Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Nocturnal by Scott Sigler

There are some super awesome books on the horizon that I am dying to get a chance to read. Scott Sigler's latest is just one, but I came across the trailer this week and REALLY wanted to share, so Nocturnal had to be my Pre-Pub post for today. 

If you've not read Sigler before, he's a master of gory horror. Seriously. I read a lot of horror and Scott Sigler can make my hair stand on end with his bloody descriptions. But I love it!

Here's the synopsis from Crown:

Scott Sigler reinvented the alien-invasion story in his bestselling novels Infected and Contagious… rebooted the biotech thriller in Ancestor…now, in his most ambitious, sweeping novel to date, he works his magic on the paranormal thriller, taking us inside a terrifying underworld of subterranean predators that only his twisted mind could invent.

Homicide detective Bryan Clauser is losing his mind.

How else to explain the dreams he keeps having—dreams that mirror, with impossible accuracy, the gruesome serial murders taking place all over San Francisco? How else to explain the feelings these dreams provoke in him—not disgust, not horror, but excitement?

As Bryan and his longtime partner, Lawrence “Pookie” Chang, investigate the murders, they learn that things are even stranger than they at first seem. For the victims are all enemies of a seemingly ordinary young boy—a boy who is gripped by the same dreams that haunt Bryan. Meanwhile, a shadowy vigilante, seemingly armed with superhuman powers, is out there killing the killers. And Bryan and Pookie’s superiors—from the mayor on down—seem strangely eager to keep the detectives from discovering the truth.

Doubting his own sanity and stripped of his badge, Bryan begins to suspect that he’s stumbled into the crosshairs of a shadow war that has gripped his city for more than a century—a war waged by a race of killers living in San Francisco’s unknown, underground ruins, emerging at night to feed on those who will not be missed.

And as Bryan learns the truth about his own intimate connections to the killings, he discovers that those who matter most to him are in mortal danger…and that he may be the only man gifted—or cursed—with the power to do battle with the nocturnals.

Featuring a dazzlingly plotted mystery and a terrifying descent into a nightmarish underworld—along with some of the most incredible action scenes ever put to paper, and an explosive, gut-wrenching conclusion you won’t soon forget—Nocturnal is the most spectacular outing to date from one of the genre’s brightest stars.

Nocturnal hits shelves Tuesday, April 3.

And for your viewing pleasure, the massively awesome book trailer for Nocturnal:

Starters by Lissa Price

What if your parents died and you were left on your own? In the aftermath of the Spore Wars, everything has changed. With limited vaccine, only the young and the old were protected from infection. Now, an entire generation of Starters (teens) has been left parentless. Those like Callie Woodlawn and her brother have been living on the streets trying to survive. Unable to work thanks to legislation protecting Enders' -- those over 60 -- interests, teens are frequently rounded up and put into institutions. Desperate, Callie signs on with Prime Destinations, a new company that allows Enders to rent Starters' bodies so that they may enjoy youthful energy and activities once again. The money Callie will earn could save her and her brother. But something has gone very wrong. Callie finds herself sharing her body with the mind of a woman she is unable to trust. What are her renter's motives and will Callie be able to protect her brother?

Whoa! Lissa Price's crazy futuristic dystopian is amazing! Definitely one of those books that you can't put down once you've begun and a cliffhanger ending that already has readers (including me) on the edge of their seats until book two is released. 

The pacing and momentum of Price's writing is perfect. From the beginning, the reader is able to easily connect with Callie and is drawn into a story that is irresistibly intense. 

I find the plot here a bit close for comfort. There's more than a shred of believability in Price's imagined future and that makes it all that much more exciting and kind of creepy to think about. Either way, Starters is an absolute must read with great cross-over appeal for both teens and adults. Another great 2012 debut!

(Lissa Price is one of the Apocalypsies. Check out more 2012 debuts here!)

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

Who doesn't love Jane Eyre? Well, I guess there are some but I'm not one of them. I have an unhealthy adoration for the book, which is pretty amazing -- there are very few times in my life that I can honestly admit to having enjoyed required school reading. 

I think I happened to come to this one at just the right time. It's hard to say if I would have enjoyed it quite as much if I'd had to read it earlier in life. I'm certain, though, that I would have loved it just as much had I come to it on my own instead of as a part of college coursework. We'll never know. Rambling on...

Anyway, when I heard of Eve Marie Mont's very newly released A Breath of Eyre, I was dying to get my hands on it. A girl who gets to travel into the pages of Bronte's book!? Fabulous premise!

