Waiting on Wednesday - Soul Fire

I'm really looking forward to this. I'm sure the cover's only gone up recently as I was looking for it the other day! I have a review of Soul Beach in draft which I'll publish when the mass market paperback is released in May but basically if you love mysteries with romance then go for it!

NB. Blurb below contains some spoilers for Soul Beach.

Kate Harrison's Soul Fire will be published on 5 July 2012 by Indigo.

Alice Forster regularly talks with her dead sister, Meggie, in the virtual world of SOUL BEACH - an online paradise where dead teenagers are held in limbo. Alice has learned that if she can solve the mystery of someone's death in the real world, then that person is released from the Beach. Meggie needs Alice to solve her murder so she can be free, but as Alice is getting closer to discovering the murderer, the murderer is getting closer to Alice! The second instalment in this utterly gripping trilogy for teens.









Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - Girl About Time

Having recently done a time-travel theme with my children's reading group, I'm looking forward to this one which is aimed more at girls - supplementing the more boys-oriented TimeRiders and Jack Christie Adventures.

Girl About Time by Kerstin Gier will be published in April 2012 by Chicken House.

Every family has secrets. But what do you do if you find out that you are the family secret?

That’s what happens to Gwen when she finds herself unbelievably transported from out on the town to turn-of-the-century London. It’s enough to make any girl dizzy!

Then she discovers that she’s not the only time-traveller in the world. She’s stuck between the centuries with a gorgeous boy called Gideon and pursued by a sinister secret society determined to change the past. It gives a whole new meaning to dating.

A funny, thrilling and romantic time-travelling adventure series for girls starring a heroine as determined as Doctor Who.

Written by bestselling German author, Kerstin Gier, the book has sold more than 100,000 copies in Germany (published as Rubinrot).

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - Dark Angel

Dark Angel by Eden Maguire, author of the Beautiful Dead series (reviewed so far: Jonas and Arizona), is published by Hodder Children's Books on 4 August. A sequel, Twisted Heart, will be out in November.

Tania's heart belongs to Orlando. Nothing can rip them apart. Until the seduction begins in a flurry of glamour and magic, music and parties all orchestrated by the mysterious and mesmerising Zoran, an iconic rock star who has retired to a remote ranch in the nearby mountains. And there Tania meets the dark side. Can she resist temptation?





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Waiting on Wednesday - Stealing Phoenix

This one seems a long way off, sigh.

Stealing Phoenix by Joss Stirling is published by Oxford University Press on 1 October and is the sequel to Finding Sky which was one of my top ten reads of 2010.


What do you do when your soulmate turns out to be a thief? Steal her, of course. Phoenix was raised within the Community, a gang of thieves with paranormal powers, under the control of a harsh master known as the Seer. The notion that there's a soulmate out there for every person with a paranormal gift is mere myth in Phoenix's world. That is until the Seer gives Phoenix the details of her next target, Yves Benedict. He's more than just her next victim, he is her destiny. To be together, Phoenix must break away from the Community but resistance against the Seer puts them both in mortal danger. Phoenix has never trusted anyone before, now it's time to trust Yves with her life



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Waiting on Wednesday - Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend

Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend by Cora Harrison is published by Macmillan Children's Books on 1 April and is the sequel to
I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend.

Jane wants to meet a hero worthy of her extraordinary imagination: a gentleman who is dashing and daring and handsome and brave; who can dance like a viscount and duel like a king. Jane and Jenny are whiling away the season in Bath and there are plenty of dances, rumours and scandals to entertain them. But a good reputation, once lost, is gone forever; and Jane is in danger of becoming the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons...



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Waiting on Wednesday - You Killed Wesley Payne

You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin is published by Little, Brown Young Readers on 3 March. It appeals to my crime-reading side!

He's come to do a job. A job that involves a body. A body wrapped in duct tape found hanging from the goal posts at the end of the football field. You Killed Wesley Payne is a truly original update of classic pulp-noir filled with dark humor. Hard-boiled seventeen year-old Dalton Rev transfers to the mean hallways of Salt River High to take on the toughest case of his life. The question isn't whether Dalton's going to get paid. He always gets paid. Or whether he's gonna get the girl. He always (sometimes) gets the girl. The real question is whether Dalton Rev can outwit crooked cops and power-hungry cliques in time to solve the mystery of 'The Body' before it solves him. Smart, slick, and alluring, the story follows Dalton as he narrows down the suspects in a dangerous world of clique warfare, homework, and cute girls. Acclaimed author Sean Beaudoin evokes the distinctive voices of legendary crime/noir authors Dashiell Hammet and Jim Thompson in this stylish neo-noir murder mystery.



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Waiting on Wednesday - Small Blue Thing

Small Blue Thing by S C Ransom is the first part of a trilogy and is published by Nosy Crow on 13 January.

