My Book Haul / Showcase Sundays

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

I was a bit of a slow reader this week and only finished two books this week (well up to Friday night when I'm writing this!) - Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs - a great entry in this UF series and The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen - a wonderful slice of historical fantasy!

Even if I'm not in the country today, I wanted to share some books I picked up this week.

This week I went on a bit of a buying spree. My brother's girlfriend and I discovered a book sale in town last Sunday which had a wonderful selection of secondhand and nearly new books. All proceeds went to a local charity and each paperback was only 10p! So of course I couldn't resist picking up a few bargains...plus I requested a couple of items from Netgalley!

For Review

Forsaken By The Others - Jess Haines

Publisher: Zebra

The Others–vampires, werewolves, things that go chomp in the night–don’t just live in nightmares anymore. They’ve joined with he mortal world. And for private investigator Shiarra Waynest, that means mayhem…
Have a one night stand with a vampire, and you can end up paying for it for eternity. P.I. Shiarra Waynest, an expert on the Others, knows that better than most. Yet here she is, waking up beside charismatic vamp Alec Royce with an aching head…and neck. Luckily, Shia has the perfect excuse for getting out of town–namely, a couple of irate East Coast werewolf packs who’d like to turn her into a chew toy.On Royce’s suggestion, Shia temporarily relocates to Los Angeles. But something is rotten–literally–in the state of California, where local vampires are being attacked by zombies. Who could be powerful enough to control them–and reckless enough to target the immortal? Following the trail will lead Shia to a terrifying truth, and to an ancient enemy with a personal grudge...

This is a nice series and although I'm a book behind in the series I couldn't resist when I saw it up for review on Netgalley

Mist - Susan Krinard

Publisher:

Centuries ago, all was lost in the Last Battle when the Norse gods and goddesses went to war. The elves, the giants, and the gods and goddesses themselves were all destroyed, leaving the Valkyrie Mist one of the only survivors. 
Or so she thought.
When a snowy winter descends upon modern-day San Francisco in June, Mist’s quiet existence starts to feel all too familiar. In quick succession, Mist is attacked by a frost giant in a public park and runs into an elf disguised as a homeless person on the streets…and then the man Mist believed was her mortal boyfriend reveals himself to be the trickster god, Loki, alive and well after all these years.
Loki has big plans for the modern world, and he’s been hanging around Mist for access to a staff that once belonged to the great god Odin. Mist is certain of one thing: Loki must be stopped if there is to be any hope for Earth. But the fight is even bigger than she knows….
Because Loki wasn’t the only god to survive.

This caught my attention as a the first in a new series - but the striking cover and a mixture of Norse mythology in modern times sounds like my sort of book!

Bought

Welcome To Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams - Jenny Colgan

Publisher: Sphere

Were you a sherbet lemon or chocolate lime fan? Soft chewy ones or hard boiled sweeties (you do get more for your money that way)? The jangle of your pocket money . . . the rustle of the pink and green striped paper bag . . .
Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian s sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong.
Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton s sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets.

Jenny Colgan is always a sweet read - and this one especially so!

Sleeping With The Fishes - MaryJanice Davidson

Publisher: Piatkus

Fred is not your ordinary mermaid. She's not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is blue. While volunteering at the New England Aquarium, Fred learns that there are weird levels of toxins in the local seawater. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her merperson ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You'd think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again.

This is the first of a series and I enjoyed the first few Queen Betsy books so thought this was worth a little investment!

Born of Night - Sherrilyn Kenyon

Publisher: Piatkus

Awakened from a drugged sleep in a cold cell, the Princess Kiara finds herself a prisoner of the merciless marauders who threaten her father's planetary kingdom. Miraculously, a rescuer appears, but behind his fearsome mask is the handsome face of a dark avenger whose outlaw touch sets her very soul aflame.
They call him Nemesis. Once a renegade assassin, now a warrior-soldier sworn to protect the innocent from the ruthless mercenaries throughout the galaxies, he has many enemies. Besieged on every side, he knows he is a danger to the beauty he saves from certain death. But the lovely Kiara stirs a hungry longing in his battle-hardened heart, spurring him into a struggle that could restore his honor and heal the wounds of a beleaguered empire -- or tear Kiara from his arms forever...

I've never really gotten into Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series but thought the start of a new series might be worth a try as something different...

Lord of Snow and Shadows - Sarah Ash

Publisher: Bantam

Seemingly always the outsider, Gavril Andar - an impoverished young painter - yearns to join the privileged circles of Muscobar polite society. However, unbeknownst to him, he does have royal blood in his veins: the dark and powerful blood of a father he never knew - the Drakhaon, ruler of the isolated northern kingdom of Azhkendir. And when the Drakhaon is brutally murdered, an unwilling Gavril is forced to take up the mantle of both his father's rule - and his power. For blood will out. And the Drakhaon's carries within it a taint that gives its bearer access to awesome, unimagined magics - but at a soul-shattering price.
Now trapped in this bleak, mist-shrouded land full of superstition and racked by bitter rivalries, Gavril faces an awesome task. He must find his father's killer and unite his fractured kingdom against those who see it as weak, defenceless and ripe for invasion before he pays the price of kinship and succumbs to the dread curse that uncoils within him . . .

I've been curious about Sarah Ash's writing for a while and now I get to try it!

Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore

Publisher: Gollancz

Eight years after "Graceling," Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past. 
Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

I really enjoyed Graceling and Fire so I wanted to get my hands on this for ages! Last Sunday I gave in and purchased it!

The Sacrifice - Charlie Higson

Publisher: Puffin

The sickness destroyed everyone over the age of fourteen. All across London diseased adults are waiting, hungry predators with rotten flesh and ravaged minds. Small Sam and his unlikely ally, The Kid, have survived. They're safe with Ed and his friends at the Tower of London, but Sam is desperate to find his sister. Their search for Ella means Sam and The Kid must cross the forbidden zone. And what awaits them there is more terrifying than any of the horror they've suffered so far .

I LOVE this series...London is left to the pre-teens as everyone else is either dead or infected. I can't wait to start reading this!

What have you picked up this week...?