My Book Haul/Showcase Sundays

I've decided to join Books, Biscuits and Tea's Showcase Sunday to share my lovely book hauls each week. Have a look back at Vicki's link up to see what everyone is up too!

A relatively quiet week as I am trying to cut down - although it may not look like it!

The Queen's Secret - Victoria Lamb

Publisher: Bantam

Elizabeth I, Queen of England, arrives at Kenilworth Castle amid pomp, fanfare and a wealth of lavish festivities laid on by the Earl of Leicester. The hopeful Earl knows this is his very last chance to persuade the Queen to marry him. Yet despite his attachment to the Queen and his driving ambition to be her King, Leicester is unable to resist the seductive wiles of Lettice, wife of the Earl of Essex. And soon whispers of their relationship start spreading through the court.
Enraged by the adulterous lovers' growing intimacy, Elizabeth employs Lucy Morgan, a young black singer and court entertainer, to spy on the couple. But Lucy, who was raised by a spy in London, uncovers far more than she bargains for. For someone at Kenilworth that summer is plotting to kill the queen. No longer able to tell friend from foe, it is soon not only the queen who is in mortal danger - but Lucy herself

I'm taking part in the Transworld Historical Challenge this summer and this is the first book I received! I love Elizabethan era stories and it's been a while since I read any!

Anna Dressed In Blood - Kendare Blake

Publisher: Orchard Books

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay. When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

I've had this on pre-order for ages! I've heard so many things about this book and I just love the cover!

Shine - Jeri Smith-Ready

Publisher: Simon & Schusters

Life can change in an instant, and no one understands that better than Aura. It’s been almost a year since her boyfriend tragically died. She’s finally letting go of Logan’s violet-hued ghost, but not her search to uncover the truth about her past. As the first in a generation that can see ghosts, Aura is convinced she has a connection to the Shift. She’s trusted Zachary, ever patient and ever by her side, with all that she knows. But when the government threatens his life in an attempt to learn Aura’s secrets, she will stop at nothing to protect herself and the one she loves...even if that means betraying her own heart...

I really enjoyed Shade and Shift, the first two books in this trilogy and at long last I can see what the ending of this trilogy is!

Before I Wake - Rachel Vincent

Publisher: MIRA

Covering up her own murder was one thing, but faking life is much
harder than Kaylee Cavanaugh expected. After weeks spent
“recovering,” she’s back in school, fighting to stay visible to the human world, struggling to fit in with her friends and planning time alone with her new reaper boyfriend.
But to earn her keep in the human world, Kaylee must reclaim
stolen souls, and when her first assignment brings her face-to-face with an old foe, she knows the game has changed. Her immortal status won’t keep her safe. And this time Kaylee isn’t just gambling with her own life

I have this whole series so far but I haven't started reading any of them yet! Bad Mel! I will soon though...

Naamah's Blessing - Jacqueline Carey

Publisher: Gollancz

Moirin has returned to Terre d'Ange to find the royal family broken. Wracked by unrelenting grief at the loss of his wife, Queen Jehanne, King Daniel is unable to rule. Prince Thierry, leading an expedition to explore the deadly jungles of Terra Nova, is halfway across the world. And three year old Desirée is a vision of her mother: tempestuous, intelligent, and fiery, but desperately lonely, and a vulnerable pawn in a game of shifting political allegiances. As tensions mount, King Daniel asks that Moirin become Desirée's oath-sworn protector. Navigating the intricate political landscape of the Court is a difficult and potentially dangerous challenge, and when dire news arrives from overseas, the spirit of Queen Jehanne visits Moirin in a dream and bids her undertake an impossible quest... one which could take her to the other side of the world.
Another specter from the past haunts Moirin too: Raphael de Mereliot, her manipulative former lover, who travelled with Thierry in the New World. Years ago, Raphael forced Moirin to help him summon demons in his quest to acquire mystical abilities of his own. It led to a disaster that nearly killed them all... and, in the New World, it may still have the chance to do so...

This is the third in the Naamah trilogy and now I have all three books I can try reading it! I just have to find some time to fit it into my reading schedule...

Cursed (Alex Verus #2) - Benedict Jacka

Publisher: Orbit

Since his second sight made him infamous for defeating powerful dark mages, Alex has been keeping his head down. But now he's discovered the resurgence of a forbidden ritual. Someone is harvesting the life-force of magical creatures—destroying them in the process. And draining humans is next on the agenda. Hired to investigate, Alex realizes that not everyone on the Council wants him delving any deeper. Struggling to distinguish ally from enemy, he finds himself the target of those who would risk their own sanity for power...

The second in the Alex Verus series - okay, so I haven't read the first one yet (noticing a theme) - but I like to support local authors!

What have you picked up this week?