Mail Time! (Jan 24, 2011)

 Mailbox Monday's host for January is Rose City Reader.In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren. Please visit this posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week! 

Call Me Irresistible

by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Lucy Jorik is the daughter of a former president of the United States.

Meg Koranda is the offspring of legends.

One of them is about to marry Mr. Irresistible -- Ted Beaudine -- the favorite son of Wynette, Texas.  The other is not happy about it and is determined to save her friend from a mess of heartache.

But even though Meg knows that breaking up her best friend's wedding is the right thing to do, no one else seems to agree.  Faster than Lucy can say "I don't," Meg becomes the most hated woman in town -- a town she's stuck in with a dead car, an empty wallet, and a very angry bridegroom.  Broke, stranded, and without her famous parents at her back, Meg is sure she can survive on her own wits.  What's the worst that can happen?  Lose her heart to the one and only Mr. Irresistible?  Not likely.  Not likely at all.

Call Me Irresistible is the book Susan Elizabeth Phillips's readers have long awaited.  Ted, better known as "little Teddy," the nin-year-old heartbreak kid from Phillips's first bestseller, Fancy Pants, and as "young Teddy" the hunky new college graduate in Lady Be Good, is all grown up now -- along with Lucy from First Lady and Meg from What I Did for Love.  They're ready to take center stage in a saucy, funny, and highly addictive tale fans will love.

~I received this book from Harper Collins and hope to review it in February.~

little princes

by Conor Grennan

In search of adventure, twenty-nine-year old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children's Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war.  But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined.  When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned:  The children were not orphans at all.  Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war -- for a huge fee -- by taking them to safety.  They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.

For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task.  He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury.  Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life's work.

Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds.  At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyound our wildest expectations.

~I received this book from Harper Collins and hope to review it in February.~

Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut

by Jill Kargman

Jill Kargman is a mother, wife, and writer living the life in New York City. . . a life that includes camping out in a one-bedroom apartment with some unfortunate (and furry) roommates, battling the Momzillas of Manhattan, and coming to terms with her desire for gay men.  In this entertaining collection of observations, Kargman offers her unique, wickedly funny perspective as she zips around Manhattan with three kids in tow.

Kargman tackles issues big and small with sharp wit and laugh-out-loud humor: her love of the smell of gasoline, her new names for nail polishes, her adventures in New York City real estate, and her fear of mimes, clowns, and other haunting things.  Whether it's surviving a family road trip or why she can't stand Cirque du So Lame, living with a mommy vagina the size of the Holland Tunnel or surviving the hell that was her first job out of college, Karman's nutty self triumphs, thanks to a wonderfully wise outlook and sense of fun that makes the best of everything that gets thrown her way.  And if that's not enough, Kargman illustrates her reflections with doodles that capture her refreshing voice.

~I received this book from Harper Collins and hope to review it in February.~

Sing You Home

by Jodi Picoult

Zoe Baxter has spent ten years trying to get pregnant, and after multiple miscarriages and infertility issues, it looks like her dream is about to come true.  But a terrible turn of events leads to a nightmare -- one that tears apart her marriage to Max and all her future plans.  In the aftermath, Zoe throws herself into her career as a music therapist.  When an unexpected friendship slowly blossoms into love, she makes plans for a new life, but to her shock, and inevitable rage, some people, even those she loves and trusts most, don't want that to happen.

Sing You Home is about religion, love, marriage, and parenthood.  It's about people wanting to do the right thing, even as they fulfill their own personal desires and dreams.  And it's about what happens when the outside world brutally calls into question the very thing closest to our hearts: family.

Includes a compact disc of original songs created for the novel.

~I received this book from Atria through Shelf Awareness and hope to review it in March.~

 

Demons are a Girl's Best Friend

by Linda Wisdom

A bewitching woman on a mission. . .

Feisty witch Maggie enjoys her work as a paranormal law enforcement officer -- that is, until she's assigned to protect a teenager with major attitude and plenty of Mayan enemies.  Maggie's never going to survive this assignment without the help of a half-fire demon who makes her smolder. . .

A hotter-than-sin hero with an agenda. . .

Declan is proprietor of an underground club and busy demon portal.  No way he'll allow his demon race to be blamed for the malicious acts of some crazy evil Mayans.  But he's already got his hands full when the sexy witch offers him a challenge he can't refuse. . .

Amidst the rising flames of their steamy love affair, Maggie and Declan are damned if they do, and even more damned if they don't. . .

