In My Mailbox 71

This meme was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. Check out their blogs for more information. All summaries are from the book jackets.

For review:

Fade - Lisa McMann

For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody’s talking. When Janie taps into a classmates violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open - but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie’s in way over her head, and Cabe’s shocking behaviour has grave consequences for them both.

And if that isn’t bad enough, Janie has discovered Martha Stubin’s journals, and what she learns through them chills her to the bone. Not only is her fate as a Dream Catcher sealed, but what’s to come is so much darker than she’d ever feared…

Thanks to S&S. I didn’t love the first book but I’m more than willing to give this a shot.

Dark Life - Kat Falls

Beware the deep.

When the oceans rose, entire continents were swallowed up by the rising water. Now humans live packed into high rises on small tracts of land, while those willing to forge new frontiers settle deep on the ocean floor.

Ty has lived under the sea his entire life, helping his family to farm the ocean floor. But when outlaws attack, Ty finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from Topside who is looking for her missing brother, Ty ventures into the frontier’s rough underworld - and discovers some very dark secrets. Secrets which threaten to destroy everything…

Thanks again to S&S. I loved this book so much! You can read my review here.

100% Gleek: The Unofficial Guide to Glee - Evie Parker

O.M. Glee!

Calling all gleeks!

Are you a fan of the all-singing, all-dancing hit TV show? Then this unofficial guide is the must-have read for you.

Packed with behind the scenes facts, set gossip, episode guides and full colour photos, it’ll have you singing and dancing with, well…glee!

So, don’t stop believing’, get your gleek on and let your true colours shine - they say you can’t always get what you want, but this guide will get you pretty darn near! Oh yeah.

A fabulous surprise from Bantam Books/Random House. I love Glee!

Time Raiders: The Avenger - PC Cast

“You are about to enter a place of power, a place beyond imagining.”

Alex thought communicating with the dead was the worst of her troubles. She couldn’t have been more wrong!

She’s just been sent to 60 AD by a secret army unit to recove missing pieces if a medallion that could change the world.

Alex must use her gifts to entice Druid Caradoc into helping her. Yet soon she’s torn between duty and the man who’s been haunting her dreams. Returning to the present is the noble thing to do, but her heart tells her to stay in this enticing new world of goddesses and warriors.

From Midas Public Relations. I’ve never read adult PNR before so I’m quite looking forward to it!

Loving Spirit - Linda Chapman

Ellie has lost her parents, her home in New Zealand and everything she knows. Now she must live in England with a family who are more like strangers.

Life on her Uncle Len’s horse farm seems so lonely - until Ellie meets Spirit. She’s never seen the grey horse before, but she has the strangest feeling they’ve always known each other.

Like Ellie, Spirit is alone in the world, and they form an intense bond. And as the weeks go by, Spirit helps Ellie to discover an incredible talent that changes both their lives together.

Thanks to Puffin for this. This isn’t my usual thing, but I’m intrigued.

Troy High - Shana Norris

Homer’s Iliad, the classic tale of love and revenge, is shrewdly retold for teens in Troy High. Narrated by Cassie, a shy outsider who fears that an epic high school rivalry is about to go up in flames, the story follows the Trojans and Spartans as they declare war on the football field. After the beautiful Elena—who used to be the captain of the Spartan cheerleaders—transfers to Troy High and falls madly in love with Cassie’s brother Perry, the Spartans vow that the annual homecoming game will never be forgotten.

The Trojans and Spartans pull wicked pranks on each other as homecoming approaches. And the Spartans’ wildcard football star, Ackley, promises to take down the Trojans’ offensive line. But the stakes are raised when Cassie is forced to choose between the boy she loves (a Spartan) and loyalty to her family and school.

Troy High will seduce readers with its incendiary cast of mythic proportions.

Thanks to Abrams Books for this.

Troubadour - Mary Hoffman

‘The very stones of the castle glowed red…’

Elinor is in love with Bertran, a troubadour. But her parents will not hear of the match and Elinor is to be married to an elderly nobleman. Fearing the prospect of an unhappy and loveless marriage, she flees her castle to find Bertran, unaware that southern France is on the eve of a terrible war…

An epic and action-packed tale of war and romance from the acclaimed Mary Hoffman.

Thanks to Bloomsbury.

From the S&S event:

Rules of Attraction - Simone Elkeles

Carlos Fuentes isn’t happy about leaving Mexico to start the “new” life his ikder brother, Alex, has planned for him. Carlos liked his freedom; living life on the edge and carving out his own path - just like Alex did.

Kiara Westford doesn’t talk much; preferring instead to shut the world out. And whne Carlos bounds into her life she struggles to understand him and his wild ways. Carlos is sure that Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, which is just fine because he’s not interested anyway, right? But when they finally open up to each other, the connection they feel shocks them both. Can they overcome their fears and realise that sometimes opposites really do attract?

Squee!!! X1000

Of Saints and Shadows - Christopher Golden

Book one of The Shadow Saga - an epic tale of vampires, sorcery and war.

Armed with an ancient book called The Gospel of Shadows, a secret sect has been slowly destroying vampires for centuries. Now the book has been stolen, and the sect races to retrieve it before their purpose is discovered: a final purge of all vampires. As the line between saints and shadows grows ominously faint, private eye Peter Octavian is drawn into the search. And he’ll do anything to find the book…for Peter Octavian is also a vampire.

In a deadly game with a driven, sadistic assassin, the trail leads to Venice at the time of the carnival, where the Defiant Ones are engaged in a savage battle for their lives. Filled with plot twists, mystery, sex and violent death, Of Saints and Shadows is a gripping visceral thriller which opens the door to the world of The Shadow Saga.

Because Jenny told me to.

Daughters of Fortune - Tara Hyland

William Melville’s daughters are heiresses to the world’s most exclusive fashion dynasty. Beautiful and rich, they are envied by all. But behind the glittering façade of their lives, each girl hides a dark secret that threatens to tear their family apart.

Smart, ambitious Elizabeth knows how to manipulate every man she meets, except the one who counts: her father.

Gentle, naïve Caitlin, the illegitimate child, struggling to fit into a world of privilege while staying true to herself.

Stunning, spoilt Amber, the party girl with a weakness for bad boys; more fragile than anyone realises.

As each of them seeks to carve out her own destiny, Elizabeth, Caitlin and Amber face difficult choices, which will take them in wildly different directions. But as old wounds resurface, and threaten to destroy the foundations of the Melville empire, their paths will cross again. Because the simple truth is that, no matter how far you go, you cannot escape the claims of family.

All the S&S ladies were raving about this one.

I also picked up a copy of Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon for a friend and A Summer Fling by Milly Johnson and Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner for my mum.

Bought:

The Dark Divine - Bree Despain

True love’s first kill.

Daniel looked up at me. His dark eyes searched my face. There was something different about those too-familiar eyes. Maybe it was the way the orange light from the streetlamp illuminated his pupils. Maybe it was the way he stared without blinking. His eyes made him look…hungry.

I’ve heard mixed things about this, but I’m really looking forward to it.

Sophie