Celebrating the end of exams with best friend Grace, 17 year-old Alex rescues a swan caught on a wire in the Thames mud and finds an extraordinary bracelet. Through its disturbing and compelling powers, she finds Callum, a soul locked in a half-life of sadness and mystery following a terrible accident, and his persuasive and sinister sister, Catherine. As Alex and Callum grow closer despite the enormous obstacles to their love, the dangers mount until Alex must risk everything to save Grace and Callum must risk everything to save Alex.




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Waiting on Wednesday - Ghost of a Chance

This one sounds great: a paranormal detective story. Ghost of a Chance by Rhiannon Lassiter will be published in January 2011 by Oxford University Press.

Imagine being both victim and detective in your own murder . . .

Last Chance...

‘You know that girl, the one in my class? The one that died. She lived here.’

Lost Chance...

‘You’re dead, Eva Chance. You died and nobody noticed. You died and nobody cared.’

No more Chances left...

They said it was suicide, but Eva knows she was murdered. Now she inhabits a skewed ghost world along with the tortured and malevolent spirits of her family home. Solving the crime could end her existence — but if the killer isn’t found how many more will die?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Demon Trappers: Forsaken by Jana Oliver

I'm looking forward to Jana Oliver's first book in the Demon Trappers series. It's called The Demon Trapper's Daughter in the US (and published by St. Martin's Griffin on 1 January), and The Demon Trappers: Forsaken in the UK (and published by Macmillan Children's Books on 7 January).

Riley has always wanted to be a Demon Trapper like her father, and she's already following in his footsteps as one of the best. But it's tough being the only girl in an all-guy world, especially when three of those guys start making her life more complicated: Simon, the angelic apprentice who has heaven on his side; Beck, the tough trapper who thinks he's God's gift, and Ori, the strikingly sexy stranger who keeps turning up to save her ass.

One thing’s for sure – if she doesn’t keep her wits about her there’ll be hell to pay . . .

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Body Finder

I'm waiting on the UK edition of The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting which is published on 11 November by Headline.

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies -- or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world...and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift, but now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer -- and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling in love, Violet is getting closer to discovering a killer...and becoming his prey herself.

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - Out of the Depths

Unfortunately we've got to wait until August 2011 for this one, Out of the Depths by Cathy MacPhail, published by Bloomsbury (UK).

'I saw my teacher in the queue in Tesco's last Christmas. Miss Baxter. I was surprised to see her. She'd been dead six months'.

In "Out of the Depths", Cathy MacPhail introduces her latest character, Tyler Lawless, who has an unusual and sometimes scary gift. She is able to see dead people. And sometimes they speak to her, asking for her help.

When Tyler is sent to a new school because her so called 'storytelling' about seeing dead teachers gets her into too much trouble, she is hoping to make a fresh start. But it is very difficult to make a new start when boys who are supposed to be dead appear in your classroom, and statues in the school seem to move and point towards one part of school in particular - the chapel, where the dead boy, Ben Kincaid, was murdered ...

Will Tyler be able to assist Ben with his pleas for help, or will she just be dismissed again as an attention-seeking teller of tall tales? This is a thrilling and spooky tale from the acclaimed Cathy MacPhail.

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Waiting on Wednesday - Dark Heart Forever

I haven't done a Waiting on Wednesday post for a while but Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe caught my eye as it's a paranormal romance by a UK author for a change. It's published by Hodder Children's Books on 7 October (UK).

Jane Jonas is nearing her 16th birthday and troubled by unsettling recurring dreams where the same mysterious boy her age comes to her, telling Jane that they are each other's destiny. Her mother is increasingly anxious about Jane's disruptive sleepwalking episodes, but for Jane her dream world and reality are about to collide ...

When she develops a friendship with an enigmatic stranger in town, the blond, uber-cool Evan, it's exciting, it's new, and Jane wants him more than she's ever wanted anybody - until her mystery dream boy gets in the way.

Now Jane is caught between two worlds: one familiar, but tinged with romance and excitement; the other dark and dangerous, where angels, werewolves, the undead, and an irresistible stranger are trying to seduce her ...



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Waiting on Wednesday - The Ghost and the Goth

I've been seeing the title "The Ghost and the Goth" round and about so I thought I'd look into it and yes it looks my cup of tea. Written by Stacey Kade it will be out in the US on 29 June.
(The cover is taken from Stacey Kade's website)

After a close encounter with a bus, Alona Dare goes from homecoming queen to Queen of the Dead. She’s stuck as a ghost in the land of the living with no sign of a “big, bright light” to take her to a better place. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total loser.

More than anything, Will wishes he didn’t have the rare ability to communicate with the dead, especially the former mean girl of Groundsboro High. He’s not filling out any volunteer forms to help her cross to the other side, though it would bring him some welcome peace and quiet.

Can they get over their mutual distrust—and quasi attraction—to work together? Readers of this spirited paranormal comedy won’t want this odd couple ever to part.

