Mailbox Monday (June 13, 2011)

 Mailbox Monday's host for June is The Bluestocking Guide. In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!  This mailbox covers the last two weeks.

I got this first book when I signed up for my local library's summer reading program.

Iron House

by John Hart

An old man is dying.
When the old man is dead they will come for him.
And they will come for her, to make him hurt.


John Hart has written three New York Times bestsellers and won an unprecedented two back-to-back Edgar Awards. His books have been called “masterful” (Jeffery Deaver) and “gripping” (People) with “Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding” (The New York Times). Now he delivers his fourth novel—a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no reader will soon forget.


HE WOULD GO TO HELL


At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time to kill, time for two young orphans to learn that life isn’t won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. When tensions boil over and a boy is brutally killed, there is only one sacrifice left for Michael to make: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him.


TO KEEP HER SAFE


For two decades, Michael has been an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime, a prince of the streets so widely feared he rarely has to kill anymore. But the life he’s fought to build unravels when he meets Elena, a beautiful innocent who teaches him the meaning and power of love. He wants a fresh start with her, the chance to start a family like the one he and Julian never had. But someone else is holding the strings. And escape is not that easy. . . .


GO TO HELL, AND COME BACK BURNING


The mob boss who gave Michael his blessing to begin anew is dying, and his son is intent on making Michael pay for his betrayal. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena—who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he’s laid at her door— back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he’s been running from his whole life: Iron House.

I won this next book during the Splash into Summer Bloghop from Susie Bookworm.

Squire

(Book 3 of the Protector of the Small Quartet)

by Tamora Pierce

When Keladry of Mindelan is chosen by the legendary Lord Raoul to be his squire, the conservatives of the realm hardly think she's up to the job.  Kel quickly proves her ability as a jouster, warrior, and guardian of a fiery griffin, ultimately earning respect and admiration among the men, as well as the affection of a fellow squire.  In addition to coping with the challenges of a new romance and a life in the royal guard, Kel must also prepare for the infamous "Ordeal," the last challenge that stands between her and her dream of knighthood. . .

I also won this e-book during the Splash into Summer Bloghop from the author Megg Jensen.

Anathema
(Book 1: Cloud Prophet Trilogy)

by Megg Jensen


Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny.


Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.


Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

The Devil All the Time

by Donald Ray Pollack

In The Devil All the Time, Donald Ray Pollock has written a novel that marries the twisted intensity of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers with the religious and gothic overtones of Flannery O'Connor at her most haunting.


Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s.  Willard Russell is a tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific who can't save his beautiful wife, Charlotte, from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrificial blood he pours on his "prayer log."  Carl and Sandy Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial killers, troll America's highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate.  The spider-handling preacher, Roy, and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore, are running from the law.  And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte's orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right.


Donald Ray Pollock braids his plot lines into a taut narrative that will leave readers astonished and deeply moved.  With his first novel, he proves himself a master storyteller in the grittiest and most uncompromising American grain.

The Devil Colony

by James Rollins

Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a gruesome discovery -- hundreds of mummified bodies -- stirs international attention and fervent controversy.  Despite doubts about the bodies' origins, the local Native American Heritage Commission lays claim to the prehistoric remains, along with the strange artifacts found in the same cavern:  gold plates inscribed with an unfathomable script.


During a riot at the dig site, an anthropologist dies horribly, burned to ashes in a fiery explosion in plain view of television cameras.  All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator, a teenage firebrand who escapes with a vital clue to the murder and calls on the one person who might help -- her uncle, Painter Crowe, Director of Sigma Force.


To protect his niece and uncover the truth, Painter will ignite a war among the nation's most powerful intelligence agencies.  Yet an even greater threat looms as events in the Rocky Mountains have set in motion a frightening chain reaction, a geological meltdown that threatens the entire western half of the U.S.


From the volcanic peaks of Iceland to the blistering deserts of the American Southwest, from the gold vaults of Fort Knox to the bubbling geysers of Yellowstone, Painter Crowe joins forces with Commander Gray Pierce to penetrate the shadowy heart of a dark cabal, one that has been manipulating American history since the founding of the thirteen colonies.


But can Painter discover the truth -- one that could topple governments -- before it destroys all he holds dear?

What Are You Waiting For?

by Dannah Gresh

In What Are You Waiting For? Dannah follows the trail of one provocative, ancient word through the Bible to discover God's deepest thoughts about sex.  The mind-blowing truth she uncovers clearly points the way to a sexuality that's satisfying and real and everything God designed it to be.

