Dear Reader from MaryJanice AND an Excerpt of Undead and Unstable!

Dear Reader,

I’m writing this from a hotel room in Paris, France, and it’s all your fault.

It’s a gorgeous sunny day with a light breeze, it’s springtime in Paris, and the hotel room is cute and chic and in an old, elegant building. The bathroom is neat-o with dark red tiles and a towel warmer. I’m here as a guest of my French publisher (Betsy and the gang are in 15 countries, not counting the States! Which blows my mind if I even try to think about it.), here to promote the French editions of the Undead series and to attend La Imaginales, a sizeable sci-fi fantasy convention. “Here as their guest” = “free trip to France”.

Yeah, I figured it was a nasty practical joke at first. Sure I did: why would the French want me? Anywhere? But after I tearfully called them on their sadism (“You asshats! No need to tease me with fake invitations. Not cool, France! Not even a little bit cool!”) and realized they were serious, I hesitated to take them upon their offer. (“Sweetie, I’ll miss your birthday when I’m in France but hey, turning thirteen is no big deal, except for millions of people it symbolizes the entrance into manhood and for millions of other people it’s cool because you’re finally a teenager...anyway, here’s five bucks. Buy yourself a wonderful card from me. Go nuts!”) In the end, I reluctantly (snigger) put the interests of my family aside and sprinted to the airport.

And it’s because of you, Reader. You put me in this chair. You put these French fries (I wanted to order something foreign...to celebrate being in France!) on my plate and the crème brulee (see above: foreign!) in my gullet. You put the kid in the trailer park, the girl who never went to college, smack in the middle of one of those most glamorous and cosmopolitan cities on the planet. If you were here, Reader, there’s a pretty good chance I’d kiss you on the mouth. And possibly offer you a French fry. (But no brulee. I haven’t entirely lost my senses. Mine, it’s mine!)

When Undead and Unwed was published in 2004, I had a SDJ (Stupid Day Job) I wasn’t especially fond of, a husband who worked long hours for the state and the city, a pre-schooler and baby to look after, a starter house to try and keep organized, and on a good die I’d squeeze in maybe ten pages of writing between cooking supper and going to bed myself. Fast forward eleven books later: we’re fortunate to own two homes, the pre-schooler has her driver’s license and the baby just turned thirteen, the SDJs are a thing of the past, and it’s the odd month I don’t fly somewhere to give a speech about writing, romance, the industry, or a combo of the three, and/or teach workshops on writing best-selling novels. And again: you put me here. My kids no longer have to study hard and pray for scholarships; now they can blow off finals and go to a party college!

Even the problems you bums have given me are great to have. I have to pay a ton of taxes. Even if my trip is paid for by the group in question, I spend money out of my own pocket to upgrade to 1st class because I’m a spoiled bitch. Correction: a spoiled tall bitch who craves leg room. Jet lag hit today and I fell on my face and died for four hours, which means it’s 11:00 p .m. here and I’m stone cold bright-eyed and awake. (I know, you want to smack me. I want to smack me! Hearing this litany of problems is making me itch. Fell on my face and died...in a chic cozy hotel room with fresh spring breezes coming through windows that actually open. Oh, the horror of it all.)

What else is there to say? Your hard earned money (and it is hard earned; I was without money much longer than I had disposable income, and even when the economy is great, which it ain’t, hard covers and paperbacks can be expensive) put me in France, in New York City, in Chicago and Australia and Orlando, in San Diego and Los Angeles and the middle of the Smoky Mountains. Book royalties have sent me all over the planet to meet readers, Betsy and the gang are published in fifteen countries, we’ve turned down movie deals (Disney’s a tough negotiator!), accepted other deals, and...well. You get it. You guys liked Betsy enough to keep reading her. Even if you weren’t sure what I was up to, you stuck with her, and the books. (And in Unstable, I think that tenacity will be rewarded. To put it simply: I hate sad endings for the sake of sad endings. And so I’d never write one.)

For someone paid to write, to communicate ideas to as many people as she can, I can’t think of a damn thing to say. I’ve got nothing. Except thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so so much. And may you and yours be as happy as me and mine, always.

