Mailbox Monday - September 28th

Good morning everyone! I'm trying to do my Monday Morning posts quickly today...really want to get some shut eye before poker tonight. Did I mention I have the BIGGEST headache, ever? Yeah, had it since I woke up at 4pm yesterday...and it hasn't gone away. Stressed much? Anywho..this is what I received last week!

For Review :

Nibble & Kuhn by David Schmahmann (ARC) - publicist at Academy Chicago Publishers

Release Date : November, 2009

An unraveling law firm. An unwinnable case. An unworkable love.
Derek Dover has it all.

Derek's up for partner at Nibble & Kuhn just as that most proper of Boston law firms comically tries to `rebrand' itself for the Google era. Pompous and arbitrary, the ruling junta of partners saddles him with a high visibility lawsuit just weeks before trial. The diligent young attorney arranges things so that Maria Parma, a new associate in the firm for whom he's fallen hard, also gets named to the case. Maria, in turn, can't keep her hands off Derek, but it's complicated because she's engaged to someone else.

As Derek prepares his case on behalf of seven young victims of an industrial polluter, his anxieties about his career and his torments over Maria's mixed messages only increase. Have his eccentric WASP superiors handed him a `toxic' case to ruin his chances of becoming a partner? How can he get his opponents to settle - an outcome the presiding judge all but demands - unless his unorthodox `expert witnesses' perform with enough gravitas to match that of the other side with its Harvard Medical School scientist? Will Nibble & Kuhn survive the partners' spectacularly bad business judgments? Does it even matter to Derek, given that his looming fiasco of a trial and his indiscretions with Maria seem set to sink any chance he ever had at partnership?

Ultimately, Derek sets into motion a line of inquiry that spins events entirely out of the control of the judge, jury, and any and all attorneys.

How to Catch and Keep a Vampire : A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful by Diane Laurence (Trade Paperback) - Publicist at Sellers Publishing
Release Date : August 28, 2009

Who needs a book on dating a vampire? Well, Bella Swan and Sookie Stackhouse to name just two. They are fortunate to have vampire boyfriends. But what the heroines of Twilight and True Blood don't have and could use is some advice on getting along with them. Everything they and every other red-blooded American girl (and guy) wants to know about finding a dreamy blood-drinker and keeping him is within How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving The Bad and the Beautiful. And who better to introduce mortal readers to the world of dating a 21st century vampire than a few mouth-watering immortals? The cast includes: Ethan, with his aquamarine eyes and supernaturally seductive piano playing. Mordred, classically cruel, dark, and handsome, with a thing for black leather gloves. His entrancingly cute carrot-topped friend Adam, as sweet as Mordred is scary. Gunnar, with his rich, golden hair, and dastardly but delightful knack for getting his way. The experienced and fascinating Colin, with his exquisite latte-colored skin and exotic beauty. The eccentric but gorgeous Aidan, purveyor of ancient magic. And enigmatic Conner, with his deep, dark eyes and protective soul. These undead charmers will win the hearts and minds of readers everywhere, and author Diana Laurence will be their expert guide.

Cry Mercy by Toni Andrews (MMP) - Mira Books
Release Date : June 1, 2009

I just want a normal life…even if I'm not entirely sure I'm human.

My name is Mercy Hollings and I'm a successful hypnotherapist in Balboa, California. The problem is, my good fortune is dependent on a dark secret. I can make people do whatever I want using telepathy, a power I call "the press." And that ability has hurt some people I never wanted to hurt, so I try to keep it under wraps.

I also try to keep people at a distance…at least, I used to. Recently a group of fearless characters broke through my self-imposed walls and became my friends: Sukey, my receptionist-turned-P.I.; Tino, a Chicano gang leader; Hilda, a wealthy society widow; Grant, a retired millionaire—and Sam, my sexy-as-hell ex-boyfriend.

But with friends comes drama. Tino has inadvertently led me into the dark world of gang violence, and Sukey has pushed me into searching for my biological parents, the only people who can finally tell me who—or what—I really am.

A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents by Liza Palmer (ARC) - Hatchette Books
Release Date : December 23, 2009

Grace Hawkes has not spoken to her previously tight-knit family since her mother's sudden death five years ago. Well, most of the family was tight-knit-- her father walked out on them when she was 13 and she and her two brothers and sister bonded together even closer with their mother as a result.

She's been doing her best to live her new life apart from them, but when their estranged father has a stroke and summons them, Grace suddenly realizes she's done the same thing he had done...abandoned those who need her most.

And need her they do, for inside the hospital walls, a strange war is unfolding between the pseudo-kindly woman who is their father's second wife and the rest of the original Hawkes clan. Upon reconnecting with her brother and sisters, Grace will find a part of herself she thought was lost forever. As they unravel the manipulative deception of the second Mrs. Hawkes, Grace will finally be able to stand up for her family-- and to remember what a family is, even after all these years.

From Paperbackswap :

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough (ARC) - Thanks Cindy @ Princess Bookie!

Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search—and the stranger—will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all. This is a spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.

Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel (ARC) - Thanks Cindy @ Princess Bookie!

What is the toughest request anyone can be asked to fulfill?

Travis Morrison is a champion diver and one of the most popular kids at school. On the first day of summer vacation, while boating on the lake with his friends, Travis attempts a silly stunt dive that goes wrong. He fears he has broken his leg. Instead, his trip to the hospital reveals he has a rare form of cancer, and to save him, the doctors tell his parents they must amputate. In an instant, Travis’s life and the lives of everyone around him are forever changed.

Travis is determined that he and only he should decide the course of his life. He has a plan, but he can’t carry it out alone. Will he convince one of his friends to fulfill his most important request?

Lurlene McDaniel tackles a controversial subject, probing the issues of personal choice and quality of life.

From Bookmooch :

Specials by Scott Westerfeld (Trade Paperback)

"Special Circumstances":

The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor -- frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary.

And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it's easy to tune that out -- until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.