So we've all been there. You countdown until a new release comes out and go straight to the bookstore the first chance you get. Once you're inside is another story. I almost never walk out of the store without at least two books in tow. Now getting them all read quickly is a completely different ball game.
Had To Have Pick #1: Stolen Nights (Vampire Queen, #2) by Rebecca Maizel
With her new powers growing and the dark force of the Nex after her soul, Lenah faces a choice: between the mortal love of gorgeous Justin, whose passion fed her human soul, and taking a different path to become the mistress of her own destiny, wherever that may lead...
In fairness, I was over the moon when I received this ARC and couldn't wait to get started. But I started it up and within the first chapter I realized it was going to make me sad. At the time I was looking for a more upbeat read and had to put it down temporarily. I'm not ready for it yet.
Had To Have Pick #2: The Calling (Darkness Rising, #2) by Kelley Armstrong
Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.
In THE CALLING, the sizzling second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pumps up the romance, danger, and suspense that left readers of THE GATHERING clamoring for more.
I think my problem here resulted in too much time passing in between the first series installment and this release. If I had been able to pick this one up as soon as I finished the first it would have been different but by the time I got this one I knew I needed a refresher before diving in.
Had To Have Pick #3: The Trust (Secret Society, #2) by Tom Dolby
It's a new semester at the Chadwick School, and even with the ankh tattoos that brand them, Phoebe, Nick, Lauren, and Patch are hoping for a fresh start. Each day, however, they are reminded of their membership as new Conscripts in the Society. The secret group that promised to help them achieve their every dream has instead turned their lives into a nightmare.
Exclusive membership lost its luster as the Society revealed its agenda to them and two of their classmates were found dead. Now they can't help but wonder: Who's next? While they search for the elusive truth about the Society, the Conscripts are forced to face their darkest fear--that they truly can't get out.
Will Nick and Phoebe's new relationship endure this strain? Can Patch and Nick's longtime friendship survive the truth that will come to light? The deceptions of the group's leaders, once trusted friends, and family will test these four as they fight to leave the Society behind.
The Trust, Tom Dolby's sequel to secret society, is an alluring glimpse behind the facade of a life of entitlement, where secrets aren't merely fun--they're deadly.
Same as #2...just a little too much time in between reads for me.
Had To Have Pick #4: Heist Society (Heist Society, #1) by Ally Carter
Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.
Could not wait to get this one. I bought this one along with a few others and started those first. Never ended up coming back to it....at least not yet.
Had To Have Pick #5: The Summer of Shambles (Ondine, #1) by Ebony McKenna
When Shambles turns back into Hamish temporarily, Ondine knows that she has to help him break the spell. He is the most gorgeous boy she has ever met and her one true love! He just can't remain a ferret forever. Can he?
No excuse.
Had To Have Pick #6: Viola in the Spotlight (Viola, #2) by Adriana Trigiani
Viola is finally where she belongs--back home in Brooklyn, where there are no khakis or sherbet-colored sweaters and people actually think her yellow flats are cool. With two whole months of nothing to do but hang with her two best friends, Andrew and Caitlin, this is going to be the best break ever!
But her BFFAA, Andrew, has started acting weird around her, and a new boyfriend has her friend Caitlin ditching her every chance she gets. When Viola's roommates from Prefect Academy show up for a visit, she starts to wonder--is Brooklyn where she wants to stay? When a tragic event shakes everyone's world, Viola realizes it's not where she belongs that matters--it's who she's with that really counts.
In this heartwarming follow-up to bestselling author Adriana Trigiani's teen debut, Viola in Reel Life, Viola just may be ready to get out from behind her trusty video camera and take the starring role in her own life.
Didn't realize it was a sequel and didn't have the first installment under my belt.
Had To Have Pick #7: Summer In Paris by Michele Ashman Bell
Feeling like she's been sentenced to three months in Hickville Prison, Kenzie arrives in Idaho feeling like a square peg with name brand clothes, in a round, horribly podunk, hole.
Leaving everything she loves behind, Kenzie is forced to get up at the crack of dawn, do chores, and hang out with her cousin's loser friends. She feels like she's about to die until she meets Adam White, the town outcast, who's been accused of killing his best friend and is being blamed for some trouble that's been happening around town.
Not only is Adam the best-looking guy she's ever seen, but he's also the most fascinating guy she's ever met and Kenzie is determined to get to know him and find out his secret. But, the longer she stays in Paris, the more she realizes, Adam isn't the only one keeping secrets.
It was a giveaway prize I won and somehow got shelved and forgotten about for a while.
Had To Have Pick #8: Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler
As Gabby describes her transformation from Invisible Girl to Trendy Girl Who Dates Billy Nash (aka Most Desirable Boy Ever), she is left wondering: Why is Billy suddenly distancing himself from her? What do her classmates know that Gabby does not? Who exactly was in the car that night? And why has Gabby been left to take the fall?
As she peels back the layers of her life, Gabby begins to realize that her climb up the status ladder has been as intoxicating as it has been morally complex...and that nothing about her life is what she has imagined it to be.
Had To have Pick #9: Rivals (The Ivy, #3) by Lauren Kunze, Rina Onur
Now who are you going to choose?
Callie Andrews returns for her second semester at Harvard determined to do better than the previous fall, where those Bs on her report card seemed pretty good compared to the state of her extracurriculars (F, as in if at first you don't succeed, you should probably stop trying), friendships (C-minus, since she and former BFF Vanessa are still on thin ice), and love life (D, as in don't even go there). But various campus rivalries soon threaten to thwart Callie's resolve. Will Callie ever be a match for--
Grace Lee
the take-no-prisoners managing editor
Alessandra
the gorgeous transfer student
Clint
the guy who might just be too perfect
and Gregory
the guy who may never be perfect enough.
Callie will face some of the toughest choices imaginable: in friendships, in loyalties, and in love. The pressure to pick a side--and a suitor--has never been higher. But will she and her friends choose well?
Right after I got this one I heard through the grapevine that it wouldn't end in a way I'd like and I haven't been able to bring myself to confirm that yet.
Had To Have Pick #10: Auracle by Gina Rosati
When there's a fatal accident and her classmate Taylor takes over Anna's body, what was an exhilarating distraction from her repressive home life threatens to become a permanent state. Faced with a future trapped in another dimension, Anna turns to Rei for help. Now the two of them must find a way to get Anna back into her body and stop Taylor from accusing an innocent friend of murder. Together Anna and Rei form a plan but it doesn't take into account the deeper feelings that are beginning to grow between them.
