Stacking The Shelves; In The “Mailbox” Monday 09/11/2013 - 10/11/2013

In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren
Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading.

The Lucy Variations
By Sara Zarr
{Bookswap}
Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. The right people knew her name, her performances were booked months in advance, and her future seemed certain.
That was all before she turned fourteen.
Now, at sixteen, it's over. A death, and a betrayal, led her to walk away. That leaves her talented ten-year-old brother, Gus, to shoulder the full weight of the Beck-Moreau family expectations. Then Gus gets a new piano teacher who is young, kind, and interested in helping Lucy rekindle her love of piano -- on her own terms. But when you're used to performing for sold-out audiences and world-famous critics, can you ever learn to play just for yourself?
National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr takes readers inside the exclusive world of privileged San Francisco families, top junior music competitions, and intense mentorships. The Lucy Variations is a story of one girl's struggle to reclaim her love of music and herself. It's about finding joy again, even when things don't go according to plan. Because life isn't a performance, and everyone deserves the chance to make a few mistakes along the way.

Lichgates (The Grimoire Saga #1)
By S. M. Boyce
{Bookswap}
Kara, a college student still reeling from her mother’s recent death, has no idea the hidden world of Ourea even exists until a freak storm traps her in a sunken library. With no way out, she opens an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly becomes its master, which means Kara now wields the cursed book’s untamed power. Discovered by Ourea's royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a generations-old conflict—a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of chilling creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn’t trust anyone… but she’s being hunted and can’t survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a native soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though she doesn’t know it, her growing attraction to him may just be her undoing.
For twelve years, Braeden Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. Though he begins to care for this human girl, there is something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.

Dracula: A Modern Telling
By Victor Methose
{BookSwap}
THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS LIVES...
Here are the confessions of the world's most famous vampire. Once a prince of untold power and ruthlessness, now a rock star living in Los Angeles, Dracula walks among us. Seeking answers to his magical and horrifying existence, Dracula flies through the centuries in search of a love that was taken from him.
When Jonathan Harker, a journalist with Rolling Stone, travels to Dracula's secluded mansion for an interview, he finds a home filled with secrets and a man that is not what he appears.
Stalked by three lovely creatures, Jonathan must find a way to escape and return to the woman he loves...before it's too late.
AN OLD TALE FOR MODERN AUDIENCES...
Retold for this century, Victor Methos captures the beauty and eroticism of the original Bram Stoker classic and reveals Dracula's origins. It is a mesmerizing story of love, passion, and evil.
Fuse of Armageddon
By Sigmund Brouwer, Hank Hanegraaff
{BookSwap}
Nothing more could go wrong for maverick hostage negotiator Mulvaney Quinn. First stabbed in the hand during a failed terrorist burst, then arrested for a hate crime he didn't commit. Now Quinn must come face to face with his past in order to stop the worst terrorist threat of all time-a plot to bring about the ultimate religious uprising by destroying one of the most sacred relics in history.
But the "Fuse of Armageddon" has already been lit. With the clock ticking down toward a global catastrophe, Quinn must team up with the most unlikely ally of all-the woman who arrested him-to bring down an even more unlikely coalition of enemies. Facing an unholy trinity of a Jewish fanatic, a Muslim terrorist, and a "Christian" freedom fighter, only Quinn can stop them from achieving their goal. But will he be in time? Or is it already too late? Because when Armageddon is unleashed, the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance.

Waiting for You (Waiting for You #1)
By Shey Stahl
{Bookswap}
Bailey Gray is tired of her perfectly planned life. Everything about her life has been organized and lived out to the expectations set of her parents. She is the class valedictorian, has perfect grades, the perfect friends, a perfect boyfriend, basically perfect life...or so everyone thought. That's when she realizes the path planned isn't always the path chosen.
On graduation day she makes a decision. One that changes everything she thought she knew about her intended future.
On a whim, she runs away with the town rebel, Dylan Wade, in search of the unknown.
Dylan Wade isn't looking to run away from anything.
He knows what he wants as he's been waiting on it for years.
On a journey to find the unknown, they discover a friendship they once knew along the open highway and have not a care in the world. Between the yellow and white lines of the heated summer asphalt, a spark draws them together as Dylan's past and Bailey future try to ripe them apart.
Could it be that Dylan and his GTO are exactly what her perfectly planned life needs?

