The Secret Writer: July 2012

Tuesday, 31 July 2012

'The Stockholm Octavo' by Karen Engelmann

Release date: 13th September 2012

Published by: Two Roads

ISBN No: 978 1444742695

In 18th century Stockholm, as the winds of revolution rage through the great capitals of Europe, the key to a nation's fate rests in the hands of an unlikely hero. Emil Larsson is a drinker, card player and contented bachelor until he is told that his position at the Office of Excise and Customs depends on his settling down and finding a wife. Mrs Sparrow, proprietor of an exclusive gaming house, fortune teller (and confidante of King Gustav III) offers to lay an Octavo for him - a form of cartomancy which can divine his future if he can find the eight individuals who can help him realise his vision. When Mrs Sparrow wins a mysterious fan in her card game, the Octavo's deeper powers are revealed. No longer just a game of the heart, collecting his Eight is now crucial to pulling his country back from the brink of rebellion and chaos. A debut novel full of opulent period detail, brilliantly interweaving history, romance and intrigue, in which one man's fortune holds the key to a nation's precarious fate.

'A Sister's Shame' by Carol Rivers

Release date: August 2012

Published by: Simon and Schuster UK

ISBN No: 978 0857208293

They'd give up everything to dance on stage, but could they lose each other?

London's East End, 1934. Eighteen-year-old twins Marie and Vesta Haskins work at the local shoe factory to bring in a few pennies for the family, but they've never given up on their dream of treading the boards in the West End. When a brand new East End club opens its doors, the girls audition for the show and are over the moon to land two nights a week with their cabaret act. But little do they realise that the villainous Scoresby brothers are using the club as a front for a very different line of business.

Seeing what is going on behind the smoke and lights of the stage, sensible Marie vows to leave her job at the club before it is too late, but headstrong Vesta has fallen for the Scoresby's handsome right-hand man, Teddy, and unwittingly leads her whole family into the Scoresby's clutches. Will Marie be able to save her family from disaster? Or will Vesta's determination to become a star tear the Haskins family apart?

Monday, 30 July 2012

'Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England' by Alison Weir

Release date: 2nd August 2012

Published by: Vintage:

ISBN No: 978 0099578390

In Newgate Street, in the city of London, stand the meagre ruins of Christ Church. On the same site once stood a royal mausoleum set to rival Westminster Abbey in the fourteenth century. Among the many crowned heads buried there was Isabella of France, Edward II's queen - one of the most notorious femme fatales in history.

Today, popular legends speak of how her angry ghost can be glimpsed among the ruins, clutching the heart of her murdered husband, and even the reputable publications of English Heritage maintain that the Queen's maniacal laughter can be heard on stormy nights at Castle Rising in Norfolk. Such stories paint a picture of a tragic, tormented, cruel and evil woman. In literature and poetry, she has fared no better with Christopher Marlowe calling her 'that unnatural Queen, false Isabel'; Thomas Gray appropriating Shakespeare's epithet 'She-Wolf of France' in The Bard (1757); and Kenneth Fowler describing her as ' a woman of evil character, a notorious schemer.' How, then, did Isabella acquire such a reputation? Isabella is known to have lived adulterously with Roger Mortimer for at least four years. But the evidence surrounding accusations of murder and regicide is unsubstantiated. Thus, what has condemned Isabella, in ways which no other queen has had to endure, is her sexual transgression. Had it not been for her unfaithfulness, history may have immortalised her as a liberator - the saviour who unshackled England from a weak and vicious monarch and helped put a strong king - her Lover Mortimer - on the throne.

In the first, full-length biography of Isabella, Alison Weir revisits the facts of Isabella's life in a scholarly context in which women's personal lives do not dictate wholly the way we interpret their roles in the public world. A dramatic and startling biography which will change the way we think of Isabella and her world for ever.

Copyright: Amazon Synopsis

'Friends and Rivals' by Tilly Bagshawe

Release date: 27th September 2012

Published by: Harper

ISBN No: 978 0007326532

Kat fears she is past her prime. Her philandering husband, Ivan, who she still loves passionately after twenty years of marriage, leaves her for a younger woman. Devastated, there is only one person left who Kat trusts.

Kendall is sure she has it all. But underneath her tough exterior she hides a vulnerability – she is helplessly struggling with an unrequited love. But when Kendall’s need for success consumes her, she won’t let anyone stand in her way.

