Freebie Alert: Seasons of the Moon, Books 1-3

Books 1-3 of the Seasons of the Moon series by S. M. Reine are currently available for free on Amazon! Be sure to double-check the price before you download!

New Release Round-Up: May 7-13

Young Adult


Enchanted
by Alethea Kontis

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 305
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Suggested tags: young adult, fairy tale, retellings



From Goodreads:

"It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?"

Hemlock
by Kathleen Peacock

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 400
Publisher: HarperCollins
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, werewolves



First in the Hemlock series. From Goodreads:

"Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk."

The Hunt
by Andrew Fukuda

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 293
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia, paranormal, vampires



First in The Hunt series. From Goodreads:

"Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?"

Other YA new releases for this week:

Middle Grade


Jake and Lily
by Jerry Spinelli

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Suggested tags: middle grade, realistic fiction



From Goodreads:

"Jake and Lily are twins. Even though they seem pretty different—Jake is the calm one and Lily has a temper; Lily is obsessed with trains and Jake collects cool rocks—they feel exactly the same, almost like two halves of one person. When one of them gets hurt, the other can feel it. They can communicate without words. And mysteriously, every year on their birthday, they sleepwalk to a train station in the middle of the night.

But the year they turn eleven, everything changes. Their parents announce it’s time for separate bedrooms, and Jake starts hanging out with a pack of boys on the block. Lily is devastated—not to mention really, really mad. And as she struggles to make friends and get a life apart from her twin, Jake finds himself dealing with a neighborhood bully and has to decide what kind of person he really is."

Ordinary Magic
by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



From Goodreads:

"In Abby’s world, magic isn’t anything special: it’s a part of everyday life. So when Abby learns that she has zero magical abilities, she’s branded an “Ord”—ordinary, bad luck, and quite possibly a danger to society.

The outlook for kids like Abby isn’t bright. Many are cast out by their families, while others are sold to treasure hunters (ordinary kids are impervious to spells and enchantments). Luckily for Abby, her family enrolls her in a school that teaches ordinary kids how to get around in a magical world. But with treasure-hunting kidnappers and carnivorous goblins lurking around every corner, Abby’s biggest problem may not be learning how to be ordinary—it’s whether or not she’s going to survive the school year!"

One for the Murphys
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Release date: May 10, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin Group for Young Readers
Suggested tags: middle grade, realistic fiction



From Goodreads:

"Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future."

Other Middle Grade new releases for this week:

Friday Freebies: April 27, 2012

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Darkhouse
by Karina Halle

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 326 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Metal Blonde Books
Publication date: May 1, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, horror, paranormal, ghosts



First in the Experiment in Terror series. From Goodreads:

"There’s always been something a bit off about Perry Palomino. Though she’s been dealing with a quarter-life crisis and post-college syndrome like any other twenty-something, she’s still not what you would call “ordinary.” For one thing, there’s her past which she likes to pretend never happened, and then there’s the fact that she sees ghosts. Luckily for her, that all comes in handy when she stumbles across Dex Foray, an eccentric producer for an upcoming webcast on ghost hunters. Even though the show’s budget is non-existent and Dex himself is a maddening enigma, Perry is instantly drawn into a world that both threatens her life and seduces her with a sense of importance. Her uncle’s haunted lighthouse provides the perfect catalyst and backdrop for a mystery that unravels the threads of Perry’s fragile sanity and causes her to fall for a man, who, like the most dangerous of ghosts, may not be all that he seems.

Rated 16+ for language and gore."

Dirty Blood
by Heather Hildenbrand

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 289 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Accendo Press
Publication date: April 2, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, werewolves



First in the Dirty Blood series. From Amazon:

"I killed a girl last night. I did it with my bare hands and an old piece of pipe I found lying next to the dumpster. But that’s not the part that got me. The part that scared me, the part I can’t seem to wrap my head around and still has me reeling, was that when she charged me, her body shifted – and then she was a wolf. All snapping teeth and extended claws. But by the time I stood over her lifeless body, she was a girl again. That’s about the time I went into shock… And that was the moment he showed up.

