Posts By: Giselle

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Fresh Batch (Jan. 8th – 14th)

Posted by 19 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavour of the week:
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Ditched

Robin Mellom
Goodreads / Purchase 

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.
Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.
Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.
Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.
And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag’s moving car…

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

Robin Mellom is the author of DITCHED, her debut teen novel coming January 2012 from Disney-Hyperion. And also THE CLASSROOM, a middle grade series coming from Disney-Hyperion June 2012.

Robin has taught grades 5 through 8 and has a master’s degree in education. She lives with her husband and son on the Central Coast of California.


 Other releases this week (click on cover for Goodreads):
*In no particular order*  *Purchase links are for Book Depository*

Newly married Jessica Packwood is having a hard enough time feeling regal with her husband, Lucius, at her side. But when evidence in the murder of a powerful elder points to Lucius, sending him into solitary confinement, Jessica is suddenly on her own.

Purchase

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs… for now.

It’s the year 2040, and sixteen-year-old Dez Harkly is one of the last of her kind—part of a nearly extinct race of shape-shifters descended from guardians to the Egyptian pharaohs. Her home and her secret are threatened when the Council lowers the barrier, allowing the enemy race to enter the Shythe haven.

Purchase (Omnific)

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He’s finally free to enact his vision – no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed.

Sixteen-year-old Leah Spencer didn’t mind being a natural-born Shaman to the Créatúir. Until she broke Rule #1 and traveled to the Other Realm, where she quickly lost time. Like, a whole year of time. She missed out on everything—holidays, school, her sixteenth birthday, the boyfriend who ditched her. So Leah swore to leave all things magical behind her and lead the life of a normal high school girl.

Purchase

 

May is helping out on a neighbor’s Kansas prairie homestead—just until Christmas, says Pa. She wants to contribute, but it’s hard to be separated from her family by 15 long, unfamiliar miles. Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned.

After her father loses his job, Sonia Nadhamuni, half Indian and half Jewish American, finds herself yanked out of private school and thrown into the unfamiliar world of public education.

Purchase

Driven by his insatiable need for revenge, Lothaire, the Lore’s most ruthless vampire, plots to seize the Horde’s crown. But bloodlust and torture have left him on the brink of madness—until he finds Elizabeth Peirce, the key to his victory. 

The orphaned daughter of missionaries, Addy is quite content to stay in the shadows and never draw attention to herself. But when she’s selected for a reality TV show to try to become the President son’s prom date-a show she didn’t audition for-she’s suddenly in America’s spotlight.

Purchase

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle.

Which releases do you anticipate getting this week?

Review: The Alchemy of Forever

Posted by on 01/06/2012 • 32 Comments

The Alchemy of ForeverAvery WilliamsRelease date: January 3rd, 2012by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase

After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world’s riches but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans from jumping from one vessel to the next, ending the human’s life in the process. No longer able to bear the guilt of what she’s done, Sera escapes from Cyrus and vows to never kill again.

Then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body while trying…

Review: Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook

Posted by on 01/05/2012 • 27 Comments

Unraveling IsobelEileen CookRelease date: January 3rd, 2012by Simon Pulse

Goodreads / Purchase

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong…

Giveaway: Switched by Amanda Hocking

Posted by on 01/04/2012 • 31 Comments

SwitchedAmanda HockingRelease date: January 3rd, 2012by St. Martin’s Griffin

Goodreads / Purchase

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn’t until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed – a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy’s not sure she wants to be a part of it.

Click here for my review!          

Switched book trailer

Giveaway details St. Martin’s Press has generously offered a SIGNED copy of Switched to one of my readers. Open to US/CAN residents. Ends on January 14th, 2012 Use the form below to enter *Winner will be contacted by email and…

Waiting on Wednesday (17)

Posted by on 01/04/2012 • 72 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  My pick this week:

                                    Darkness Before Dawn                                     J.A. London

                                    Release date: May 29th, 2012

This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won.

Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters….  

Add it to your Goodreads to-read shelf

This…

Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking

Posted by on 01/03/2012 • 42 Comments

SwitchedAmanda HockingRelease date: January 3rd, 2012by St. Martin’s Griffin

Goodreads / Purchase

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn’t until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed – a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy’s not sure she wants to be a part of it.

*A copy was provided by St. Martin’s Press for review purposes*

Trolls! I know, right? Flashy colorful hair, so-ugly-they’re-cute dolls we all had at one point? In Amanda’s world, these are all misconceptions. They’re called Trylle, and they’re beautiful, magical and on the brink of extinction.

With an entirely…

Dusty Reads (15)

Posted by on 01/03/2012 • 23 Comments

Dusty Reads is a weekly meme, hosted here, featuring a book that has been sitting unread on my home shelf for some time. To participate, add your link at the bottom.  If you wish, you can grab the button and find more information here.

My pick this week:

Demonglass(Hex Hall, #2) Rachel HawkinsReleased March, 20011Goodreads / Purchase

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of…

On A Dark Wing Tour Stop

Posted by on 01/02/2012 • 25 Comments

That’s right! The On A Dark Wing blog tour is visiting Xpresso Reads today for their very last stop! I’ve got a review and 2 wonderful giveaways for you all to give you some entertainment on this Monday. I hope you enjoyed the whole tour and I’m glad to be able to end it with a bang!

On A Dark WingJordan DaneRelease date: December 27th, 2011by Harlequin Teen

Goodreads / Purchase

The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for. And Death would be my willing teacher.Five years ago, Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her “lucky” break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she…