Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Mailbox Madness (5/31 - 6/6)

Bison roam the Black Hills of South Dakota
Mailbox Monday is hosted at The Printed Page . Please visit Kristi and Marcia  and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!


The first five books were won from a blog last October - there had been a mix up and I just received them!  Don't they look good?



Wicked: Witch & Curse
 (Books 1 and 2 of Wicked series)
by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Holly Cather's world shatters when her parents are killed in a terrible accident. Wrenched from her home in San Francisco, she is sent to Seattle to live with her relatives, Aunt Marie-Claire and her twin cousins, Amanda and Nicole.

In her new home, Holly's sorrow and grief soon give way to bewilderment at the strange incidents going on around her. Such as how any wish she whispers to her cat seems to come true. Or the way a friend is injured after a freak attack from a vicious falcon. And there's the undeniable, magnetic attraction to a boy Holly barely knows.

Holly, Amanda, and Nicole are about to be launched into a dark legacy of witches, secrets, and alliances, where ancient magics yield dangerous results. The girls will assume their roles in an intergenerational feud beyond their wildest imaginations. . . and in doing so, will attempt to fulfill their shared destiny.



Wicked 2: Legacy & Spellbound 
(Books 3 and 4 of the Wicked series)
by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Holly Cather is not the same person she was almost a year and a half ago. After discovering her connection to an ancient legacy of witches, Holly has accepted her destiny as a descendant of the House of Cahors. She is determined to end an intergenerational feud that has plagued her family for centuries.

Holly will have to overcome unworldly obstacles as she battles to protect her loved ones -- including Jer, a member of the rival House of Deveraux and her one true love. A war of magical proportions is being waged, and Holly is at the center of it all.

Lives will be lost, and sacrifices will have to be made. . .




Resurrection
(Book 5 in the Wicked series)
by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

The time for waiting is over.

What the Cahors witches thought was the end of their troubles was only the beginning. A threat more powerful and more frightening than anything they have faced has been watching and waiting. The Cahors witches must come together and find Jer and Eli as both the Deveraux and the Cahors family lines face eradication.

All the secrets of the Cahors will be revealed, forcing them to overcome their greatest weaknesses in order to achieve their most powerful strengths. And only united do they have any chance at victory. Before the end, sacrifices will be made, alliances forged, and old friends lost forever.




Possessions
 (Book 1 in the Possessions series)
by Nancy Holder

A brand new series about Evil Girls - and deadly games.

possessions: me
- one standard-issue map of the creepy Marlwood campus.
- one army jacket that screams"I so don't belong here."
- a ton of Q's - like what's up with Mandy and her twisted pranks?

possessions: them
- everything (personal chauffeurs, ponies, Greek Island villas, the list goes on.)
- Troy, the guy who saved us at the operating Theater the other night. gorgeous. untouchable. He belongs to Mandy.
- countless stories about some ghost in the lake. haha, guys. very funny.

New girl Lindsay can't figure out what's going on with popular Mandy and her followers. And what Lindsay doesn't know can hurt her. Long ago, someone at Marlwood made a grave mistake -- and girls died because of it. Now spirits who where silent for two hundred years have woken up. These spirits need to take possesson. And they must have their revenge.




Pretty Little Devils
 (Book 2 in Possessions series)
by Nancy Holder

Some girls would kill to be part of the in crowd.

Popularity is the one thing Hazel wants. . .High school junior Hazel Stone is sick of being stuck with the c-listers. She'll do anything to be one of the Pretty Little Devils, her school's most coveted clique. The PLDS are famous for their secret soirees, held in the oversized suburban homes of the people they babysit for. So when Sylvia invites her to one of the PLD parties, Hazel couldn't be more thrilled!

Little does she know. . .
Hazel's new social status comes with a price. Sure, it's fun skinny-dipping in infinity pools and drinking the contents of well-stocked rec rooms. . .after the kids are in bed. But when the lights go out, this babysitter has to deal with more than monsters in the closet. Nasty things start happening. Frightening crank calls. A cat gone missing. Mysterious threats. It seems that someone's jealous of newly popular Hazel. . .
Deadly Jealous.