Ava is an innocent, plucked from obscurity and thrown into the deep-end of the glamorous world of fame. When she is pitted against Kendall, the world watches closely, wondering who will survive.

As these three women try to navigate a backstabbing world of infamy, desire and fortune, will they be tempted to betray the people they hold dearest?

'The Last Telegram' by Liz Trenow

Release date: 13th September 2012

Published by: Avon

ISBN No: 978 0007480821

The war changed everything for Lily Verner.

As the Nazis storm Europe, Lily becomes an apprentice at her family’s silk weaving factory. When they start to weave parachute silk there is no margin for error: one tiny fault could result in certain death for Allied soldiers.

The war also brings Stefan to Lily: a German Jewish refugee who works on the looms. As their love grows, there are suspicions someone is tampering with the silk.

Can their love survive the hardships of war? And will the Verner’s silk stand the ultimate test?

The Last Telegram is an evocative and engaging novel for fans of The Postmistress and Pam Jenoff.

Sunday, 29 July 2012

'The First Time I Saw Your Face' by Hazel Osmond

Release date: 16th August 2012

Published by: Quercus Books

ISBN No: 978 1849164191

Jennifer had it all. Until a terrible accident took almost everything.

When she moves back home, with her interfering ex right on the doorstep, the future doesn't look that bright.

Until she meets Mack.

Sexy, dishevelled and just a little clumsy, he starts to make her believe that she can move on from the past and embrace life all over again. But he has a secret he'd do anything to protect, and he's about to betray her to keep it.

Will he realise what she means to him in time? And if he does, will she be able to love the real Mack?

'Some Kind of Peace' by Camilla Grebe and Asa Traff

Release date: July 2012

Published by: Simon and Schuster UK

ISBN No: 978 0857209467

34-year-old psychotherapist Siri Bergman is terrified of the dark.

Living alone in a picturesque, but isolated area east of Stockholm, she has tried hard to convince herself that she has moved on since her husband, Stefan, died in a diving accident several years ago. But when she goes to bed, Siri leaves all the lights on unable to shake the feeling that someone is watching her at night.

So when one night she wakes up to find that the house is pitch black, and the torch she keeps by her bed for back-up is not where she thought she'd left it, it seems that Siri's worst fears have been realized.

And when the lifeless body of Sara Matteus, one of her patients, is found floating in the water near Siri's house, events quickly spiral. It is clear that Siri is in great danger, and she is thrown headlong into the centre of a murder investigation which will put each of her closest friends under the spotlight and force her to relive her troubled past.

'Unrest' by Michelle Harrison

Release date: April 2012

Published by: Simon and Schuster UK

ISBN No: 978 0857070913

Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn't slept properly for six months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Now he is afraid to go to sleep. Sometimes he wakes to find himself paralysed, unable to move a muscle, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. According to his doctor, sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless - but to Elliot they're terrifying. Convinced that his brush with death has opened up connections with the spirit world, Elliott secures a live-in job at one of England's most haunted locations, determined to find out the truth. There he finds Sebastian, the ghost of a long-dead servant boy hanged for stealing bread. He also meets the living, breathing Ophelia, a girl with secrets of her own. She and Elliott grow closer, but things take a terrifying turn when Elliott discovers Sebastian is occupying his body when he leaves it. And the more time Sebastian spends inhabiting a living body, the more resistant he becomes to giving it back. Worse, he seems to have an unhealthy interest in Ophelia. Unless Elliott can lay Sebastian's spirit to rest, he risks being possessed by him for ever, and losing the girl of his dreams…

Saturday, 28 July 2012

Cover Release: 'A Scent of Magic' by Maria V Snyder

Release date: 18th December 2012

Author Maria V Snyder has just released a picture of the cover for her next new novel 'Scent of Magic', which is due for release in December of this year. Here is also what it will tell you about this new novel on the cover:

'As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: In the minds of friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomaniacal King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement.And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confidant, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon's opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon's most horrible creations yet: an army of the walking dead - human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat. War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible...again.'

