May is going to be a busy month with 13 books scheduled.
Reading at Fantasy Buddy Reads-
Lady Katarina
Ashowan has never quite fit the mold of a noblewoman—and it’s not only
because she’s a mutated fire witch. Though she’s the closest friend and
confidant of Alina, the soon-to-be-coronated queen of Troivack, Kat
would much rather play cards with questionable characters or steal out
at night to go riding than bandy niceties with suitors and deal with
affairs of state. So as soon as Alina is officially crowned, the young
witch plans to put away her dresses and get into some real adventure,
training with a master swordsman.
But her journey to knightly
prowess is proving more complicated than she thought it would be. For
one thing, her future teacher isn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of
their arrangement. Worse, unknown adversaries seem determined to stop
Alina from actually assuming the throne. Kat’s magical abilities,
meanwhile, keep growing and changing in unpredictable and potentially
dangerous ways. And despite her best efforts, she still can’t manage to
suppress her attraction to Alina’s brother, Eric, the crown prince of
Daxaria . . .
Filled with heart-pounding duels and enchanted
encounters, witty wordplay and swoon-worthy flirtations, The Burning
Witch 2 is the humorous, page-turning continuation of a charming series
set in the unforgettable universe of the House Witch.
THE ECHOES OF FATE HAVE BEEN HEARD. AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS, THE PROPHECY HAS ALMOST COME TO PASS...
The
final days of hope have come and gone. The kingdoms of Illian stand on
the edge of ruin, threatened by the armies of Valanis. As evil spreads
across the land, too few are left to hold the line.
A world
away, the children of fire and flame may be the only hope for the realm,
but the dragons have been defeated before. Now Verda’s future hangs in
the balance.
Reeling from their losses, Asher and his companions
journey north, trying to outrun the savage Darkakin. A confrontation
awaits the ranger but, even with Paldora’s gem, he dare not challenge
Valanis yet.
The days of the Dragorn have come again, and with
them, a relic of the gods has been brought into the light. The knowledge
of Verda’s true history weighs on Gideon Thorn, and he would see the
world rid of the evil that has cursed it from the shadows for so long.
A
great change is coming, and a new Age dawns on the horizon. Whether it
be the light or the dark that finds victory, one soul will suffer the
burden of destiny for all...
RELIC OF THE GODS CONTINUES THIS UNMISSABLE EPIC FANTASY SERIES.
The
second novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a
groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… Nearly two
centuries after the starship Phoenix disappeared into the heavens,
leaving an isolated colony of humans on the world of the atevi , it
unexpectedly returns to orbit overhead, threatening the stability of
both atevi and human governments.
With the situation fast
becoming critical, Bren Cameron, the brilliant, young paidhi to the
court of the atevi is recalled from Mospheira where he has just
undergone surgery. But his sudden and premature return to the mainland
is cause for more than mere physical discomfort. For during his brief
absence, his government has sent his paidhi -successor, Deana
Hanks—representative of a dangerous archconservative faction on
Mospheira who hate the atevi . And though she should depart when Bren is
once again able to fill his post, no recall order comes.
Cut off
from his government and haunted by the continuing threat of
assassination, Bren realizes his only hope may be to communicate
directly with the Phoenix as the spokesman of the atevi— an action
which may cut him off for good from his own species. Yet if he doesn't
take this desperate and illegal action, he may be forced to helplessly
bear witness to the final destruction of the already precarious balance
of world power.
In the year 2204, tragedy and terror forced a
scientific team to prematurely evacuate Maleiva Ill. Twenty-one years
later, the opportunity for scientists to study this galactic rarity—a
life-supporting planet—is about to vanish forever as a rogue gas giant
has invaded the planetary system on a deadly collision course with the
world they are now calling Deepsix.
A superluminal pilot for the
Academy of Science and Technology, Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins is the
only even remotely qualified professional within lightyears of Deepsix.
With less than three weeks left before the disaster, she and a small
scientific team—including Randall Nightingale a survivor of the original
expedition who was made the scapegoat for its failure—must descend to
the surface, and glean whatever they can about the doomed planet’s
lifeforms and lost civilizations.
There is more to this strange
and complex world, however, than anyone could have imagined: hidden
predators; stone cities under the ice; remnants of a warlike primitive
society, yet with inexplicable hints of an impossible technology buried
in the rubble... and in orbit around the soon to be demolished planet.
