The Best Books Ever

Amber House By  Kelly Moore, Larkin Reed, & Tucker Reed Published on October 1st 2012 Published by Arthur A. Levine Books "I was sixteen the first time my grandmother died . . ." Sarah Parsons has never seen Amber House, the grand Maryland estate that's been in her family for three centuries. She's never walked its hedge maze nor found its secret chambers; she's never glimpsed the shades that haunt it, nor hunted for lost diamonds in its walls. But all of that is about to change. After her grandmother passes away, Sarah and her friend Jackson decide to search for the diamonds--and the house comes alive. She discovers that she can see visions of the house's past, like the eighteenth-century sea captain who hid the jewels, or the glamorous great-grandmother driven mad by grief. She grows closer to both Jackson and a young man named Richard Hathaway, whose family histories are each deeply entwined with her own. But when the visions start to thre...

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend By  Katie Finn Published on May 13, 2014 Published by Feiwel & Friends Source: ARC from Publisher Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of! Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?  When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it. Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?  Katie Finn hits ...

  Jaime's Top Ten Most Unique Books (in no specific order) No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman Inhuman by Kat Falls The Night Creatures series by Marianne de Pierres Theatre Illuminata series by Lisa Mantchev Shadows Cast by Stars by Catherine Knuttson The Blood Journals by Tessa Gratton Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough Death Watch by Ari Berk

We're pleased to be on the blog tour for SUMMONED , a new paranormal/urban fantasy novel from Rainy Kaye.  I'm definitely putting this one on my to-read list!  Check out an excerpt, and then keep reading to enter an awesome giveaway from the author for an Amazon gift card! Find out more at   http://www.summonedtheseries.com Summoned By Rainy Kaye Published on March 28th 2014 Published by Immortal Ink Publishing Twenty-three year old Dimitri has to do what he is told—literally. Controlled by a paranormal bond, he is forced to use his wits to fulfill unlimited deadly wishes made by multimillionaire Karl Walker. Dimitri has no idea how his family line became trapped in the genie bond. He just knows resisting has never ended well. When he meets Syd—assertive, sexy, intelligent Syd—he becomes determined to make her his own. Except Karl has ensured Dimitri can’t tell anyone about the bond, and Syd isn’t the type to tolerate secrets. Then Karl ...

We are very happy to welcome the fantastic Elizabeth Fama to the blog today!  She has quickly become not just one of our favorite authors, but one of our favorite people, too, so getting to work with her on organizing this tour was a real pleasure.  Keep reading to check out her brilliant fan cast for Plus One , and enter to win a copy of the book for yourself (US/Canada addresses only)!  (If you missed our reviews of Plus One , make sure you go back and check them out!)   PS, if you're in the Chicago area, come out to the book launch at the Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove on Tuesday, April 8! Plus One By Elizabeth Fama Published on April 8th 2014 Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) Purchase at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble Divided by day and night and on the run from authorities, star-crossed young lovers unearth a sinister conspiracy in this compelling romantic thriller. Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a Smudge—a nig...

The Queen's Handmaid By Tracy Higley Published on March 2014 Published by Thomas Nelson Source: Publisher From the servant halls of Cleopatra’s Egyptian palace to the courts of Herod the Great, Lydia will serve two queens to see prophecy fulfilled. Alexandria, Egypt 39 BC Orphaned at birth, Lydia was raised as a servant in Cleopatra's palace, working hard to please while keeping everyone at arm's length. She's been rejected and left with a broken heart too many times in her short life. But then her dying mentor entrusts her with secret writings of the prophet Daniel and charges her to deliver this vital information to those watching for the promised King of Israel. Lydia must leave the nearest thing she’s had to family and flee to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy City, she attaches herself to the newly appointed king, Herod the Great, as handmaid to Queen Mariamme. Trapped among the scheming women of Herod’s political family—his sister, his wife, and ...

Time for another round of books we didn't finish.  As always, your mileage may vary, but here's some insight into what stops us in our, uh, reading tracks. From Sarah.... Witchstruck (The Tudor Witch Trilogy #1) By  Victoria Lamb Published on September 24th 2013 Published by: Harlequin Teen Source: Netgalley If she sink, she be no witch and shall be drowned. If she float, she be a witch and must be hanged. Meg Lytton has always known she is different—that she bears a dark and powerful gift. But in 1554 England, in service at Woodstock Palace to the banished Tudor princess Elizabeth, it has never been more dangerous to practise witchcraft. Meg knows she must guard her secret carefully from the many suspicious eyes watching over the princess and her companions. One wrong move could mean her life, and the life of Elizabeth, rightful heir to the English throne. With witchfinder Marcus Dent determined to have Meg's hand in marriage, and Meg's own family...

Stay Where You Are And Then Leave By  John Boyne Published on March 25th 2014 Published by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) Source: ARC from publisher The day the First World War broke out, Alfie Summerfield's father promised he wouldn't go away to fight—but he broke that promise the following day. Four years later, Alfie doesn't know where his father might be, other than that he's away on a special, secret mission. Then, while shining shoes at King's Cross Station, Alfie unexpectedly sees his father's name on a sheaf of papers belonging to a military doctor. Bewildered and confused, Alfie realizes his father is in a hospital close by—a hospital treating soldiers with shell shock. Alfie isn't sure what shell shock is, but he is determined to rescue his father from this strange, unnerving place. . . . I don't often read books from the perspective of very young kids, because sometimes I have a hard time getting into something written from that angle, b...

A Breath of Frost By Alyxandra Harvey Published on January 7th 2014 Published by: Walker Childrens In 1814, three cousins—Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope—discover their family lineage of witchcraft when a binding spell is broken, allowing their individual magical powers to manifest. Now, beyond the manicured gardens and ballrooms of Regency London, an alluring underworld available only to those with power is revealed to the cousins. By claiming their power, the three cousins have accidentally opened the gates to the underworld. Now ghouls, hellhounds—and most terrifying of all, the spirits of dark witches known as the Greymalkin Sisters—are hunting and killing young debutante witches for their powers. And, somehow, Emma is connected to the murders…because she keeps finding the bodies. Can the cousins seal the gates before another witch is killed…or even worse, before their new gifts are stripped away? A long time ago, I read the first two books in the authors series, The...

The Vanishing Coin [The Magic Shop Book 1] By  Kate Egan, Mike Lane, Eric Wight Published on April 22nd 2014 Published by Feiwel & Friends Source: Publisher Want to see something cool? I can make that quarter vanish . All it takes is a little magic… Fourth grade was supposed to be a fresh start, but Mike’s already back in the principal’s office. He’s not a bad kid. He just can’t sit still. And now, his parents won’t let him play soccer anymore; instead he has to hang out with his new neighbor Nora, who is good at everything! Then, Mike and Nora discover the White Rabbit. It’s an odd shop—with a special secret inside. Its owner, Mr. Zerlin, is a magician, and, amazingly, he believes Mike could be a magician, too. Has Mike finally found something he’s good at? The Vanishing Coin was a cute little story about Mike. Mike is always getting in trouble. He's not a bad kid, he just can't seem to sit still. The principal, his teachers, and his parents are always ...