Love, love, love,
MaryJanice

Undead and Unstable
Expected Publish Date: June 5, 2012
You can find MaryJanice Davidson here:
Blog ★ Twitter ★ Facebook

Publisher's Summary: Betsy’s heartbroken over her friend Marc’s death, but at least his sacrifice should change the future—her future­—for the better. But it’s not as if Betsy’s next few hundred years will be perfect. After all, her half-sister Laura is the AntiChrist, Laura’s mother is Satan, and family gatherings will always be more than a little awkward.

What’s really bothering Betsy is that ever since she and Laura returned from visiting her mom in Hell, Laura’s been acting increasingly peculiar. Maybe it’s Laura’s new job offer: as Satan’s replacement down under. Unfortunately, the position comes at a damnable price: killing Betsy, her own flesh-and-blood.

Over Betsy’s dead body. And for that matter Marc’s, too, since he’s not quite as buried as everyone thought. Now a war has been waged—one that’s going to take sibling rivalry to a whole new level, and a dimension where only one sister can survive.

Excerpt from Undead and Unstable
**spoilers if you haven’t read Unfinished and Undermined, and one spoiler found within the first 40 pages of Unstable**

“Well done, my Queen.” Sinclair looked and sounded impressed. Which made me feel awful. I didn’t want to be logical and calm and smart. I didn’t want to grow into the talking ice sculpture that was Ancient Me. I wanted to be a flapping dumbass. I wanted to be the kind of person who was so dumb, when they played Russian Roulette they loaded all the chambers. I did not want to be smart. Not if it meant being her. Never, never her.
Sinclair seemed to read my expression pretty accurately, because he added, “I do not believe it. You could never hurt me, as I could never hurt you. I do not believe it.”
“You do, too!”
“Very well.” He instantly reversed course, the better to soothe you with, my dear. “I am not afraid.”
“Well, you would be if you’d been paying any attention the last five years.” I sniffed, comforted. “What are we going to do, Eric?”
“Truly things have come to a wretched pass.” He put his hands over his heart and made like he was going to swoon. “Calling me by my first name, almost as if we were husband and wife. The horror of it!”
“Shut your cake slot, Sink Lair.”
“Much better.” Weirdly, he did seem relieved.
“We’ll fix it, Betsy. Of course, I have no idea how . . .” Marc was stroking his chin and looking thoughtful. And Laura looked like she’d been given a death row reprieve. “But we will.”
“We absolutely will,” Laura agreed. “Betsy, I’m so sorry about keeping this from you . . . I couldn’t tell you. I thought I could fix it—head it off—if I kept the Book from you while I figured out what to do, but my mother jumped in with both feet and . . . and . . .”
“I don’t blame you, Laura.” Though in that moment with Sinclair I had forgotten she and Marc were even in the room. “I know you wanted to help. I shouldn’t have assumed you’d gone klepto out of spite.” I looked around the room at the glum faces. “C’mon, guys! It’s not the end of the world. At least, not yet.”
They obviously didn’t believe me, but were too polite to tell me to my face. So I forced brisk cheer into my tone, as much for my own sake as theirs. If I didn’t fake cheer, I was gonna go into some very real hysterics, possibly for several months.
“I’ll tell you what. We’re gonna fix this. And here’s the fun fact: I don’t give a tin shit how many laws we have to break or how much blood we have to drink. If we have to lie, we’re gonna do it.”
Marc was rubbing his temples and staring at the floor. “Time is a wheel.”
“Don’t start with the wheel . . . if we have to cheat, we’re gonna do it.”
He rubbed harder. “There’s something familiar about this . . .”
“As God is my witness, Sinclair will never be skinned again!”
“That is sweet, my own.” Which sounded sincere until Sink Lair lifted a hand to his mouth to turn his laugh into a cough (“Hee-hhmmphhhh!”) and then fake-cleared his throat. “I think I just fell in love with you all over again.”
“Gone with the Wind!” Marc shouted, leaping to his zombie feet. “You’re cribbing prose from the estate of Margaret Mitchell, you thieving whore!”
“Am not. And I am not a thief. Okay, I am. Who cares? Focus, Lazarus. We’ll fix it. It’s gonna be fixed. Okay?”
I forced a smile. They did, too, and their smiles were about as real as mine.

