Waiting on Wednesday: Book Bonanza!

I've really enjoyed Waiting on Wednesday.  I've discovered some new blogs, had my blog discovered by others, and found some new-to-me books to add to my wish list.  But I'm going to take a little break from the meme for a while.  I'll still do my Book Pimpin posts as books come up but I want to work on writing more reviews for the site.  I thought I'd go out with a bang and list a bunch of my can't-wait-to-read books.  Thank you for visiting and be sure to check back next week when I'll post a bunch of books that are of notable interest, even if they haven't made it on to my can't-wait-to-read list.  So, without further ado, here's your weekly meme:

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights anticipated upcoming releases. This week my can't-wait to-read books are:

Riveted (Iron Seas, #3) 

by Meljean Brook

Drops September 4, 2012

A century after a devastating volcanic eruption forced Iceland’s inhabitants to abandon its shores, the island has become enshrouded in legend. But the truth behind the legends is mechanical, not magical—and the mystery of the island a matter of life and death for a community of women who once spilled noble blood to secure their freedom.

Five years ago, Annika unwittingly endangered that secret, but her sister Källa took the blame and was exiled. Now Annika serves on an airship, searching for her sister and longing to return home. But that home is threatened when scientific expedition leader David Kentewess comes aboard, looking to expose Annika’s secrets. Then disaster strikes, leaving David and Annika stranded on a glacier and pursued by a madman, with their very survival depending on keeping the heat rising between them—and generating lots of steam


As far as I am concerned, Meljean Brook is one of the best steampunk writers out there.  (As well as one of the best paranormal writers, too.)  Her stories are built on complex mythologies that continue to reveal new depths with each read.  She's a crackerjack storyteller and her books are filled with action, high stakes danger, and steamy romance.  Her male characters are great but where she really shines is with her female characters.   I've already pre-ordered Rivetted and can't wait for it to come out. 

* * *

Blackbirds (Miriam Black, #1)

by Chuck Wendig

Drops April 24, 2012

Miriam Black knows when you will die. She’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, and suicides.

But when Miriam hitches a ride with Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be murdered while he calls her name. Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim.

No matter what she does she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try.

I haven't read any books by Chuck Wendig, yet, but that is about to change.  As a semi-reader of his blog, Wendig never fails to amuse and his new book sounds like my cuppa, so I'm taking the plunge with Blackbirds.  The cover is cool as shit and the blurb intriguing.

* * *

Lord's Fall (Elder Races, #5)

by Thea Harrison

Drops November 6, 2012

In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, two mates find themselves on different paths, torn between their duty to the Wyr and the passion that binds them...

Before she met Dragos, half-human half-wyr Pia Giovanni was alone and on the run. Now, she's mated, pregnant and heading south to repair the Wyr's frayed relationship with the Elves. Being separated from Dragos is painful, but for the good of the Wyr demesne they need to figure out how to be partners, in more places than just the bedroom

In New York to preside over the Sentinel Games, Dragos is worried about his mate, but knows that finding two replacement sentinels is essential to show the rest of the Elder Races just how strong and brutal the Wyr demesne can be. But as the games heat up, Pia's negotiations with the Elves take a turn for the dangerous, straining her bond with Dragos and threatening everything they hold dear...

As much as I loved Dragon Bound, I wasn't completely satisfied at the end.  Sure, Pia and Dragos got their happy ending but I felt like there was still so much of their story left to be told.  I'm glad to see that Thea Harrison has written a new book about them; and from the sound of it, she is going to deal with the things I want to know more about.  Harris' books make me smile and, sometimes, even laugh out loud.  Plus the sex doesn't hurt either...

* * *

All Spells Break Loose (Raine Benares, #6)

by Lisa Shearin

Drops May 29, 2012

My name is Raine Benares—and it sucks to be me. The Saghred, a soul-stealing stone that has given me unlimited power, has been stolen by a goblin prince, and with it went my magic. The Saghred is in the goblin capital of Regor, in the hands of Sarad Nukpana, who’s on the verge of becoming the most powerful mage ever...just as soon as I’m dead. 

Because Sarad can’t use the stone while I’m alive. Incentive enough to plan a little trip to Regor with a small band of good friends, not-so-good friends, and outright enemies. All we need to do is destroy the Saghred, kill Sarad, and put a renegade prince on the throne. Did I mention I’ll be doing this without magic?

I. Can't. Wait. To. Read. This. Book.  Seriously.  This is the final book of the Rain Benares series and I can't wait for it to end.  Finally, we'll get some closure.  I like this series; it's a fun story with good characters but the structure of the long term story arc sucks.  The series is compressed into a short time period (and IIRC, the first three books take place during a couple of weeks.)  It's too much.  It borders on silly.  Individually, each book is good in a swashbuckling, action-adventure, fantasy kind of way.  But, when I view them as a whole, the pacing seems wrong; it doesn't allow for any real breathing room.  Every story is about the bad guys trying to gain control of the immensely powerful, thoroughly evil, magical stone that Raine accidentally psychically bonded with and the same bad guys show up in every book.  And what happens is, the newest book ends up negating the triumph of the good guys in the preceding book.  Because the same bad guys are back; they weren't really defeated, merely thwarted.  It's essentially the same story, only the details are different.   BUT.  I do like the books.  Really.  Individually they are all solid reads.  I like the characters, I like the setting, I like it's pirate-y flavor,  I'm just dying for some resolution.  

* * * 

The Inexplicables (The Clockwork Century, #5)

by Cherie Priest

Drops November 13, 2012

Rector “Wreck ‘em” Sherman was orphaned as a toddler in the Blight of 1863, but that was years ago. Wreck has grown up, and on his eighteenth birthday, he’ll be cast out out of the orphanage. 

And Wreck’s problems aren’t merely about finding a home. He’s been quietly breaking the cardinal rule of any good drug dealer and dipping into his own supply of the sap he sells. He’s also pretty sure he’s being haunted by the ghost of a kid he used to know—Zeke Wilkes, who almost certainly died six months ago. Zeke would have every reason to pester Wreck, since Wreck got him inside the walled city of Seattle in the first place, and that was probably what killed him.Maybe it’s only a guilty conscience, but Wreck can’t take it anymore, so he sneaks over the wall.

The walled-off wasteland of Seattle is every bit as bad as he’d heard, chock-full of the hungry undead and utterly choked by the poisonous, inescapable yellow gas. And then there's the monster. Rector's pretty certain that whatever attacked him was not at all human—and not a rotter, either. Arms far too long. Posture all strange. Eyes all wild and faintly glowing gold and known to the locals as simply "The Inexplicables." 

In the process of tracking down these creatures, Rector comes across another incursion through the wall -- just as bizarre but entirely attributable to human greed. It seems some outsiders have decided there's gold to be found in the city and they're willing to do whatever it takes to get a piece of the pie unless Rector and his posse have anything to do with it.


Cherie Priest returns to Seattle with the fifth volume in her alternate history, steampunk, zombie, western-y Clockwork Century series.  Priest is a skilled writer, her alternate Seattle is highly inventive and she has a nice way with details.  I haven't read all of the books in this series (some are hard to find), but I've really liked the ones I have read.


***Don't forget to leave a comment if you're participating in Waiting On Wednesday with a link to your can't-wait-to-read so I can swing on by!