This is one book that should definately be on your list for Santa this year! :-)

'Underworld' by Meg Cabot

Release date: 27th September 2012

Published by: Macmillan Children's Books

ISBN No: 978 0330453875

From the number 1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, the dark reimagining of the Persephone myth begun in ABANDON continues ... into the Underworld. Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn't dead. Not this time. But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey. Her captor, John Hayden, claims it's for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they've come back as Furies, intent on vengeance . . . on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves. But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there . . . and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies. And unless Pierce is careful, this time there'll be no escape.

'Cast in Pearl' by Michelle Sagara

Release date: 18th September 2012

Published by: Harlequin Luna

ISBN No: 978 0373803507

USUALLY DISASTER DIDN'T STRIKE QUITE SO CLOSE TO HOME... It has been a busy few weeks for Private Kaylin Neva. In between angling for a promotion, sharing her room with the last living female Dragon and dealing with more refugees than anyone knew what to do with, the unusual egg she'd been given was ready to hatch. Actually, that turned out to be lucky, because it absorbed the energy from the bomb that went off in her quarters.... So now might be the perfect time to leave Elantra and journey to the West March with the Barrani. If not for the disappearances of citizens in the fief of Tiamaris-disappearances traced to the very Barrani Kaylin will be traveling with...

Free e-book! 'Coincidences' by Maria Savva

'Coincidences' by Maria Savva. Free to download from Amazon Com and Amazon UK for today and tomorrow only! (Sat 28th July 2012 and Sun 29th July 2012)

Get your free copy now! :-)

Just click on the appropriate link below:

Amazon UK Link

Amazon.com Link

Friday, 27 July 2012

'The Streets' by Anthony Quinn

Release date: 4th October 2012

Published by: Jonathan Cape

ISBN No: 978 0224096911

In 1882, David Wildeblood, a 21-year-old from rural Norfolk, arrives in London to start work at the offices of a famous man. As an 'inspector' for Henry Marchmont's hugely successful weekly "The Labouring Classes" of London, his job is to investigate the notorious slum of Somers Town, near the new St Pancras Station, recording house by house the number of inhabitants, their occupations and standard of living. By mapping the streets in this way, Marchmont intends to show the world the stark realities of poverty in its greatest city. Befriended by Jo, a young coster, and his sister Roma, David comes to learn the slang of the hawkers and traders, sharpers and scavengers, magsmen and mobsmen, who throng the teeming byways of Somers Town. It is a place of Darwinian struggle for survival. And the deeper he penetrates the everyday squalor and destitution the more appalled he is by mounting evidence that someone is making a profit from people's suffering. A dinner at the Kensington home of his godfather Sir Martin Elder introduces him to Kitty, Elder's only daughter, and to a cabal of prominent citizens who have been plotting a radical solution to the problem of London's poor. David belatedly realises that a conspiracy is afoot. Passionate but reckless in his urge to uncover it he finds his life in danger, sustained only by the faithfulness of a friend and, ultimately, the love of a woman. In "The Streets" Anthony Quinn reconstructs an unforgettable picture of Victorian London, encompassing the extremes of privilege and privation, from the baronial mansions of the rich to the 'whited tombs' of the slums. With shocking poignancy and pin-sharp detail he brings to life a world of terrible degradation, yet one redeemed by dark comedy, profound fellow-feeling and the enduring possibility of love.

Thursday, 26 July 2012

'Lazy Days of Summer' Giveway Hop! (International Stop)

Welcome to the 'The Lazy Days of Summer' Giveaway Hop which is hosted by 'I am a Reader, not a Writer' and 'Colorimetry'. To gain entry to this draw all you just have to be a GFC Follower of my blog. You can also gain an extra entry by leaving a comment on this blog post. Just complete the 'Rafflecopter Entry Form' that you will find at the end of this post. Once the form has been completed, you will have been entered into the draw!

As there is such a selection of books available these days, I am offering the main prize winner a $25 (US) or £20 (sterling) Amazon Gift Voucher/Certificate, so the winner can choose their own books! I will arrange that the prize is e-mailed to the winner on the completion of the draw!

One first prize of either a $25 (US) or £20 (sterling) Amazon Gift Voucher/Certificate.

There will only be one main prize winner from this draw. The gift Vouchers/Certificates will only be offered in either US dollars or sterling. No other currencies can be catered for. Each entrant will be allocated a sequential number. After the closing date for this draw ( 1st August 2012 at 23.59GMT), the winning number entered for this draw will be chosen by Random.org. This is an International Giveaway Draw!

