YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK
Promise of Shadows
Justina Ireland
Hardcover Giveaway
plus a copy of Vengeance Bound
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Released 3/11/2014
Zephyr Mourning has never been very good at being a Harpy. She’d rather watch reality TV than learn forty-seven ways to kill a man, and she pretty much sucks at wielding magic. Zephyr was ready for a future pretending to be a normal human instead of a half-god assassin. But all that changes when her sister is murdered—and she uses a forbidden dark power to save herself from the same fate.
Zephyr is on the run from a punishment worse than death when an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend (a surprisingly HOT friend) changes everything. Because it seems like Zephyr might just be the Nyx, a dark goddess made flesh that is prophesied to change the power balance. For hundreds of years the half-gods have lived in fear, and Zephyr is supposed to change that.
But how is she supposed to save everyone when she can’t even save herself?
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Promise of Shadows?
Well, besides that gorgeous cover I absolutely love the main character, Zephyr. She is lazy and she isn’t hero material. Despite the support of everyone around her she has some real issues with confidence, and even the incredible powers she’s been gifted with aren’t enough to really make her believe in herself. She’s an incredibly flawed character, scared and uncertain, and I really dig that about her.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
Acid
Emma Pass
Hardcover Giveaway
Delacorte
Released 3/11/2014
The year is 2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID—the most brutal controlling police force in history—rule supreme. No throwaway comment or whispered dissent goes unnoticed—or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a horrendous crime she struggles to remember. But Jenna’s violent prison time has taught her how to survive by any means necessary.
When a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed, and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID, and try to uncover the truth about what really happened on that terrible night two years ago. They have taken her life, her freedom, and her true memories away from her. How can she reclaim anything when she doesn’t know who to trust?
Strong, gritty writing, irresistible psychological suspense, and action consume the novel as Jenna struggles to survive against the all-controlling ACID. Seriously sinister stuff.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Acid?
My favourite thing about ACID is London. It was loads of fun imagining the city, which I grew up near so am quite familiar with, a hundred years from now, and how it might have changed under ACID’s brutal regime (ACID are the Agency for Crime Investigation and Defence, a sinister police force who rule over the UK, now known as the Independent Republic of Britain or IRB). I’ve imagined that the city had been divided into three sectors – Outer, Middle and Upper – and where you live depends on your social standing, which is determined by ACID. Although all people in the IRB live under certain restrictions, life in Upper is extremely comfortable, with its citizens being given the best jobs, clothes, food and housing. Middle’s citizens don’t live in such luxury, but they get by. But in Outer, life is hard. The people there are forced to eat mostly cheap, synthetic food known as Sub, and work in hard, manual jobs. In their houses they have screens broadcasting ACID propaganda which they must watch for a certain number of hours every day, or risk arrest.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
The Mirk and Midnight Hour
Jane Nickerson
Hardcover Giveaway
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released 3/11/2014
A Southern girl. A wounded soldier. A chilling force deep in the forest.
All collide at night’s darkest hour.
Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey has been left at home in Mississippi with a laudanum-addicted stepmother and love-crazed stepsister while her father fights in the war—a war that has already claimed her twin brother.
When she comes across a severely injured Union soldier lying in an abandoned lodge deep in the woods, things begin to change. Thomas is the enemy—one of the men who might have killed her own brother—and yet she’s drawn to him. But Violet isn’t Thomas’s only visitor; someone has been tending to his wounds—keeping him alive—and it becomes chillingly clear that this care hasn’t been out of compassion.
Against the dangers of war and ominous powers of voodoo, Violet must fight to protect her home and the people she loves.
From the author of Strands of Bronze and Gold comes a haunting love story and suspenseful thriller based on the ancient fairy tale of “Tam Lin.”
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Mirk and Midnight Hour?