Emma Townsend is a pretty average teen. A scholarship student at Lockwood, an exclusive prep school, Emma has chosen Jane Eyre as the subject of her English lit essay for the year. Eyre was her mother's favorite book, after all. But then Emma finds herself inside Jane's story, living in Jane's shoes and falling in love with Mr. Rochester. Does Bronte's tale hold more within its pages for Emma than real life? 

I gobbled up this book! 

Emma is a wonderful character and in her, Mont has brought to life a teenager who must confront issues of loyalty and love, family and friends, and her own future. I was surprised to find that this was much more of what I'd consider a contemporary read given the sort of paranormal twist -- traveling into a book is a bit paranormal (there might be a better word for it but I can't think of one right now). It was a nice surprise. 

I've always been an ardent supporter of Jane and ultimately forgiving of Mr. Rochester's sins. Mont presents a really interesting side of Bertha, however. Emma's own examination of the character has sort of invaded my brain. I don't think that I've changed my mind with regards to Jane and Rochester, but Mont's given me some things to ponder over. 

I'm anxious to see what comes next for Emma. I know that she'll be traveling into the pages of The Scarlet Letter (not one of my favorite lit assignments) in A Touch of Scarlet. I expect Mont will inspire me to take another look at Hester's story.  

Where's My Bookmark: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

OMG, y'all! I started a new teen binge this weekend and made it past the halfway mark on Maureen Johnson's modern-day Jack the Ripper mystery, The Name of the Star. Honestly, I wanted to stay up until I finished last night, but I woke up at 2am with my lamp on and the book sharing my pillow :)

The Name of the Star is actually book three in the binge. I did finish two others this weekend, so it was a pretty awesome reading weekend. And I got to see Hunger Games -- so fantastic!

I love Jack the Ripper. It's one of those mysteries, which (as one of the characters in the book points out) has never been solved. And at this point, that's the big part of the appeal with Jack. I don't think anyone will ever "solve" it, though many have their own theories. I've read some really interesting ones and Jack's provided all kinds of fodder for books and movies for ages now. Which is pretty awesome, 'cause I'm really loving Johnson's twist on it!

Rory Deveaux is a Louisiana girl recently arrived in London; she'll be spending her last year of high school at Wexford. On the day of her arrival, everyone is talking about the new Ripper murder. A body has been found on the anniversary of the death of Mary Ann Nichols, bearing the same wounds and in the same location. Word is out that Jack is back! As each new anniversary approaches, London becomes more tense. Soon, the students at Wexford find themselves under lock and key in an attempt to protect them from the dangers surrounding the school grounds. And when Rory sees someone near the site where yet another body is found, she becomes the one and only witness. But why was Rory the only person to see him?

Maureen Johnson is one cool lady! Rory is a solid character who shines through Johnson's prose. And being a Louisiana girl myself, I love her all that much more! Yeah, I'm a little biased. Basically, anyone who can put together believable Louisiana settings and characters is a winner in my book.

I've got about 100 pages left to go at this point and really can't wait to finish. Thus far, the plot is fantastic. I'm afraid to give away spoilers, but the mystery is put together very well. And of course it's Jack!

I'd heard quite a bit about this one before I bought it for myself. This is my first Maureen Johnson book, and it was really Lori over at Pure Imagination who convinced me that I NEEDED this book :) Here's the link to her post on the book so you can see why.

I hope you guys had a fabulous reading weekend as well! I'll be finishing up The Name of the Star today!

New Releases 3/27/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

The Return Man by VM Zito

The Thirteen by Susie Moloney

A Game of Groans: A Sonnet of Slush and Soot by George R. R. Washington

Games Traitors Play by Jon Stock

The Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale

The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen

The Outcast Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood

The Truth of All Things by Kieran Shields

Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy

The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen

Imperial Scandal by Teresa Grant

Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs #9)

Betrayal by Danielle Steel

A Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler (Peculiar Crimes Unit #8)

Secrets of the Fire Sea by Stephen Hunt

Letter From a Stranger by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane

The Gathering of the Lost by Helen Lowe (The Wall of Night #2)

The Cowboy Takes a Bride by Lori Wilde

Lover Reborn by JR Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10)

The Unseen by Heather Graham

The Seduction of Phaeton Black by Jillian Stone

The Devil Colony by James Rollins (Sigma Force -- PB release)

Guilty Wives by James Patterson & David Ellis

The Widow's Daughter by Nicholas Edlin

The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett

Astride a Pink Horse by Robert Greer

Weeknights With Giada: Quick & Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner by Giada De Laurentiis

Forgiven by Jana Oliver (Demon Trappers #3)

Slide by Jill Hathaway

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins (PB release!)

Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins (PB release!)

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

New on DVD:

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

A Dangerous Method

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Slide

The Thirteen

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Forgiven by Jana Oliver

I am dying to read Jana Oliver's latest Demon Trappers book! Just dying! Seriously though, the first two books in this series (The Demon Trapper's Daughter and Soul Thief) were fantastic! Dark and gritty storytelling with a fabulous heroine and a futuristic setting -- they're highly addicting for adults and teens -- my 19-year-old sister especially loved that Oliver's books bridged the gap often left between adult books and younger teen books.

This Tuesday, March 27, marks the release of book three in the series, Forgiven, and I can't wait!

Here's some info from the publisher:

The days are growing darker for 17-year-old Riley Blackthorne. With her father’s reanimated body back safely, her protector Beck barely speaking to her because of her tryst with a hunky fallen angel, and a deal freshly made with Lucifer, she has enough on her hands to last a normal teenage lifetime. Though she bargained with Heaven to save his life, her ex-boyfriend Simon has told the Vatican’s elite team of demon hunters that she’s working with Hell. So now she’s wanted and on the run.

But it’s becoming clear that this is bigger than either Riley or Beck, and rapidly getting out of control. Someone’s tampering with Atlanta’s Holy Water, and it’s on Riley to figure out whom. On top of that, there’s something wrong with the demons—they’re working together, but more puzzlingly, refusing to die. The trappers and hunters are doing their best, but civilians are falling in harm’s way. Caught between her bargain with Heaven and her promise to Lucifer, Riley fears the final war is coming—and it may be closer than anyone thinks.

If you like paranormals with strong female characters and amazing world building, you need to check out Jana Oliver!

The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose

Reading a great book can transport you to a different place. This weekend alone, I traveled from WWI era Russia to ancient Egypt and France -- all from the comfort of my favorite reading spots.

To round out my MJ Rose posts (Pre pub and blog tour stop), I wanted to give you my own thoughts on her latest, The Book of Lost Fragrances.

In the book, Jac L'Etoile goes on a frantic search for her missing brother after a dead body is discovered in their family's perfume shop. Robbie and Jac had been arguing over how to mend the many business debts incurred by their father who is no longer in a state to run the company. Jac's solution is to sell two of the famous L'Etoile scents, but Robbie believes that he's on the verge of a breakthrough that could be their salvation.

The amount of research that Rose puts into her books comes through so well in her writing. Cleopatra, the Tibetan belief system, the catacombs in France, perfumes in general... all of these elements were so intriguing and added layer after layer to the story. By the time I finished the book, I wanted to know more about all of these things. To be honest, Rose could have padded out the book with minutia and tidbits and I would have been perfectly happy -- though she doesn't. There's definitely no filler or unnecessary elements in Rose's prose.

And though The Book of Lost Fragrances can be read as a complete stand alone, it does tie directly into Rose's Reincarnationist books with the Phoenix Foundation playing a significant role in Jac's tale. The Book of Lost Fragrances leaves room for Rose to continue with the Foundation and the idea of memory tools in future books as well. I'm confident that newbies and long standing fans will all be pleased with Rose's latest!

The Book of Lost Fragrances is out on shelves now. Other titles tied in are:

The Reincarnationist

The Memorist

The Hypnotist

New Releases 3/20/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

So Pretty It Hurts by Kate White

Stay Close by Harlan Coben

Nightfall by Stephen Leather

Gossip by Beth Gutcheon

The Might Have Been by Joseph M. Schuster

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

The Good Father by Noah Hawley

Phantom by Ted Bell

Fall From Grace by Richard North Patterson

A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer Dubois

I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark

The Blind Spy by Alex Dryden

Force of Nature by CJ Box

Loss by Jackie Morse Kessler

A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

New on DVD:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Hop

The Muppets

The Sitter

Carnage

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Bedlam Detective by Stephen Gallagher

Losing Clementine by Ashley Ream

How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue

Wide Open by Deborah Coates

The Book of Lost Fragrances Excerpt Scavenger Hunt and Guest Post

Good morning, all! Today is MJ Rose day!

I'm so excited to be participating in MJ Rose's blog tour promoting her latest, The Book of Lost Frangrances! Below, you'll find the next piece of the excerpt scavenger hunt and a link that will take you to the following stop. But first, a guest post from the author herself!

