Dark Hunger Blog Tour (8/9-8/22)

Dark Hunger begins a virtual tour today!

About the book: Reporter Annabelle Armstrong will go to any lengths to deliver a story, even track down Quinton Valtrez, a man she believes is a coldhearted assassin. Yet the truth about the darkly sensual Quinton is even more shocking...and the overwhelming desire he ignites is one she vows to resist.

Quinton has fought his demonic powers since he was a child. Now using his gifts for the good of national security, he can't let himself be distracted by the beautiful, determined Annabelle. But his need for her is sudden, fierce--and could soon cost Annabelle her life. For a wicked enemy is out for vengeance, a demon who wants to draw Quinton into a life of pure evil and is willing to use Annabelle as bait. To save her, Quinton must achieve the near impossible: tame the sinister force that is both his inheritance and his curse before it claims him forever. (Hachette)

Watch the book trailer!

If you haven't signed up for my giveaway of Dark Hunger - be sure to do so before Aug 19th - watch for my review then also!

Participating Blogs:
Yankee Romance Reviewer- Aug. 9 to 22 review and giveaway
Drey's Library - Aug. 9 review and giveaway
Bookin With Bingo- Aug. 10 Q&A, review and giveaway
Just Another New Blog - Aug. 10 giveaway
Hot Deals By Bec - Aug. 10 giveaway
Trisha's Bookshelf - Aug. 11 review and giveaway
Maria's Space - Aug. 11 review and giveaway
Book Soulmates - Aug. 12 giveaway
My Book Addiction and More - Aug. 12 Q&A, review, and giveaway
Just Jennifer Reading - Aug. 13 review and giveaway
Seductive Musings - Aug. 13 Q&A and giveaway
Wrighty's Reads - Aug. 13 review and giveaway
Bibliophile's R Us - Aug. 14 review and giveaway
Starting Fresh - Aug. 14 review and giveaway
Cheryl's Book Nook - Aug. 14 giveaway
A Journey of BOoks - Aug. 15 Q&A, review and giveaway
Darby's Closet - Aug. 16 review
Carol's Notebook - Aug. 17 Q&A, review and giveaway
Jeanne's Gifts - Aug. 18 review and giveaway
Cheeky Reads - Aug. 18 Q&A and giveaway
Books and Needlepoint - Aug. 19 review and giveaway
All About {n} - Aug. 20 review and giveaway
This Book For Free - Aug. 20 Q&A, review and giveaway
Park Avenue Princess - Aug. 21 review and giveaway
Morbid Romantic - Aug. 21 Q&A, review and giveaway
Falling off the Shelf - Aug. 22 giveaway
My Book Views - Aug. 22 Q&A, review and giveaway
Found not Lost - Aug. 22 review and giveaway
My Guilty Pleasures
Readaholic

Take a peek in the diary of the Angel of Light

Diary letters from the Angel of Light; the mother of the Valtrez brothers:

Forbidden Marriage:

I knew the moment I looked into Zion’s mesmerizing, dark eyes that our love was forbidden.
That he was a demon who possessed the power of great evil. That if he ever lost himself to the pull of the darkness within him, that he might kill me.
Still I plunged headfirst into his arms and became his lover.
His touch was electric. His voice sultry and enticing. His hunger for me so intense that I couldn’t deny him.
He told me he craved me constantly. He wanted to make me happy. To share a life free of evil.
The day we married, he vowed to love me forever. To fight the bad blood in his veins and protect me from the demons.
And when our first son Vincent was born, and then the twins Quinton and Dante, he cried and held each of them in his arms, refuting his destiny and defying his own evil father.
Then he held me and promised that he was strong enough to overcome the darkness, that nothing would ever tear us apart.
That his sons would never walk with Satan much less become his soldiers.
Still, fear creeps in constantly, and I pray desperately that our love can save him from his destiny.

****

The Demon Attacks:

The demon attacks have heightened. Helzebar, the leader of the underworld, has sent his minions to punish Zion for his defection. To force him to bring his sons into the underworld with him.

He’s been fighting them bravely.
But last night they captured him, tortured him, fed on his flesh so viciously his blood is now infected. He claims he can overcome the sting of the poison.
But I fear that I will lose him to the evil.