The basic plot of a Southern girl meeting a wounded Union soldier is one I have played around with for ages. Through the years, I’ve made up tons of stories in my head as I’m falling asleep, and this is one of them. It’s so fun that I could take this old favorite, adapt it to loosely fit “The Ballad of Tam Lin”—a story I love—and create a book I would love to read myself. It’s kind of like having a dream come to life.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
Never Ending
Martyn Bedford
Hardcover Giveaway
Wendy Lamb Books
Released 3/11/2014
Shiv’s best mate, her brother Declan, is dead. It’s been all over the news. Consumed by grief and guilt, she agrees to become an inpatient at the Korsakoff Clinic. There she meets Mikey. Caron. The others. They share a similar torment. And there, subjected to the clinic’s unconventional therapy, they must face what they can’t bear to see.
Shiv is flooded with flashbacks, nightmares, haunting visions of Declan on their last, fateful family vacation in Greece. And with memories of Nikos, the beautiful young man on the tour boat. It started there, with him, beside the glittering sea . . . the beginning of the end.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Never Ending?
This might sound strange but my favourite thing about NEVER ENDING is that fact that I managed to finish it! It took me two and a half years to write this book and, at times, it was such a struggle that I almost gave up on it. (My publishers are probably screaming: “No, don’t tell them that!”) Part of the problem was that I began by writing a quite different version of this story – one that it took me a year to realise wasn’t working. So, I then set about rewriting it. Trouble was, I couldn’t quite let go of the previous version and the result was a kind of hybrid of the old idea and the new . . . which was even more of a mess!
Eventually, I more or less scrapped everything and started over again. This time, I found an approach to the story which DID work and, after two or three drafts (and some brilliant editorial input from my UK and U.S. editors and agents), I finally wrestled the book into shape. I’m really pleased with how it turned out in the end. But, most of all, I’m just relieved to have an actual book on my desk rather than hundreds of pages of manuscript that look like they’ve been crawled all over by a nest of ants with inky feet.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
Don’t Even Think About It
Sarah Mlynowski
Hardcover Giveaway
Delacorte
Released 3/11/2014
Contemporary teen fiction with romance, secrets, scandals, and ESP from the author of Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have).
We weren’t always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn’t expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.
Since we’ve kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what’s coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
So stop obsessing about your ex. We’re always listening.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
Kissing in Italian
Lauren Henderson
Hardcover Giveaway
Delacorte
Released 3/11/2014
In addition to her studies, Violet loves the arts, the shopping, and the friendships she’s found in Italy. But secretly, her main objective is to learn about her true identity and family history. She never imagined she would fall in love with handsome Italian Luca. And he feels the same about her. But there are certain rumors circulating, that if proven to be true will forbid that they end up together. They need answers, but are they prepared for the truth?
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
Liv, Forever
Amy Talkington
ARC Giveaway
Soho Teen
Released 3/11/2014
When Liv Bloom lands an art scholarship at Wickham Hall, it’s her ticket out of the foster system. Liv isn’t sure what to make of the school’s weird traditions and rituals, but she couldn’t be happier—especially when Malcolm Astor, fellow artist and scion of one of the school’s original families, starts falling for her. Fellow scholarship kid Gabe Nichols warns her not to get involved with a “Wicky,” but things are finally going Liv’s way, and all she wants to do is enjoy it.
But Liv’s bliss is cut short when she is viciously murdered. In death, she discovers that she’s the latest victim of a dark conspiracy that spans 150 years and many, many lives. Gabe, cursed with the ability to see their ghosts, turns out to be Liv’s only link to the world of the living.
Liv must rely on Gabe’s help to prove to Malcolm that she’s still present… lingering with the other spirits. Together, Liv, Gabe, and Malcolm fight to expose the terrible truth that haunts the halls of Wickham before more lives are lost.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS LAST WEEK: WINNERS
Let The Storm Break
by Shannon Messenger
Hardcover Giveaway
Simon Pulse
Released 3/4/2014
Winner – Rosi Hollinbeck
Whirlwind romance and breathtaking action continues in the sequel to Let the Sky Fall, which Becca Fitzpatrick called “charged and romantic.”
Vane Weston is haunted. By the searing pull of his bond to Audra. By the lies he’s told to cover for her disappearance. By the treacherous winds that slip into his mind, trying to trap him in his worst nightmares. And as his enemies grow stronger, Vane doesn’t know how much longer he can last on his own.
But Audra’s still running. From her past. From the Gales. Even from Vane, who she doesn’t believe she deserves. And the farther she flees, the more danger she finds. She possesses the secret power her enemy craves, and protecting it might be more than she can handle—especially when she discovers Raiden’s newest weapon.
