Here’s a pretty long list of March releases that I’m eyeing (plus a whole load of maybes). Also, Andrea K Höst‘s HUNTING is now scheduled for a March release, so lots of book goodness this month.
Patricia Briggs‘ FROST BURNED (UF): *inarticulate noise* Yes, I’m that excited about a new Mercy Thompson story. It’s been one of the very few books I’ve actually pre-ordered this year. I’m wondering if we’re going to see the repercussions of the events in the last Anna & Charles book in FROST BURNED – I hope so.
Mercy Thompson’s life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman—the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack—has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy’s life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more…
After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.
Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.
Out March 5 (excerpt)
Miranda Kenneally‘s THINGS I CAN’T FORGET (YA romance): Miranda Kenneally’s CATCHING JORDAN was an unexpectedly good read when I stumbled upon it last year, so I’m all up for a new book in her Hundred Oaks setting (this is termed a companion book, which appears to be a quiet trend in the YA space).
Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…
This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt…with her.
Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy…
Out now (excerpt)
1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.
2. That thing that’s getting ready to eat your head.
3. See also: “monster.”
The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity–and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn’t quite work out that way…
But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan finally taken care of, Verity is ready to settle down for some serious ballroom dancing—until her on-again, off-again, semi-boyfriend Dominic De Luca, a member of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, informs her that the Covenant is on their way to assess the city’s readiness for a cryptid purge. With everything and everyone she loves on the line, there’s no way Verity can take that lying down.
Alliances will be tested, allies will be questioned, lives will be lost, and the talking mice in Verity’s apartment will immortalize everything as holy writ–assuming there’s anyone left standing when all is said and done. It’s a midnight blue-light special, and the sale of the day is on betrayal, deceit…and carnage.
Out March 5 (excerpt)
QUEEN VICTORIA’S BOOK OF SPELLS, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (YA fantasy): The subtitle is An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy, which just intrigues me.
“Gaslamp Fantasy,” or historical fantasy set in a magical version of the nineteenth century, has long been popular with readers and writers alike. A number of wonderful fantasy novels, including Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Prestige by Christopher Priest, owe their inspiration to works by nineteenth-century writers ranging from Jane Austen, the Brontës, and George Meredith to Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and William Morris. And, of course, the entire steampunk genre and subculture owes more than a little to literature inspired by this period.
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells is an anthology for everyone who loves these works of neo-Victorian fiction, and wishes to explore the wide variety of ways that modern fantasists are using nineteenth-century settings, characters, and themes. These approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the Austen-and-Trollope inspired works that some critics call Fantasy of Manners, all of which fit under the larger umbrella of Gaslamp Fantasy. The result is eighteen stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, mainstream, and young adult fields, including both bestselling writers and exciting new talents such as Elizabeth Bear, James Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee, Gregory Maguire, Delia Sherman, and Catherynne M. Valente, who present a bewitching vision of a nineteenth century invested (or cursed!)
Out March 19 (publisher page)
Teresa Grant‘s THE PARIS AFFAIR (historical mystery): I’m a long-time fan of Teresa Grant’s books and am looking forward to a new installment in Suzanne and Malcolm’s life. Her novels are packed full of historical detail and political intrigue; add the rather complicated relationship between Suzanne and Malcolm and you get a very satisfying read.
Warning: SPOILER in book description for previous books(!):
From the ashes of war rise the secrets of its darkest hearts…
In the wake of the Battle of Waterloo, Paris is a house divided. The triumphant Bourbons flaunt their victory with lavish parties, while Bonapartists seek revenge only to be captured and executed. Amid the turmoil, British attaché and intelligence agent Malcolm Rannoch and his wife, Suzanne, discover that his murdered half sister, Princess Tatiana Kirsanova, may have borne a child—a secret she took to the grave. And Malcolm suspects there was more than mere impropriety behind her silence…
As Malcolm and Suzanne begin searching for answers, they learn that the child was just one of many secrets Tatiana had been keeping. The princess was the toast of Paris when she arrived in the glamorous city, flirting her way into the arms of more than a few men—perhaps even those of Napoleon himself—and the father must be among them. But in the mêlée of the Napoleonic Wars, she was caught up in a deadly game of court intrigue, and now Malcolm and Suzanne must race against time to save his sister’s child from a similar fate…
Out March 26 (excerpt)
And then my maybes:
Anne Bishop‘s WRITTEN IN RED (
YA UF): I’ve skipped her more recent fantasy releases, but may pick up her YA UF debut. (ETA: This is not a YA according to commenters – no idea where I got my original impression from!)
Jennifer Nielsen‘s THE RUNAWAY KING (MG/YA fantasy): I liked but didn’t love the first book in this trilogy (THE FALSE PRINCE) so this is on my library reservation request list.
Nalini Singh‘s WILD INVITATION (paranormal romance): Another library reservation request, I think – primarily because I’ve read both of the previously-published short stories in this anthology. I’m not keen on paying full price for two new stories.
Eloisa James‘ WITH THIS KISS (historical romance): Normally Eloisa James is an autobuy author, but I’m not sure this serial-in-three-parts will work for me. I’ll wait on reviews.
Jacqueline Winspear‘s LEAVING EVERYTHING MOST LOVED (historical mystery): Her Maisie Dobbs books are hits or misses with me, so I’ll probably play safe and borrow a copy from the library.