Awesome Interview w/ Bree Despain & Giveaway of The Savage Grace *signed*

On Thursday last week, I attended A Very Steamy Evening at Books Inc. Having Bree Despain, Cynthia Hand and Brodi Ashton at one event alone totally rocks! But, as always, Maggie over at Books Inc. rocked the party! That girl really knows how to throw an awesome event. To make the event even better, Maggie gave some of my awesome Blogger BFs and myself an opportunity to personally interview the authors! Doesn't that TOTALLY ROCK? So I had the opportunity to sit with Bree in a little corner in the back room and drill her with a few questions. And let me tell you, Bree is super sweet and super awesome! I'm more than thrilled to have been given the opportunity to do this, thanks Maggie and thanks Bree!

Here is my Q&;A with Bree Despain. Head on over to Two Chicks on Books to check out their interview with Cynthia Hand and over to Tater's Tall Tails for the interview with Brodi Ashton.

Mindy: While writing The Dark Divine, did you always plan to write the story as a trilogy?

Bree: At first I saw the book as a stand alone, but one of my mentors suggested that I leave the book open ended enough so it would have series potential. That way the book could be satisfying on its own, but have room to grow if my publisher (and readers) wanted it to. Luckily, my publisher asked for a second book. However, when I started writing the second book, I realized I couldn’t finish Grace and Daniel’s story in only two books. There were so many more things I wanted to do with the characters and storyline than I could fit in just that second book! I decided to end the second book with a pretty big cliffhanger in the hopes that my publisher would ask for a third book. And sure enough, two weeks after I turned in the manuscript for book two, they asked for a third. I am so happy about that. Book three, THE SAVAGE GRACE, is my favorite in the series.

Mindy: From the beginning, did you already know what would happen with the characters and how the story would end?

Bree: I always knew how the story would end between the three main characters. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to get them there, but I always had the image of what would happen between the three of them in my head.

Mindy: Do any of your characters remind you of someone you know now or knew from your past? And how did you come up with your characters and their names?

Bree: The first book in the series, THE DARK DIVINE, was initially inspired by something that actually happened to me. When I was a little girl, I was good friends with a neighbor boy. We played together all the time until his family moved across the country in the second grade. I figured I would never see him again, but then one day when I was in the ninth grade, I went into my history class and found this rough looking guy sitting in the seat behind mine. He had long hair that hid his face, was drug addict-skinny, and his clothes were ripped and rumpled. He made me nervous but I figured that if I didn’t bother him, he wouldn’t bother me. Wrong! The second I sat down, he started hassling me. I finally got so annoyed, I turned around and said, “Who the hell do you think you are?” He looked up at me then and asked, “So you don’t recognize me then?” That’s when I realized that this guy was actually my old best friend. But before I could say anything else, he got kicked out of class. And I never saw him again. (He got kicked out of school that same day, and he never came back.)

For a long time, I was haunted by this encounter. I couldn’t stop wondering what had happened to him to change him so much from the boy I’d known. And I couldn’t stop wondering where he went after that day, or what might have become of him. Or what might have happened to me if he hadn’t disappeared again. I eventually forgot about him until about ten years later when I was driving down the street and I suddenly remembered this strange encounter. Then a conversation between a brother and a sister started playing in my head. The brother was warning his sister to stay away from an old friend of theirs who had returned after having disappeared 3 years ago. “He’s dangerous. You have to stay away from him. He isn’t the person he used to be,” the brother kept saying. I knew the brother had some sort of secret he wasn’t sharing with the sister, and I knew she wouldn’t be able to stay away from the friend. I had to figure out what was going on with these people, so I went home and started writing down their conversation in a notebook—and just kept going until I’d written THE DARK DIVINE.

Mindy: How long did it take you to write each book in The Dark Divine trilogy?

Bree: The first book took 4 years on and off, so probably about 2 ½ years of actually working on it.

For the 2nd book, I was given 4 months to write it. (But I pushed it to about 6 months.)

I was told I had 3 months to write the 3rd book, but I knew I couldn’t do the book justice (for myself or for my readers) in that short amount of time, so I insisted on taking longer. It probably took me about 8 months to write the first draft.

Mindy: How are your wolves different from “typical” werewolves?