To visit the rest of the blogs that are taking part in this great hop, just click on the 'Click Here' link below, to be taken to a page of participating blog links.

'CLICK HERE'

Good luck Everyone!

If you are not in, you cannot win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner of my 'Vacation Reads' Giveaway!

I would like to say a great big thank-you to everyone who joined my blog as a new follower or were already a follower on GFC, entered this draw and to those who left a comment on the post . It really is appreciated.

As usual I wish that I could send everyone who entered this draw a prize, but within the rules of this draw, there was to be only one lucky winner from this draw!

For those of you who have not won this time, there are plenty more giveaway draws to come. A new giveaway draw will go up today. Please keep visiting this blog and entering the giveaways. You never know your luck, you could be one of our next winners! If you are a GFC follower of this blog, do not forget to enter my monthly 'GFC Followers' book draw. Just click on the relevant tab at the top of the page!

I visited random.org earlier today and the winner of this particular draw for the Amazon Gift Voucher/Certificate is, drum roll!!!

Emily McG - $25 (US) or £20 (sterling) Amazon Gift Voucher/Certificate

Congratulations!

I will contact the winner to let them know and to arrange delivery of their prize. If I have not been able to make contact with the winner within 48 hours of this post, another winner will then be drawn. Thank-you again to everyone who entered this draw and who follow my blog. Happy reading!

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

'Shadow of Night' by Deborah Harkness

Release date: 10th July 2012

Published by: Headline

ISBN No: 978 0755384730

Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.
Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers...

Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in this stunning, richly imagined, epic tale.

'The Sandcastle Girls' by Chris Bohjalian

Release date: 2nd August 2012

Published By: Simon and Schuster UK

ISBN No: 978 1471110702

'How do a million and a half people die with nobody knowing? You kill them in the middle of nowhere.'

The year is 1915. When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Aleppo, Syria, her diploma from Mount Holyoke and a crash course in nursing have left her wholly unprepared for the atrocities she must face. For Aleppo is the first arrival point for the hundreds of thousands of Armenians who have been forced to march out of Turkey and through the desert to die.

There Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter in the genocide. When Armen leaves Aleppo and travels to Egypt to join the British army, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, and slowly he begins to realise that, unless he can find his way back to her, he risks becoming lost forever.

Present day, New York. Laura Petrosian has always known her grandparents' ornate Pelham home was affectionately nicknamed 'The Ottoman Annex', yet she has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought. But when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura's grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family's history that reveals love, loss - and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

'The Lady's Maid' by Dilly Court

Release date: 7th June 2012

Published by: Arrow

ISBN No: 978 0099562559

In the quiet of a warm summer's evening, two young mothers are forced to give up their babies. Whilst Kate grows up knowing only poverty and servitude, Josie's world is one of privilege and luxury. Despite the differences in their circumstances, Kate and Josie have been friends since childhood. But their past binds them together in ways they must never know. Until a chance meeting forces Kate and Josie to confront the truth of that night nearly twenty years before - a truth that turns both worlds upside down and threatens to destroy their friendship forever...

Copyright: Amazon Synopsis

'The Lancashire Witches' by Philip C. Almond

Release date: 30th July 2012

Published by: I.B.Tauris

ISBN No: 978 1780760629

In the febrile religious and political climate of late sixteenth-century England, when the grip of the Reformation was as yet fragile and insecure, and underground papism still perceived to be rife, Lancashire was felt by the Protestant authorities to be a sinister corner of superstition, lawlessness and popery. And it was around Pendle Hill, a sombre ridge that looms over the intersecting pastures, meadows and moorland of the Ribble Valley, that their suspicions took infamous shape. The arraignment of the Lancashire witches in the assizes of Lancaster during 1612 is England s most notorious witch-trial. The women who lived in the vicinity of Pendle, who were accused alongside the so-called Samlesbury Witches, then convicted and hanged, were more than just wicked sorcerers whose malign incantations caused others harm. They were reputed to be part of a dense network of devilry and mischief that revealed itself as much in hidden celebration of the Mass as in malevolent magic. They had to be eliminated to set an example to others. In this remarkable and authoritative treatment, published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the case of the Lancashire witches, Philip C Almond evokes all the fear, drama and paranoia of those volatile times: the bleak story of the storm over Pendle.

