All of this month’s babies were purchased in London and I really had to restrain myself not to go home with the entire store. But all these were either cover buys or author buys.
Melinda Salisbury – The Sin Eater’s Daughter
I am the perfect weapon.
I kill with a single touch.
Twylla is blessed. The Gods have chosen her to marry a prince, and rule the kingdom. But the favour of the Gods has it’s price. A deadly poison infuses her skin. Those who anger the queen must die under Twylla’s fatal touch.
Only Lief, an outspoken new guard, can see past Twylla’s chilling role to the girls she truly is.
Yet in a court as dangerous and the queen’s, some truths should not be told… (Goodreads)
I love the cover. The blurb sounded interesting. I am currently in the mood for a little YA fantasy. And have I mentioned, I love the cover. 🙂
Val McDermid – Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen in the hands of queen of crime, Val McDermid. Get ready for a very different Northanger Abbey. For Cat Morland life being home-schooled in Dorset is unendurably ordinary. To cope, she devours as many novels as possible, especially anything supernatural. But if Cat can tear her eyes away from the page, she’s in for a shock: the very stuff of her dreams is about to come true. An invite to the Edinburgh Festival from some wealthy neighbours throws her in the way of a mysterious young man, Henry Tilney; a like-minded friend, Isabella Thorpe; and her odious brother, who threatens to ruin Cat’s chances of adventure. But this heroine is not so easily deterred, especially when she’s singled out by the Tilney family to stay with them at their imposing gothic castle, Northanger Abbey. Turrets and creaking doors there may be, but in the depths of the Scottish Borders Cat is isolated from the outside world, with no phone signal and no internet. She’s all alone in an ancient abbey alive with old secrets and a family who are not quite as they seem. Is real life about to become more terrifying than the world of her imagination? (Amazon)
I have read some books by Val McDermind, I enjoyed those books, I have met the author and I really enjoyed P.D. James’s Death Comes to Pemberley. Since this seems to be another criminal attempt on an Austen novel, I had to have it.
Soman Chainani – The School of Good and Evil
At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.
Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.
The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.
But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are . . .? (Amazon)
Again the cover got my attention. Since I am currently reading a lot of children’s fiction with kids that are either prior to their or in their early puberty ridden years (which apparently start a lot earlier now than when I was young), this looked like something that would be entertaining. And it sounds quite fun, too. School for fairy tale characters – of that isn’t awesome… The premise sounds really fun and entertaining and I am looking forward to reading it.
Suzette A. Hill – The Venetian Venture
1954, Venice. For Rosy Gilchrist the tables may have turned. Her boss at the British Museum, Dr Stanley, has chosen her to travel to Venice, track down a rare edition of Horace’s Odes and bring it back for their collection. Rosy jumps at the chance to spend time away from her capricious supervisor and hopefully indulge in a little Venetian culture. Following Dr Stanley’s advice, she roams the cobbled streets of Venice in search of the book and crosses paths with old friends Felix Smythe and Cedric Dillworthy. With their help, Rosy thinks she’s laid her hands on the treasure but things soon take a drastic downward spiral. A wealthy and eccentric recluse offers a GBP1 million reward for anyone who can find Horace’s Odes and pair it with a missing Murano vase. The price on the book’s head brings all sorts of murky characters out of the shadows. Soon Rosy finds herself in a race against time as her rivals will go to any lengths to secure the prize …Even murder. (Amazon)
This is a crime story set in Venice, which does not seem to bloody and gory but a little cozy. Maybe not, but I will figure that out when I read it. The story is set in the 50’s, so does this make it a historical crime novel?
It is the second book in a series, but maybe one can read it without having read the previous one. Anyway. Really exited. And lovely cover again.
George R.R. Martin – Fevre Dream
Abner Marsh, a struggling riverboat captain, suspects that something’s amiss when he is approached by a wealthy aristocrat with a lucrative offer. The hauntingly pale, steely-eyed Joshua York doesn’t care that the icy winter of 1857 has wiped out all but one of Marsh’s dilapidated fleet; nor does he care that he won’t earn back his investment in a decade. York’s reasons for traversing the powerful Mississippi are to be none of Marsh’s concern—no matter how bizarre, arbitrary, or capricious York’s actions may prove. Not until the maiden voyage of Fevre Dream does Marsh realize that he has joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare—and humankind’s most impossible dream. (Amazon)
Well, I really, really like his Song of Ice and Fire series and I came across this book. I have read quite a few good and many bad vampire novels, so I am looking forward to see what he does with them. Since I like his writing, I hope that I will like it here, too.
Franzi's Book Chase 