Researching The Book of Lost Fragrances was a labor of love. One of the most wonderful parts was working with a famous blogger, Dimi of The Sorcery of Scent. He helped me find out about fragrances that have been lost to us and what they smelled like.

I thought it would interesting for us to tell you about one of them.

Guerlain first focused on verveine (verbena) varieties to use in perfumes in the mid-late 1800's.Eau de Verveine was released first in the 1870's and made brief reappearances in the 1950s and the 1980s before being retired from Guerlain's perfume portfolio. Eau de Verveine is the scent of high summer… sharp, uplifting notes of citrus-green lemon verbena flood the mouth with saliva with their crisp, energising aroma. Below is a prickle of something darker - perhaps carnation or clove - which adds incredible depth. There is a dry, tea-like quality that emerges as the scent dries on the skin. This impossibly rare scent evokes feelings of long days at the summer's end with the chirrup of cicadas ringing in the ears.

The most coveted and rare perfume from the Guerlain portfolio, Djedi was launched in 1926, right on the heels of Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. Presented in a flacon resembling a golden sarcophagus with its lid being raised, Djedi is an exploration into decomposition and decay. Gloomy and desolate, Djedi has a dry, arid quality like the shifting desert sands… a "closed over the ages" feel furnished by dry vetiver, oakmoss, musk, and leather. This olfactory requiem pays hommage to fallen ancient Egyptian dynasties that have been lost to the sands of time.

COQUE D'OR is an exceptionally beautiful leather chypre created in 1937 by Jacques Guerlain.Soft florals tumble over a buttery leather accord which evoke thoughts of paper-thin hand-made gloves of extraordinary quality. Built over a classic Guerlain chypre base of sandalwood, amber and oakmoss… this perfume is pre-WWII finery at its best. A scent to be worn with cashmere, pearls and soft furs, but sadly one that has been out of production for the last 60 years.

And now, a piece of The Book of Lost Fragrances... (Note: if you've not hit the previous stops on the tour, you'll need to head back to this post from So Many Precious Books, So Little Time to start at the beginning of the excerpt)

“What does it mean?” Napoléon asked.

“I don’t know, Général. It’s most unusual,” Abu stammered.

“Unwrap him, Saurent,” Napoléon ordered.

Despite Abu’s protestations, Saurent insisted the young men cut through the linen and expose the actual mummy. The Frenchman was paying them, so they agreed. As L’Etoile knew, ancient embalming techniques using fragrant oils and unguents along with the dry air should have prevented the deceased’s soft muscles and tissue from decaying. Even the hair might have been preserved. He’d seen mummies before and had been fascinated by their sweet-smelling corpses.

It took only a few minutes to cut and peel back the blackened cloth.

“No. Like nothing I have ever seen,” Abu whispered.

The corpse on the right didn’t have his arms crossed on his chest, as was the custom.

To continue reading, head on over to the next stop: http://www.myspringfieldmommy.com/

About the Author:

M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of eleven novels: Lip Service, In Fidelity, Flesh Tones, Sheet Music, Lying In Bed, The Halo Effect, The Delilah Complex, The Venus Fix, The Reincarnationist, The Memorist, and The Hypnotist. The Book of Lost Fragrances will be published in March 2012. Rose is also the co-author with Angela Adair Hoy of How To Publish And Promote Online, and with Doug Clegg on Buzz Your Book.

Rose is a founding member and board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. As well as the co-founder of Peroozal.com and the popular website BookTrib.com.

Rose has been profiled in Time magazine, Forbes, The New York Times, Business 2.0, Working Woman, Newsweek and New York Magazine. Rose has appeared on "The Today Show," Fox News, "The Jim Lehrer News Hour" and features on her have appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, including USA Today, Stern, L'Official, Poets and Writers and Publishers Weekly.

M.J. Rose lives in Connecticut with Doug Scofield, a composer, and their very spoiled dog, Winka. To learn more about M.J. Rose and her work, visit her website at: www.mjrose.com.

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Truth of All Things by Kieran Shields

I've got an abundance of really exciting new historical mysteries/thrillers in my TBR, including Kieran Shields's The Truth of All Things, due out Mar 27. This is the first in a new series and sounds fabulous, so of course I did a happy dance when a copy arrived in the mail.

Here's the info from the publisher:

...the first book in a promising new mystery series from debut author Kieran Shields – THE TRUTH OF ALL THINGS (Crown; on sale March 27, 2012), a page-turning tale of ritualistic serial killings in Maine in the late 1800s that appear to be inspired by the Salem witch trials.