'Alexander God of War' by Christian Cameron

Release date: 11th October 2012

Published by: Orion

ISBN No: 978 1409135944

To many he was a god. To others he was a monster. The truth is even more extraordinary. As a boy, Alexander dreamed of matching the heroic feats of Achilles. At eighteen he led the Macedonian cavalry to a stunning victory against the Greeks. By twenty-five he had crushed the Persians in three monumental battles and was the master of the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Men began to call him a god. But behind the legend was another, more complex story. Narrated by his boyhood friend Ptolemy, this is the story of Alexander as you have never heard it before: raw, intimate, thrilling - a story of extraordinary daring and unimaginable endurance; of wanton destruction and murderous intrigue - the epic tragedy of a man who aimed to be more than human.

'Mysterious' by Nora Roberts

Release date: 28th August 2012

Published by: Silhouette Books

ISBN No: 978-0373281619

Paperback Edition

"This Magic Moment"Ryan Swan has vowed to never give her trust again, so it would figure that master illusionist Pierce Atkins is the last man to whom she should give her "heart." Especially since he is planning a death-defying stunt he might not survive. Yet despite her best efforts, in Pierce's enthralling presence, all Ryan's defenses seem to vanish...like magic."Search for Love"Arriving at her long-lost relatives' Brittany estate, Serenity Smith is greeted with cold politeness by the Comtesse de Kergallen and her darkly handsome grandson, Christophe. Refusing to believe their scandalous tales about her late parents, Serenity sets out to prove them false. But getting the enigmatic Christophe to change his mind about her turns out to be an equally worthy challenge."The Right Path"After a frightening encounter with a knife-wielding stranger, Morgan James is bewildered when her "attacker" turns out to be the very wealthy Nicholas Gregoras. Though Morgan's suspicions about the Greek tycoon are strong and very justified, can they withstand the all-consuming desire ignited by his passionate kiss?

Monday, 23 July 2012

'666 Park Avenue' by Gabriella Pierce

Release date: 2nd August 2012

Published by: Canvas

ISBN No: 978 1780336978

Welcome to New York City, where the socialites are witches. Jane Boyle has been living a fairy tale. When her boyfriend Malcolm proposes, Jane can't believe her luck and decides to leave her Paris-based job as a fledgling architect and makes a new start with him in New York. But when Malcolm introduces Jane to the esteemed Doran clan, one of Manhattan's most feared and revered families, Jane's fairy tale takes a darker turn. Now Jane must struggle with newfound magical abilities and the threat of those who will stop at nothing to get them. Welcome to "666 Park Avenue"...

'Home Front' by Kristin Hannah

Release date: 16th August 2012

Published by: Pan

ISBN No: 978 1447207610

This title comes from the international bestselling author of "Night Road", the 2011 UK TV Book Club selection. From a distance, Michael and Jolen Zarkades seem to have it all: a solid dependable marriage, exciting careers and children they adore. But after twelve blissful years together, the couple has lost their way. They are unhappy and edging towards divorce. Then an unexpected deployment tears their already fragile family apart, sending one of them deep into harm's way and leaving the other at home, caring for the children and waiting for news. When the worst happens, each must face their darkest fear and fight for the future of their family. This is an intimate look at the inner landscape of a disintegrating marriage and a dramatic exploration of the price of war. "Home Front" is a provocative and timely portrait of hope, honour, loss, forgiveness - and the elusive nature of love.

'Awakening' by William Horwood

Release date: 2nd August 2012

Published by: Pan

ISBN No: 978 0330461696

A series of extraordinary events mark the beginning of summer: earth tremors ravage the Hyddenworld; Jack and Katherine have a child, Judith; and a mysterious gem is found near Brum. That same night, after decades of sleep, the Emperor of the Hyddenworld awakens ...Jack, born of the Hyddenworld, knows that he has a foot in each world but doesn't wholly belong to either.Is he human, or hydden? Judith too is a child of two worlds, with her human mother and hydden father. She knows who she is supposed to be -- the Shield Maiden, bearer of the gems and helper of humankind -- but somehow this destiny seems too much to accept. The discovered gem puts Brum firmly in the path of the Empire -- Jack must travel back to the Hyddenworld. He knows that the four gems need to be reunited soon and that the Shield Maiden must be ready to wield them. If Judith does not embark on her own great journey soon, or the gems can't be found, then both the hydden world and the human will be threatened with extinction.