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Waiting on Wednesday - iBoy

Kevin Brooks's iBoy will be out in the UK on 1 July from Puffin:


Before the attack, sixteen-year-old Tom Harvey was just an ordinary boy. But now fragments of a shattered iPhone are embedded in his brain and it's having an extraordinary effect ...Because now Tom has powers. The ability to know and see more than he could ever imagine. And with incredible power comes knowledge - and a choice. Seek revenge on the violent gangs that rule his estate and assaulted his friend Lucy, or keep quiet? Tom has control when everything else is out of control. But it's a dangerous price to pay. And the consequences are terrifying...

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Waiting on Wednesday - The Summer I Turned Pretty

Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty will be out in the UK on 3 June from Puffin, and is the first in a series. I took the cover image from the Australian Penguin website where it looks like it's being published later this month:


Everything that happened this past summer, and every summer before it, has all led up to this. To now.


Every year Isabel spends a perfect summer at her family friends' house. There's the swimming pool at night, the private stretch of sandy beach . . . and the two boys. Unavailable, aloof Conrad – who she's been in love with forever – and friendly, relaxed Jeremiah, the only one who's ever really paid her any attention.


But this year something is different. They seem to have noticed her for the first time. It's going to be an amazing summer – and one she'll never forget . . .

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Waiting on Wednesday - Dark Life

I have fond memories of reading Willard Price's Adventure series when I was growing up and in particular Diving Adventure in which the two boys (young men?) stay in an underwater city so Kat Fall's Dark Life which is published by Simon & Schuster Children's next April has great appeal:

Ty has lived under the ocean for his entire life. Following global warming and the rise of the seas, his family joined an underwater community in hopes of living in the new frontier of the ocean floor. But When Ty meets Gemma, a girl from "topside", who is searching the seas for her brother, she quickly makes his life very complicated. Together Ty and Gemma face dangerous sea creatures and venture into the frontier town's rough underworld as they search for her missing brother. But the deeper they dig, the more attention they attract, and soon Ty and Gemma find themselves being hunted by a gang of outlaws who roam the underwater territories causing havoc, and who seem to have eerie abilities. But Ty has a secret of his own, living underwater for his entire life has meant he has also developed a "special" power. Can he keep it a secret from Gemma and his family or is it time for him to finally tell everyone the truth?

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Waiting on Wednesday - Split

Split by Stefan Petrucha will be published in the US in March 2010 (by Walker Books for Young Readers) and in April 2010 in the UK (by Bloomsbury Children's Books).

Wade Jackson has always felt split, his love for playing and writing music competing with his ambition to do well in school. But when his mother dies, this need for order competes with his desire to leave it all behind. What follows is a split in his consciousness that takes him to two very different worlds.

Told in alternating chapters that together form one cohesive story, Split follows both Wades as they pursue what they think is the correct path. One Wade continues working hard in school, pulling all-nighters to write a computer code he believes will save the world. The other Wade pursues the dream of being a dive-bar singer, pulling all-nighters to party, gamble, and live on the edge. But when these two worlds begin to collide, each Wade will need to find a balance between control and abandon, order and chaos, life missed and life lost, in order to save himself.

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison will be published in the UK in March 2010 from Macmillan Children's Books.

When shy Jenny Cooper goes to stay with her cousin Jane Austen she knows nothing of the world of beautiful dresses, dances, secrets, gossip and romance that Jane inhabits. But Jane is already a sharp observer of the customs of courtship, and when Jenny falls utterly in love with the dashing Captain Thomas Williams, who better than Jane to help her win the heart of this most eligible of men?


(Find out more in the press release which came out before I started this blog.)




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Waiting on Wednesday - Exposed

Exposed by Susan Vaught was published in the US in 2008 but the UK edition will be out in March 2010 from Bloomsbury.

Chan Shealy is an all American girl, a baton-twirler, straight-A student. But when she looks for a boyfriend online, sure that she's following the rules and staying safe, she finds herself the victim of a paedophile whose interests are worse than she ever imagines... it is almost too late when she realizes what she must do to stop him.










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Waiting on Wednesday - Beautiful Dead: Summer

Having just finished Eden Maguire's Beautiful Dead: Arizona, I now have to wait until May for the next instalment, Summer:

Six months have passed sine the last Ellerton teenager died, but Darina is still traumatized by the stabbing of her own beloved Phoenix. But there's work to be done as Darina must now turn her attention to the shooting of Summer Madison -- the beautiful and gifted, singer-song-writer with a heart of gold. It's been nearly a year since the random shooting in a shopping mall caused Summer's meaningless death. Summer left behind recordings of her wonderful songs and a deep sadness amongst high school friends. Now Darina must act as Summer's agent to track down the psychotic killer in a clear search for justice. With the sound of Summer's music constantly playing inside Darina's head, recalling the wonderful months when she was alive and performing her first gigs, Darina, Phoenix and the Beautiful Dead are determined to catch the crazed killer. And all the while Darina's love for Phoenix continues to beat ...


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