Now, all I can do is accept the truths that are staring me in the face. One, Werewolves do exist. And two, I was born to kill them."

Exceptional
by Jess Petosa

Available as: Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 200 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Jess Petosa
Publication date: February 23, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, science fiction, dystopia, romance



First in the Exceptional series. From Amazon:

" 'In the future, things are anything but ordinary...'

In 2022, the United States commissioned a group of scientists to experiment with genetic mutations. Their goal was to create a serum that would alter the human genetic code, making the subject stronger and faster. They succeeded but their victory was short lived. Not only had they created a super serum, but also an airborne virus. By 2025, seventy-five percent of the world's population had perished. The survivors, well their lives would never be the same.

175 A.V.

Ally is an Ordinary; a human immune to the virus. She lives in a settlement outside the City with her mother and twin brother, but lately it doesn't seem to be enough. She is wrestling between being with her family and volunteering to move to the City, where she can work for the Exceptionals.

Luke is an Exceptional; a superior human being. His ancestors were infected with the virus and lived through it, leaving their super human strength and special abilities to him. He has never given much thought to Ordinarys, despite pressure from his father to choose one from the ORC. But all of that changes when he meets Ally..."

Sleepers
by Megg Jensen

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 154 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: DarkSide Publishing
Publication date: July 20, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy, romance



First in The Swarm Trilogy. From Goodreads:

"An adoptee raised in a foreign land, sixteen-year-old Lianne was content with her life as handmaiden to the queen, until a spell cast on her at birth activated. Now she's filled with uncontrollable rage and access to magic she thought had been bled from her people years ago. Even her years of secret training in elite hand-to-hand combat and meditation can't calm the fires raging inside her.

Her heart is torn between two boys, the one she's always loved and the one who always ignored her. But when the kingdom threatens to tear itself apart due to rumors surrounding the queen's alleged affair, who will Lianne protect and who will she destroy?"

Friday Finds #7

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading. Each Friday, you share the great books you heard about or discovered over the past week: "books you were told about, books you discovered while browsing blogs/bookstores online, or books that you actually purchased."




Halflings
by Heather Burch

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 287
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Publication date: January 17, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, angels



First in the Halflings series. From Goodreads:

"After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with.

A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world."

Replay
by Keira Lea

Available as: Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 168
Publisher: Keira Lea Books
Publication date: April 12, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal



From Goodreads:

"Kelsee Lewis has a new school, a prima donna best friend, and one week to write a hit play. Throw in a self-obsessed mom and an absent executive dad, and it’s no wonder she has panic attacks—complete with time-warp special effects. When Kelsee meets comic book maven Quinn, she realizes the attacks give her the ability to rewind time.

Replaying life seems like the best way to erase mistakes. But will second chances leave Kelsee flailing in the orchestra pit alone?"

Silver
by Rhiannon Held

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 320
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Release date: June 5, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, werewolves



From Goodreads:

"Andrew Dare is a werewolf. He’s the enforcer for the Roanoke pack, and responsible for capturing or killing any Were intruders in Roanoke’s territory. But the lone Were he’s tracking doesn’t smell or act like anyone he’s ever encountered. And when he catches her, it doesn’t get any better. She’s beautiful, she’s crazy, and someone has tortured her by injecting silver into her veins. She says her name is Silver, and that she’s lost her wild self and can’t shift any more.

The packs in North America have a live-and-let-live attitude, and try not to overlap with each other. But Silver represents a terrible threat to every Were on the continent.

Andrew and Silver will join forces to track down this menace while discovering their own power and their passion for each other."

The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed
by Heather Vogel Frederick

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date: July 28, 2002
Suggested tags: middle grade, adventure, historical fiction, 19th century



From Goodreads:

"October 1835. Patience Goodspeed, almost thirteen years old, departs from Nantucket aboard her father's whaling ship. Between kitchen duty and whale blubber stench, this voyage is far from a pleasure cruise. At least Papa lets Patience assist the ship's navigator since she's so good at calculations. But the smooth sailing doesn't last long. Mutinous mates maroon most of the crew, including Patience's father and brother, on a deserted island. Can Patience rescue everyone before it's too late?"