Renee's Book Addiction

August 1, 2009: My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers series, book 1) by Rachel Vincent (YA)

Here is a book description:

She doesn’t see dead people, but . . .

She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next . . .

• Rachel Vincent’s site.
• Excerpt on publisher’s site.

August 4, 2009: Vanished (Greywalker series, book 4) by Kat Richardson

Here is a book description:

For Seattle investigator Harper Blaine, her own case may prove the most difficult to solve. Why did she, as opposed to others with near death experiences become a Greywalker? When Harper begins digging into her own past, she unearths some unpleasant truths about her father’s early death as well as a mysterious puzzle. She sets out to find his ghost but encounters only a void where he should be, leaving her with more unanswered questions.

Before she can continue her search, Harper gets an offer she can’t refuse to go to London and pursue an investigation on behalf of some very demanding vampires. But there are unpleasant surprises waiting for her, and Harper soon discovers her present trouble in England is entangled with her dark past back in Seattle and her ultimate destiny as a Greywalker.

• Kat Richardson’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.

August 4, 2009: One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl.

Here is the description from the author’s site:

THEY WOULD MAKE EVERY SECOND
COUNT . . .

Even after finding his betrothed in the arms of another man, Nicholas, Viscount Lancaster, knows he must wed. Propriety — and the dire state of his finances — decrees it. At least a visit to his country estate provides relief from playing the role of loving fiance, as well as a surprising encounter with Cynthia Merrithorpe. Once his childhood companion, Cynthia has grown into a lovely, alluring woman — one who’s undertaken a daring ruse to avoid being sold into a miserable marriage.

When Nicholas left for London to assume his new title, Cynthia was forced to put aside her girlish infatuation. Now he’s returned, more wickedly attractive than ever. And this time, Cynthia is determined to experience the pleasure she’s dreamed of for so long. But with a man like Nicholas, seduction is only the beginning of a sensual journey that will tempt them both to defy convention, and uncover the very heart of desire . . .

• Victoria Dahl’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.

August 4, 2009: The Stranger I Married by Sylvia Day (Mass market re-issue)

Here is the description from the publisher’s site:

THEY WERE TOGETHER FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS . . .

They are London’s most scandalous couple. Isabel, Lady Pelham, and Gerard Faulkner, Marquess of Grayson, are well matched in all things – their lusty appetites, constant paramours, wicked wits, provocative reputations, and their absolute refusal ever to ruin their marriage of convenience by falling in love with one another. Isabel knows such a charming rake will never appeal to her guarded heart, nor will she sway his philandering one. It is a most agreeable sham . . . until a shocking turn of events sends Gerard from her side.

Now, four years later, Gerard has come home to Isabel. But the carefree, boyish rogue who left has been replaced by a brooding, powerful, irresistible man who is determined to seduce his way into her affections. Gone is the devil-may-care companion who shared her friendship and nothing more, and in his place is temptation itself . . . a husband who desires Isabel body and soul and who will stop at nothing to win her love. No, this is not at all the man she had married. But he is the man who might finally steal her heart . . .

• Sylvia Day’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.

August 18, 2009: Dreamfever (Fever series, book 4) by Karen Marie Moning

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought—and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V’lane vie for her body and soul, as cryptic entries from her sister’s diary mysteriously appear and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac’s greatest enemy delivers a final challenge . . .

It’s an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth—about herself and her sister, about Jericho Barron . . . and about the world she thought she knew.

• Karen Marie Moning’s site.

August 25, 2009: Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega series, book 2) by Patricia Briggs

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

Anna Latham didn’t know how complicated life could be until she became a werewolf. And until she was mated to Charles Cornick, the son — and enforcer — of Bran, the leader of the North American werewolves, she didn’t know how dangerous it could be, either . . .