With the Gale Force weakened by recent attacks, and the power of four collapsing, Vane and Audra are forced to make a choice: keep trusting the failing winds, or turn to the people who’ve betrayed them before. But even if they survive the storms sent to destroy them, will they have anything left to hold on to?
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Let The Storm Break?
Oh—that’s easy: THE HABOOBS! And no—they’re not what you’re thinking. A haboob is actually a type of dust storm that plays a very prominent role in LET THE STORM BREAK. Though of course Vane isn’t the type of guy to let a name like that pass without a few choice comments. One of the reasons I love him. 🙂
Purchase Let The Storm Break at Amazon
Purchase Let The Storm Break at IndieBound
View Let The Storm Break on Goodreads
Hung Up
by Kristen Tracy
Hardcover Giveaway
Simon Pulse
Released 3/4/2014
Winner – Sally
Can you fall in love with a voice? This witty romance, told entirely through phone calls, chronicles the tale of a wrong number gone right.
It all started with a wrong number. The voicemails Lucy left on James’s phone were meant for someone else—someone who used to have James’s digits. But then when James finally answers and the two start to talk, a unique bond forms between the two teens.
Gradually Lucy and James begin to understand each other on a deeper level than anyone else in their lives. But when James wants to meet in person, Lucy is strangely resistant. And when her secret is revealed, he’ll understand why…
Purchase Hung Up at Amazon
Purchase Hung Up at IndieBound
View Hung Up on Goodreads
MORE YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK
The Shadow Prince
Bree Despain
EgmontUSA
Released 3/11/2014
Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High—a haven for children of the rich and famous—Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.
Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High’s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father’s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn’t the only student in Olympus who doesn’t quite belong.
Haden and Daphne—destined for each other—know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers’ lives collide. But Daphne won’t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended—he’s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
The Voice Inside My Head
S.J. Laidlaw
Tundra Books
Released 3/11/2014
A fast-paced mystery, The Voice inside My Head is expected to be a commercial success and a hit with teens.
Seventeen-year-old Luke’s older sister, Pat, has always been his moral compass, like a voice inside his head, every time he has a decision to make. So when Pat disappears on a tiny island off the coast of Honduras and the authorities claim she’s drowned – despite the fact that they can’t produce a body – Luke heads to Honduras to find her because he knows something the authorities don’t. From the moment of her disappearance, Pat’s voice has become real, guiding him to Utila, where she had accepted a summer internship to study whale sharks. Once there, he meets several characters who describe his sister as a very different girl from the one knows. Does someone have a motive for wanting her dead? Determined to get to the bottom of Pat’s disappearance, Luke risks everything, including his own life, to find the answer.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
Ruins
Dan Wells
Balzer + Bray
Released 3/11/2014
Kira, Samm, and Marcus fight to prevent a final war between Partials and humans in the gripping final installment in the Partials Sequence, a series that combines the thrilling action of The Hunger Games with the provocative themes of Blade Runner and The Stand.
There is no avoiding it—the war to decide the fate of both humans and Partials is at hand. Both sides hold in their possession a weapon that could destroy the other, and Kira Walker has precious little time to prevent that from happening. She has one chance to save both species and the world with them, but it will only come at great personal cost.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
The Edge of the Water
Elizabeth George
Viking Juvenile
Released 3/11/2014
A mysterious girl who won’t speak; a coal black seal named Nera that returns to the same place very year; a bitter feud of unknown origin—strange things are happening on Whidbey Island, and Becca King, is drawn into the maelstrom of events.
But Becca, first met in The Edge of Nowhere, has her own secrets to hide. Still on the run from her criminal stepfather, Becca is living in a secret location. Even Derric, the Ugandan orphan with whom Becca shares a close, romantic relationship, can’t be allowed to know her whereabouts.
As secrets of past and present are revealed, Becca becomes aware of her growing paranormal powers, and events build to a shocking climax anticipated by no one.
Acclaimed author Elizabeth George brings her extraordinary talents to this intriguing story that blends mystery and myth.
Amazon | Indiebound | Goodreads
