Waiting on Wednesday: Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3) by Rachel Hawkins

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

As always on Wednesday, I'm featuring a lovely book that I am simply drooling over the ability to read...soon. This one is the third (and most likely final) installment in the Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins, so be aware of the spoilers in the summary below. Check out my thoughts on the first two books Hex Hall & Demonglass. That's right ladies & gents I'm talking about Spell Bound due on a bookshelf near you March 13th. I hate to see a good thing end, but Rachel has said that she'd love to continue writing in the universe, so maybe it won't be goodbye after all. Anywhoodle, on to the goodness!

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

From Goodreads

How amazing does that sound for a finale? I really have enjoyed the characters & universe that Rachel Hawkins has created. Sophie is a fun gal & her sidekicks are pretty awesome too. Here's hoping she can bring it to a thrilling close.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3) by Rachel Hawkins

Waiting on Wednesday: Fair Game (Alpha & Omega #3) by Patricia Briggs

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, or have had the chance to scan my archives, you might have seen a fair bit of the name Patricia Briggs. I absolutely adore her work & she is the reason I began to branch out of my comfort zone in reading. Fair Game is the 3rd installment in the Alpha and Omega series that was born of her ever-popular Mercy Thompson series. This latest story will be released to the masses on March 6th. Be forewarned, there is a bit of spoilery type information, but nothing major in the summary. Enjoy!

Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega series-set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalty, and passion- brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could make the hunters prey...

They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and
Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North
American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...

From Goodreads

While I absolutely adore the Mercy Thompson series, this one has a richer dynamic between the main characters that I just can't resist. Charles & Anna are mesmerizing to watch no matter what they're doing. Not to mention the events that beleaguer them are always unique. I hope you're as excited for this one as I am & if you haven't started yet, now is the time!

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Fair Game (Alpha & Omega #3) by Patricia Briggs

Waiting on Wednesday: Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

I'm rather stoked that the release date of the much-anticipated sequel to Lauren Oliver's Delirium, Pandemonium has been moved up to February 28th! If you haven't read this one yet, I'm not sure what you were doing in late 2010, early 2011. Seriously. It was fantastic! Don't believe me? Check out my non-spoilery review.

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my
old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New
York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles
with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a
revolution about to ignite.

From Goodreads

While I don't think this gives enough detail about what might take place in the next installment, I kind of think that's a good thing. After the roller coaster ride that was the first book, this one is sure to follow in the same footsteps. Giving too much in the summary might detract from its appeal. I'm too excited & over-analyzing, but I hope you are too. What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver

Waiting on Wednesday: Fever (Chemical Garden #2) by Lauren DeStefano

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

SPOILER ALERT!! If you have not yet read Wither, the first installment in this series, then this preview will definitely ruin it for you. Read the book first or read my review of it before proceeding. Go ahead... I'll wait.

Okay, so Fever is the highly anticipated sequel in the Chemical Garden series by Lauren DeStefano. It's February 12th release date has long been awaited by those of us who devoured the first book. I read it super fast & then passed it on to my sister who squeed right alongside me. Now we get to go through it all again.

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

From Goodreads

How fabulous does that sound? I'm notorious for bashing book 2 of most series because I find that it ends up being a filler novel with no real meat to it. This one promises to defy that stereotype. I look forward to it.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Fever (Chemical Garden #2) by Lauren DeStefano

Waiting on Wednesday: Trafficked by Kim Purcell

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm not really focused on books too much because we just got the news that we got approved for our apartment. My husband & I have been separated (by 800 miles) & living with family since May 2010. This apartment will mark the first time we've gotten to live together, alone, since then. I think I have sufficient reason to be distracted. :D

Anywhoodle, this week I'm most intrigued by the February 16th release of Trafficked by Kim Purcell. While the storyline itself has been "ripped from the headlines" this is a first for this kind of story in the YA genre (that I'm aware of). Read on for the details.

Hannah believes she's being brought from Moldova to Los Angeles to become a nanny for a Russian family. But her American dream quickly spirals into a nightmare. The Platonovs force Hannah to work sixteen-hour days, won't let her leave the house, and seem to have a lot of secrets - from Hannah and from each other. Stranded in a foreign land with false documents, no money, and nobody who can help her, Hannah must find a way to save herself from her new status as a modern-day slave or risk losing the one thing she has left: her life.

From Goodreads

How absolutely terrifying would that be? In the US alone there are between 14,500 & 17,500 people trafficked in annually (CNN). While this is sure to be a harrowing story, not all trafficked individuals are "fortunate" enough to end up in Hannah's circumstance. I have a feeling that this book will be a tough one to read, not just because of the subject matter, but also because of how I think the writing will be stylized. Either way, I'm up for the challenge. Who's with me?

Also, I just found an interesting (and kind of scary story) about the amount of prostitution & sex trafficking for major sporting events. There are several organizations trying to raise awareness about this travesty. Read the original article.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Trafficked by Kim Purcell

Waiting on Wednesday: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

It being 2012 and all, we knew I wouldn't be able to go long without an apocalyptic book on my WOW. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons promises to be everything I liked about the societies in Matched and Delirium & the obstacles of the Life as We Knew It series. January 31st can't get here fast enough!

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

From Goodreads

While I could do without the star-crossed-lovers effect, I have a feeling that this book will have some of the same great story-telling & plot/world building that I have come to lavish in in this genre.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Waiting on Wednesday: In Too Deep by Amanda Grace/Mandy Hubbard

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

I seem to be feeling a bit edgier than usual, hence my WOW pick of In Too Deep by Amanda Grace/Mandy Hubbard. It's February 8th release date is fast approaching. Take a peak inside this dark & startling world.

I never meant for anyone to get hurt. All I wanted to do that night was make a play for Carter Davis. His heartless rejection was mortifying, but people got the wrong idea when they saw me leaving his bedroom, crying. That’s how rumors of rape started.

Now girls at school are pouring out their sympathy to me. Guys too. But not everyone’s on my side. The school has become a war zone and the threats are getting scary. What began as poetic justice has morphed into something bigger-forcing me to make a terrible choice.

From Goodreads

Wow... I'm rather speechless at the implications this book raises. I can understand onlookers' honest mistake of what might have taken place, but the fact that the main character doesn't immediately correct them shocks me. This dilemma reminds me of Testify where the main character doesn't actually see a crime, but agrees to testify to it anyway to protect her friend. If you get a chance, both of these seem to on the edgier side of YA & definitely worth a look.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: In Too Deep by Amanda Grace/Mandy Hubbard

Waiting on Wednesday: Truth (XVI 2) by Julia Karr

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I am totally pumped for the January 19th release of Truth, the sequel to Julia Karr's smash hit XVI. Nina is such a mesmerizing character that I couldn't help but get carried away in her story. Now we get to find out what happens next.

An exciting dystopian thriller, and sequel to XVI

Nina Oberon's life has changed enormously in the last few months. When her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council–ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all sixteen-year-old girls have. The one that announces to the world that she is easy prey to predators. But Nina won't be anyone's stereotype. And when she joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, she knows that they can put an end to one of the most terrifying secret programs the GC has ever conceived. Because the truth always comes out . . . and the consequences can be deadly.

From Goodreads

How awesome does that sound? I mean getting your life turned on it's head is one thing, but this is a whole new level of intense. With compelling writing, memorable characters, & seat-clenching action in the first book I have no doubt that Truth will succeed at its task of being awesome.

Waiting on Wednesday: Truth (XVI 2) by Julia Karr