Mailbox Monday 4-13-09

It is time for another edition of Mailbox Monday hosted by The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week! I had a fantastic week and got some great looking books! Some that weren't even expected!

The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock

(Hachette Books)

Threatened and hounded out of their home in Germany in1933, the Hellers fled to small-town America. Here in Victory, Illinois, they started anew as farmers. . .and took great pride in becoming citizens of their new country. But ten years later, with World War II raging, they have become the target of vicious attacks perpetrated by a handful of small-minded men. Will the Hellers be forced to escape once more? And how will the blossoming romance of twenty-year-old Sophie Heller and schoolteacher Cole Ambrose withstand the danger that now follows them with every step?

Knight of Desire by Margaret Mallory

(Hachette Books)

FEARLESS IN BATTLE

His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn.

TENDER IN BED

Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she's keeping secrets, and dare not give him her heart.

As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

One Scream Away by Kate Brady

(Hachette Books)

Killer Chevy Bankes is a master of disguise, and just paroled, he's coming after the woman who sent him to jail, the beautiful antiques expert Beth Denison. A set of antique dolls brings Beth into his sight, and inspire Chevy's disturbing crimes as he draws closer to Beth and her young daughter. Chevy sends the dolls to Beth one-by-one and she soon realizes that these antiques carry the same marks as his victims, signaling that the final piece in his collection will be for her.

Neil Sheridan gave up his FBI shield five years ago, but his best friend Rick, a cop, pulls him in as a consultant on a case involving a serial killer who is eerily similar to a murderer Neil encountered in the past. The investigation leads Neil to Beth's doorstep, and he is certain she isn't telling him the truth. Neil is the only one who can get through Beth's defenses and, as they grow closer, discover the secrets that Beth is hiding about her fateful night with Chevy.
(description from Hachette website)

Tame by a Laird by Amanda Scott

(Hachette Books)

Jenny Easdale is ready to accept her fate. She's agreed to marry a man she will never love - yet not before slipping away for one last adventure. Following a traveling minstrel troupe, she's whisked into a world of intoxicating freedom. Then, all too soon, she finds herself in danger - from a vengeful political plot against Scotland and from the man who has come to take her home.

Duty bound to return with his brother's wayward bride, Sir Hugh Douglas is not prepared for how her quick wit, courage, and laughing eyes touch his warrior heart. Now, as the merry minstrels play matchmaker and passion sparks between Hugh and Jenny, the conspiracy against Scotland builds. . . and threatens all they hold dear.

Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope with Aimee Molloy
(Hachette Books)

Ten years ago, Pam Cope owned a cozy hair salon in the tiny town of Neosho, Missouri, and her life revolved around her son's baseball games, her daughter's dance lessons, and family trips to places like Disney World. She had never been out of the country, nor had she any desire to travel far from home.

Then, on June 16th, 1999, her life changed forever with the death of her 15-year-old son from an undiagnosed heart ailment.

Needing to get as far away as possible from everything that reminded her of her loss, she accepted a friend's invitation to travel to Vietnam, and, from the moment she stepped off the plane, everything she had been feeling since her son's death began to shift. By the time she returned home, she had a new mission: to use her pain to change the world, one small step at a time, one child at a time. Today, she is the mother of two children adopted from Vietnam. More than that, she and her husband have created a foundation called "Touch A Life," dedicated to helping desperate children in countries as far-flung as Vietnam, Cambodia and Ghana.

Pam Cope's story is on one level a moving, personal account of loss and recovery, but on a deeper level, it offers inspiration to anyone who has ever suffered great personal tragedy or those of us who dream about making a difference in the world.

(Description from Hachette website)

Enduring Justice by Amy Wallace
(Waterbrook Multnomah)

A PAINFUL PAST
Hanna Kessler’s childhood secret has remained buried for over two decades. But when the dark shadows of her past threaten to destroy those she loves, Hanna must face the summer that changed her life and the man who still haunts her memories.

A RACIALLY-MOTIVATED KILLER
As a Crimes Against Children FBI Agent, Michael Parker knows what it means to get knocked down. Difficult cases and broken relationships have plagued his entire year. But when the system fails and a white supremacist is set free, Michael’s drive for retribution eclipses all else.

A LIFE-ALTERING CHOICE
A racist’s well-planned assault forces Hanna and Michael to decide between executing vengeance and pursuing justice. The dividing line between the two is the choice to heal. But when the attack turns personal, is justice enough?