Sunday, 22 July 2012

'Coincidences' by Maria Savva

Kindle Edition

Published 7th July 2012

One of the first interviews that I posted here on 'The Secret Writer' blog, was with the author Maria Savva. My interview with Maria can be found by clicking on the following LINK

I really enjoyed reading Maria's first novel 'Coincidences', which initially was published as a hard backed book. Recently Maria has released a Kindle version of 'Coincidences'. You can find a synopsis of this story and the relevant Amazon links below. I wish Maria every success with her launch of the Kindle version of 'Coincidences'!

'Secrets, lies and coincidences abound in this story of a young girl looking for her father. Alice, now twenty-one years old, is determined to find her father who left home when she was just a baby, despite a warning from her mother that she should not look for him. Her mother's secretiveness over the subject is because of the guilt she feels about keeping the truth from Alice. It will take all of Alice's courage to persevere in her search. There are doubts and uncertainties at every turn. Coincidences is a story about following your dreams and staying on the path no matter how difficult the circumstances may become.'

Amazon Links:

UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coincidences-ebook/dp/B008IULHVK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1342393710&sr=1-1

US:http://www.amazon.com/Coincidences-ebook/dp/B008IULHVK/ref~~sr_1_2!!ie~~UTF8^^amp;qid~~1342393605^^amp;sr~~8-2^^amp;keywords~~coincidences maria savva&urlHash=-1.2642477259348536E41

' A Twist of Fate' by Joanna Rees

Release date: 2nd August 2012

Published by: Pan

ISBN No: 978 0230758278

Romy and Thea, two beautiful baby girls, their future's sealed with the flip of a coin. One will enter a life of privilege, surrounded by only the best money can buy. The other will fight for survival in an orphanage, against an evil regime who seek only to exploit her. Throughout the years their paths will cross, neither knowing who the other one is, their lives overflowing with secrets, blackmail and murder. From the snow covered forests of Eastern Europe to the glistening white beaches of the Caribbean. From the gutters of London's Soho to the towering skyscrapers of New York, A twist of fate tore them apart, only their strength and determination can reunite them...

'Bobby's Girl' by Catrin Collier

Release date: 30th July 2012

Published by: Allison and Busby

ISBN No: 978 0749010874

Paperback Edition

America 1968. Protests against the Vietnam War, for Civil Rights, sit-ins, love-ins, happenings - youth pitted against the establishment, hoping to create a better world. Everyone has one special summer. For British students Penny and Kate, and Americans Bobby and Sandy, it was that summer on Cape Cod. Warm languid days filled with love, laughter and music. Until the night Bobby's car crashed and burst into flames, and a bitter old woman took control, changing the survivors' lives for ever. One of the four was killed, another damaged; a third disappeared never to be seen by family or friends again. Penny survived, only to be haunted for almost twenty years by a dark and dangerous secret. Then a letter arrives asking Penny to return to America to help right the wrongs of that fateful night. But has she the courage?

'The Girl you Left Behind' by Jojo Moyles

Release date: 27th September 2012

Published by: Penguin

ISBN No: 978 0718157845

France, 1916. Sophie Lefevre must keep her family safe whilst her adored husband Edouard fights at the front. When she is ordered to serve the German officers who descend on her hotel each evening, her home becomes riven by fierce tensions. And from the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie's portrait - painted by Edouard - a dangerous obsession is born, which will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision.

Almost a century later, and Sophie's portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before he died. A chance encounter reveals the painting's true worth, and its troubled history. A history that is about to resurface and turn Liv's life upside down all over again . . .

Copyright: Amazon Synopsis

'Throne of Glass' by Sarah J.Maas

Release date: 2nd August 2012

Published by: Bloomsbury Children's Books

ISBN No: 978 1408832332

Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness. In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught. Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted?

