New Scifi and Fantasy releases: Week of May 2nd

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This week there are some new releases that I'm particularly excited about, including Charlaine Harris's Dead in the Family (please, please let it be better than the last one) and Leanna Renee Hieber's The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker. There is also a new urban fantasy that looks like it could be a fun read, The Wish List by Gabi Stevens, and a new title by C. J. Cherryh which reminds me that I really need to try some of this author's books already. And if you enjoy the recently popular quirky revisions of the classics, then Little Women and Werewolves, by Porter Grand, might be a book that you would enjoy.

I actually have a whole stack of books that I still need to get through, before I will have the opportunity to sample any of these, but I'd be interested in hearing from you about which of these books you plan on reading.

Hope you have a great reading week!



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Title: Magic on the Storm (Allie Beckstrom, Bk 4)
by Devon Monk
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher:Roc
Release Date: May 4
Description: Allison Beckstrom is committed to her work tracing illegal spells. Now, there's an apocalyptic storm bearing down on Portland, and when it hits, all the magic in the area will turn unstable and destructive. To stop it from taking out the entire city, Allie and her lover, the mysterious Zayvion Jones, must work with the Authority-the enigmatic arbiters of all things magic-and take a stand against a magical wildstorm that will obliterate all in its path...



Title: Darkborn
by Alison Sinclair
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: May 4
Description: For the Darkborn, sunlight kills. For the Lightborn, darkness is fatal. Living under a centuries-old curse, the Darkborn and the Lightborn share the city of Minhorne, coexisting in an uneasy equilibrium but never interacting-until a Darkborn physician finds a pregnant fugitive on his doorstep...



Title: Dead in the Family
by Charlaine Harris
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Publisher: ACE
Release Date: May 4
Description: After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry...


Title: A Taint in the Blood (A Novel of the Shadowspawn)
by S. M. Stirling
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: ROC
Release Date: May 4
Description: First in the new Shadowspan series from the New York Times bestselling "master of speculative fiction" (Library Journal).

Eons ago, Homo Lupens ruled the earth. Possessing extraordinary powers, they were the source of all of the myths and legends of the uncanny. And though their numbers have been greatly reduced, they exist still- though not as purebreds.

Adrian Breze is one such being. Wealthy and reclusive, he is more Shadowspawn than human. But he rebelled against his own kind, choosing to live as an ordinary man. Now, to save humanity, he must battle the dark forces of the world-including those in his own blood...


Title: The Dragon and the Stars
by Derwin Mak, Eric Choi, Tess Gerritsen
Genre: science fiction anthology
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: March 4
Description: An all-new anthology of Chinese culture-inspired science fiction

This unique collection of science fiction tales demonstrates the diversity of the Chinese experience around the world, merging China's rich heritage with new traditions, offering North American readers an opportunity to discover these exciting writers.



Title: Ark
by Stephen Baxter
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: March 4
Description: With the discovery of another life-sustaining planet light years away, there is hope for a chosen few to leave the soon-to-be submerged Earth. Holle Groundwater is one of the candidates, having been trained for this purpose since childhood, when the ships Ark One and Ark Three were being built. But as Holle prepares to endure life aboard the Ark, she comes to realize that her attempt at escape may be more dangerous than trying to stay afloat on a drowning planet...




Title:A Legacy of Daemons
by Camille Bacon-Smith
Genre:
Publisher:
Release Date: May 4
Description: Third in the paranormal detective series

Evan Davis and his partners, Brad and Lily, attract the jobs no other detective can handle-cases with a dangerous, otherworldly slant. But no one is better equipped for this because Lily and Brad are powerful daemon lords, and Evan is Brad's half-daemon son. Now, however, the trio face a real challenge---involving armies of daemons, and wealthy mortals who have delved far too deeply into the dark arts...


Title: Deceiver (Foreigner #11)
by C. J. Cherryh
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: May 4
Description: "One of the best long-running SF series in existence" (Publishers Weekly) continues with the second novel in a brand-new Foreigner sequence.

The civil war among the alien Atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri, his son and heir, has returned to the Bujavid, his seat of power. But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over.


Title: Well of Sorrows
by Benjamin Tate
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: May 4
Description: An epic tale of a continent on the brink of war, and a deadly magic that waits to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world.