The deeper Hutch and her team delve, the more puzzles are revealed
within puzzles and startling discoveries lead only to greater and more
perplexing questions
But then the unthinkable occurs An
earthquake destroys the explorers only means of escape As scientists and
sightseers who have come to witness the spectacular end of Deepsix
watch helplessly from miles above Hutch and her people must survive
somehow on a hostile planet going rapidly mad. And with the clock
ticking relentlessly toward an unavoidable apocalypse, they must find
some way, any way to get off before Deepsix plunges like a pebble into
the limitless depths of the rampaging gas giant.
Return to the mystical world of Krynn, where
the heroic Companions continue their fantastical adventures—and face
their greatest challenge yet—in this sequel to Dragons of Autumn
Twilight. With the return of the dragon minions of Takhisis, the
Queen of Dragons, the land of Krynn has become more dangerous than ever.
But as the nations of Krynn prepare to fight for their homes, their
lives, and their freedom, longstanding hatreds and prejudices interfere.
When fighting breaks out among the races, it seems the battle is lost
before it even begins. Meanwhile, the heroic Companions have been torn
apart by war. A full season will pass before they meet again—if they
meet again. Raistlin has made an ominous prediction, one that implies
not all of the Companions will survive the fight. His warning, along
with sinister dreams, haunt the friends as they search for the weapons
that will stop the Dark Queen in her the mysterious Dragon Orbs and
legendary Dragonlance. Another riveting tale in
the Dragonlance Chronicles, Dragons of Winter Night is an action-packed
adventure in which the true value of love and friendship is measured
against the backdrop of a catastrophic war between good and evil. Dragons of Winter Night is the second book in the Dragonlance Chronicles.
Reading with the Mystery Book Club-
In Paris, her twin sister has vanished, leaving behind three chilling words: Trust no one.
Shayna Darby is finally coming to terms with her parents’ deaths
when she’s delivered another blow. The body of her estranged twin
sister, Angela—the possible victim of a serial killer—has been pulled
from the Seine. Putting what’s left of her life on hold, Shayna heads to
Paris. But while cleaning out Angela’s apartment, Shayna makes a
startling discovery: a coded message meant for her alone…
Alive. Trust no one.
Taking the warning to heart, Shayna maintains the lie. She makes a
positive ID on the remains and works to find out where—and why—her
missing sister is hiding. Shayna retraces her sister’s footsteps, and
they lead her down into Paris’s underbelly.
As she gets closer to the truth—and to the killer—Shayna’s own life may now be in the balance…
Hoping to take possession of a new alien
star-hopping portal, Roarke and Selene are tasked with transporting an
assassin, who is herself being targeted.
For years Gregory Roarke
and his Kadolian partner Selene worked as crocketts, combing through
the atmospheres of uninhabited worlds for places that might be colonized
or hold valuable resources. Now, they work for the Icarus Group, a
top-secret government organization hunting for portals created by a
long-vanished alien race, portals that can teleport a person hundreds or
thousands of light-years in the blink of an eye.
Usually, those
hunts are long and tedious. But Roarke has now been handed an intriguing
offer. A criminal boss, Robertine Cherno, will hand over a hitherto
unknown portal to the Icarus Group in exchange for Roarke and Selene
agreeing to transport a passenger named Nikki across the Spiral.
There’s only one catch. Nikki is a professional, high-priced, highly feared assassin. And she’s on the job.
That
would have been bad enough. But when the alien Patth also move to gain
possession of the portal, bad quickly promises to go to worse.
Especially when it becomes clear that Nikki herself is being hunted by someone.
It’s up to Roarke and Selene to untangle the mysteries and get to the truth before they become someone’s collateral damage.
How do you solve a murder when everyone's a suspect?
Tormented
by the recent loss of a colleague, DCI Jack Logan is on the warpath,
determined to bring down all those he holds responsible for the
officer's death.
His quest for revenge is cut short when a
woman's body turns up on the remote island of Canna, and Jack is
summoned to investigate. As a storm closes in, Jack finds himself
cut-off from the rest of the world, with no car, no phone signal, and
only DC Neish for company.
With time running out before the
ferries resume, Jack must act fast to crack the case before the killer
can escape. But with the victim widely hated on the island, everyone on
it is a potential suspect.
Even the scarecrow...
The
Last Bloody Straw is the fifth book in the DCI Jack Logan series, set
in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Perfect for fans of Ian
Rankin, Chris Brookmyre, and Stuart Macbride.