'The Map of the Sky' by Felix J. Palma

Release date: 4th September 2012

Published by: Atria Books

ISBN No: 978-1451660319

The "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Map of Time" returns with a mesmerizing novel casting H.G. Wells in a leading role, as the extraterrestrial invasion featured in "The War of the Worlds" is turned into a bizarre reality.A love story serves as backdrop for "The Map of the Sky "when New York socialite Emma Harlow agrees to marry millionaire Montgomery Gilmore, but only if he accepts her audacious challenge: to reproduce the extraterrestrial invasion featured in Wells's "War of the Worlds." What follows are three brilliantly interconnected plots to create a breathtaking tale of time travel and mystery, replete with cameos by a young Edgar Allan Poe, and Captain Shackleton and Charles Winslow from "The Map of Time."

Saturday, 21 July 2012

'Peaches for Father Francis' by Joanne Harris

Release date: 2nd October 2012

Published by: Viking Books

ISBN No: 978 0670026364

The bestselling author of "Chocolat" and "The Girl with No Shadow" returns to Lansquenet in this enchanting new novel When Vianne Rocher receives a letter from beyond the grave, she has no choice but to follow the wind that blows her back to Lansquenet, the beautiful French village in which eight years ago she opened a chocolate shop and first learned the meaning of home. But returning to one's past can be a dangerous pursuit. Vianne, with her daughters, Anouk and Rosette, finds Lansquenet changed in unexpected ways: women veiled in black, the scent of spices and peppermint tea--and there, on the bank of the river Tannes, facing the church, a minaret. Most surprising of all, her old nemesis, Father Francis Reynaud, desperately needs her help. Can Vianne work her magic once again?

'The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and its People' by Barry Kemp

Release date: 15th October 2012

Published by: Thames and Hudson

ISBN No: 978 0500051733

The ancient site of Tell el-Amarna in Middle Egypt was the capital city of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten and his chief consort, Nefertiti. Occupied for just sixteen or so years in the fourteenth century BC, the city lay largely abandoned and forgotten until excavations over the last hundred years brought it back into prominence. Based on more than three decades of research and excavation by Barry Kemp, the world authority on the city and its enigmatic pharaoh, this definitive account provides new insight into Amarna and its people. Professor Kemp brings to life the royal family and their offspring, including Tutankhamun, as well as prominent citizens such as the high priest Panehsy, the vizier Nakht, the general Ramose, and the sculptor Thutmose. It is a tour de force of archaeological writing, brilliantly illustrated with more than 260 photographs, evocative line drawings, and reconstructions by the author.

Copyright: The Book Depository Synopsis

'The Twelve Rooms of the Nile' by Enid Shomer

Release date: August 2012

Published by: Simon and Schuster UK

ISBN No: 978 1471101755

Before she became the nineteenth-century's heroine, before he had written a word of Madame Bovary, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert traveled up the Nile at the same time. In reality, they never met. But in The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, they ignite a friendship marked by intelligence, humor, and a ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.

On the surface, Nightingale and Flaubert have little in common. She is a woman with radical ideas about society and God, naive in the ways of men. He is a notorious womanizer, involved with innumerable prostitutes. But both are at painful crossroads in their lives and burn with unfulfilled ambition. In Shomer's deft hands, the two unlikely soulmates come together to share their darkest torments and fervent hopes. Brimming with adventure and the sparkling sensibilities of the two travelers, this mesmerizing debut novel offers a luminous combination of gorgeous prose and wild imagination, all of it colored by the opulent tapestry of mid-nineteenth century Egypt.

'Poison Princess' by Kresley Cole

Release date: October 2012

Published by: Simon and Schuster UK

ISBN No: 978 0857079183

Sixteen-year-old Evie Greene thought her horrific apocalyptic hallucinations were a sign that she was slowly losing her mind. But when her visions come true, decimating the world around her and killing everyone she loves, Evie is forced to accept that she was seeing the future.
Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she turns to wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate, the gorgeous and dangerous Jackson Deveaux for help. As Jackson and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have got the same call and discover that Evie is not the only one with special powers. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and as the battle between good and evil intensifies, it is not always clear who is on which side…

Friday, 20 July 2012

'Enchantments' by Kathryn Harrison

Release date: 16th August 2012

Published by: Fourth Estate

ISBN No: 978 0007476473

From the author of The Kiss, a magical, riveting story of doomed love, set at the fall of Russia's last Tsar.

