To Read, or Not To Read

Title: Empower (The Embrace Series #5)
Author: Jessica Shirvington
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Published: May 6, 2014
Ebook, ARC
ISBN13: 9781402294600
Genre: Fantasy
Source: NetGalley






Goodreads Summary:
It has been two years since Violet Eden walked away from the city, her friends, her future and - most importantly - her soulmate, Lincoln. Part angel, part human, Violet is determined to stand by the promises she made to save the one she loves.

Living in the perpetual coldness of a broken soul she survives day to day as a Rogue Grigori in London.

But when an unexpected visitor shows up at her door, the news he bears about someone she swore to protect leaves Violet with no choice.

Even worse, she fears that this might all lead back to the night she tries hardest to forget. And what was taken without her permission.

Violet is going back to New York ... and she knows exactly who is going to be there.

With Phoenix in her dreams and Lincoln in her heart she knows it is only a matter of time before the fi…

“Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. THE MAGICIAN'S LAND is beckoning, and demands your full attention.” — Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon
“Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. THE MAGICIAN’S LAND is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar…Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes.” —Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus
This summer, Viking is thrilled to release THE MAGICIAN’S LAND, the spectacular conclusion to Lev Grossman’s New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy (On-sale: August 5, 2014; 978-0-670-01567-2; $27.95). 
The trilogy opened with The Magicians which Junot Díaz called, “Stirring, complex, adventurous…[a] superb coming of age fantasy.” NPR called the sequel The Magician King“a spellbinding stereograph…

A 2013 Barnes & Noble Recommends Selection, now available in paperback The Bookman’s Tale A Novel of Obsession
By Charlie Lovett


Praise for The Bookman’s Tale: “[A] delightful tale of love and bibliophilia.” —Parade
“Lovett tells his story with ease, charm and a faith in his characters.” —USA Today
“This novel has something for everyone: William Shakespeare, a love story, murder and even a secret tunnel.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“The Bookman’s Tale has plenty of richness to offer.Lovett is deft at juggling plots and eras. “ —Atlanta Journal-Constituion
“. . . a treat.” —New York Journal of Books
“Lovett’s tale sparkles with seasoned storytelling, and . . . is deftly handled by an author whose playwright roots and sense of scene showcase the skill to keep the reader turning pages.” —The Mountain Times
Charlie Lovett’s spellbindingNew York Times-bestselling debut is guaranteed to capture the hearts of anyone who truly loves books. THE BOOKMAN’S TALE (Penguin; ISBN: 978-0-143-12538-9; On-sale: May 2…

1. Your latest book, Cannon Fodder, was just released. Describe this book in 3 words. Evil overlord noob.
2. Tell us about the main character, Alex Nightingale.  Alec Nightshade is a 15-year-old who's been raised by evil overlords. The poor kid keeps bouncing from guardian to guardian because they get killed by heroes at climactic moments. He wants to pursue a career in overlording, too, because that's simply what's done, but secretly he doesn't want to hurt anybody. That's where the story starts.
3. What do you love most about science fiction and fantasy? The chance to see other worlds. There's only so much you can see for yourself in one mortal lifetime, but books expand that.
4. You're currently studying plant biology. What fascinates you about this subject? Plants can't move, so they solve a lot of problems in their lives with chemistry. Plants and fungi are much more chemically diverse than animals are. Dyes, medicines, fibers, flavorings, oils – you can …

This week Sync highlights kick-butt female detectives. A big thanks to Harper Audio and Hachette Audio for making these titles free this week. Remember you can only download these titles for a limited time: May 29 – June 4. Happy Reading!


Description: Tandy Angel isn’t a normal girl, and she knows it. For one thing, her family is magnificently wealthy and lives in a massive apartment in the famous Dakota building in New York City. Her parents are the head of a prominent hedge fund and the CEO of a large pharmaceutical company. She has been told from a very young age that her detachment from any kind of emotion is a superb trait. In fact, her parents have tried to cultivate a lack of emotion in all four of their children in order to encourage perfection of the highest level. But now the four siblings are tested in a way they never imagined–their parents have been murdered, and the kids are the number one suspect. Tandy decides that she’ll have to solve the crime and clear their names, bu…

If you like your heroes hot, the sex hotter, and a swoon-worthy romance to swoop in and save your happily ever after, Brazen has the story for you. Sinfully sexy soldiers. Alpha cops who demand control. Sweet guys with a naughty side in the bedroom. At Brazen, they've got the hero destined to melt your... heart. Visit the Entangled website, the Brazen Blog, follow them on Twitter, Like their Facebook page, and follow them on Pinterest.




