My Book Haul/In My Mailbox

The Story Siren hosts a weekly meme where bloggers can share what goodies they've purchased/received this week. If you get a chance head over to The Story Siren and check out what everyone is up to!

This week my birthday books turnded up! And I think I got some good ones!

Counterfeit Magic - Kelley Armstrong

Kindle Book

The first rule of a supernatural fight club? Don't kill your opponent.
When the fighters come with lethal spells, werewolf strength and half-demon powers, that can be a lot tougher than it sounds. It's hard to attract talent if they know they might not leave the ring alive. So when fighters at a California club start dying -- it's bad for business. Witch detectives Paige Winterbourne and Savannah Levine take the case. Going undercover in the power-heavy arena of the fight club is a welcome change of pace for Paige, relegated to the role of The Wife as her husband struggles to find his place in his family's Cabal--the corporate Mafia of the supernatural world. As Paige is drawn deeper into new and dangerous corners of her world, she quickly discovers the greatest threat isn't the killer in her sights. It's something much, much closer to home. And this is one fight she can't afford to lose.

I'm such a big fan of Kelley Armstrong and this is one of the few books of her I don't have - but thanks to the magic of the kindle and some vouchers, I now have it! :-)

Silver Shark - Ilona Andrews

Kindle Book

Claire Shannon is a killer. She uses no weapons, only her mind.
Born on a planet locked in a long war, Claire is a psycher, a woman with the ability to attack minds and infiltrate a biological computer network where psychers battle to the death. But when the war abruptly ends, Claire must hide her psycher's ability to survive. She is deported to a new planet, a vivid beautiful place, where she meets Venturo Escana, a powerful psycher, whose presence overwhelms both her mind and her body. She thought she had left war and death behind, but now she must fight for her new life and this battle might just cost her everything...

Ilona Andrews Edge series and Kate Daniels are instan must buy for me so I couldn't resist a science fiction story by the husband and wife team either!

Stone Maiden - Ann Aguirre
Kindle Book

 Muir is a slave, the lowest of the low. Yet hers is a magic great enough to shake the earth, great enough to topple kings from their thrones … perhaps even great enough to free the gods from their ancient prisons—if only she can free herself first.

Ann Aguirre is rapidly turning into another must buy author for me - I love her Corrine Solomon books and I have Enclave and Grimspace on my TBR pile. This story sounds interesting and was only a couple of pounds on Amazon - sweet deal! :-)

Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions - Edited by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: HarperCollins

A journey may take hundreds of miles, or it may cover the distance between duty and desire.
Sixteen of today’s hottest writers of paranormal tales weave stories on a common theme of journeying. Authors such as Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, and Melissa Marr return to the beloved worlds of their bestselling series, while others, like Claudia Gray, Kami Garcia, and Margaret Stohl, create new land-scapes and characters. But whether they’re writing about vampires, faeries, angels, or other magical beings, each author explores the strength and resilience of the human heart.

There are so many fantastic authors in the anthology I just couldn't resist picking it up!

My Soul To Steal (Soul Screamers 4) - Rachel Vincent
Publisher: MIRA Ink

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back. See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives. And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.


I loved Rachel Vincent's Shifter series so I've been collecting the Soul Screamer books but haven't started reading them yet. I think I'll wait until If I Die comes out in the UK and have a Soul Screamer week of celebration!

Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
Publisher:

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

This is another one of those series I've been meaning to try forever! I know it's not a recent series but that just means if I like it I can read the whole series withour waiting! :-)

Street Magic - Caitlin Kiddredge
Publisher: St Martins Paperback

Her name is Pete Caldecott. She was just sixteen when she met Jack Winter, a gorgeous, larger-than-life  mage who thrilled her with his witchcraft. Then a spirit Jack summoned killed him before Pete’s eyes—or so she thought. Now a detective, Pete is investigating the case of a young girl kidnapped from the streets of London. A tipster’s chilling prediction has led police directly to the child…but when Pete meets the informant, she’s shocked to learn he is none other than Jack. Strung out on heroin, Jack a shadow of his former self.  But he’s able to tell Pete exactly where Bridget’s kidnappers are hiding: in the supernatural shadow-world of the fey.  Even though she’s spent years disavowing the supernatural, Pete follows Jack into the invisible fey underworld, where she hopes to discover the truth about what happened to Bridget—and what happened to Jack on that dark day so long ago…

I won a 'pick your own book' from the wonderful Felicia at The Geeky Blogger's Book Blog and I choose this as a certain Melissa out there adores this series - plus it's set in London! :-)

Pod - Stephen Wallenfels
Publisher: UK - Templar Publishing

POD's - strange alien spheres hover menacingly in the sky, zapping anyone who ventures outside. Josh is 15 and stuck in his house with his OCD dad. They're running out of food... Megs is 12, alone and trapped in a multi-storey carpark. The hotel next door is under the control of dangerous security staff, but Megs has something they want, and they'll do anything to get it...
When the aliens invade, the real enemy becomes humanity itself.
What would you do to survive?

This is actually another giveaway win - Templar Publishing's facebook page and sounds like a really intriguing Science Fiction YA story - I've read a couple of positive reviews so I'm really looking forward to this!

So what have you picked up this week?