You can't get much more romantic as far as destination cities, than Paris, France. While I'm hopeful that I'll be able to find a few new reads that fall into the romance department during the "romantic" months, I'm not limiting myself to only those types of reads. There are so many new titles hitting the shelve this year that I know I'll never be able to keep up. But it never hurts to try, and these countdown posts keep my list fresh and helps me narrow down my choices when I'm on the hunt for what to read next. Are there any titles you are looking forward to come February? Do you tend to find yourself reading romances during February or do you go the opposite route? Here are a few coming out next month that I'm looking forward to adding to my bookshelf.
Countdown Pick #1: Alienated (Alienated, #1) by Melissa Landers (02/04/2014)
Interplanetary relations have never been more exciting! The first in a funny, romantic YA sci-fi series.Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.
Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.
Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.
But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.
Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.
I added this one to my list a while back, and taking another look at it now has me excited all over again to dig in. I think this might be my first experience with a funny science fiction novel, but there sounds like there's going to be action and romance added into the mix as well. Doesn't that sound like a great combination?
Countdown Pick #2: Perfect Lies (Mind Games, #2) by Kiersten White (02/14/2014)
Annie and Fia are ready to fight back.The sisters have been manipulated and controlled by the Keane Foundation for years, trapped in a never ending battle for survival. Now they have found allies who can help them truly escape. After faking her own death, Annie has joined a group that is plotting to destroy the Foundation. And Fia is working with James Keane to bring his father down from the inside.
But Annie's visions of the future can't show her who to trust in the present. And though James is Fia's first love, Fia knows he's hiding something. The sisters can rely only on each other - but that may not be enough to save them.
As a fan of White's Paranormalcy series, I can't help but hope for another winning series this time around. I haven't had the chance to read the series opener, but with only another month to go before this sequel comes out, my plan is to wait for it's release and check them both out at the same time so I can avoid having to wait even a second before diving into the next book.
Countdown Pick #3: Mistwalker by Saundra Mitchell (02/04/2014)
When Willa Dixon’s brother dies on the family lobster boat, her father forbids Willa from stepping foot on the deck again. With her family suffering, she’ll do anything to help out—even visiting the Grey Man.Everyone in her small Maine town knows of this legendary spirit who haunts the lighthouse, controlling the fog and the fate of any vessel within his reach. But what Willa finds in the lighthouse isn’t a spirit at all, but a young man trapped inside until he collects one thousand souls.
Desperate to escape his cursed existence, Grey tries to seduce Willa to take his place. With her life on land in shambles, will she sacrifice herself?
Although it sounds a little more eerie than I would normally go for, it also has this sad and heavy quality to the synopsis that has me leaning towards wanting to check this one out to see how it all turns out. Mitchell is one of those authors who can paint such a vivid picture with words that her readers end up feeling like they're right there alongside the characters themselves, and I'm curious to see if that will be a good thing or a bad thing this time around.
Countdown Pick #4: Tremor (Pulse Trilogy, #2) by Patrick Carman (02/25/2014)
In the year 2051, some people have a second pulse… Like all who have “the pulse,” Faith Daniels and Dylan Gilmore have telekinetic powers—they can move objects with their minds. But there are five “second pulses” in the world who have an even greater power: Almost nothing can harm them. They are virtually indestructible.
Both Faith and Dylan have the second pulse. But the other side has second pulses, too, and they’ve been training for a war that has been brewing their entire lives. As Dylan executes a plan to infiltrate enemy grounds, he’ll have to face his only weakness, and a family secret that will threaten his very existence.
Together, Faith and Dylan are the only hope this world has left, but they must go their separate ways in order to accomplish their plan. Will their love survive?
With richly developed characters and heart-pounding action scenes, the second book in Patrick Carman’s Pulse trilogy continues the electrifying dystopian story of love and revenge.
This is definitely a sequel that I've been waiting on for what feels like forever! I loved Carman's series opener, Pulse, and I cannot wait to see what happens to these characters next. The ending of the opener left me so anxious and excited that I honestly have no idea how Carman plans to take things from there, but I have no doubt that readers are in for one action packed journey.
Countdown Pick #5: Fates (Fates, #1) by Lanie Bross (02/11/2014)
Normally I wouldn't be able to gather up much excitement for a book that both doesn't have a cover image to check out, and from an other that I've never had any experience with before. But all it took were these two short sentences in the synopsis and I was hooked. Still not sure exactly why, but I'm not worried about it either. Bross sounds like she's going to bring some new and exciting material to the YA world and I for one, am looking forward to seeing what she puts together.