Introducing Brazen's May 26th releases:



Plus don't miss the Brazen Seduction Party




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Title: The One and Only
Author: Emily Griffin
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: May 20, 2014
Hardcover, 400 pages
ISBN 13: 9780345546883
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Publisher





Goodreads Summary:
Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. Raised alongside her best friend, Lucy, the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she …

Please join author Jenny Barden as she tours the blogopsphere for The Lost Duchess from May 26-June 20.



Paperback Publication Date: June 5, 2014
Ebury Press
Paperback; 448p






An epic Elizabethan adventure with a thriller pace and a high tension love story that moves from the palaces of England to the savage wilderness of the New World.



Emme Fifield has fallen about as far as a gentlewoman can.



Once a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, her only hope of surviving the scandal that threatens to engulf her is to escape England for a fresh start in the new America where nobody has ever heard of the Duchess of Somerset.



Emme joins Kit Doonan's rag-tag band of idealists, desperados and misfits bound for Virginia. But such a voyage will be far from easy and Emme finds her attraction to the mysterious Doonan inconvenient to say the least.



As for Kit, the handsome mariner has spent years imprisoned by the Spanish, and living as an outlaw with a band of escaped slaves; he has his own i…

Title: The Free Lands
Author: Brian Libby
Publisher: Avid Readers Publishing Group Published: December 27, 2013 Paperback, 228 pages ISBN 13: 9781612862019
Genre: Fantasy Source: Author



About the book: Despite sturdy pioneers, rich resources, fertile plains, and excellent prospects, the frontier province of the New Empire, increasingly plagued by banditry, separatism, and the old threat of the northern barbarians, may need some professional assistance to survive and prosper. The first three volumes of the Mercenaries series are a trilogy not only because of their number but because the story is a continuous tale. This book, Part Four, is a stand-alone volume. Events occur in a region barely mentioned in the trilogy and the story is complete. Many characters are new; many old characters are not present. 
My Thoughts: I recently had the privilege of reading and now of reviewing the fourth book of the Mercenaries series, The Free Lands by Brian Libby. I have read and reviewed the first three book…

1. Two of your novels deal with starting over again. Why do you think this is a subject that resonates with readers?
I think that starting over resonates with readers because we all have that first love that we wonder "what if" or "what could we have done differently". And of course there are those that think "what was I thinking?!" I think anyone who reads romance is a romantic at heart and likes to see things that didn't work out before end up with a happily ever after.

2. You're an avid reader that reads across many genres. What is your most/least favorite genre?
My absolute least favorite genre is science fiction in the sense of War of the Worlds science fiction or UFO/space alien science fiction. I also don't like futuristic type work. I'm not sure why but it's just never been to my taste. Other than that I love to read just about anything! My favorites include Stephen King, James Patterson, Ann Rule, Anne Rice, Nora Robert…

Title: Daughter of Isis Author: Kelsey Ketch Published: October 26, 2013 ASIN: B00G1506CAEbook Genre: Mythology, Upper YA Source: Own




Goodreads Summary: “Her mouth parted slightly, waiting for Seth to breathe life into her own body, just like in the story. She wanted him to awaken her senses.”

Their worlds collide in California’s high desert.

The last thing Natara “Natti” Stone wants to do is to start anew at Setemple High School. She wished she had never left London. Yet the brutal murder of her maternal grandmother has made her life very complicated. The only clue related to her murder is an ancient, encrypted necklace Natti discovered after her grandmother’s death. And if trying to adjust to American life is not enough, Natti is being stalked by a mysterious, charming high school senior, Seth O’Keefe, who is annoyingly persistent in his attempts at seduction.

Seth O’Keefe is secretly a member of the Sons of Set, an order that worships the Egyptian god of chaos. Seth’s blessing from Set, his …