Waiting on Wednesday: Putting Makeup on Dead people

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

It's been four years since Donna Parisi's father passed away, but it might as well have been four days. Donna makes conversation and goes through the motion, but she hasn't really gotten on with life. She's not close with anyone, she doesn't have a boyfriend and she's going to college at the local university with a major that her mother picked. But one day Donna has an epiphany. She wants to work with dead people. She wants to help people say goodbye and she wants to learn to love a whole person--body and soul. She wants to live her life and be exceptional...at loving, at grieving and at embalming and cremating,too. Even as she makes the decision, things start to change. Donna makes friends with the charismatic new student, Liz. She notices the boy, Charlie, at her table and realizes that maybe he's been noticing her, too. And she begins to forgive the rest of her family for living their lives while she's been busy moping.

Jennifer Violi's gentle, moving story of a girl who finds a life in the midst of death will appeal to any reader who's felt stuck and found inspiration in an unexpected place.

What drew me in?

I know, I know but just go with it. So I went through a phase where I considered being a Corner, I thought it would be a fun job and you can't really mess up on dead people can you? The other thing that got me was it sounds like she finds a passion with in her grief, I love those kind of stories. Light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel junk  always gets me. Then there is the cover... pretty but slightly creepy at the same time. 

According to Goodreads Putting Makeup on Dead people is to be published on July 26th, 2011 by Hyperion.

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Half-Blood

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure-bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:

Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

What Drew me in?

Humor. 

(Yeah thats all I need, I mean yeah there is one hundred and three other reason to be waiting on this book but that one is king)

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: The Magnolia League

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

After the death of her free-spirited mother, sixteen-year-old Alex Lee must leave her home in northern California to live with her wealthy grandmother in Savannah, Georgia. By birth, Alex is a rightful, if unwilling, member of the Magnolia League, Savannah's long-standing debutante society. She quickly discovers that the Magnolias have made a pact with a legendary hoodoo family, the Buzzards. The Magnolias enjoy youth, beauty and power. But at what price?

As in her popular adult novels, Crouch's poignant and humorous voice shines in this seductively atmospheric story about girls growing up in a magical Southern city.

What Drew me in?

Not the cover (let me explain). I read the summery paired with a totally different cover and though the cover wasn't bad I think the new one is better. So technically the summery drew me in but the cover is nothing to complain about :P

The Magnolia League will be published by Poppy on May 3rd, 2011 (according to Goodreads)

just sayin, 

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster. 

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though. 

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters. 

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

What Drew me in?

So I added this to my good reads page a billion years ago because of the description. Then I the cover one day and went when did I add...oh shiny!! So it was the description but man that cover is SWEET!

Sweet Venom will be published on October 4th 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books (according to good reads)

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Shattered Souls

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

Lenzi hears voices. She also sees visions--gravestones, floods, a gorgeous guy with steel gray eyes. She knows she must be going crazy, just like her dad did. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't do anything to help, and the voices just keep getting louder, the visions more intense. But when Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, everything makes sense. 

Sort of. 

He tells Lenzi that she's a reincarnated Speaker--someone who can talk to lost souls and help them move on--and that he has been her Protector for centuries. But instead of embracing her abilities, Lenzi struggles between her life as the girlfriend of a sexy musician and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. Yet time is running out; a malevolent spirit has been trying to destroy Lenzi for ages, and he will surely kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon. 

Her choices are clear: Destiny or normalcy. Alden or Zak. Life or death

What Drew me in?

The cover hands down! Not that the description is great but MAN look at that cover!!

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: The Girl in the Steel Corset

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

She thought there was something wrong with her. She was right. 

Finley Jayne has known for quite some time that she isn’t ‘normal,’ but when she beats up the son of her employer and is forced to flee, she stumbles into a world where there are bigger freaks than her. They take her in, treat her like family and demand her trust. How can Finley trust them when she can’t trust herself? And why is she drawn to the powerful Griffin as well as the dangerous Jack? She has to get herself under control before she gets into trouble she can’t get out of. 

Griffin King is one of the most powerful men in Britain but he couldn’t save his best friend from almost dying. He is determined to save Finley and help her become the person he knows she can be, but there’s evil afoot in London. Machines have attacked humans under the orders of a nefarious criminal called The Machinist. He has sworn to protect his country against such a threat, but he’s never faced any foe like this. However, when he discovers The Machinist’s connection to his past, Griffin vows to end the villain once and for all — but he’ll need the help of all his friends, including the beautiful Finley Jayne – the girl in the steel corset.

What Drew me in?

THAT COVER IS AHHHHH! Okay so I really love covers and if its good enough I can want it without knowing what the book is about! In this case I actually knew what it was about first and it sounds really good except the hint of the love triangle... that isn't something I like. 

This book will be out on May 24th 2011 by Harlequin Teen.

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a 

hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. 

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember 

that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is. 

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been 

through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong

What Drew me in?

The COVER!!! AHHH! So at first I thought it was just a girl but now looking at it there is a guy there too... it makes me so curious!! Then on top of that there is the description that just baffles me. This book (just looking at it) is like a double scoop ice cream cone on a hot day.

This books comes out on September 27th, 2011 from Simon and Schuster. 

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . . 

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay. 

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. 

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life

What Drew me in?

At first glance it was the cover but once I did some research into it I realized the description was just as creepy and compelling. [YES creepy is a good thing to me]. *goes to stare at cover*

just sayin, 

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Invincible

Cover:

Description:


The second novel in the new teen series, The Chronicles of Nick, a spin-off from the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series--from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon

Nick Gautier’s day just keeps getting better and better. Yeah, he survived the zombie attacks, only to wake up and find himself enslaved to a world of shapeshifters and demons out to claim his soul.

