewel has always been able to get the guy she wanted. The starting jock on the football team, the team captain on the basketball team, and the lead swimmer on the swim team. Problem is, she didn't find them the least bit exciting. Was she cold or a she-wolf for guys? Colin thought so, and he'd do anything to bring her down a peg or two. When these two collide on the sandy beach during their mixed up summer vacation, sparks fly, making this a summer neither will forget.

Aside from the title and the cover art I'm liking the sound of this June release.  Preston has more than just this release hitting the shelves in 2013 and I'm very excited to check each and every one of them out.  Plus I'm always a sucker for a story of two opposites coming together and rather than clashing in the expected ways, watching a romance take place instead.  Who knows what's in store for readers with this release but from the looks and sounds of things, steamy and oh so romantic scenes are definitely in our fictional futures.

Countdown Pick #4: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha, #1) by Leigh Bardugo (06/05/2013)

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

I'm totally excited to find out what this magical elite has in store for Alina.  June seems like a very long time to countdown when you come across a title with a description as exciting as this one.

Countdown Pick #5:  All These Lives by Sarah Wylie (06/05/2013)

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky.  She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal.  And Jena is wasting away.  To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives.  Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one.  Someone like Jena.  But just when Dani finds herself at the breaking point, she’s faced with a startling realization.  Maybe she doesn’t have nine lives after all.  Maybe she really only ever had one.

I've read some early reviews of this one and the reviewers warned readers off if you're overly sensitive or if you easily cry over hard situations.  Well that's me for sure, but I'm still going to give this read a shot and hope that I can hang in there long enough to maybe see some of these characters get a happy ending?  My fingers are crossed for them already.