Mama's Got a Fake I.D. by Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira

(Waterbrook Multnomah)

No one begins life as a mom. Before you have children, you are an amazing combination of friend, daughter, confidant, visionary, encourager, and thinker. You start out in life using your gifts and abilities in a surprising variety of settings.

Then you have children and the role of mom–as wonderful as it is–seems to consume you. It’s easy to lose your identity when others see you as a mom and little else. What happened to the artist, the team-builder, the organizer, the entrepreneur, the leader–the person you’ve lost touch with?

In Mama’s Got a Fake I.D., Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira helps moms like you reclaim the person God made you to be. God still wants to use you in ways that let your gifts, passions, and personality shine.

This inspiring and practical guide will show you how to break free from false guilt, learn a new language to express your true identity, and follow God’s lead in sharing who you really are. God wants you to discover who he made you to be–in your family and beyond. It’s time to reveal the woman who got hidden behind all that mom.

Dear Mom by Melody Carlson
(Waterbrook Multnomah)

Hear your daughter’s heart…without the angst, arguments, or arm-wrestling

Raising a teen daughter can be like trying to chart a course underwater. You can drown in an ocean of one-word answers, defensive conversations, and unpredictable outbursts, and never get anywhere. Popular teen girls’ novelist Melody Carlson helps you cut through murky, deep, uncharted and seemingly unsafe waters so you can hear what your daughter’s really trying to tell you through her anger, silence, and mixed messages:

“I need you, but I won’t admit it.”
“I’m not as confident as I appear.”
“I have friends. I need a mother.”

Instead of focusing on outward behaviors, Dear Mom captures your daughter’s heart and soul. You can know your daughter’s hopes and fears, doubts and dreams about her identity, guys, friendships, and even you. And you can connect on a deeper, more intimate level that will carry both you and your daughter through the stormy seas of life.

Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue
(Shelf Awareness/Shaye Areheart Books)

Keith Donohue’s first novel, The Stolen Child, was a national bestseller hailed as “captivating” (USA Today), “luminous and thrilling” (Washington Post), and “wonderful...So spare and unsentimental that it’s impossible not to be moved (Newsweek. His new novel, Angels of Destruction, opens on a winter’s night, when a young girl appears at the home of Mrs. Margaret Quinn, a widow who lives alone. A decade earlier, she had lost her only child, Erica, who fled with her high school sweetheart to join a radical student group known as the Angels of Destruction. Before Margaret answers the knock in the dark hours, she whispers a prayer and then makes her visitor welcome at the door.

The girl, who claims to be nine years old and an orphan with no place to go, beguiles Margaret, offering some solace, some compensation, for the woman’s loss. Together, they hatch a plan to pass her off as her newly found granddaughter, Norah Quinn, and enlist Sean Fallon, a classmate and heartbroken boy, to guide her into the school and town.

Their conspiracy is vulnerable not only to those children and neighbors intrigued by Norah’s mysterious and magical qualities but by a lone figure shadowing the girl who threatens to reveal the child’s true identity and her purpose in Margaret’s life. Who are these strangers really? And what is their connection to the past, the Angels, and the long-missing daughter?

Angels of Destruction is an unforgettable story of hope and fear, heartache and redemption. The saga of the Quinn family unfolds against an America wracked by change. As it delicately dances on the line between the real and the imagined, this mesmerizing new novel confirms Keith Donohue’s standing as one of our most inspiring and inventive novelists.

(From Random House website)

Spiced by Dalia Jurgensen
(Shelf Awareness/G.P. Putnam's Sons)

Spiced is Dalia Jurgensen's deliciously entertaining memoir of leaving her office job and pursuing her dream of becoming a chef. On her path to earning spots in world-class New York kitchens, she reveals in witty detail the dry cakes and burnt posts of her early internships, and the secrets to holding her own in male-dominated kitchens, and divulges what life in chef whites is really like - from the sweet to the less-than-savory. Find out what happens in the kitchen when a restaurant critic is spotted in the dining room, how great food is made, what the staff eats at "family mean," why cooks hate waiters, and what happens after the last customer leaves.