Colin Harten and his parents had fled across the ocean to escape the Family wars in Andover. But trouble followed them and their fellow refugees to this new land, forcing them to abandon the settled areas and head into unexplored territory-the sacred grounds of a race of underground dwellers and warriors. It was here that they would meet their doom. Driven to the borders of a dark forest, they were attacked by mysterious Shadow creatures who fed on life force. Only Colin survived to find his way to the Well of Sorrows-and to a destiny that might prove the last hope for peace in this troubled land.


Title: Love in the Time of Dragons: A Novel of the Light Dragons
by Katie MacAlister
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: May 4
Description: When it comes to love, one woman is scaling back her expectations...

Tully Sullivan is just like any other suburban mom-except she's just woken up in a strange place surrounded by strange people who keep insisting that they're dragons-and that she's one too.



Title: Vampire Mistress
by Joey W. Hill
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release Date: May 4
Description: The fifth book in the sensational series of "sizzling paranormal erotica." (Fresh Fiction)

Joey W. Hill returns to the dark and seductive landscape of her Vampire Queen novels as a desperate woman named Anwyn finds herself trapped between the desires of two men, each with his own mission of the night: vampire hunter Gideon Green and vampire Daegan Rei. But when Anwyn is attacked by a rogue bloodsucker, Gideon and Daegan must become allies in order to save the woman they both love.



Title: White Cat (Curse Workers, Bk 1)
by Holly Black
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date: May 4
Description: Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love -- or death -- and your dreams might be more real than your memories.



Title: Running Scared
by Shannon K. Butcher
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Onyx
Release Date: May 4
Description: The thrilling third novel in Shannon K. Butcher's new urban fantasy series...

Lexi Johns has one purpose: to free her best friend from the hands of the Sentinels. And the Sentinel she has been running from for months, Zach, has one goal: to convince her that their destinies are entwined. For the magic that Zach has absorbed could destroy him if he doesn't find the woman to channel it for him. And he knows Lexi is the one...


Title: Shadow Marked: A Demon Bound Novel
by Anna Evans
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: NAL Trade
Release Date: May 4
Description: Samantha Quinn has been in the dark since age six, when her parents sacrificed her sight in a Satanic ritual. She is trying to get over her demonic past, but horrific lifelike visions haunt her. Her intuition gets stronger and clearer after a wild, adrenaline-fueled sexual encounter with Jace, her brother's childhood friend. And now Samantha is more tormented than ever by what she can "see"-and by what she felt in that forbidden encounter...

Samantha must now prevent the deaths she sees in her premonitions and protect her body from the same demon from her twisted childhood. Her dark curse reveals that Jace will be the next victim, and it is crystal clear that she must destroy the demon to protect her love.


Title: Little Women and Werewolves
by Porter Grand
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Del Ray
Release Date: May 4
Description: A literary landmark—the original, suppressed draft of the classic novel!

Little Women is a timeless classic. But Louisa May Alcott’s first draft—before her editor sunk his teeth into it—was even better. Now the original text has at last been exhumed. In this uncensored version, the March girls learn some biting lessons, transforming from wild girls into little women—just as their friends and neighbors transform into vicious, bloodthirsty werewolves!

Here are tomboy Jo, quiet Beth, ladylike Amy, and good-hearted Meg, plus lovable neighbor Laurie Laurence, now doomed to prowl the night on all fours, maiming and devouring the locals. As the Civil War rages, the girls learn the value of being kind, the merits of patience and grace, and the benefits of knowing a werewolf who can disembowel your teacher.

By turns heartwarming and blood-curdling, this rejuvenated classic will be cherished and treasured by those who love a lesson in virtue almost as much as they enjoy a good old-fashioned dismemberment.

Includes the original letter from Alcott’s editor, telling her not to even think about it!


