OBS Staffer Amanda has compiled a list of the new releases:

Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani

(From Publishers Weekly):  Trigiani (Big Stone Gap) takes the familiar boarding school milieu and gives it some welcome nuance and a refreshingly grounded feel in her debut YA work, first in a proposed series. To her horror, 14-year-old aspiring filmmaker Viola Chesterton is forced to leave her family, her funky Brooklyn neighborhood and her “Best Friend Forever And Always” Andrew to spend her freshman year at Prefect Academy for Young Women in South Bend, Ind. But Viola soon finds much to like in her new roommates and rural campus, chronicling her experiences in a video diary. While the story of Viola’s blossoming may seem slow to readers used to students who are training to be spies or developing crushes on vampires, Trigiani offers a realistic look at the ever-shifting bonds of friendship and the adjustment to one’s first taste of life away from home. Viola’s reflections on the sisterhood of girlfriends and the importance of girls standing up for themselves are resonant but never cheerleaderish. Trigiani uses Viola’s droll humor and a colorful supporting cast to great effect, ensuring that readers will want to know what happens to them in future volumes. Ages 12–up.

Evil at Heart (Gretchen Lowell Series #3) by Chelsea Cain

(From Publishers Weekly): Gretchen Lowell strikes again—or does she?—in bestseller Cain’s grisly third thriller to feature the female serial killer who takes sadistic pleasure in taunting Portland, Ore., detective Archie Sheridan (after Sweetheart and Heartsick). A violent attack that leaves body parts in a rest stop bathroom, along with Lowell’s signature heart design, persuades Sheridan, a recovering Vicodin addict, to leave rehab and rejoin the hunt for Lowell. As he and newspaper reporter Susan Ward dig deeper, they discover that while the corpses cropping up around town are reminiscent of Lowell’s nasty handiwork, they might also point to one of the myriad fan clubs dedicated to the killer, who has become a media sensation since she escaped from prison in Heartsick. Even though readers may wonder how much longer this extended game can play out, Cain delivers her usual blend of organ-ripping, blood-soaked gore and compelling flawed heroes—and antiheroes.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

(Synopsis and Annotation from Barnes and Noble): Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Annotation: As Recommended by Stephenie Meyer and Charlaine Harris.

Dark Slayer (Dark Series #18) by Christine Feehan

(Synopsis from Barnes and Noble)  The brand new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author features the rarest of Carpathians—a female.  Ivory—a rare Carpathian female—has been protected by her brothers for most of her life. But once she frees the mage Razvan from his prison cave, they must flee together, enemies of Carpathian hunters as well as vampires. Ivory senses that Razvan is more than he appears to be, and she vows to go against the entire Carpathian race to help him, risking both their lives in order to save their love.

Ravens of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

(Synopsis from Penguingroup.com): Epic in its sweep and peopled by the remarkable women who have always inhabited Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Ravens of Avalon expands the legendary saga that has enchanted millions of readers over the years and is sure to please Bradley’s loyal readership and anyone who loves wonderfully told stories of history, myth, and fantasy.

Must Love Hellhounds

by Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, and Meijean Brook

(Synopsis from Penguingroup.com):  In these hound-eat-hound worlds, anything goes… and everything bites.

Follow paranormal bodyguards Clovache and Batanya into Lucifer’s realm, where they encounter his fearsome four-legged pets, in Charlaine Harris’s The Britlingens Go to Hell. Seek out a traitor in the midst of a guild of non- lethal vampire trackers, one that intends to eradicate the entire species of bloodsuckers, in Nalini Singh’s Angels’ Judgment. Find out why the giant three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades has left the underworld for the real world—and whose scent he’s following—in Ilona Andrews’s Magic Mourns. Embark on a perilous search for the kidnapped niece of a powerful vampire alongside her blind— and damn sexy—companion and a hellhound in Meljean Brook’s Blind Spot.

These four novellas by today’s hottest paranormal authors will have hellhound lovers everywhere howling.

Barely Bewitched by Kimberly Frost

(Synopsis from Penguingroup.com):  Tammy Jo’s misfiring magic has attracted the unwanted attention of WAM, the World Association of Magic. Now, a wand-wielding wizard and a menacing fire warlock have come to Duvall to train her for a dangerous mandatory challenge. But is there more to their arrival than they claim?

When a curse leads to a toxic spill of pixie dust, the town comes unglued and the doors between the human and faery worlds begin to open. To rescue the town and to face the impossible magical test, Tammy needs the help of incredibly handsome Bryn Lyons, but WAM has declared him totally off-limits. To avoid deadly consequences, Tammy probably ought to follow the rules this time.

On the other hand, rebellion is an old Texas tradition.

Dark Road Rising (The Vampire Files) by P.N. Elrod

(Synopsis from Penguingroup.com):  Vampire P.I. Jack Fleming is playing babysitter to Gabriel “Whitey” Kroun, a dangerously unstable mobster—and newly-created vampire—with deadly secrets to hide.

As Jack tries to unravel the mystery surrounding Kroun’s undead state, he gets caught between his charge’s violent outbursts and some syndicate torpedoes looking to rub them both out, leaving him vulnerable to an even deadlier threat— the return of an old enemy desperate to unlock the secrets of Jack’s vampire immortality.

Lucinda, Darkly  (The Demon Princess Chronicles) by Sunny

(Synopsis from Penguingroup.com):  Lucinda has dwelt in eternal darkness. As a demon princess, she exists in an endless, joyless realm. But she is about to discover a need she never knew existed—not for power, not for blood—but for a more dangerous passion with a lone warrior.

Deja Demon – The Days and Nights of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner

(Synopsis from Penguingroup.com):  It’s easy to feel like hell when your life’s overrun by teenagers, toddlers, and terror. Just ask housewife and demon hunter Kate Conner.

When the High Demon Goramesh returns to San Diablo with a full-blown army of the undead, it’s up to Kate to save the world. Good thing she can multi-task.

I am especially interested in the one Stephenie Meyer and Charlaine Harris. Are there any new releases you are itching to buy? Which ones and why?