Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I Wish I Never Met You by Denise N. Wheatley

photo courtesy of Amazon.com
Released: August 2004

Narrated in first-person, I Wish I Never Met You by Denise N. Wheatley is a novel mainly comprised of short stories about horrifying dating experiences.

Each short chapter has a funny name (such as "Doug the Heinous Dragon" and "Bubba the Bogus-Ass Baller,") and is about a man the narrator dated but wishes she had never met—just like the book title suggests.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Undead and Undermined by MaryJanice Davidson

Photo courtesy of fantasticfiction.co.uk
Released: July 2011

Undead and Undermined is the 10th book in the Undead Queen Betsy series by MaryJanice Davidson. Davidson is the author of several paranormal romance series, including the Wyndham Werewolf and Jennifer Scales series.

Dreamworld's Synopsis

In the 10th installment of the Queen Betsy series, the undead Betsy Taylor, Queen of Vampires, wakes up in a Chicago morgue in present-time after taking a major time-traveling trip years into the future. Upon returning home to her mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, Betsy learns that her time-travel excursion has changed many things in the present - including the living statuses of some of her close and recently-deceased friends.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Hotwire by Alex Kava

Photo courtesy of thebigthrill.org
Released: July 2011

Hotwire is the 9th book in the Maggie O'Dell series by Alex Kava.

Dreamworld's Synopsis

On one seemingly dull evening somewhere in Nebraska, a group of teenagers are hanging out in a forest clearing and experimenting with psychedelic drugs. Minutes later, the teenagers witness a mysterious fireworks and laser show that ends in electrocution, violence, and fatality for most of the teens involved. When FBI Special Agent Maggie O'Dell stumbles upon the incident while investigating cattle mutilation nearby, she is thrust into the middle of a conspiracy that she must resolve before more teens are killed.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Love in a Carry-On Bag by Sadeqa Johnson

Photo courtesy of SadeqaJohnson.com
Release Date: March 2012

Love in a Carry-On Bag is Sadeqa Johnson's debut novel. Johnson is a former public relations manager and is currently a managing partner of the 12th Street Press publishing company.

Dreamworld's Synopsis

Sexy, smart, and driven, successful publicist Erica Shaw loves spending time with her equally sexy boyfriend, Warren Prince - an intelligent and aspiring jazz musician by night, and computer engineer by day. When she can manage to escape her demanding job at a major publishing company, Erica meets up with Warren as much as time permits; however, living in New York City often presents difficulty attending dates and rendezvous with Warren, especially since Warren lives hours away in Washington, D.C.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Freakshow by Bryan Smith

Photo courtesy of fantasticfiction.co.uk
Released: April 2007

Bryan Smith's The Freakshow is a horror novel that falls within the "splatterpunk" sub-genre. For those of you unfamiliar with the term "splatterpunk," it means that books that fall within this sub-genre contain graphic and explicitly violent horror and pornographic scenes. My Bookcrossing book-relay trading buddies also referred to this genre as the "sick shit" genre before the term splatterpunk really caught on in a major way.

Friday, February 10, 2012

The Glasswrights' Apprentice by Mindy L. Klasky

Photo courtesy of openlibrary.org
Released: July 2000

The Glasswrights' Apprentice is the 1st novel out of 5 in the "Glasswrights' Guild" fantasy series by Mindy L. Klasky. Klasky is also the author of the "Jane Madison" series, which starts with Girl's Guide To Witchcraft (2006).

Dreamworld's Synopsis

13-year old Rani Trader is a daughter in a typical merchant's family, but is currently serving as an apprentice in the Glasswrights' Guild; a guild higher in society than that of the Merchants' Guild, and one that promises future riches and higher respect for Rani and her family. When Rani is conspiratorially blamed for the death of the kingdom's successive prince, she has no choice but to flee for safety; not only because she was recognized at the scene of the crime, but also because her guild is being blamed for the prince's murder.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Winter's Kiss by Jennifer Echols & Catherine Hapka

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Released: January 2012

Winter's Kiss is an omnibus with 2 young adult novels: The Ex Games (2009) by Jennifer Echols and The Twelve Dates of Christmas (2008) by Catherine Hapka.

The Ex Games regales us with a love story between high-schoolers Hayden and Nick. In the 7th grade, Nick's friends dared him to take Hayden on a date. Now, 4 years later, the duo considers themselves friends, but have amazing chemistry. When Hayden and Nick engage in a major snowboarding competition against one another, their friendly relationship suddenly becomes more heated than ever before, causing them to re-evaluate their feelings for one another.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Four of a Kind by Valerie Frankel

Photo courtesy of Borders.com
Release Date: February 2012

Valerie Frankel has written several novels and series geared toward women and teenage audiences. Four of a Kind is her latest novel.

Dreamworld's Synopsis

While attending a routine "Diversity Committee" meeting for their children's private school in Brooklyn, New York, 4 bored women that couldn't be more different from one another size each other up and decide to lighten the mood by sharing a few drinks and playing a round of Texas Hold'em poker. However, once the women loosen up, traditional Texas Hold'em rules are thrown out the window and "Brooklyn Hold'em" is introduced; a game in which every player must gamble by revealing deep, dark secrets about themselves.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Spin by Catherine McKenzie

Photo courtesy of catherinemckenzie.com
Release Date: February 2012

Catherine McKenzie is the author of the international bestsellers Spin and Arranged, and is soon releasing her third novel, Forgotten.

Dreamworld's Synopsis

30-year old Kate Sandford's life-long career dream is becoming a writer for her favorite music magazine called The Line (the equivalent to our beloved Rolling Stone Magazine). When Kate lands an interview for her dream job, she becomes so ecstatic that she ventures out to celebrate her upcoming opportunity by drinking the night away - which also happens to be the night before her interview.