Bree: My werewolf mythology was inspired by an old court document from the 16th Century I found while researching. It told a story about a man who was accused of being a werewolf and was facing a death sentence by stoning. However, instead of trying to fight their accusations, he stood up in court and said that he was indeed a werewolf—but that the town didn’t understand what werewolves really were. He claimed that werewolves were invented to protect humans from demons and monsters, and if the town killed him, they would no longer be protected. The court decided to let him go (just in case he was telling the truth) and he escaped being stoned to death. I thought this was a really clever twist on typical “werewolves are evil” mythology and I decided to expand on this idea. In my books, werewolves were created by God to protect humans from demons—however, they eventually became so prideful of their special abilities that they were corrupted by their power and transformed into monsters even more evil than what they were originally created to destroy. Their blessings became their curse, so to speak. Some of the characters in my books are looking for a way to redeem the werewolves and return them to what they were originally meant to be—the Hounds of Heaven.

Mindy: Now that you are done with your series, do you have plans for a spin-off, or are you currently writing a new book that you can tell us about?

Bree: No plans for a spin-off right now, but I have played with the idea. Currently, I am working on a new book that is slated for publication in Fall 2013. It’s about a demon prince who is sent to the mortal world with 6 months to convince a certain girl to return with him to the Underworld. If he fails, all hell will literally break loose upon the world. But if he succeeds, the girl will die. The complication he didn’t see coming: he falls in love with her—despite not even knowing what love is until now. Now the two must figure out how to either outrun or outsmart their fate.

Mindy: A couple years ago you wrote a short online post about “The real reason Daniel didn’t go after Grace when she found out what he did.” Basically, the story was about Daniel vs. Jace. Do you have anything else out there like that?

Bree: Ha ha. That was a fun story I wrote for some bloggers—but it doesn’t really fit into the Dark Divine canon. I do have an eBook short
story called “The Lost Letters of Gabriel.” It is a collection of letters that tell the story of how Gabriel (Daniel and Grace’s mentor) became a werewolf. It also gives some interesting insights on my werewolf mythology. The eBook can be found for only $1.99 on Amazon or Barnes & Noble —and all of my proceeds go to a charity called Kids Need to Read!

The Dark Divine trilogy!
Click on the book covers below to buy on Amazon!

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry, glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boys' dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.

The non-stop sequel to The Dark Divine delivers an even hotter romance and more thrilling action than Bree Despain's first novel. Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She gave her soul to the wolf to save him and lost her beloved mother. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do. She must become a Hound of Heaven. Desparate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot - a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel begins to crumble. Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace becomes prideful in her new abilities - not realizing that an old enemy has returned and deadly trap is about to be sprung. Readers, raveous for more Grace and Daniel, will be itching to sink their teeth into The Lost Saint.

Grace's life is a mess. Daniel is still a werewolf, Talbot can't be trusted, and Caleb is still out there. With Sirhan's impending death, war seems imminent. Will Grace give in to the wolf to save her family? What will happen to Daniel . . . and can their love survive one last test?

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Publisher’s Summary: Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry's first wife, Persephone.

My take: Now that I can better appreciate the characters in this series, I enjoyed reading this one! I was super excited to pick up Goddess Interrupted once I finished The Goddess Test and I’m not disappointed at all!

After Kate spent 6 months away from the new world that she is a part of now, she is super excited to return. I found that to be odd; Kate growing so attached to the new world even though she was away for such a long period of time with utterly no contact. But anyways, she returns to pure craziness and Henry is now acting odd toward her.

Pretty much right from the start, I was left wondering if something horrible was going to happen to one or more of the characters. At first I wasn’t overly concerned with why Henry was acting so unusual toward Kate, but I then began questioning, along with Kate, whether or not he truly cares for her. Kate pissed me off a lot in this book. I felt like she was way too emotional, and she let being pushed around get the best of her. Instead of learning from her mistakes in the first book, she seems a little too naïve…instead of acting on her feelings and insecurities, she just dismisses them. She’s one of those girls I think would find a DB guy to beat her, cheat on her, and talk crap about her right to her face…and then, even if she were to threaten to leave, she’d end up making excuses for his behavior! OK...so I went a little extreme with that one. It's not that bad, but bad enough to get on my nerves. LOL Well, she does actually grow a backbone slowly-but-surely throughout the book. Thank goodness! Anyways, enough with my ranting about Kate.

Overall, this story was really good. And, at the end of Goddess Interrupted there is a crazy twist and a horrible betrayal, and now I’m dying for the next book in this series!!!

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Publisher’s Summary: It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

My Take: Holy crap! The ending to The Goddess Test totally rocked! That was a super sweet twist!