****

Zion’s downfall:

My husband is no longer the man I married. The poison has consumed him. I see the difference in his eyes, the dark cravings, the violence, the hunger for blood and destruction. He welcomes pain, enjoys inflicting it upon others.
He hungers for the battle.
Though I still pray that my love can save him, he has grown dangerous to me. And to the boys.
He’s disappeared with Vincent several times lately. I do not know what he does, but Vincent is quiet and withdrawn, angry, now, and I see his own temper emerging.
Last night I tried to talk to Zion, but he threw me against the wall and declared that he will one day become the leader of the underworld. That his sons will rule the underworld with him.
I have to do something to stop him...

****

Saving My Sons:

All I can think about now is that I have to save my sons.
Tonight I found Vincent marked by the demons.
He tried to hide the teethmarks from me, but I saw that his body was bruised and beaten. The bite and claw marks on his back held poison that had already invaded his young body. And whatever torture and punishment Zion had inflicted upon him has begun to eat at his soul.
I cannot let it continue.
Quinton and Dante are too young to understand, to remember, to know what is happening. I must get them away from their father. They will survive without me.
But Vincent – he would know if I abandoned him.
But how can I leave one of my sons, letting him believe that I do not want him, and save the other two?

****

The Monks:

I spoke with the Monks today and they agreed to take the twins and separate them. It is too dangerous for the boys to be together.
Zion will be furious when he discovers my subterfuge. But he is long past saving.
And I will not allow my sons to succumb to Satan and be his soldiers.
I gathered the amulets for the boys’ protection and drove them to the secret meeting place deep in the woods near the Monastery. There I kissed each one of them goodbye, and left their protective amulet with them.
Leaving Quinton and Dante was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. My heart literally felt as if it was being ripped in two, as if it was bleeding. My tears flowed freely and will continue until the day we are reunited.
How can a mother abandon her sons, you wonder?
How could I not? A mother’s love means protecting her children at all costs, even if it means protecting them from their own father and heritage.
It means letting them go even if it kills me...

****

Death:

Last night I found Vincent bloody and bruised again. I must send him away to save him.
But I fear nothing can save me. Zion has threatened my life more than once, has tried to beat the truth out of me, to force me to lead him to Quinton and Dante.
My body is weak, my spirit is low, but my faith is strong. I will take their whereabouts to my grave with me.
I only pray that my sons survive, that Zion never finds them.
And that one day they will find a woman’s love to save their souls so they do not become monsters like their father...

Quinton Valtrez is featured in Dark Hunger - currently on tour! This is book 2 in the Demonborn series. Book 1, Insatiable Desire, featured Vincent Valtrez. I currently have a giveaway running for Dark Hunger - be sure to get in on it today! Forbidden Passion, Book 3 in the Demonborn series is due out in April of 2010.

Dark Hunger by Rita Herron (Partial Review)

I just wanted to get something quick up tonight as my review was due today on this one! I am kicking myself that I did not read the first book of this Demonborn series. Not because you need to for understanding - but it is just that good! It has been a surprisingly quick read - please stay tuned tomorrow for my complete synopsis and review. In the meantime please visit my other posts for Dark Hunger which include the book trailer, the other sites to visit, my giveaway and some diary letters from the Valtrez brothers mom!

And don't forget - my full review will be up tomorrow!

Hi-Yo ~Here is July's Roundup!~

It's all about summer - Here is my son and his cousin fishin' at Grandma and Grandpa's over the 4th of July weekend!


Here are the girl cousins takin' a break from water skiing to catch up on the latest teen celebs!



And here is my husband with our daughter on the night of her 8th grade graduation. She gave one of the four speeches to a crowd of about 1700 people. She has since told me that speeches in high school are going to be a breeze! (Ok - this was really June, but I am that far behind in posts and I really wanted to share!)

ON TO THE BOOKS!

I read 14 books in July for a total of 3916 pages. This brings me up to 91 books for the year. As my goal was 100, I think I am gonna make it!

1. Critical Care by Candace Calvert
2. Knight of Desire by Margaret Mallory
3. The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
4. Acne for Dummies by Herbert P. Goodheart
5. Last Light Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe
   
6. One Scream Away by Kate Brady - I have only posted a partial review of this one - must get my completed review up!
7. Refuge: A True Story of Faith and Civil War by John and Bessie Gonleh
8. Ravens by George Dawes Green
9. Miss L'eau by T. Katz
10. Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill
11. Hollywood is Like High School with Money by Zoey Dean
12. Blue Like Play Dough by Tricia Goyer
13. Too Many Visitors for One Little House by Susan Chodakiewitz
14. June Bug by Chris Fabry - First Wild Card Tour Aug 11- Will post review then.

