Waiting on Wednesday (23): Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Dirty Little Secret

by Jennifer Echols

Amazon | Goodreads

Bailey wasn’t always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sang and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents were content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey’s were hushed away.

Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie’s debut album is set to hit the charts, her parents get fed up with Bailey’s antics and ship her off to granddad’s house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey’s fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey’s heart once before. She isn’t sure she’s ready to let Sam take her there again…

SHUT UP, FIDDLER. I can’t even deal with the fact that Jennifer Echols is taking on music right now. She’s gotten me to read about cops (DUH love them), swimmers, horses, pilots, and now musicians. Is there anyone out there who thinks she’s not going to knock DIRTY LITTLE SECRET one out of the park, too? And I’m loving that this has a sister vibe going on, too. I really enjoy reading about siblings, especially when there’s drama. 

Honestly, though, let’s just cut to the chase: Sam. First of all, he’s in a band. Second of all, he’s the guitar player. Third of all, he lives in Nashville, which is one of those cities that I would LOVE to go to. I’m swooning over the little bits we get of him in just the two sentences up there in the synopsis. I can’t even IMAGINE how swoony he’s going to be in DIRTY LITLE SECRET. Am I the only Nashville watcher who is getting Gunnar and Scarlett feels from this synopsis??? AHHH YAY!! Love Jennifer Echols so much!

DIRTY LITTLE SECRET is coming out July 16, 2013 from MTV Books.

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Waiting on Wednesday (22): Poison by Bridget Zinn

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Poison

by Bridget Zinn

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

I am ALWAYS on the lookout for solid-sounding new fantasies, friends, and POISON by Bridget Zinn sounds like exactly that. The story of Kyra sounds not only full of fantasy goodness, but also emotional stress and complicated relationships, what with former best friends who are current heirs to the throne and ex-boyfriends who hang around. ALSO ALSO ALSO!! THERE’S A CUTE PIG!! AHHH! First of all, the little piggy is on the cover. Love it. Second of all, he also merits a mention in the synopsis, which means there’s a great chance of some important piggy moments in the book. (I love pigs. I think they’re adorable, especially baby ones.)

In fact, the only bummer about POISON is the fact that it’s the first and last book that we’ll likely ever get from Bridget Zinn–she passed away last year. Epic sad face. But her debut effort sounds wonderful, and I can’t wait to read it.

POISON is coming out March 12, 2013 from Disney Hyperion.

Waiting on Wednesday (21): Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Handbook for Dragon Slayers

by Merrie Haskell

When a runaway princess throws her lot in with a couple of would-be dragon slayers, before long she is facing down the Wild Hunt, befriending enchanted horses, battling fire-breathing dragons, and learning more about herself than she ever expected…

I can’t deal with how amazing this sounds, guys. A runaway princess, dragonslayers, enchanted horses. I DIE. Seriously. That little blurb is so freaking short, but I’m still fidgeting with anticipation. I read and very much enjoyed Merrie Haskell’s THE PRINCESS CURSE, which was a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses tale. But this one sounds like high fantasy at it’s best. PLUS. I love the cover! The illustration is so incredible!

HANDBOOK FOR DRAGON SLAYERS is coming out May 28, 2013 from Harper Collins.

Waiting on Wednesday (26): Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)

by Sarah J. Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

YOOOOO!! Holy crap, guys, THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas is one of my most anticipated books of the year! I’ve been waiting for the cover to come out to that I could fangirl it here with you guys. Because it’s based loosely on the Cinderella tale, but takes a sharp left into high-fantasy ASS-KICKER assassin girl-town. YES YES YES! I’ve been reading the novellas in this series (starting with THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD, then THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT, and then THE ASSASSIN AND THE UNDERWORLD, with THE ASSASSIN AND THE EMPIRE still to come) and they’ve all been awesome. I can’t wait to read THRONE OF GLASS and get to know Celaena better and meet this gruff captain! And also the prince. And also get the 411 on the “greater destiny” business. All of that, too. 

THRONE OF GLASS (THRONE OF GLASS #1) is coming out August 7, 2012 from Bloomsbury Children’s.

Waiting on Wednesday (25): Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Such a Rush

by Jennifer Echols

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business — until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers — and the consequences could be deadly.

I am a hardcore Jennifer Echols FANGIRL. MAJOR fan over here. Ever since I read GOING TOO FAR, she instantly became one of my always-read authors, and she’s never really let me down. (Although her romantic dramas are better than her romantic comedies, imho.) Her characters are always real and unique, her settings are always fresh (HELLO! Pilots?!), and her sexytimes are LEGIT TIMES INFINITY. To say that I am eagerly anticipating SUCH A RUSH, her newest romantic drama, is understatement central. Because I AM DYING FOR IT. Pilots? Flying? Secrets? TWO boys instead of just one?! *GRABBY HANDS*

SUCH A RUSH is coming out July 10, 2012 from MTV Books.