~I received this book from Sourcebooks and will be reviewing in April.~

Redeemer

by Jeffrey S. Williams



For the past year, Detective Kristen Cauldron has been grappling with the disappearance of her 8-year-old daughter -- and the case has grown cold.  Returning to work on the force after a year off, Cauldron finds herself working with a new partner and on a new case to catch a serial killer -- an experience that will push her to the edge of sanity.

He calls himself "Redeemer."  His religious delusions justify his elaborate murders.  Using medieval practices, he takes the "lost causes" of the world and "redeems" them -- making their souls ready to stand before God.  His motivation?  Not vigilante justice or righteous judgment, but deliverance -- saving unknown future victims from cruelty, as well as redeeming the criminals from eternal damnation.

Redeemer selects Cauldron, based on her previous background, to be his vessel for revealing the scheme behind his "ministry."  When Redeemer discovers Cauldron's history, he boldly pledges to her that he can find out what happened to her daughter.  Cauldron is secretly caught between duty and hope, concealing it even from Hawkins, her partner who she has come to trust.

Redeemer is a vivid examination of a man's toxic faith and hyper-religiosity, a mother's heart-wrenching loss and compulsion to discover her daughter's fate, a healing and often humorous bond between partners, and a riveting police investigation into this serial killer's psyche and symbolic crimes.  When Redeemer and Kristen finally come face to face, the obsession to know the truth about her daughter threatens to destroy everything she holds close to her heart.

~I received this book for a Virtual Book Worm Cyber Tour and will be reviewing very soon - watch for a giveaway!~



Cut in Half

by Ana le Roux

Do you believe miracles happen today?

Prepare to be amazed. . .

In 2003, Ana le Roux was an average thirty something mother.  But three weeks after giving birth to her second child tragedy struck -- the unimaginable -- a violent head on collision.  The force of impact thrust her forward with such intensity that it literally cut her in half!

Ana le Roux would tell you she was set to die that day, but instead, after seemingly endless dialogue with God, she relinquished her freedom of choice to Him.  Cut in Half tells how in that instant Ana opened her eyes and began to experience the most amazing gift -- healing.

In her awe inspiring testament of God's love, Ana's proves that miracles are not just an archaic phenomenon found in scripture; they really do happen every day in a variety of ways.

~I received this book from Bring It On! and will be reviewing in March.~

The Place of Belonging

by Jayne Pearson Faulkner

This elegantly written story is told from the eyes of a child of a single mother, set in the 1940's in Big Sky Montana.  Humorous yet bracingly honest, The Place of Belonging stirs our basic feelings of wanting to belong somewhere and to someone.  Beautifully and simply told, The Place of Belonging takes the reader on an unforgettable step back in time, a place many will recognize.

Anyone who has ever tried to fit in and belong will understand both mother and child in this narrative and will see that separation and loss can sometimes be the very encounters that will ultimately bring wholeness.

~I received this book from Bring It On! and will be reviewing in March.~

The Strange Man

by Greg Mitchell

A storm is coming. . .

Dras Weldon lives in a world of horror movies and comic books.  Twenty-two and unemployed, he is content to hide in the shadow of adolescence with a faith that he professes but rarely puts into action.

But when a demonic stranger arrives and begins threatening his friends, Dras is drawn into a battle that forces him to choose which side he is on.  In a race against the clock, he must not only fight these evil forces but also somehow convince his best friend, Rosalyn, to join him -- before she is lost forever.

Engaging and darkly humorous, The Strange Man is the first act of a trilogy that depicts a world where monsters are real and simple men and women must overcome their doubts and fears in order to stand against the unspeakable creatures of the night.

~I received this book for a First Wild Card Tour and will be reviewing on February 1.~

The Girl in the Green Raincoat

by Laura Lippman



In the third trimester of her pregnancy, Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan is under doctor's orders to remain immobile.  Bored and restless, reduced to watching the world go by outside her window; she takes small comfort in the mundane events she observes. . .like the young woman in a green raincoat who walks her dog at the same time every day.  Then one day the dog is running free and its owner is nowhere to be seen.  Certain that something is terribly wrong, and incapable of leaving well enough alone, Tess is determined to get to the bottom of the dog walker's abrupt disappearance, even if she must do so from her own bedroom.  But her inquisitiveness is about to fling open a dangerous Pandora's box of past crimes and troubling deaths. . . and she's not only putting her own life in jeopardy but also her unborn child's.

Previously serialized in the New York Times, and now published in book form for the very first time, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a masterful Hitchcockian thriller from one of the very best in the business: multiple awardwinner Laura Lippman.

~I received this book from Harper Collins and will be reviewing in February.~



What goodies did you get in your mailbox this week?