Tempest Rising (Paperback)
By: Nicole Peeler
(From Borders.com) In the tradition of Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mysteries comes an irresistible urban fantasy debut set in small-town Maine, and featuring half-human and half-selkie Jane True, who comes across a murder victim during her nightly clandestine swim in the freezing ocean.
Matchless: A Christmas Story
By: Gregory Maguire
(From Borders.com) The beloved author of Wicked reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story “The Little Match Girl” for modern readers in this charming, beautifully illustrated gift bookEach year, National Public Radio asks a writer to compose a story with a Christmas theme. In 2008, Gregory Maguire offered a new twist on a classic tale, reinventing the Hans Christian Andersen classic “The Little Match Girl.”When the story was first translated from Danish and published in England in the mid-nineteenth century, the match girl’s dying visions of lights and a grandmother in heaven were often interpreted as metaphors of religious salvation. In Matchless, Maguire adds a different dimension to the story, intertwining the match girl’s tale with that of a young boy, Frederik, whose own yearnings are the catalyst for a better future for himself and his family. Maguire uses his storytelling magic to rekindle Andersen’s original intentions and to suggest transcendence, the permanence of spirit, and the continuity that links the living and the dead.
A Kidnapped Santa Claus
By: Alex Robinson, L. Frank Baum
(From Borders.com) Santa Claus lives in the Laughing Valley. On one side of the Valley is the mighty Forest of Burzee, home of the fairies. At the other side stands a terrible mountain that contains the caves of the daemons: Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, and Repentance. The daemons, thinking they have great cause to dislike old Santa, enact a treacherous plan on Christmas Eve. Then, with Santa curiously absent, only Santa’s magical friends can save Christmas!This comic adaptation retells the classic Christmas tale of adven-ture and danger by L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz.
Howling Legion: The Vampire Hunters
By: Marcus Pelegrimas
(From Borders.com) In the second installment of this series, a hoard of werewolves threatens thedelicate balance between humans and the monsters that the skinners must fightto keep in check.
Nightlight: A Parody
By: The Harvard Lampoon
(From Borders.com) A parody of the enormously successful Twilight series, “Nightlight” offers a sparkling, sharp-toothed tale of pubescent vampires and the pasty girl who loves them.
Crimson
By: Jordan Summers
(From macmillan.com) On the run from their enemies, hunted by the law they once dedicated their lives to, werewolves Morgan Hunter and Gina “Red” Santiago have no choice — they must enter the outlaw territories in order to disappear completely from society. With only themselves to trust, they must somehow navigate this “No Man’s Land” full of outlawed Others and dangerous nomadic tribes.
Losing themselves in this arid wasteland would be easy, but Morgan and Red know that the only way they can regain their life together is by turning the tables on the man who is hunting them — destroying his plans to rule the united territories once and for all.
Born of Fire
By: Sherrilyn Kenyon
(From macmillan.com) In a universe where assassins make the law, everyone lives in fear—except for Syn. Born of an illicit scandal that once rocked a dynasty, he always knew how to survive on the bloodthirsty streets. But that was then, and the future is now…
Syn was raised as a tech-thief until his livelihood uncovered a truth that could end his life. He tried to destroy the evidence, and has been on the run ever since. Now trained as an assassin, he allows no one to threaten him. Ever. He is the darkness that swallows his enemies whole.
Shahara Dagan is the best bounty hunter in the universe. When Syn comes back on the radar, she’s the only one who can bring him to justice. There’s only one problem: Syn is a close family friend who’s helped out the Dagans countless times. But if she saves him, both of their lives will be on the line. Is Syn’s protection worth the risk? The only hope Shahara has is to find the evidence he buried long ago. Now it’s kill or be killed—and they, the predators, have just become the hunted…
Apocalypse Happens
By: Lori Handeland
(From macmillan.com) Elizabeth Phoenix is one of a select few with the power to battle those who have escaped from the darkest level of hell—demons bent on destroying humanity and reclaiming earth once and for all. Liz is determined to stop yet another Doomsday. But this time, it’s going to be more difficult than ever because someone she thought was dead isn’t dead anymore…and is bound and determined to destroy Liz and everyone she loves in the upcoming Apocalypse.
Liz has arrived in Los Angeles to ferret out a nest of varcolacs: half human, half dragon creatures who crave the destruction of the sun and moon. But before she can prevent the kind of eclipse that would bring the world to an end, Liz must mine the depths of her own heart. She and her former lover Jimmy Sanducci have some personal demons to battle—and there’s always her mentor, the Navajo shaman Sawyer. Is he on their side or isn’t he? In the end, the three of them must find a way to fight together…or perish alone.
Silver Mage (Silver Wyrm Series #4)
By: Katharine Kerr
(From BarnesandNoble.com) “Prepare to get lost in the magic” (VOYA) of Katharine Kerr’s newest Deverry fantasy. The Horsekin are assembling along Prince Dar’s northern border, and the Deverry alliance simply does not have the men and resources to prevent their enemies from moving into the wilderness areas known as the Ghostlands. But suddenly, the Dwrgi folk and the dragons come to Dar’s aid, tipping the balance in their favor and offering Dar’s people a chance to defeat the Horsekin once and for all.
The Gift
By: Cecelia Ahern
(From Publishers Weekly) Ahern wades into the Christmas fiction fray with a winning tale of magic and redemption. Lou Suffern is a busy man, and his family’s growing weary of constantly taking the backseat to his career. On a whim, he offers Gabe, a homeless man he meets outside his office, a low-level job, and the uncharacteristically kind gesture plays out in a very unexpected way when Lou learns that Gabe has the power to be in two places at once. As the holidays draw nearer, Gabe tries to make Lou realize the importance of his family, but slow-to-change Lou might not come around to Gabe’s way of thinking until it’s too late. Ahern’s an accomplished storyteller, and her writing chops elevate this far above the normal holiday fare. There’s magic, but it’s not campy, and the sentiment is real.
Ford County
By: John Grisham
(From Borders.com) risham returns to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his immensely popular first novel, “A Time to Kill.” This wholly surprising collection reminds readers once again why Grisham is one of America’s favorite storytellers.
Fade Out: The Morganville Vampires
By: Rachel Caine
(From Borders.com) Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again–almost.
Do any of these new releases pique your interest enough to buy them? I’ll admit that I’m very tempted to get the Twilight parody!