Not one to shy away from edgy topics, Dannah candidly shares:

• straight talk about masturbation and pornography
• the ground-breaking science that explains the addictive power of romantic experiences
• honest answers about the lesbian question
• a clear plan for breaking free from sexual guilt
• the unexpected key to a lifetime of truly fulfilling intimacy

If you're a young woman looking for candid insights about sex -- and wondering why it's such a big deal to God -- you've come to the right place.  In these pages you'll discover a life-changing truth that no one ever talks about -- a truth that will transform everything you think you know about sex, romance and God.

 



 

Folly Beach

by Dorothea Benton Frank

Home is the place that knows us best. . .

A woman returns to the past to find her future in this enchanting new tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love.

With its sandy beaches and bohemian charms, surfers and suits alike consider Folly Beach to be one of South Carolina's most historic and romantic spots.  It is also the land of Cate Cooper's childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely.  Cate never thought she'd wind up in this tiny cottage named the Porgy House on this breathtakingly lovely strip of coast.  But circumstances have changed, thanks to her newly dead husband whose financial -- and emotional -- bull and mendacity have left Cate homeless, broke, and unmoored.

Yet Folly Beach holds more than just memories.  Once upon a time another woman found unexpected bliss and comfort within its welcoming arms.  An artist, writer, and colleague of the revered George Gershwin, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly with her beloved husband, DuBose.  And though the Heywards are long gone, their passion and spirit lingers in every mango sunset and gentle ocean breeze.

And for Cate, Folly, too, holds the promise of her unexpected fulfillment when she is forced to look at her life and the zany characters that are her family anew.  To her surprise, she will discover that you can go home again.  Folly Beach doesn't just hold the girl she once was. . . it also holds the promise of the woman she's always wanted -- and is finally ready to become.

Folly Beach, filled with the irresistible charm, saucy wit, and lush atmosphere that have won her the devotion of fans and propelled her books to bestsellerdom, is vintage Dorothea Benton Frank.

The Blackberry Bush

by David Housholder

An invitation to a treasure hunt through the landscape of your soul. . .

Josh grows up an artistic and gifted California Golden Boy, but for all that life has handed to him, he struggles with his identity and role in the world.  Surrounded by unrealistic expectations, he feels hedged in.

Kati's German heritage presents its own obstacles to understanding herself and what freedom means.  She is crushed by disappointment at never being "enough" -- especially for a mother who cannot be satisfied.

As Josh and Kati's lives unfold, longing for true freedom reverberates in their souls.  Come discover with them the life-transforming power of a "chance encounter". . . or is it chance after all?

Black Ties and Lullabies

by Jane Graves

A good girl can be bad for one night. . .

Bernadette Hogan doesn't make mistakes.  Not when it comes to caring for her mother, and not at her job protecting Texas's most eligible -- and infuriating -- bachelor.  Maybe that's why she's overcome with guilt after one tiny indiscretion:  a passionate fling with him that's left her confused, intrigued. . . and pregnant.

but can a bad boy be good for a lifetime?

To self-made milllionaire Jeremy Bridges, women are like fine wine: if held for too long, they sour. But one wild night with Bernadette changed all that.  She makes him laugh, she makes him think, and soon she's going to make him a father.  For the first time, Jeremy wants to be a one-woman man.  So how can he convince the fiercely independent Bernadette he's ready to change from partying playboy to dependable dad -- and become the loving husband she deserves?

Homefires

by Emily Sue Harvey

Homefires is set in the Deep South's Bible Belt on the eve of unprecedented moral changes.  It is the story of Janeece and Kirk Crenshaw, a couple married just after their high school graduation who set out to make a life for themselves.  It is a life marked by surprises, none more dramatic than when Kirk receives his "high-calling" and becomes a pastor.  It is a life marked by tragedy, the most heart-rending of which is a devastating event very close to home.  And it is a life marked by challenges: to their church, to their community, and most decidedly to their marriage.  And as the fullness of time makes its impact on their union, Kirk and Janeece must face the question of whether they have gone as far as they can together.

Filled with rich emotions and evocative characters that fans have come to expect from Emily Sue Harvey, and reminiscent of the work of Jan Karon and Anne Rivers Siddons, Homefires is a poignant and compelling novel that will steal readers' hearts.

What books came home to you this week?