When other babysitters start turning up dead, Hazel has to figure out who to trust, before someone turns their backstabbing ways on her.




by Ken Follett
(Shelf Awareness, Sept 2010)

The first novel in The Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants follows the fates of five interrelated families -- American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh -- as they move through the world shaking dramas of the first World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.

Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits; Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House; two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution: Billy's sister, Ethel, a housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts, takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London. . .

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new classic.



by Samantha Bruce-Benjamin
(Pocket Books tour June 8)

In the tradition of bestselling authors Ian McEwan and Anne Enright, Samanta Bruce-Benjamin's brilliant and timeless debut unveils the dark side of human nature as four women share the poignant tale of love, obsession, and ultimate betrayal that binds them forever.

Have we all not wished to keep forever the one person we love the most?

The secluded beaches of a sun-drenched Mediterranean island are the perfect playground for young Sebastian and Adora. Emotionally adrift from their mother, Adora shelters her sensitive older brother from the cruelties of the world. Sophie does not question her children's intense need for one another until it's too late. Her beloved son's affections belong to Adora, and when he drowns in the sea, she has no one else to blame.

Still heartbroken years later, Adora fills her emptiness with Genevieve, the precocious young daughter of her husband's business associate and his jealous wife, Miranda. Thrilled to be invited into the beautiful and enigmatic Adora's world, the child idolizes her during their summers together. Yet, as the years progress, Genevieve begins to suspect their charmed existence is nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion. Soon, she too is ensnared in a web of lies.

Stunningly told in the tragic voices of four women whose lives are fatefully entangled, The Art of Devotion is evocative and haunting, a story of deceit, jealousy, and the heartbreaking reality of love's true power.




by Marybeth Whalen
(TBB Media, July/August tour)

"This isn't just some forgotten mailbox on a desolate stretch of beach. This is a place where dreams are shared, tears are shed, and lives are changed. . ."

When Lindsey Adams first visits the Kindred Spirit mailbox at Sunset Beach, North Carolina, as a teenager, she has no idea that twenty years later she will still be visiting the mailbox -- still pouring out her heart in letters that summarize the best and worst parts of her life.

Returning to Sunset for her first vacation since her husband left her and her two kids, Lindsey struggles to put her sorrow into words. Memories surface of her first love, Campbell Forrester -- and the rejection that followed. When Campbell reappears in her life, Lindsey must decide whether to trust in love again or guard herself from greater pain.

Centered around the real and mysterious landmark on the coast of North Carolina, The Mailbox is a rich blend of folklore, faith, and the beauty of second chances.



by Jamie Freveletti
(Harper Collins, Summer review)

A chemist for a cosmetics company and an ultramarathon runner, Emma Caldridge is en route from Miami to Bogota when her plane goes down in the mountains near the Venezuelan border. Thrown unhurt from the wreckage, she watches in horror as guerrillas drag the other passengers into the jungle. Stranded and alone in a deadly environment, Emma has no choice but to follow -- and stumbles across Cameron Sumner, an injured goverment agent who was left behind to die.

As a Washington, D.C., task force races to the crash site in hopes of finding survivors, Emma and Cameron creep closer to a nightmare they may be powerless to prevent. But Emma is no ordinary woman -- and she guards a secret both powerful and deadly that her adversaries would gleefully kill to possess.

And now she must run. . .



by Jamie Freveletti
(Harper Collins, Summer Review)

International intrigue and adventure combine in this pulse-pounding sequel to Running From the Devil, the thriller hailed by Lee Child as "just terrific -- full of thrills and tradecraft, pace and peril. An outstanding debut."

As she's passing mile thirty-five of the Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa, a roadside bomb explodes, nearly killing ultra-runner and chemist Emma Caldridge. Dazed and disoriented, she wakes to find a man injecting her with a high-tech EpiPen. Within minutes her body recovers and she races to the finish line, stronger than when she began. Shaken by the event and unsure of what was in the injection, she calls her friend, Edward Banner of the security company Darkview, to help her figure it out.