His new principal thinks he’s even more of a hoodlum than the last one, his coach is trying to recruit him to things he can’t even mention and the girl he’s not seeing, but is, has secrets that terrify him.
                                   
But more than that, he’s being groomed by the darkest of powers and if he doesn’t learn how to raise the dead by the end of the week, he will become one of them...

My Thoughts:

Okay so I read the first one and I thought it was like AMAZING! It had sarcastic humor (my favorite kind),  action like crazy (it was only like over a three day period but so much happened!) , and it had a pinch of romance. I loved the way it was written so I was ecstatic when I found out there was a second one coming out!

Invincible will be published by St. Martin's Press on March 22, 2011

just sayin,

-Kare 

Waiting on Wednesday: Epic Fail

Cover:

Descriptions: (GR)
At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point: 

• As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects. 

• As the daughter of the new principal, new-girl-on-campus Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list. 

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long. Fans of Susane Colasanti (When It Happens), Polly Shulman (Enthusiasm), and, of course, Jane Austen will love finding out if Elise’s love life will be an epic win or an epic fail


My Thoughts:


I think this is SUCH a cute sounding book! I really LOVE LOVE LOVE the title (ha its epic!) and the cover is adorable. I really love how its like a Pride and Prejudice remake! Too bad I have to wait till December to get it! 


Epic Fail will be published on December 8th by HarperTeen. 

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: A Touch Mortal

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long, happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end

What hooked me?


Well there is that stunning cover but what got me was the title. I am semi-dyslexic so when I read it I thought it was A Mortal Touch but as you can see it isn't. A Touch Mortal -please join me on my crazy brain train for a second- do they mean a mortal who has a special touch OR is it just a different name for the touch of mortal? When a title already has me questioning, thinking like that ... they're doing something right! Please exit to your left and watch your step as you leave the train. Have a great day!


A Touch Mortal will be published by Green Willow books on February 22, 2011.


just sayin, 
-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Cryer's Cross

I'm still waiting...

Cover:

Description:

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

What Drew me in?

I am a BIG fan of the Wake series. I love the way Lisa McMann writes so I figure it will be just as good. Besides the fact that she is an epic writer there is the description... are you kidding me? WOW! Then there is that creepy count down widget (you know which one I am talking about with the help me!). 

Cryer's Cross will be published by Simon Pulse on February 8th, 2011. 

just sayin,

-Kare 

Waiting on Wednesday: Sean Griswold's Head

Cover:

GR Description:

According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object—an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas—it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him.

The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking—er, focusing on—Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.

In this sweet story of first love, Lindsey Leavitt seamlessly balances heartfelt family moments, spot-on sarcastic humor, and a budding young romance.

My Thoughts:
"What if the love of your life was literally right in front of you?", I just love that!


just saying,
-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Haven

Cover:

Description:

Violet McKenna isn’t a normal girl with normal teenage issues; she has more to contend with than most people could handle. Violet thought she was just crazy when she had a vivid vision of her dad’s murder. Her life started falling apart when her premonition came true. She’s had flashes of other events too. The problem was nobody believed her until she found a new school: Winterhaven.

At Winterhaven, Violet finally feels like she belongs. She quickly finds a close group friends and discovers that they too have psychic ‘gifts’—as do all the students at Winterhaven. But as soon as she feels settled she discovers the most intriguing and alluring boy she has ever met, and things quickly go awry. As the attraction between them grows, intense visions of the boy’s death start to haunt her. In her premonitions the secret he is unwilling to share begins to reveal itself. And to Violet's horror, she learns that their destinies are intertwined in a critical—and deadly—way.

My Thoughts: 


GAH! Paranormal school and intertwined destinies I mean come on you can't really not be interested! Right?! 


Haven will be published on February 22nd 2011 by Simon Pulse

just sayin,

-Kare

Waiting on Wednesday: Rival

Cover:

Description: (GR)


What if your worst enemy turned out to be the best friend you ever had?

Meet Brooke: Popular, powerful and hating every minute of it, she’s the “It” girl at Douglas High in Lake Champion, Minnesota. Her real ambition? Using her operatic mezzo as a ticket back to NYC, where her family lived before her dad ran off with an up and coming male movie star. 

Now meet Kathryn: An overachieving soprano with an underachieving savings account, she’s been a leper ever since Brooke punched her at a party junior year. For Kath, music is the key to a much-needed college scholarship. 

The stage is set for a high-stakes duet between the two seniors as they prepare for the prestigious Blackmore competition. Brooke and Kathryn work toward the Blackmore with eyes not just on first prize but on one another, each still stinging from a past that started with friendship and ended in betrayal. With competition day nearing, Brooke dreams of escaping the in-crowd for life as a professional singer, but her scheming BFF Chloe has other plans. And when Kathryn gets an unlikely invitation to Homecoming, she suspects Brooke of trying to sabotage her with one last public humiliation. 

As pressures mount, Brooke starts to sense that the person she hates most might just be the best friend she ever had. But Kathryn has a decision to make. Can she forgive? Or are some rivalries for life?


My Thoughts:
Uh... INTENSE! Right? This book just radiates competition and possibly friendship. I am a huge fan of the cover (I do judge them!! sad I know) . I love paranormal but sometimes I get bored with it and contemporary is the perfect solution so I am really excited for this one!


Rival will be published February 15th 2011 by HarperTeen.

Waiting on Wednesday: Demon Trapper's Daughter

Description:

Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself – and that’s exactly what the demons are counting on…

Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps.  The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.

But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood.  And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life?

My Thoughts:

I really, really, really love the cover! And who doesn't love a butt kicking heroine? 

just sayin