Title: Hunted by the Others
by Jess Haines
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Zebra
Release Date: May 4
Description: They are the Others--the vampires, mages, and werewolves once thought to exist only in our imaginations. Now they're stepping out of the shadows, and nothing in our world will ever be the same again. . .
In A Town Like This, Being A P.I. Can Be Murder
Shiarra Waynest's detective work was dangerous enough when her client base was strictly mortal. But ailing finances have forced her to accept a lucrative case that could save her firm--if it doesn't kill her first. Shiarra has signed on to work for a high-level mage to recover an ancient artifact owned by one of New York's most powerful vampires.
As soon as Shiarra meets sexy, mesmerizing vamp Alec Royce, she knows her assignment is even more complicated than she thought. With a clandestine anti-Other group trying to recruit her, and magi being eliminated, Shiarra needs back-up and enlists her ex-boyfriend--a werewolf whose non-furry form is disarmingly appealing--and a nerdy mage with surprising talents. But it may not be enough. In a city where the undead roam, magic rules, and even the Others aren't always what they seem, Shiarra has just become the secret weapon in a battle between good and evil--whether she likes it or not. . .


Title: Spells
by Aprilynne Pike
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: May 4
Description: Six months have passed since Laurel saved the gateway to the faerie realm of Avalon. Now she must spend her summer there, honing her skills as a Fall faerie. But her human family and friends are still in mortal danger--and the gateway to Avalon is more compromised than ever.
When it comes time to protect those she loves, will she depend on David, her human boyfriend, for help? Or will she turn to Tamani, the electrifying faerie with whom her connection is undeniable?


Title: Shade
by Jeri Smith-Ready
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: May 4
Description: Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.
Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.
Well, sort of.
Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding--and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.
As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.


Title: The Demon In Me (A Living in Eden Novel)
by Michelle Rowen
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: May 4
Description: After her hunky police detective partner guns down a serial killer in front of her, "psychic consultant" Eden Riley realizes that she's no longer alone. A voice in her head introduces himself as Darrak. He's a demon. But not in a bad way. He was cursed 300 years ago and he wants to find a way to break free. Eden's psychic energy helps him take form during daylight, and she's going to have to learn to live with this sexy demon...like it or not.



Title: Hard Magic
by Laura Anne Gilman
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Luna
Release Date: May 1
Description: Welcome to P.U.P.I.—Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations
A handpicked team trained to solve crimes the regular police can't touch—crimes of magic.
My name's Bonnie Torres. Recent college grad, magic user and severely unemployed. Until I got a call out of nowhere to interview for a job I hadn't applied for. It smelled fishy, but the brutal truth was I needed the work—so off I went.
Two days later I'm a PUPI—me and Nick, Sharon, Nifty and Pietr. Five twentysomethings, thrown into an entirely new career in forensic magic.
The first job we get is a doozy: proving that the deaths of two Talents were murder, not suicide. Worse, there are high-profile people who want us to close up shop and go away. We're sniffing out things they'd rather keep buried.

Looks as if this job is gonna get interesting. The only problem is, we're making it up as we go along….

Title: Picture the Dead
by Adele Griffin
Genre:
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: May 1
Description: A ghost will find his way home.

Jennie Lovell's life is the very picture of love and loss. First she is orphaned and forced to live at the mercy of her stingy, indifferent relatives. Then her fiancé falls on the battlefield, leaving her heartbroken and alone. Jennie struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but is haunted by a mysterious figure that refuses to let her bury the past.

When Jennie forms an unlikely alliance with a spirit photographer, she begins to uncover secrets about the man she thought she loved. With her sanity on edge and her life in the balance, can Jennie expose the chilling truth before someone-or something-stops her?

Against the brutal, vivid backdrop of the American Civil War, Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown have created a spellbinding mystery where the living cannot always be trusted and death is not always the end.


Title: The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker
by Leanna Renee Hieber
Genre: Romantic Fantasy/Fantasy
Publisher: Leisure Books
Release Date: May 1
Description: With radiant, snow-white skin and hair, Percy Parker was a beacon for Fate. True love had found her, in the tempestuous form of Professor Alexi Rychman. But her mythic destiny was not complete. Accompanying the ghosts with which she alone could converse, new and terrifying omens loomed. A war was coming, a desperate ploy of a spectral host. Victorian London would be overrun.

Yet, Percy kept faith. Within the mighty bastion of Athens Academy, alongside The Guard whose magic shielded mortals from the agents of the Underworld, she counted herself among friends. Wreathed in hallowed fire, they would stand together, no matter what dreams—or nightmares—might come.