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Stacking The Shelves; In The “Mailbox” Monday 02/11/2013 - 03/11/2013

 
In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren
Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading.

From Neighbors… to Newlyweds?
by Brenda Harlen
Acquire: Book Swap
When Georgia Reed moved her twin boys and infant daughter out of the bustling city, she didn't expect to have a doctor on call. But her gorgeous neighbor—and part-owner of the cutest litter of puppies she's ever seen—wasn't your typical orthopedic surgeon. Matt Garrett was the most popular bachelor in town…and when he asked Georgia on a date, the single mom couldn't say no.All Matt ever wanted was a family—and the right woman. Ever since he moved next door, he had a sneaking suspicion that Georgia was that woman. The beautiful widow and her kids came as a package deal…which suited Matt just fine. Now if only he could make Georgia see that they could be more than good neighbors….

Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me A Family Man
By Brian McGrory
Acquire: Book Swap
Award-winning journalist Brian McGrory goes head to beak in a battle royale with another male for a top-spot in his home, vying for dominance with the family’s pet rooster. 
   Brian McGrory's life changed drastically after the death of his beloved dog, Harry: he fell in love with Pam, Harry's veterinarian. Though Brian’s only responsibility used to be his adored Harry, Pam came with accessories that could not have been more exotic to the city-loving bachelor: a home in suburbia, two young daughters, two dogs, two cats, two rabbits, and a portly, snow white, red-crowned-and-wattled step-rooster named Buddy. While Buddy loves the women of the house, he takes Brian's presence as an affront, doing everything he can to drive out his rival. Initially resistant to elements of his new life and to the loud, aggressive rooster (who stares menacingly, pecks threateningly, and is constantly poised to attack), Brian eventually sees that Buddy shares the kind of extraordinary relationship with Pam and her two girls that he wants for himself. The rooster is what Brian needs to be – strong and content, devoted to what he has rather than what might be missing. As he learns how to live by living with animals, Buddy, Brian’s nemesis, becomes Buddy, Brian’s inspiration, in this inherently human story of love, acceptance, and change.
   In the tradition of bestsellers like Marley and Me, Dewey, and The Tender Bar comes a heartwarming and wise tale of finding love in life’s second chapter - and how it means all the more when you have to fight for it.
Regent (The Balance of Power #1)
By Brian Rathbone
Regent, book one of The Balance of Power trilogy, is the much anticipated continuation of the World of Godsland fantasy series, which began with The Dawning of Power trilogy.
In the years since the end of The Herald War, the world has become complacent despite Catrin Volker's warnings. When the darkness of her visions comes to pass, no one is prepared, and the fate of humanity will rest in her hands.

The Dawning of Power (World of Godsland #1-3)
by Brian Rathbone
Echoes of the ancients' power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind's deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war. In times such as these, ordinary people have the power to save the world...or destroy it.

 Magic of Thieves (Legends of Dimmingwood #1)
By C. Greenwood
In a province where magic is forbidden and its possessors are murdered by the cruel Praetor, young Ilan, born with the powerful gift of her ancestors, has only one hope for survival. Concealment. In the shadow of Dimmingwood, she finds temporary protection with a band of forest brigands led by the infamous outlaw Rideon the Red Hand.
But as Ilan matures, learns the skills of survival, and struggles to master the inherent magic of her dying race, danger is always close behind. When old enemies reappear and new friendships lead to betrayal, will her discovery of an enchanted bow prove to be Ilan’s final salvation or her ultimate downfall?
* * * * *
When I was small, my mother taught me about the magickless—evil men who hunted our kind to destroy us. They came from across the water to steal the lands of our ancestors. Pretending to want peace, they enslaved us and sought to extinguish what they couldn’t possess, the one thing their harsh laws could never control. Our ancient powers. One day, my mother warned me, violence would shatter the safety of our home, and when that day came, we must fight. And we must win.

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