Reading for Book Club-
In the world’s most magical metropolis where
spirits run noodle shops and cash-strapped dragons stage photo-ops for
tourists, people still think fairies are nothing but stories, and that’s
exactly how the fairies like it. It’s a lot easier to feast on
humanity’s dreams when no one believes you exist. But while this
arrangement works splendidly for most fair folk, Lola isn’t one of the
lucky ones.
She’s a changeling, a fairy monster made just human
enough to dupe unsuspecting parents while fairies steal their real
child. The magic that sustains her was never meant to last past the
initial theft, leaving Lola without a future. But thanks to Victor
Conrath, a very powerful--and very illegal--blood mage, she was given
the means to cheat death.
For a price.
Now the only
changeling ever to make it to adulthood, Lola has served the blood mage
faithfully, if reluctantly, for twenty years. Her unique ability to slip
through wards and change her shape to look like anyone has helped make
Victor a legend in the DFZ’s illegal-magic underground. It’s not a great
life, but at least the work is stable… until her master vanishes
without a trace.
With only a handful left of the pills that keep
her human, Lola must find Victor before she turns back into the fairy
monster she was always meant to be. But with a whole SWAT team of
federal paladins hunting her as a blood-mage accomplice, an Urban Legend
on a silent black motorcycle who won’t leave her alone, and a
mysterious fairy king with the power to make the entire city dream,
Lola’s chances of getting out of this alive are as slender as a silver
thread.
BY A SILVER THREAD is a fast-paced Urban Fantasy featuring cunning
fae, a kind heroine, and a magic so destructive that using it even once
will stain your soul forever. Buckle up for a wild ride through a
near-future, magical Detroit where urban legends ride the streets, fairy
queens have mansions uptown, and the City is an actual deity you don't
want to cross. Welcome to the DFZ!
Reading for NetGalley-
From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.
Solve the murder to save what's left of the world.
Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.
On
the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and
three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content
to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what
they're told by the scientists.
Until, to the horror of the
islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to
death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of
the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping
the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog
will smother the island—and everyone on it.
But the security
system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the
night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and
they don't even know it.
And the clock is ticking.
From Timothy Zahn, Hugo Award winner and #
New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire,
comes this pulse-pounding political thriller.
A tactical nuclear weapon is stolen from an Indian research facility, setting off a chain of events that spans the globe.
Those
behind the heist plan to use it to take out thousands of innocent
people—all to assure death of a single man who they believe is too
dangerous to be left alive.
What are the lives of thousands compared to the safety of the world?
At
the same time, scientists have invented the world’s first cloaking
device, able to render its user almost completely invisible. It’s the
epitome of hidden-in-plain-sight—a game changer for any military. At
least until three of the lead scientists are murdered and their work is
stolen the night before their first demonstration.
Authorities have no idea the two crimes are connected.
There are ten days before the bomb is set to go off.
Can they unravel the trail of red herrings in time?
The clock is ticking...
My Pick it for Me book-
What if the imaginary friend you had as a child… turns out to be not so imaginary after all?
Aspen
receives a mysterious letter from her mother asking her to come to an
all-expenses-paid week at Blue Heron Cottages. The very mother who
disappeared from her life over twenty years ago.
Willow receives
her own letter asking her to come to the resort. She's uncertain about
going, but maybe it has something to do with what her mother struggled
to tell her—unsuccessfully—with her dying breaths.
What neither woman sees coming are the startling revelations the letters will bring to their lives.
Memories
of the Beach is the first book in a heartwarming series about Violet,
the owner of a recently restored beachside resort, and the stories of
the guests who come to stay at Blue Heron Cottages. Grab this book now
to start binge-reading this romantic women’s fiction series.
The Hercule Poirot Book-
Sheila Webb, typist-for-hire, has arrived at 19
Wilbraham Crescent in the seaside town of Crowdean to accept a new job.
What she finds is a well-dressed corpse surrounded by five clocks. Mrs.
Pebmarsh, the blind owner of No. 19, denies all knowledge of ringing
Sheila's secretarial agency and asking for her by name -- yet someone
did. Nor does she own that many clocks. And neither woman seems to know
the victim. Colin Lamb, a young intelligence specialist working a case
of his own at the nearby naval yard, happens to be on the scene at the
time of Sheila Webb's ghastly discovery. Lamb knows of only one man who
can properly investigate a crime as bizarre and baffling as what
happened inside No. 19 -- his friend and mentor, Hercule Poirot.