New Year’s Day, St. Petersburg, 1917. Divers pull the body of Rasputin, the Mad Monk, from the icy waters of the Neva River. Within hours, his daughters are taken to the Royal Palace, where the Tsarina makes a shocking request: would Masha, 18, take on her father’s role as healer to the Tsarevitch Alyosha?

Two months later, revolution has toppled the Tsar, and the entire family is placed under house-arrest. Trapped together in harsh conditions, Masha and Alyosha find solace in one another’s company. Two teenagers, with radically different experiences of the Romanov’s ill-fated reign, create a private realm of magic and love, as Masha introduces Alyosha to the wild and beautiful land he will never rule.

'Sorry' by Zoran Drvenkar

Release date: 27th September 2012

Published by: Blue Door

ISBN No: 978 0007439287

Berlin. Four friends. One extreme idea. One of the most gripping thrillers ever written.

Kris, Tamara,Wolf and Frauke set up an agency called Sorry. An agency to right wrongs. Unfair dismissals, the wrongly accused: everyone has a price, and Sorry will find out what it is. It’s as simple as that.

What they hadn’t counted on was their next client being a cold-hearted killer. But who is the killer and why has he killed? Someone is mocking them and hell is only just beginning.

Thursday, 19 July 2012

'Ma, I've Reached for the Moon an I'm Hittin the Stars' by Martha Long

Release date: 6th September 2012

Published by: Mainstream Publishing

ISBN No: 978 1780575742

'Never again will I let myself plunge so low, it nearly cost my life then ended in the mad house', Martha vows, as she sits back in the taxi wrapping the fur coat around her. A young Russian monk from the mental hospital has proposed marriage. Then she receives a shock. A letter from Father Ralph Fitzgerald, the man who rescued her as a sixteen year old from the streets. With no one to care whether she lived or died, he took her into his life and into his heart, leaving her in the care of his family. They fell in love when she was still a young girl of eighteen, now a young lady with a very bright future. Ralph, who had become the most powerful person in her life, felt he had done all he could do for her. Now it was time for her to fly away on her wings, and meet her life head on. He left for the African Congo to work as a missionary doctor, where he has spent the last sixteen years. Now he has returned, and is living in France. By chance he learned about Martha's breakdown, and has invited her to write, or phone him. She does neither. Now Martha draws us once again into her life as we follow her to France. She has decided to arrive on his doorstep and meet him face to face. Even after all these years, Ralph Fitzgerald is the only man she has ever loved. She needs to know if he still feels the same. Do they have a future together?

'Endlessly - Paranormalcy' by Kiersten White

Release date: 2nd August 2012 (Paperback)

Published by: Harper Collins Children's Books

ISBN No: 978 0007390175

When your world is paranormal, be glad that you're human...The breathtaking conclusion to the bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, which left Hush, Hush author Becca Fitzpatrick exclaiming, "I'm in love!" After the shocking revelations about her parents and the faeries' struggle for possession of her soul, all Evie wants is to spend a normal Christmas with her shapeshifter boyfriend Lend. But as usual things don't turn out as planned for Evie, as suddenly the International Paranormal Containment Agency, the local paranormals and her faery ex-boyfriend Reth are all in need, and only Evie and her powers can save them. Once again...so much for normal.

'Vacation Reads' Giveaway Hop! (International Stop)

Welcome to the 'Vacation Reads' Giveaway Hop which is hosted by 'I am a Reader, not a Writer' and 'The Bookish Mama'. To gain entry to this draw all you just have to be a GFC Follower of my blog. You can also gain an extra entry by leaving a comment on this blog post. Just complete the 'Rafflecopter Entry Form' that you will find at the end of this post. Once the form has been completed, you will have been entered into the draw.

One first prize of either a $25 (US) or £20 (sterling) Amazon Gift Voucher/Certificate.

There will only be one main prize winner from this draw. The gift Vouchers/Certificates will only be offered in either US dollars or sterling. No other currencies can be catered for. Each entrant will be allocated a sequential number. After the closing date for this draw ( 25th July 2012 at 23.59GMT), the winning number entered for this draw will be chosen by Random.org. This is an International Giveaway Draw!

To visit the rest of the blogs that are taking part in this great hop, just click on the 'Click Here' link below, to be taken to a page of participating blog links.

'CLICK HERE'

Good luck Everyone!

If you are not in, you cannot win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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