But Banner has his hands full with an emergency. Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden have attacked a cruise ship, and Darkview has been hired to rescue the passengers. According to intelligence sources, the ship is carrying more than wealthy travelers -- cargo authorities fear could be a new weapon of unknown origin. What the intelligence reports don't say, and Edward Banner won't confirm, is that special agent Cameron Sumner is also on board.

Suspecting it may be a chemical weapon, Banner wants Emma to infiltrate the ship, find the mysterious cargo, and use her professional expertize to identify it. Emma knows it's a risky job she may not survive. But once she learns that Sumner is on the ship, nothing will stop her from plunging into danger -- no matter what the cost.




Masked by Moonlight
by Nancy Gideon
(Pocket Books Tour, June 17)

In this stunning first book from Nancy Gideon's sizzling new series, a tenacious cop and her shape-shifting enemy sacrifice everything for forbidden desire.

All she wants is revenge.
New Orleans homicide detective Charlotte Caissie is dedicated to bringing down the crime boss responsible for her father's murder.  Using Jimmy Legere's mysterious and irresistible righthand man is a dangerous gamble, and not only due to the reputation as more monster than man. Because her feelings for Max Savole are. . .complicated.

Then he risks his life to save hers.
Rescued from the swamps as a child, Max exists silently in Legere's shadow, heeding only his voice -- until Charolotte Caissie awakens his emotions and tests his loyalitites.  Stepping outside his cautious rules threatens more than just his heart. He could expose his darkest secret.

Now they're both in over their heads.
Testing boundaries they weren't meant to cross means facing the truth about who and what they are -- and what they need from each other. If Max is the murderer she seeks, Charlotte could be his next victim. She can't afford to trust any man. Good thing Max isn't one.



Damaged
by Pamela Callow
(Media Muscle tour)

Kate is thrilled about her new position at Lyon McGrath Barrett. But the joy quickly wears off when she realizes she is the hot potato in a power play between her mentor, founding partner John Lyons and Managing Partner Randall Barrett. Although he promised her a chance to work on a civil litigation case, Randall has Kate firmly slotted in the pink ghetto of family law and assigns her a new client -- Marian MacAdam, a grandmother who is seeking custody of her wayward teenage granddaughter, Lisa, who she suspects is using drugs. Kate wants to notify Child Protection, but Marian refuses because it would paint Lisa's mother, an ambitious criminal court judge, in a poor light.

However, three days later, when she learns that Lisa has been brutally murdered and dismembered, Kate is overwhelmed by guilt. The investigation into the homicide is led by Detective Ethan Drake, Kate's ex-fiance, who is bitterly resentful about their breakup several months earlier.  As more girls are murdered with no trace of evidence escept for the acronym LOL carved on the bones of the victims, Ethan and the Criminal Investigation Team quickly realize that the killer they call the body butcher is laughting at them.

Unwilling to live with the damage she may have caused, Kate pursues the case on her own and uncovers an unscrupulous ring of body healers turned body stealers, faces her own past, and risks her career to expose the conspiracy -- all while putting herself in the path of a demented serial killer.




Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives
by Josie Brown
(Pocket Books Tour, June 22)

Lyssa Harper should have warned divorced DILF du jour Harry Wilder before she invited him to meet the mommies of the Paradise Heights Women's League Board. At least he brought cupcakes. Since taking the former Master-of-the-Universe turned stay-at-home single dad under her wing, Lyssa has been his domestic Sherpa, teaching him the ins and outs of life inside their gated community. She never dreamed her friends would bombard him with casseroles, leopard-print bikini briefs, and offers to rearrange his kitchen cabinets.

But Harry's presence soon stirs up trouble in paradise: if Harry and his wife, the neighborhood's "perfect couple," can call it quits, what does that mean for other so-called happy couples, like Lyssa and her husband, Ted? When Harry sets boundaries with his new fan club, he is exiled from the ladies' clique. But Lyssa refuses to snub him. What she never expects is the explosive impact her ongoing friendship with Harry will have on her close-knit pals -- and on her marriage.