Title: Puppet Master
by Joanne Owen
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
Release Date: May 1
Description: From riches to rags, Milena is growing up in the city of Prague at the turn of the 20th century. Her parents' once prosperous theater lies in disrepair, and her life seems to be in ruins since the fateful night her father died in a tragic accident and her beautiful, talented mother went missing. Milena has never lost hope that her mother will come back.

The day she meets the flamboyant Puppet Master and his menacing twin protégés, Zdenko and Zdenka, under the shadow of Prague's famous Astronomical Clock in the Old Town square, is, coincidentally, the date of her mother's birthday. It's also the day Milena's grandmother chooses to reveal to her the story of her ancestors—and of her legacy. Perhaps it's not such a coincidence?

Joanne Owen's debut novel, long-listed for the Carnegie Medal, skillfully mingles the legends of Bohemia in a story rich in the traditions of circus, theater, and magic, all set in a city waiting to lay bare a myriad of secrets.


Title: The Hypnotist (The Reincarnationist, Book 3)
by MJ Rose
Genre:
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: May 1
Description: An FBI agent, tormented by a death he wasn't able to prevent, a crime he's never been able to solve and a love he's never forgotten, discovers that his true conflict resides not in his past, but in a…Past Life.
Haunted by a twenty-year old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work as a Special Agent with the FBI's Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation—dedicated to the science of past life study—where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.
Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to 19th century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie capital of world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history: the theft of a 1,500 year old sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.



Title: The Wish List
by Gabi Stevens
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: May 1
Description: Kristin Montgomery is more than a little shocked when her aunts inform her they’re fairy godmothers. Worse, after dropping that bombshell they hand her a wand and head off on a world cruise. Now Kristin’s uncomplicated life as a CPA in San Diego has disappeared like magic and she not only has to deal with her burgeoning magical powers, but also a reluctant—and distractingly sexy—magical arbiter.

Tennyson Ritter is a historian. A scholar by choice, he is yanked from his studies to act as arbiter for the newly chosen fairy godmother. He doesn’t want to waste his time with a woman who doesn’t know anything about magic or the magical world, but soon the beguiling Kristin draws him away from his books and into her life.

But before Kristin can hone her skills and pass the tests necessary to fully claim her powers, she and Tennyson must work together to defend the world – both magical and human – against those that would claim her powers for their own.


Title: Kiss of Death (Morganville Vampires, Book 8)
by Rachel Caine
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: May 1
Description: Vampire musician Michael Glass has attracted the attention of a big- time producer who wants to cut a demo and play some gigs-which means Michael will have to enter the human world. For this, he's been assigned escorts that include both a dangerous immortal as well as Michael's all-too-human friends. And with that mix of personalities, this is going to be a road trip from hell...



Title: Grand Central Arena
by Ryk E. Spoor
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Baen
Release Date: May
Description: It was supposed to be a simple test flight, one that pilot Ariane Austin was on only as a last-ditch backup; intelligent, superhumanly fast automation would handle the test activation and flight of humanity's first faster-than-light vessel. But when the Sandrisson Drive activated, every automated system crashed, the nuclear reactor itself shut down, and only the reflexes and training of a racing pilot saved the test vessel Holy Grail from crashing into the impossible wall that had appeared before them, a wall which is just part of a monstrous enclosure surrounding a space twenty thousand kilometers across. With all artificial intelligences inert and their reactor dead, they had to find some other source of power to reactivate the Sandrisson Drive and—hopefully—take them home.
And that was only the beginning. As Ariane, Dr. Simon Sandrisson, darkly enigmatic power engineer Marc C. DuQuesne, and the rest of the Holy Grail's crew explore the immense artifact, they discover that they are not alone; they have entered a place the alien inhabitants call “The Arena,” and there is no way out without joining one of the alien factions . . . or winning recognition as a faction in their own right, playing by the Arena's rules ? and by the Arena's rules, one failed challenge could mean death or worse ? perhaps for the entire human race.
Surrounded by alien factions, each with its own secret plans and motivations, some wielding powers so strange as to be magical, Ariane sets out to beat the Arena at its own game. With DuQuesne's strategies, Sandrisson's genius, and her own unyielding determination, she's going to bring the Holy Grail home ? even if she has to beat every faction in the Arena to do it!