Countdown: March 2014 (3)

It's almost here...March is one of my favorite months in the whole year because of just one day! On this very special day (you know which one I'm referring to) everyone comes out and shows their Irish pride. Whether they're Irish or not, they are on this day, and somehow we all manage to have a great time. On top of all the fun and festivities that come with this month, there are also quite a few new releases that are scheduled to hit the shelves and I can't wait to check them out for myself. Here's a few I'm looking forward to reading, are there any you've come across that I missed on my list?

Countdown Pick #1:  Sing Sweet Nightingale (The Dream War Saga, #1) by Erica Cameron (03/04/2014)

 

Mariella Teagen hasn't spoken a word in four years.

She pledged her voice to Orane, the man she loves—someone she only sees in her dreams. Each night, she escapes to Paradise, the world Orane created for her, and she sings for him. Mariella never believed she could stay in Paradise longer than a night, but two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Orane hints that she may be able to stay forever.

Hudson Vincent made a pledge to never fight again.

Celease, the creature who created his dream world, swore that giving up violence would protect Hudson. But when his vow caused the death of his little brother, Hudson turned his grief on Celease and destroyed the dream world. The battle left him with new abilities and disturbing visions of a silent girl in grave danger—Mariella.

Now, Hudson is fighting to save Mariella's life while she fights to give it away. And he must find a way to show her Orane’s true intentions before she is lost to Paradise forever.

 

I'm not sure how all these characters will tie in together, but this whole idea is so unique and original from what I'm been reading lately, that I'm eager to find out more.  I haven't read anything by Cameron in the past, but I think this will be a great first experience with her writing and hopefully only the beginning of a very exciting and interesting series.

 

Countdown Pick #2:  The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (03/04/2014)

 

In the tradition of Kristin Cashore and Cassandra Clare comes this brilliant, unputdownable, star-crossed romance about the curse of winning.

Seventeen-year-old Kestrel is an aristocratic citizen of Valoria, a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers. Here, a girl like Kestrel has two choices: join the military or get married. Despite her skills in military strategy, Kestrel’s real passion is music.Which is why she feels compelled to buy Arin, a slave with a talent for singing, at auction. It’s not long before she finds herself falling in love with Arin, and he seems to feel the same for her. But Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for Arin is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a new world, The Winner’s Curse is a story of wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

 

Based on the synopsis, as a fan of both Cashore's writing and Clare's previous works, if Rutkoski brings anything close to what those two have produced I will be one happy reader for sure.  I'm still waiting to see what the cover image will look like, but when I find out, I'll be sure to share.

 

Countdown Pick #3:  Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland (03/11/2014)

 

Zephyr Mourning has never been very good at being a Harpy. She'd rather watch reality TV than learn forty-seven ways to kill a man, and she pretty much sucks at wielding magic. Zephyr was ready for a future pretending to be a normal human instead of a half-god assassin. But all that changes when her sister is murdered--and she uses a forbidden dark power to save herself from the same fate.

Zephyr is on the run from a punishment worse than death when an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend (a surprisingly HOT friend) changes everything. Because it seems like Zephyr might just be the Nyx, a dark goddess made flesh that is prophesied to change the power balance. For hundreds of years the half-gods have lived in fear, and Zephyr is supposed to change that.

But how is she supposed to save everyone when she can’t even save herself?

Put a mythological spin on a story and I'm pretty much guaranteed to want to read it eventually.  Ireland's previous work, Vengeance Bound, is also on my list to read, so I'm hoping that once I get one under my belt, I'll be able to dive right into the next.  I'm looking forward to watching Zephyr on the run and seeing what types of adventures she'll encounter along the way.

 

Countdown Pick #4:  Resistance (Replica Trilogy, #2) by Jenna Black (03/11/2014)

 

Nate Hayes is a Replica.

The real Nate was viciously murdered, but thanks to Paxco's groundbreaking human replication technology, a duplicate was created that holds all of the personality and the memories of the original. Or ...almost all. Nate's backup didn't extend to the days preceding his murder, leaving him searching for answers about who would kill him, and why. Now, after weeks spent attempting to solve his own murder with the help of his best friend and betrothed, Nadia Lake, Nate has found the answers he was seeking... and he doesn't like what he's discovered.

The original Nate was killed because he knew a secret that could change everything. Thanks to Nadia's quick thinking, the two of them hold the cards now — or think they do.

Unfortunately, neither of them fully understands just how deep the conspiracy runs.

I love Black's writing and her Faeriewalker series was one of my favorites and I was incredibly sad to see it come to an end.  Somehow I missed out on the series opener, but I plan to rectify that before this sequel hits the shelves.  I'm not a huge fan of this cover, especially compared to the beautiful images I came to expect from her Faeriewalker series, but I'll forget all about that if Black's writing pulls me in like before.

Countdown: 2012 Releases (25)

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you guys putting up with all of the countdowns I continuously post here on the blog. I have to admit that it's something that I just really have a lot of fun creating. I used to just post a list on the blog under upcoming releases, but when I do these countdowns I find myself getting excited for these future releases all over again. Wishing they were already on the shelves.

So these countdowns have come to serve several purposes for me. Of course I do appreciate being able to whip one of these countdowns up or have a few on standby if life has gotten a little crazy at the moment and reading and writing reviews has been put on the back burner. I hate letting the blog go without a post for too long because I'm always afraid that I'll find myself justifying another break from blogging in general and I don't want that to happen again. I missed blogging when I took those three months off and I don't plan on repeating that process all over again.