While reading The Goddess Test, I can honestly say that I only just “liked” the story, but it was the way that the story ended that made reading the whole book totally worth it! Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as if I didn’t like the story because I did! While reading, the story kept me intrigued enough to keep moving forward, but it wasn’t a major thrill. But since there was that awesome ending, I’m now sitting here reminiscing, thinking about everything that happened throughout the whole book. And the part that I just brushed off as simple story-telling is now more important to me! It makes me want to go back and re-read it, because I think I would like it better the second time!

Pretty much all of the characters in The Goddess Test are likable. I kind of predicted who the villain was pretty early on (I won’t say, I don’t want to spoil it for you), but it didn’t at all ruin the story for me. Kate was too caring to the point where she would easily get pushed around and get taken advantage of; I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t have severe trust issues after this book. Ava is the chick that you love to hate, but then she could also possibly be one of my favorite characters. Then there’s Henry. I’m totally Team Henry! How can you not fall for the Hades? LOL. Oh, wait! That wasn’t a spoiler, was it? But I’m pretty sure you find that one out in the very beginning.

There’s really not much more I can say for you because it’s best to go in completely blind when reading this one. And if you’ve already started but never finished, don’t give up on The Goddess Test because the end ROCKS!

My Book Stash #17

I almost remade this video because my kids interrupted a couple times, but I decided to keep it the way it is.

Next week's new releases!

Dreamless
by Josephine Angelini
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Publisher's Summary: As the only Scion that can enter Hades at will, Helen descends to the Underworld in search of a way to overcome the Furies and end the cycle of revenge that has cursed the Scions. But she’s running out of time. Each descent weakens her both in mind and spirit. A mysterious stranger might be her only salvation, but the price may be her love for Lucas Delos.

As an unforgettable love triangle emerges, Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding. The eagerly awaited sequel to the internationally bestselling Starcrossed, Dreamless delivers with a huge emotional impact that will leave readers satisfied—and longing for more.

Darkness Before Dawn
by J. A. London
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Publisher's Summary: 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....

Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series.

Angel Eyes
by Shannon Dittemore
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Publisher's Summary: Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee.

Brielle went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and an incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.

Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.

Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than either Brielle or Jake has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices begin.

A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.

Dark Frost
by Jennifer Estep
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Publisher's Summary: I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me? It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

Burning Emerald
by Jaime Reed
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Publisher's Summary: Dating the most popular guy in school is every girl’s fantasy. But to Samara Marshall, he’s a dangerous force come to rekindle their tangled past. Only it’s not her past…

Samara faces a challenging senior year. Controlling her inner demon is a struggle, even with help from her Cambion boyfriend, Caleb. But her life takes a turn for the worse when the hottest jock in school begins pursuing her—especially since Malik’s anything but what he seems. They share a connection from a forgotten past—a secret that could destroy her and Caleb.

As the attraction becomes harder to resist, Samara is now at the mercy of the demon within her. To break free, Sam must fight a battle where she is the enemy and the prize…and victory will come at a deadly price.

Ghost Crown
by J. Gabriel Gates
& Charlene Keel
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Publisher's Summary: A priceless mystical treasure, a dark secret order, and a vengeful fallen angel—forces collide as the battle for Middleburg continues . . .

For gang members Raphael and Ignacio, plans for the homecoming dance are almost as harrowing as their recent victory against the demonic forces that threaten their town. Despite their tentative alliance, a fight breaks out between the preppie Toppers and the goth Flatliners when Topper girl Aimee shows up at the dance with Raphael, the rival gang's leader. In the midst of an all-out rumble, the homecoming queen discovers a supernatural power that causes a potentially deadly catastrophe. Meanwhile, a charismatic half-angel, half-human arrives in Middleburg with plans to steal Aimee from Raphael.

To add to the bizarre circumstances surrounding the town, real-estate moguls begin buying up most of the Flats and evicting the tenants. These mysterious men seek a priceless treasure prophesied in ancient Chinese writings and will stop at nothing to find it. But Raphael and his friends vow to get to it first and use it to reclaim their homes.

As Raphael and the Flatliners and Zhai and the Toppers hone their supernatural abilities and search for the treasure, Aimee begins kung fu training, intent on using her new skills to locate and rescue her mother. When she discovers that the elusive treasure may be the key, the race to find it intensifies.