Revolution in World Missions
by K.P. Yohannan

"Lord, I'll give myself to speak for you."

Young Yohannan had no idea what those words of surrender would mean for his life and for millions of others in his generation. Once an insecure 16-year-old, he became a missionary statesman who has impacted the world of missions and whose unbending message has touched hungry hearts on every continent.

Step into his story and experience the world through his eyes. You'll walk right into the book of Acts. And through his telling, you'll hear the very heart of God beating for His creation. K.P. Yohannan's passion is contagious and spurs you on to be all for Jesus.

He chose to take the road less traveled many years ago, and today Gospel for Asia, the mission he founded, is one of the most respected organizations in our time with thousands of national workers and vibrant congregations throughout the heart of the 10/40 Window.

Get ready -- your life is about to change!





Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ
by Leonard Sweet  and Frank Viola
(Thomas Nelson)

Christians have made the gospel about so many things -- things other than Christ. Religious concepts, ideas, doctrines, strategies, methods, techniques, formulas -- "its" and "things"' have all eclipsed the beauty, the glory, and the reality of the Lord Jesus Himself. On the whole, Christians today are starved for a real experience of the living Christ. We know a lot about our Lord, but we don't know Him very well. We know a lot about trying to be like Jesus, but very little about living by His indwelling life.

Jesus Manifesto presents a fresh unveiling of Jesus as not only Savior and Lord, but as so much more.  It is a prophetic call to restore the supremacy and sovereignty of Christ in a world -- and a church -- that has lost sight of Him.

Every revival and restoration in the church has been a rediscoveryof some aspect of Christ in the process of answering the ultimate question that Jesus put to His disciples: "Who do you say that I am?"

Read this book and see your Lord like you've never seen Him before.





Green Pieces: Green From the Ground Up
A Collection of Cartoons by Drew Aquilina
(BoStick Communications)

Green Pieces: Green From the Pond Up explores the life and goings on at the pond of the four main characters, who introduce the reader to life and times around a typical wetland. This cast of characters is led by Iggman, a claustrophobic turtle; an annoying dragonfly named Radic; an omnipotent, techno-bullfrog named Cabby; and a rogue raccoon named Roc. Life is never boring back at the pond when Iggy, Radic, Cabby and Roc get together. I invite readers to join them for a humorous yet educational look at nature. All of nature serves as the stage for Green Pieces: Green From the Pond Up. Every day you read stories about a new species of animal or a scientific or environmental breakthrough. Clouds, insects, birds, mammals and plants from all over the world are game for this clever feature. Visit the Pond at Green Pieces Cartoons and follow upcomiong book tours, etc. at the book website, Green Pieces Books.




by Erin Kellison
(Shelf Awareness, July)

Death
Some people will do anything to avoid it. Even trade their immortal souls for endless existence.

Wraiths
Secretly, inexorably, they are infiltrating our world, sucking the essence out of unsuspecting victims with their hideous parody of a kiss.

Segue
Adam Thorne founded the Segue Institute to study and destroy his monster of a brother, but the key to its success is held in the pale, slender hand of a woman on the run. There is something hauntingly different about Talia O'Brien, her unknowing sensuality, her uncanny way of slipping into Shadow.

Twilight
This is the place between life and what comes after -- a dark forest of fantasy, filled with beauty, peril, mystery. And Talia is about to open the door.

What did you find in your mailbox this week?

4 comments:

bermudaonion said...

What a nice mailbox! Those books look like they were worth the wait!

Passages to the Past said...

I am totally jealous that you got the new Ken Follett! I entered the same thing on Shelf Awareness so maybe I'll get one too! I love him!

My mailbox is HERE.

Enjoy your new additions!

Donna said...

Those all look great! I wouldn't know which to read first! Enjoy!

brandileigh2003 said...

Looks like a great week. I am looking forward to Shadow Bound. Check out my IMMB if you want here

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