Anna and Charles have just been enlisted to attend a summit to present Bran’s controversial proposition: that the wolves should finally reveal themselves to humans. But the most feared Alpha in Europe is dead set against the plan — and it seems like someone else might be, too. When Anna is attacked by vampires using pack magic, the kind of power only werewolves should be able to draw on, Charles and Anna must combine their talents to hunt down whoever is behind it all — or risk losing everything . . .

• Patricia Briggs’ site.
• Hunting Ground on publisher’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.

August 25, 2009: Set the Dark on Fire by Jill Sorenson

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

Shay Phillips knows her way around Dark Canyon. She’s handy with a gun and can track a wild animal with the best of them. It’s humans who give her the most trouble. And with a hormonally charged teenage brother to raise — and an admitted weakness for the wrong kind of man — they’re giving her plenty of trouble these days. Then there’s the matter of murder. As an expert on mountain lions, Shay knows to be skeptical when a local prostitute turns up mauled without a drop of blood near the body.

Now, together with the town’s newly arrived sheriff, Luke Meza — a Las Vegas city boy with his own dark secrets — Shay must navigate a dangerous valley filled with angry ex-lovers, unfaithful spouses, and poisonous snakes in a desperate search for the killer. But when suspicion falls on her own brother, and her attraction to Luke rages into a full-on erotic affair, can Shay quell the fires inside her long enough to uncover the truth?

• Jill Sorenson’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site. (Scroll down linked page.)

August 25, 2009: Unbound -Anthology with novellas by Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, and Jocelynn Drake

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

Not all hunters are bound by human laws . . .

Revisiting the paranormal realms they’ve made famous in their wildly popular fiction, New York Times bestselling authors Kim Harrison, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, and Jocelynn Drake—plus New York Times bestselling YA author Melissa Marr with her first adult supernatural thriller—unleash their full arsenal of dark talents, plunging us into the shadows where the supernatural stalk the unsuspecting . . . and every soul is a target.

Get ready for the ride of your life—because the wildest magic has just been unleashed . . . and evil is about to have its day.

• Kim Harrison’s site
• Melissa Marr’s site
• Jeaniene Frost’s site
• Vicki Pettersson’s site
• Jocelynn Drake’s site

August 25, 2009: Retribution (An Anna Strong, Vampire Novel, book 5) by Jeanne C Stein

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

With her partner out of town, her family abroad, and her mentor estranged, newly-turned vampire Anna Strong is keeping a low profile. But now young vampires are turning up dead, completely drained of their life force. And though Anna wants to say no when Williams, her former teacher and now leader of a supernatural enforcement squad, asks for her help, she can’t. But soon, she’ll wish she did.

• Jeanne Stein’s site.

August 25, 2009: The Drowning City (The Necromancer Chronicles, book 1) by Amanda Downum.

Here is a book description from the publisher’s site:

Symir — the Drowning City. A lush subtropical port, home to exiles and expatriates, pirates and smugglers. And violent revolutionaries who’ll stop at nothing to overthrow the corrupt Imperial government.

For Isyllt Iskaldur, necromancer and spy, the brewing revolution is a chance to prove herself to her Crown, and to forget the heartbreak that haunts her at home. All she has to do is find and finance the revolutionaries, and help topple the palaces of Symir. But the longer she stays in the monsoon-drenched city, the more factions and intrigues she uncovers — even the dead are plotting, and the monsters who live in the flooded canals. And the closer she grows to an Imperial mage, the more her loyalties are strained.

Betrayed by her allies, hunted by the people she meant to aid, and determined to save a man oath-bound to kill her, Isyllt must choose between her mission and the lives of thousands of people. But as the waters rise and dams crack, everything she’s worked for may still be swept away.

• Amanda Dounum’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.
• Orbit’s Fall publishing schdule.

August 25, 2009: Blood Promise (Vampire Academy series, book 4) by Richelle Mead

Here is a book description:

Rose Hathaway’s life will never be the same.The recent attack on St. Vladimir’s Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse.

A rare tattoo now adorns Rose’s neck, a mark that says she’s killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life’s vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She’ll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir’s and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

• Richelle Mead’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.