The Lake That Stole Children by Douglas Glenn Clark
(Bostick Communications/CreateSpace)

The Lake That Stole Children blends the magic of Disney's Pinocchio with the magnificent quest of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. It begins with a boy's deep yearning and leads to a grown man's startling discovery. The story begins with a town troubled by a big secret. Children have been disappearing and no one knows why. A fisherman, who lives with his family on the outskirts of town, cared nothing about the town's troubles - until he too lost a son. Following a dangerous search on a nearby lake, the fisherman believes he knows where the children may be and vows to save them. When the town refuses to help in his quest, the fisherman realizes that to save his son he must face one seemingly insurmountable obstacle - himself.

(description from Amazon)

"You Wanna Go To Willard?" by Linda M. Holbrook

(Bostick Communications/BookSurge Publishing)

Growing up, Laura felt different, even abnormal. She was the third child of four and the oldest girl. Her mother conditioned her to respect elders. It was required to always use proper behavior and articulate manners. Laura lived with the notion of a reward for good behavior. People liked children that behaved meticulously. Her life was focused on doing all the things people asked of her. She never objected or even questioned why. Convinced everyone would like her if she did. But the older she got, and the harder she tried, the worse it became. Haunted by her thoughts of being retarded, she struggled to find an answer.

Through trial and error decisions she wandered down dark paths of repeated disappointments. With years of trying too hard, she wanted the truth about whom she was or who she was supposed to be.

Was happiness a myth? Her persistence pushed her over the hurdles in her life. Something inside told her she would find it. The happiness she wanted and desperately needed.

Teenagers Suck by Joanne Kimes and R.J. Colleary

(Bostick Communications/Adams Media)

Moodswings? Check. Eye rolls? Check. Slamming doors and easily annoyed teens? Check. Check.

Let's face it: Teenagers Suck. Tacklers of Teenage Terrors R.J. Colleary and Joanne Kimes take readers on a humorous but helpful ride through teenage troubles, such as how to:

• Pick your battles (do you ignore or forbid the bellybutton ring and lower back tattoo?)
• Handle the Clash of the Curfew
• Talk to your teens when he's constantly text messaging
• Tackle the oh-so-uncomfortable but very important topic of teen sex
• Address peer pressure (because their friends are doing way worse things that jumping off that proverbial bridge!)
  
  With an equal dose of empathy and humor, Colleary and Kimes will expertly guide parents through this traumatic, tender, and (dare we say it) sometimes terrific part of raising kids.
  

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer
(Sourcebooks)

Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly…
On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her—at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up…

In an English country-house murder mystery with a twist, it's the butler who's the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he's not sure he wants to know the truth…

Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer

(Sourcebooks)

A surprising invitation

Kate Malvern is rescued from penury by her unt Minerva, who brings her to stay at Staplewood. But the household is strange and strained - Kate's uncle lives in his own private wing, and her handsome, moody cousin Torquil lives in another.

A dark family secret

As bizarre events ufold and Kate begins to question the reasons for her aunt's unexpected generosity, she has no one to confide in but her cousin Philip. Sympathetic though he may appear, will he tell her what she needs to know. . .before it's too late?

Frederica by Georgette Heyer

(Sourcebooks)

One of readers favorites, Frederica is full of surprises

When Frederica brings her younger siblings to London determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister, she seeks out their distant cousin the Marquis of Alverstoke. Lovely, competent, and refreshingly straightforward, Frederica makes such a strong impression that to his own amazement, the Marquis agrees to help launch them all into society.

Lord Alverstoke cant resist wanting to help her

Normally wary of his family, which includes two overbearing sisters and innumerable favor-seekers, Lord Alverstoke does his best to keep his distance. But with his enterprising - and altogether entertaining - country cousins getting into one scrape after another right on his doorstep, before he knows it the Marquis finds himself dangerously embroiled...

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

(Sourcebooks)

Horatia Winwood is simply helping her family

When the Earl of Rule proposes marriage to her sister Lizzie, Horatia offers herself instead. Her sister is already in love with someone else, and Horatia is willing to sacrifice herself for her family's happiness. Everyone knows she's no beauty, but she'll do her best to keep out of the Earl's way and make him a good wife. And then the Earl's archenemy, Sir Robert, sets out to ruin her reputation...

The Earl of Rule has found just the wife he wants

Unbeknownst to Horatia, the Earl is enchanted by her. There's simply no way he's going to let her get into trouble. Overcoming some misguided help from Horatia's harebrained brother and a hired highwayman, the Earl routs his old enemy, and wins over his young wife, gifting her with a love that she never thought she could expect.

I would love to hear about the books that you got this week!

(All descriptions are from book covers unless otherwise noted.)