For August:

1. I Can See You by Karen Rose
2. The Hope of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall (finished today)
3. The Friends We Keep by Sarah Zacharias Davis
   
4. Damas, Dramas and Ana Ruiz by Belinda Acosta
5. I Love You More by Laura Kuksta
   
6. Falling Into the Sun by Charrie Hazard
   
7. A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi
   
8. Healing Luke by Beth Cornelison
   
9. The Blue Enchantress by M.L. Tyndale
   
10. Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London
    
11. Dark Hunger by Rita Herron
    
12. The Heroes of Googley Woogley by Dalton James (Kid's Book)
    
13. The Sneakiest Pirates by Dalton James (Kid's Book)
    
14. Not So Fast by Ann Kroeker
    
15. How it Ends by Laura Weiss
16. A Better View of Paradise by Randy Sue Coburn
17. The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp
    
18. Truth or Dare by Nicole O'Dell
    
19. All That Glitters by Nicole O'Dell
20. The Buzzards are Circling by Stan Toler
21. God Has Never Failed Me by Stan Toler
22. Abbeville by Jack Fuller
23. The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper
24. Unplanned Journey by Tanya Unkovich
25. The Turkey's Treat by Marie Metroke (Kid's Book)
    
26. Rose House by Tina Ann Forkner
27. The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love by Beth Patillo
28. Cult Insanity
29. Jake the Snake by Shelly Nicholson (Kid's Book)
    
30. The Lost Dog
31. The Blue Star

Author interviews:

1. Jack Regan
   
2. Randy Sue Coburn
3. Marie Metroke (hopefully)
4. Beth Cornelison

Guest posts:

1. Shelly Nicholson
2. Belinda Acosta - possibly

Current Giveaways:

1. I Can See You - 5 copies (ends Aug 11)
2. The Last Patriot - 1 copy (ends Aug 14)
3. The Practical Guide to Animal Rights - 1 copy (ends Aug 17)
4. Dark Hunger - 5 copies (ends Aug 19)
5. The Lost Dog - 5 copies (ends Aug 21)
6. The Husband Project - 1 copy (ends Aug 23)
7. The Hope of Refuge - 1 copy (ends Aug 24)
8. The Blue Star - 5 copies (ends Aug 26)
9. The Castaways - audiobook - 3 copies (ends Aug 28)
10. Ravens - audiobook - 3 copies (ends Aug 29)

Upcoming Giveaways for August:

1. The Friends We Keep - 1 copy
2. So Into you - 5 copies
3. How to Tame a Modern Day Rogue - 5 copies
4. Seduce Me - 5 copies
5. Chosen by Desire and Love You to Death - 1 copy of each to 1 winner
6. The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love - Possibly
7. Cult Insanity - 5 copies

Watch for my new posts on Thursdays which are going to feature Kid's Books!


My Challenge update will have to come later - as I have no idea where I am at on those - I have lost all control! Hope everyone is having a great summer! Enjoy the weather!

Mailbox Monday 5-11-2009

Mailbox Monday hosted at The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox at The Story Siren. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week! Don't forget to check out my giveaways!

Dark Hunger (Book 2 in The Demonborn Series)

by Rita Herron

Telepath Quinton Valtrez wants nothing from Annabelle Armstrong except her luscious body. One peek into her mind, however, and he knows that that this CNN reporter has uncovered his identity as a government assassin and is determined to expose all of his dark secrets, one by one. He'll never let that happen, his uncontrollable hunger for her be damned. But when a bomber strikes as they're both in range, killing hundreds, Annabelle devotes herself entirely to the story. Thrown together by danger and desperate to stop the violence, Quinton and Annabelle uncover that the serial bomber is a supernatural attack, perpetrated by an evil force that exerts mind control over people and turns them into killers. But when the forces of evil unite to overpower them, targeting Annabelle in order to ensnare him, Quinton must face his own destiny as one of the Demonborn and join forces with his brother Vincent (from Insatiable Desire) to save Annabelle and fight the evil threatening to overtake them. (from Barnesandnoble.com)

How to Tame a Modern Rogue

by Diana Holquist

Ally Giordano is at the end of her rope. Her beloved grandmother believes that she's living in her favorite Regency romance novel and Ally doesn't have the heart to set her straight. But even worse, Granny Donny is now convinced that she's found the perfect "Duke" to rescue Ally from spinsterhood and she won't rest until this modern-day rogue escorts them both to her country retreat.