So thanks for putting up with the endless countdowns, and hopefully some of you (not all of you I'm sure) end up enjoying them just as much as myself, and maybe even discovering a future release that you can get excited about and countdown towards as well!

Countdown Pick #1: The Space Between Us by Jessica Martinez (10/16/2012)

From the author of Virtuosity, a novel about two sisters and the secrets they tell, the secrets they keep, and the secret that tears them apart.

Amelia is used to being upstaged by her charismatic younger sister, Charly. She doesn’t mind, mostly, that it always falls to her to cover for Charly’s crazy, impulsive antics. But one night, Charly's thoughtlessness goes way too far, and she lands them both in serious trouble.

Amelia's not sure she can forgive Charly this time, and not sure she wants to…but the situation is even worse than either of them realizes. Amelia has no choice but to give up everything--her friends, her future, her dream--in order to cover for Charly’s huge mistake.

Amelia doesn't understand how her sister could have done this to them both. What she doesn't know is that Charly is hiding a terrible secret—one with the potential to change everything.

How can you resist a story like this? I haven't read Martinez's previous title, Virtuosity, but if this one turns out to be as good as it sounds, I'll be adding that title to my list as well to circle back around and check out. It's one of my favorite things about discovering new authors and falling in love with their writing; when they have previous works to dive into after you finish your latest favorite discovery, don't you agree?

Countdown Pick #2: And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky (07/26/2012)

Keek’s life was totally perfect.

Keek and her boyfriend just had their Worst Fight Ever, her best friend heinously betrayed her, her parents are divorcing, and her mom’s across the country caring for her newborn cousin, who may or may not make it home from the hospital. To top it all off, Keek’s got the plague. (Well, the chicken pox.) Now she’s holed up at her grandmother’s technologically-barren house until further notice. Not quite the summer vacation Keek had in mind.

With only an old typewriter and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar for solace and guidance, Keek’s alone with her swirling thoughts. But one thing’s clear through her feverish haze—she’s got to figure out why things went wrong so she can put them right.

I was first introduced to Plath's The Bell Jar in college and had to make myself read it a second time after my literature class was over. The first time around I found it to be a heavy book and one that wasn't really my cup of tea. Later I thought I would give it another shot, hoping that I had just let the pressure of the previous literature class get to me and hoping I might enjoy the famous novel more the second time around. I will admit it's still not one of my favorites, but I can also appreciate why it's stood the test of time and become such a conversational piece. So I'm curious how Tibensky plans on weaving this heavy literature into her future release.

Countdown Pick #3: The Almost Truth by Eileen Cook (12/04/2012)

Sadie can’t wait to get away from her backwards small town, her delusional mom, her jailbird dad, and the tiny trailer where she was raised…even though leaving those things behind also means leaving Brendan. Sadie wants a better life, and she has been working steadily toward it, one con at a time.

But when Sadie’s mother wipes out Sadie’s savings, her escape plan is suddenly gone. She needs to come up with a lot of cash—and fast—or she’ll be stuck in this town forever.

With Brendan’s help, she devises a plan—the ultimate con—to get the money. But the more lies Sadie spins, the more she starts falling for her own hoax…and perhaps for the wrong boy. Sadie wanted to change her life, but she wasn't prepared to have it flipped upside down by her own deception. With her future at stake and her heart on the line, suddenly it seems like she has a lot more than just money to lose....

Uh oh! Sounds like a good one to me. I love reading stuff like this...where the character's have everything so carefully planned out and are oh so confident that everything will work out exactly as they have planned down to the very smallest details, and then Bam! The authors flips his/her characters' world upside down and shakes things up for readers to watch and see what will happen next. I love it!

Countdown Pick #4: Forget Me Not by Carolee Dean (10/02/2012)

Ally is devastated when a scandalous photo of her is texted around school. With her reputation in shambles and her life essentially over, she hides out in a back hallway, trying to figure out where everything went wrong.

Elijah has spent time in that hallway too. He landed there after taking a whole bottle of sleeping pills. Now he can see ghosts, and he knows what Ally has yet to suspect—that she's already half dead, and one choice away from never coming back.

Elijah has loved Ally for years and would do anything to save her from her in-between place. But if she’s going to live, Ally must face her inner demons, and find the will to save herself.

This is one of many downsides to living in a very technologically advanced society right? Occasionally information, photos, etc...will find their way into the wrong hands. I can't even begin to imagine what I would feel like if I had to go through something like what Dean describes her character Ally facing in this future release. While I found that interesting and alluring enough, there seems to be a paranormal element thrown into the mix with these ghosts that she's talking about. Definitely something I intend to check out for myself. I can only hope that somehow Ally gets her happy ending.

Countdown Pick #5: The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski (10/30/2012)

Darcy Jones doesn't remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. So she isn't surprised that she doesn't recognize Conn, the new boy at her high school, even though he seems to know her—or at least know something about her.

What does surprise her is how quickly she comes to trust Conn, and that he makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn't thought possible. But his interest in her is confusing. It doesn't line up with the way he first looked at her.

As if she was his enemy.

When Conn betrays Darcy and she is arrested, she realizes that she can't rely on anything—not Conn, not herself, and not even the laws of nature. Because this world isn't the only one. Darcy belongs in an alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire never happened, and deadly creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.

Darcy needs some answers.

And she hates that the person most able to help her get them is Conn.

So I'm hating the fact that this title does not come out until October. I would love love love to get my hands on a copy of it right now, because the curiosity might just be too much for me to handle. I love the idea behind this one, and the suspense and action are sure to be intense and a whole lot of fun to experience. I can't wait to see what Rutkoski has in store for her readers!