But there are others who seek the treasure too, and they have the power to reduce all of Middleburg, and perhaps the world, to ashes. . . .

Cursed
by Benedict Jaca
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Summary: Since his second sight made him infamous for defeating powerful dark mages, Alex has been keeping his head down. But now he's discovered the resurgence of a forbidden ritual. Someone is harvesting the life-force of magical creatures—destroying them in the process. And draining humans is next on the agenda. Hired to investigate, Alex realizes that not everyone on the Council wants him delving any deeper. Struggling to distinguish ally from enemy, he finds himself the target of those who would risk their own sanity for power...

All Spell Breaks Loose
by Lisa Shearin
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Publisher's Summary: My name is Raine Benares—and it sucks to be me right now.

I’m a seeker who found the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone that gave me unlimited powers I never wanted. Now I’ve lost the rock—and the magic it gave me—to a goblin dark mage whose main goals are my death and world domination. This is more than incentive enough for a little trip to the goblin capital of Regor with a small band of good friends, not-so-good friends, and one outright enemy. Don’t ask.

All we need to do is destroy the Saghred, kill the mage, and put a renegade goblin prince on the throne. Did I mention I’ll be doing that with no magic?

Bleeding Out
by Jes Battis
Expected Publish Date:
May 29, 2012

Summary: While on leave from the Occult Special Investigations squad, Tess Corday isbusy grappling with her own personal mysteries. She's searching for thetruth about her demonic heritage, dealing with the effects her unauthorizeddrug investigation are having on her relationship with her undead boyfriend-- and now there's a murder. This is not the vacation Tess was hoping for...

A Want so Wicked by Suzanne Young

Publisher's Summary: Elise is a normal seventeen-year-old girl until the day she wakes up in a desert park with no idea who she is.

After that episode, her life takes a bizarre turn. She's experiencing unexpected flashes of insight into people's lives—people she's never met before. Strangers frighten her with warnings about the approaching Shadows. And although Elise has never had a boyfriend, she suddenly finds herself torn between two handsome but very different young men: Abe, the charming bad boy whose effect on her both seduces and frightens her, and the mysterious Harlin, who's new to town but with whom Elise feels an urgent, elemental connection—almost as if they are soul mates.

Now Elise begins to question everything about her life. Why do these guys both want her so desperately? What are the Shadows? Why does the name Charlotte inspire a terrifying familiarity? And who is Elise, really?

My Take: I’m thrilled to say that A Want so Wicked is A LOT better than A Need So Beautiful and I pretty much knew from the moment I picked up AWSW that I would like it better! To me, it was immediately obvious who this new protagonist (Elise) truly is, but I really liked the direction this new story was taking, and I was more than eager to see where it would lead. I loved following along with Elise even though I already knew (for the most part) what I thought she needed to discover about herself, and I wondered if it would end the same way for her that it did for Charlotte.

One thing that I liked most about AWSW is that I connected with the characters a lot better! For me, Elise was a more likable character than Charlotte was, but I was still always kind of hoping that Charlotte would make an appearance somewhere in the storyline. And I really liked seeing Harlin from Elise’ eyes because I felt like I learned more about his character seeing him from the POV of someone other than Charlotte.

The ending to A Want So Wicked was perfect! There was one thing leading up to the ending that I think was supposed to be a surprise twist, but I predicted it pretty early on. And even though I predicted it, I still loved the way it all came together and I loved how everything went down in the end. The way AWSW ended has me content with leaving this series here, and ending also leads to the possibility to beginning a whole new adventure!

Impatiently Waiting! Rift by Andrea Cremer

Expected publish date:
August 7, 2012

Publisher's Summary: Chronicling the rise of the Keepers, this is the stunning prequel to Andrea Cremer's internationally bestselling Nightshade trilogy!

Sixteen-year-old Ember Morrow is promised to a group called Conatus after one of their healers saves her mother's life. Once she arrives, Ember finds joy in wielding swords, learning magic, and fighting the encroaching darkness loose in the world. She also finds herself falling in love with her mentor, the dashing, brooding, and powerful Barrow Hess. When the knights realize Eira, one of their leaders, is dabbling in dark magic, Ember and Barrow must choose whether to follow Eira into the nether realm or to pledge their lives to destroying her and her kind.

With action, adventure, magic, and tantalizing sensuality, this book is as fast-paced and breathtaking as the Nightshade novels.


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Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.