Commitment-phobic Sam Carson is attracted to naughty, not nice. But one stolen kiss from Ally and he's hell-bent on stripping away her good girl ways and teaching her the art of being bad. Love isn't in the stars for this rake - he has no interest in being tamed by a woman, no matter how soft her skin or sharp her wit. But as the country beckons, Sam can't resist the charms of Ally or her dotty Granny. Has this playboy met his match? (from the book cover)

Seduce Me

by Robyn DeHart

Fielding Grey is a treasure seeker with a taste for danger and experienced women. His latest mission: wrest Pandora's fabled box from a notorious criminal mastermind. Not in the job description: save an innocent damsel in distress.

A bookish miss, Esme Worthington has favored dusty tomes over society balls, and thrilling tales over flirtations. But when two scoundrels break into her home, she is thrust into a real-life adventure. Pursued and suddenly possessing the forbidden box, Esme can't resist peeking inside. Under the spell of Pandora's seductive curse, she's soon offering herself to Fielding - body and soul. With her reluctant rescuer determined to resist her charms, can the two outwit an enemy who will stop at nothing to seize their precious prize? (from the book cover)

So Into You

by Sandra Hill

She's been a nun, poker champion, treasure hunter, and folk healer. Redhead Grace O'Brien is always up for anything - until her hunky friend Angel Sabato suddenly declares his love for her. That's one adventure she'll never want a part of, not if she's going to keep her past a secret forever.

With heartbroken Angel hightailing it out of town, Grace makes herself busy working with Tante Lulu. Together they decide to help a poor teenage girl who's trying to raise her siblings after Katrina. All they have to do is avoid social services - which would separate the orphans - while building a new house for these kids. And the matchmaking Tante Lulu knows the perfect home-builder for the job: Angel!

Down in Cajun country, love's thunder sometimes comes with a lightning bolt of trouble - the kind that could jolt Grace into heartbreak. . .or straight into Angel's arms. (from the back cover)

Afraid
by Jack Kilborn

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? YOU WILL BE . . .

Welcome to Safe Haven, Wisconsin. Miles from everything, with one road in and out, this peaceful town has never needed a full-time police force. Until now . . .

A helicopter has crashed near Safe Haven and unleashed something horrifying. Now this merciless force is about to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. As residents begin dying in a storm of gory violence, Safe Haven's only chance for survival will rest with an aging county sheriff, a firefighter, and a single mom. And each will have this harrowing thought: Maybe death hasn't come to their town by accident . . . (from the back cover)

Living a Charmed Life:

Your Guide to Finding Magic in Every Moment of Every Day
by Victoria Moran

Bestselling author Victoria Moran's Living a Charmed Life presents fifty action-inspiring essays that show us how to custom craft our very own blessed lives. Covering topics such as living richly, staying close to what makes you come alive, and being completely, utterly yourself, Moran emphasizes that this kind of happiness is possible for anyone of any age in any circumstance.

Living a charmed life is your birthright, one that you can start to claim as soon as you take to heart—and put into action—the practical and spiritual tips you'll find here. These lucky charms, honed from Victoria's own life experiences, will elevate your attitude, change the way you see yourself, and help you to improve every aspect of your life including your health, relationships, finances, and peace of mind—even in challenging times.

In this fresh, inspiring book, Victoria Moran gives you the tools and techniques you need to start living your own charmed life now. (from the book jacket)

who made you a princess?
by Shelley Adina

Shani Hanna returns to SpencerAcademy for her senior year after an amazing summer spent with her friends Lissa, Gillian, and Carly. But the best part about summer was meeting Danyel Johnstone. Danyel is cute, smart, cool, and super nice. All Shani has to do is get him to see her as more than just one of the gang.
But when the girls return to school, they find a new addition to the distinguished student body: Prince Rashid al Amir of Yasir, an oil-rich desert kingdom in the Middle East. Prince Rashid moved to California to prepare for an eventual MBA at Stanford . . . and to romance his future wife: Shani Hanna!
It turns out, Shani's family and the prince's go back for generations, entwined in tradition, obligation, and family honor. In each generation, members of the two families have expanded their business interests through arranged marriage. Will Shani put aside her feelings for Danyel to pursue her family's wishes? Or will God answer her prayers for an intervention? (from Barnesandnoble.com)

Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret

by Steve Luxenberg

Beth Luxenberg was an only child. Everyone knew it: her grown children, her friends, even people she'd only recently met. So when her secret emerged, her son Steve Luxenberg was bewildered. He was certain that his mother had no siblings, just as he knew that her name was Beth, and that she had raised her children, above all, to tell the truth.

