Noa’s hopes for an awesome 2013 … of books!
As the other Dolls have already noted, it is really very hard to limit choices when it comes to books. The reality is, there are just an endless number of books I’m looking forward to – and isn’t that just the awesomesauce?
My my real hope for 2013 is that it will be a year of discoveries and surprises, that 2013 will be the year that will lead me to discover new series, new authors and that I will be able to share them with you!
Still… there are so many favorites that I can’t wait to get my hands on – here are a few!
A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn – NEW SERIES from one of my absolute favorite authors!
Paris, 1923
The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is already notorious, even amongst Paris society. But her latest scandal is big enough to make even her oft-married mother blanch. Delilah is exiled to Kenya and her favorite stepfather’s savannah manor house until gossip subsides.
Fairlight is the crumbling, sun-bleached skeleton of a faded African dream, a world where dissolute expats are bolstered by gin and jazz records, cigarettes and safaris. As mistress of this wasted estate, Delilah falls into the decadent pleasures of society.
Against the frivolity of her peers, Ryder White stands in sharp contrast. As foreign to Delilah as Africa, Ryder becomes her guide to the complex beauty of this unknown world. Giraffes, buffalo, lions and elephants roam the shores of Lake Wanyama amid swirls of red dust. Here, life is lush and teeming-yet fleeting and often cheap.
Amidst the wonders-and dangers-of Africa, Delilah awakes to a land out of all proportion: extremes of heat, darkness, beauty and joy that cut to her very heart. Only when this sacred place is profaned by bloodshed does Delilah discover what is truly worth fighting for-and what she can no longer live without.
The Paris Affair by Teresa Grant …This series was on my 2012 favorites so I have high hopes for the new installment!
In the wake of the Battle of Waterloo, the Bourbon court in Paris and their victorious allies give lavish parties while the Royalists are quick to exact vengeance for everything since the Revolution. Countless Bonapartists are arrested and executed in what comes to be known as the White Terror. In this seething atmosphere British attaché and spy Malcolm Rannoch learns that his murdered half-sister, Princess Tatiana Kirsanova, may have left behind a secret child in Paris; a child who may now be in grave danger.
While friends and former associates are imprisoned and executed around them, Malcolm and his wife Suzanne set out to find the girl. And as kings argue over legitimacy and relations battle over estates, trusting the wrong side can be deadly…
What Darkness Brings by C.S. Harris -more Sebastian, yes please!
The death of a notorious London diamond merchant draws aristocratic investigator Sebastian St. Cyr and his new wife Hero into a sordid world of greed, desperation, and the occult, when the husband of Sebastian’s former lover Kat Boleyn is accused of the murder.
Regency England, September 1812: After a long night spent dealing with the tragic death of a former military comrade, a heart-sick Sebastian learns of a new calamity: Russell Yates, the dashing, one-time privateer who married Kat a year ago, has been found standing over the corpse of Benjamin Eisler, a wealthy gem dealer. Yates insists he is innocent, but he will surely hang unless Sebastian can unmask the real killer.
For the sake of Kat, the woman he once loved and lost, Sebastian plunges into a treacherous circle of intrigue. Although Eisler’s clients included the Prince Regent and the Emperor Napoleon, he was a despicable man with many enemies and a number of dangerous, well-kept secrets—including a passion for arcane texts and black magic. Central to the case is a magnificent blue diamond, believed to have once formed part of the French crown jewels, which disappeared on the night of Eisler’s death. As Sebastian traces the diamond’s ownership, he uncovers links that implicate an eccentric, powerful financier named Hope and stretch back into the darkest days of the French Revolution.
When the killer grows ever more desperate and vicious, Sebastian finds his new marriage to Hero tested by the shadows of his first love, especially when he begins to suspect that Kat is keeping secrets of her own. And as matters rise to a crisis, Sebastian must face a bitter truth–that he has been less than open with the fearless woman who is now his wife.
Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews –
The newest installment in the Kate Daniels series doesn’t have a cover yet but I had to include it as it is my #1 favorite series! – July 30th can’t come soon enough!
The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock – the first book in this series was my 2012 discovery so I am really looking forward to book #2!
Pen’s life is all about secrets: the secret of the city’s spirits, deities and monsters her best friend Beth discovered, living just beyond the notice of modern Londoners; the secret of how she got the intricate scars that disfigure her so cruelly – and the most closely guarded secret of all: Parva, her mirror-sister, forged from her reflections in a school bathroom mirror. Pen’s reflected twin is the only girl who really understands her.
Then Parva is abducted and Pen makes a terrible bargain for the means to track her down. In London-Under-Glass looks are currency, and Pen’s scars make her a rare and valuable commodity. But some in the reflected city will do anything to keep Pen from the secret of what happened to the sister who shared her face.
His Majesty’s Hope by Susan Elia Macneal- another discovery from 2012 – this is a superb new mystery series set in WWII England.
Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost – Vlad book #2…yum.
Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges…
Leila’s psychic abilities have been failing her, and now she isn’t sure what the future holds. If that weren’t enough, her lover, Vlad, has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she’s also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won’t admit that he loves her.
Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity…
Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust– the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity.
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah Maclean …truth is – I’ve read this book already but as it comes out in 2013 I’m including it in my list because…wow.
The second in the incredible new Rules of Scoundrels series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean.
Lady Philippa Marbury is odd. The bespectacled, brilliant fourth daughter of the Marquess of Needham and Dolby cares more for books than balls, flora than fashion and science than the season. Nearly engaged to Lord Castleton, Pippa wants to explore the scandalous parts of London she’s never seen before marriage. And she knows just who to ask: the tall, charming, quick-witted bookkeeper of The Fallen Angel, London’s most notorious and coveted gaming hell, known only as Cross.
Like any good scientist, Pippa’s done her research and Cross’s reputation makes him perfect for her scheme. She wants science without emotion—the experience of ruination without the repercussions of ruination. And who better to provide her with the experience than this legendary man? But when this odd, unexpected female propositions Cross, it’s more than tempting . . . and it will take everything he has to resist following his instincts—and giving the lady precisely what she wants.
So this book has no title, no cover but: I had to include it! It is the last installment in the Rock Chick series by Kristen Ashley- book #8 – Ally’s book!
Ally Nightingale has secrets. Secrets she doesn’t even share with the Rock Chicks.
But two men know what she’s up to. One has her back. The other has her heart but he doesn’t know it.
India Black and the Shadows of Anarchy by Carol K Carr – love, love love India Black.
In Victorian London, India Black has all the attributes a high-class madam needs to run a successful brothel–wit, beauty, and an ability to lie with a smile. Luckily for Her Majesty’s Government, all these talents also make her a first-rate spy…
India Black, full-time madam and occasional secret agent, is feeling restless, when one of Disraeli’s men calls on her to meet the prime minister–alone. Even though all her previous meetings have been organized by the rakishly handsome spy French, it’s been decided this is a mission India must attempt on her own.
Revolt has spread across Europe and reached the shores of England–anarchists have begun assassinating lords and earls, one by one. Now India must infiltrate the ranks of the underground group responsible for those attacks, the sinister Dark Legion. To stop their dread plot, India will go from the murkiest slums of London to the highest levels of society, uncovering secrets that threaten her very existence…
Now for the least anticipated… ok, I don’t dwell much on the books I don’t want to read but I can say this: DOWN WITH THE CLIFFHANGERS!!!!
If there is one thing I never want to see in a book again it’s the deadly cliffhangers… Please dearest authors, if you write interesting characters with captivating stories – we will buy your books. No need to keep us on tenterhooks with cliffhangers – we get that enough in real life! Just keep away from the cliff and walk back into the warm loving environment of the “The End”
And with that said, all that is left to do is say – Happy 2013 Reading!!!!
