Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin Journey to the very edge of honor, loyalty . . . and love
During China’s infamous Tang Dynasty, a time awash with luxury, yet littered with deadly intrigues and fallen royalty, betrayed Princess Ai Li flees before her wedding.
Miles from home, with only her delicate butterfly swords for a defense, she enlists the reluctant protection of a blue-eyed warrior…
Battle-scarred, embittered Ryam has always held his own life at cheap value. Ai Li’s innocent trust in him and honorable, stubborn nature make him desperate to protect her – which means not seducing the first woman he has ever truly wanted….
This is outside my little genre boat, but it really intrigues me. (Sure it's a huge thing to do with the cover.) I've never read a book that takes place in china or around that area, unless manga counts.
Leaving Paradise (Leaving Paradise #1) by Simone Elkeles Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares — has been canceled.
After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.
Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.
After being forced to read Perfect Chemistry by this same author. I'm obsessed, I have to try some of her other works.
Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton For Nick Pardee and Silla Kennicot, the cemetery is the center of everything.
Nick is a city boy angry at being forced to move back to the nowhere town of Yaleylah, Missouri where he grew up. He can’t help remembering his mom and the blood magic she practiced – memories he’s tried for five years to escape. Silla, though, doesn’t want to forget; her parents’ apparent murder-suicide left her numb and needing answers. When a book of magic spells in her dad’s handwriting appears on her doorstep, she sees her chance to unravel the mystery of their deaths.
Together they plunge into the world of dark magic, but when a hundred-year-old blood witch comes hunting for the bones of Silla’s parents and the spell book, Nick and Silla will have to let go of everything they believe about who they are, the nature of life and death, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood.
This cover is beautiful, plus the story sounds way different!
Warrior Princess (Warrior Princess #1) by Frewin Jones Princess Branwen ap Griffith is fifteen when her brother is murdered by the savage Saxons, who have been closing in on her family's home in their quest for land and riches. Branwen’s brother's death is a symbol of their heightened aggression. Though Branwen loathes the thought of backing down from the job of defending her home, she allows her parents to send her away to allies who will be able to keep her safe.
But Branwen is not prepared for the wave of hostility that meets her when she arrives at her allies' stronghold, where women have no place hunting or fighting, and she is forbidden from doing anything the lady of the land deems unladylike. Branwen longs for her home and for the chance to fight, but she still isn't prepared to accept her fate as a warrior, even when an encounter with a woman clad in white foretells a choice Branwen will have to make—one with devastating consequences. When all that she holds dear hangs in the balance, Branwen will have to choose to defy her elders and take a chance, or do as is expected of her and risk losing everything.
Warrior Princess is a fast paced and exciting historical fantasy read from the author of The Faerie Path. Branwen is a straightforward and intelligent heroine whose spirit, courage, and struggles will plead for attention from the younger branch of teen girls. Jones is a fearless storyteller who follows through with the plot and isn't afraid to realistically portray situations according to the time period, as well as weaving in many tidbits of historical information that seamlessly joins with the content of the story to create a more plausible and enjoyable book. Though some of the battle scene may be a tad too descriptive for younger readers, Warrior Princess can easily be considered a cross over to the middle grade genre with its wholesome message of girl power and independence, with just a hint of romance. Jones will have readers rooting for Branwen from the very first chapter, and eagerly anticipating a sequel.
I haven't read Jones' Fairy Path series (still on my TBR pile), but if it has Warrior Princess in it I'm there.
My Swordhand Is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick “Brings fresh blood to the vampire mythos.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred
In a bitter winter, Tomas and his son, Peter, settle in a small village as woodcutters. Tomas digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut so that they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn’t understand why his father has done this, or why his father carries a long, battered box, whose mysterious contents he is forbidden to know.
But Tomas is a man with a past—a past that is tracking him with deadly intent. As surely as the snow falls softly in the forest of a hundred thousand silver birch trees, father and son must face a soulless enemy and a terrifying destiny.
A Junior Library Guild Selection An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
This sounds dark and creepy, so there.
Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn’t outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself.
Then he meets Aurora. The hooks don’t scare her. They don’t keep her away. In fact, they don’t make any difference at all to her.
But to Lucius, they mean everything. They remind him of the beast he is inside. Perhaps Aurora is his Beauty, destined to set his soul free from its suffering.
Or maybe she’s just a girl who needs love just like he does.
This sounds weird right. Well weird+beauty and the beast love story equals= freaking awesome!!!
The Iron Duke (Iron Seas #1) by Meljean Brook After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power — and fear — of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.
Mina can’t afford his interest, however. Horde blood runs through her veins, and despite the nanotech enhancing her body, she barely scratches out a living in London society. Becoming Rhys’s lover would destroy both her career and her family, yet the investigation prevents her from avoiding him…and the Iron Duke’s ruthless pursuit makes him difficult to resist.
But when Mina uncovers the victim’s identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans — and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.
Not sure about this author, I really disliked her Angel Demon series. The reviews seem positive.
The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt Have you ever wondered what happens to the other people in the fairy tale?
Things look grim for Talia and her mother. By royal proclamation, the constables and those annoying “good” fairies have taken away their livelihood by confiscating their spinning wheel. Something to do with a curse on the princess, they said.
Not every young lady has a fairy godmother rushing to her rescue.
Without the promise of an income from spinning, Talia’s prospects for marriage disappear, and she and her mother face destitution. Past caring about breaking an arbitrary and cruel law, rebellious Talia determines to build a new spinning wheel, the only one in the nation, which plays right into the evil fairy’s diabolical plan. Talia discovers that finding a happy ending requires sacrifice. But is it a sacrifice she’s willing to make?
Retold fairy tales is my love. Especially ones with a twist, with a view point like this I'd say it's the start of a cool twist.
2 comments:
Amazing books on your wishlist! Butterfly Swords and The Princess Warrior especially!
Yeah! All of them look so yummy!!
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