By then, Beth was nearly eighty, and in fragile health. While seeing a new doctor, she had casually mentioned a disabled sister, sent away at age two. For what reason? Was she physically disabled? Mentally ill? The questions were dizzying, the answers out of reach. Beth had said she knew nothing of her sister's fate.

Six months after Beth's death in 1999, the secret surfaced once more. This time, it had a name: Annie.

Steve Luxenberg began digging. As he dug, he uncovered more and more. His mother's name wasn't Beth. His aunt hadn't been two when she'd been hospitalized. She'd been twenty-one; his mother had been twenty-three. The sisters had grown up together. Annie had spent the rest of her life in a mental institution, while Beth had set out to hide her sister's existence. Why?

Employing his skills as a journalist while struggling to maintain his empathy as a son, Luxenberg pieces together the story of his mother's motivations, his aunt's unknown life, and the times in which they had lived. His search takes him to imperial Russia and Depression-era Detroit, through the Holocaust in Ukraine and the Philippine war zone, and back to the hospitals where Annie and many others were lost to memory.

Combining the power of reportage with the intrigue of mystery, Annie's Ghosts explores the nature of self-deception and self-preservation. The result is equal parts memoir, social history, and riveting detective story.(from the book jacket)

Secrets to Happiness
by Sarah Dunn

Holly Frick has just endured the worst kind of breakup: the kind where you're still in love with the person leaving you. While her wounds are still dangerously close to the surface, her happily married best friend confesses over a bottle of wine that she is this close to having an affair. And another woman comes to Holly for advice about her love life--with Holly's ex!

Holly decides that if everyone around her can take pleasure wherever they find it, so will she. As any self-respecting 30ish New York woman would do, she brings two males into her life: a flawed but endearing dog, and a good natured, much younger lover. She's soon entangled in a web of emails, chance meetings, and misguided good intentions and must forge an entirely new path to Nirvana.

From the author of The Big Love, Secrets to Happiness is a big-hearted, knife-sharp, and hilariously entertaining story about the perils of love and friendship, sex and betrayal--and a thoroughly modern take on our struggle to be happy. (from the book jacket)

Beach Trip: A Novel

by Cathy Holton

For four college friends, a beach trip promises a chance to reconnect and reminisce. Having traveled distinct and diverse paths since the early 1980s and their freshman days at a small Southern women's college, the quartet-now in their forties-reunites for the first time in North Carolina's Outer Banks. Over the course of a week they eat, drink, laugh, and cry. But one by one each reveals the hardship and heartache she's hidden from the others. And one secret threatens to change their lives, and their bond, forever. (from inside the book)

Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption

by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald COtton with Erin Torneo

Jennifer Thompson was raped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her apartment while she slept. She was able to escape, and eventually positively identified Ronald Cotton as her attacker. Ronald insisted that she was mistaken - but Jennifer's positive identification was the compelling evidence that put him behind bars. After eleven years, Ronald was allowed to take a DNA test that proved his innocence. He was released after serving more than a decade in prison for a crime he never committed. Two years later, Jennifer and Ronald met face-to-face --and forged an unlikely friendship that changed both of their lives.

In their own words, Jennifer and Ronald unfold the harrowing details of their tragedy, and challenge our ideas of memory and judgment while demonstrating the profound nature of human grace and the healing power of forgiveness. (from the book jacket)

What did you get this week?

The Friday 56: 8-21-2009

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.




"How do I know this isn't a trap?"
"You don't," Vincent said in a deadly calm voice. "Just as I'm not sure I can trust you. For all I know, you may already have given in to your dark side." (from Dark Hunger by Rita Herron, p56, uncorrected proof)

Mailbox Monday/In My Mailbox 11-29-2009

Mailbox Monday is hosted at The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox at The Story Siren. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!




I won this during the readathon in October.

Bloodroot by Amy Greene

Named for a flower whose blood-red sap possesses the power both to heal and poison, Bloodroot is a stunning fiction debut about the legacies—of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss—that haunt one family across the generations, from the Great Depression to today.

The novel is told in a kaleidoscope of seamlessly woven voices and centers around an incendiary romance that consumes everyone in its path: Myra Lamb, a wild young girl with mysterious, haint blue eyes who grows up on remote Bloodroot Mountain; her grandmother Byrdie Lamb, who protects Myra fiercely and passes down “the touch” that bewitches people and animals alike; the neighbor boy who longs for Myra yet is destined never to have her; the twin children Myra is forced to abandon but who never forget their mother’s deep love; and John Odom, the man who tries to tame Myra and meets with shocking, violent disaster. Against the backdrop of a beautiful but often unforgiving country, these lives come together—only to be torn apart—as a dark, riveting mystery unfolds.

With grace and unflinching verisimilitude, Amy Greene brings her native Appalachia—and the faith and fury of its people—to rich and vivid life. Here is a spellbinding tour de force that announces a dazzlingly fresh, natural-born storyteller in our midst. (Random House Website)

I received this book from the author for review.
The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey
It seems like mutual good luck for Abigail Taylor and Dara MacLeod when they meet at university and, despite their differences, become fast friends. Years later they remain inseparable: Abigail, the actress, allegedly immune to romance, and Dara, a therapist, throwing herself into relationships with frightening intensity. Now both believe they've found "true love." But luck seems to run out when Dara moves into Abigail's downstairs apartment. Suddenly both their friendship and their relationships are in peril, for tragedy is waiting to strike the house on Fortune Street. Told through four ingeniously interlocking narratives, Margot Livesey's the House on Fortune Street is a provocative tale of lives shaped equally by chance and choice. (back cover)



The next three books came through Paperback Swap from my wish list -
Betrayed by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the House of Night finishing school. She finally feels like she belongs, even gets chosen as the Leader of the Dark Daughters. Best of all, she actually has a boyfriend. . .or two. Then the unthinkable happens: Human teenagers are being killed, and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey's old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. Then, when she needs her new friends the most, death strikes the House of Night, and Zoey must find the courage to face a betrayal that could break her heart, her soul, and jeopardize the very fabric of her world. Betrayed, the second book in the House of Night series, is dark and sexy, and as thrilling as it is utterly shocking. (back cover)




Dark Highland Fire by Kendra Leigh Castle
A werewolf from the Scottish Highlands who, up until now, has lived a charmed life. . . Desired by women, kissed by luck, Gabriel MacInnes has always been able to put pleasure ahead of duty. But with the MacInnes wolves now squarely in the sights of an ancient dragon, everything is about to change. . . A fiery demi-goddess fleeing for her life. . . Exiled from her realm, on the run from a dragon prince who will stop at nothing to have her as his own, the last thing Rowan an Morgaine wants is to accept the protection of Gabriel and his clan. . . By force or by guile, Rowan and Gabriel must uncover the secrets of their intertwining fate and stop their common enemy before he demands of them the ultimate sacrifice. . . (back cover)




Gone by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no Internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...(Harper Collins website)

The next three books I picked up at the BookEnds at my local library.

The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks
Carnation Plantation, 1894: Carrie McGavock is an old woman who tends the graves of almost 1,500 soldiers buried here. As she walks among the dead, an elderly man appears -- the same soldier she met that fateful day long ago. Today, he asks if the cemetery has room for one more. Based on an extraordinary true story, this meticulously researched novel flashes back to 1864 and the afternoon of the Battle of Franklin, five of the bloodiest hours of the Civil War. Carrie's plantation has turned into a Confederate army hospital; the pile of amputated limbs rises as tall as the smoke house. But when a wounded soldier named Zachariah Cashwell arrives, he awakens feelings she had thought long dead -- and inspires a passion as powerful and unforgettable as the war that consumes a nation. (back cover)




HeartSick by Chelsea Cain

A Living Nightmare. Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful and brutal serial killer. In the end, she was the one who caught him. . .and tortured him. . .and then let him go. Why did Gretchen spare Archie's life and then turn herself in? This is the question that keeps him up all night -- and the reason why he has visited Gretchen in prison every week since. A Deadly Obsession. . . Meanwhile, another series of Portland murders has Archie working on a brand-new task force. . .and heading straight into the line of fire. The local news is covering the case 24/7, and it's not long before Archie enters a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the killer -- and his former captor. But this time, it's up to Archie to save himself. . . (back cover)



Deep South by Nevada Barr
Anna Pigeon finally gives in to her bureaucratic clock -- and signs on for a promotion. Next thing she knows, she's knee-deep in mud and Mississippi. Not exactly what she had in mind. Almost immediately, as the new district ranger on the Natchez Trace, Anna discovers the body of a young prom queen near a country cemetery, a sheet around her head, a noose around her neck. It's a bizarre twist on a best-forgotten past of frightening racial undertones. As fast as the ever-encroaching kudzu vines of the region, the roots of this story run deep -- and threaten to suffocate anyone in the way, including Anna. . . (back cover)

What books found a home with you this week?