Shields paints a picture of late 19^th century New England and its environs with all the spookiness of a classic Stephen King novel and introduces readers to a pair of unforgettable protagonists who call to mind the great Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes and Watson.

Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, in the summer of 1892, a grisly new witch hunt is beginning....

When newly appointed Deputy Marshal Archie Lean is called in to investigate a prostitute's murder in Portland, Maine, he's surprised to find the body laid out like a pentagram and pinned to the earth with a pitchfork. He's even more surprised to learn that this death by "sticking" is a traditional method of killing a witch.

Baffled by the ritualized murder scene, Lean secretly enlists the help of historian Helen Prescott and brilliant criminalist Perceval Grey. Distrusted by officials because of his mixed Abenaki Indian ancestry, Grey is even more notorious for combining modern investigative techniques with an almost eerie perceptiveness. Although skeptical of each other's methods, together the detectives pursue the killer's trail through postmortems and opium dens, into the spiritualist societies and lunatic asylums of gothic New England.

Before the killer closes in on his final victim, Lean and Grey must decipher the secret pattern to these murders--a pattern hidden within the dark history of the Salem witch trials.

I hope everyone's weekend has started off wonderfully. I'm headed to the porch to read in the sun!

How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue

I've been craving cupcakes all week and it's all Meg Donohue's fault! I mean really, what did I expect from a book called How to Eat a Cupcake, right? I should have had some on hand for while I read.

Annie Quintana grew up alongside Julia St. Clair. Annie's mother was the St. Clair's housekeeper and Julia's nanny after all. But a terrible rumor in high school and Annie's mother's death proved to be a permanent breaking point for the two women -- until now.

Julia is planning her wedding and keeping a secret. In a last ditch effort to get her mind off things, she decides to pitch Annie on a business plan. Annie is a baker with a special talent for cupcakes and Julia thinks the market is ripe for a cupcakery. If they can stick to business, they may be able to succeed, but the close contact also brings old issues back from their past.

Donohue's debut is just shy of a fluffy read. In fact, it has a bit more substance than you might initially expect -- a little unexpected twist in the end that I sure didn't see coming. Even so, How to Eat a Cupcake remains light and quick and made for a really fun weekend read.

Be forewarned, sweets are not included. Buy your own and keep 'em close!

Infamous Release Day!

Hi, readers! Today marks the release of Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest Chronicles of Nick installment, Infamous!

Here's a bit about the book from the publicist:

The world has fallen in love with Nick Gautier and the Dark-Hunters. Now Nick's saga continues in the next eagerly anticipated volume...

Go to school. Get good grades. Stay out of trouble. That's the mandate for most kids. But Nick Gautier isn't the average teenager. He's a boy with a destiny not even he fully understands. And his first mandate is to stay alive while everyone, even his own father, tries to kill him.

He's learned to annihilate zombies and raise the dead, divination and clairvoyance, so why is learning to drive such a difficulty? But that isn't the primary skill he has to master. Survival is.

And in order to survive, his next lesson makes all the others pale in comparison. He is on the brink of becoming either the greatest hero mankind has ever known.

Or...

You can read an excerpt of Infamous at:

http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/book/infamous/

And for your viewing pleasure, a book trailer to whet your appetite!

Where's My Bookmark: Wide Open by Deborah Coates

Hello, all, and a happy Monday to you!

I've still got a massive head cold (yes, they are marathon events in my case, lasting much longer than with any normal person). The good news is that having sprung forward, the days are getting longer and the sun is finally coming out, which means that I'm starting to defrost from winter. Yay! It also means that I don't feel like I should be in bed by 5pm. And this translates into getting more done, including reading!

Deborah Coates's Wide Open made its way into my TBR stack this weekend and I was able to dive in last night (post Walking Dead). It's an intriguing beginning to a new trilogy.

In the book, Hallie Michaels has returned home on ten days' leave for her sister's funeral. While Dell's death is still under investigation, preliminary thoughts are that it must be a suicide. Hallie knows there's no way her sister killed herself and is determined to find out the truth.

Did I mention Hallie sees ghosts? Coates's heroine died herself just prior to when the book begins and has been able to see ghosts ever since. Course her ability is new and she still isn't sure what the ghosts actually want from her.

Like I said, intriguing. I've had my eye on this one for a while and was lucky enough to get a finished copy for review. I'm at the halfway mark as we speak and hope to finish this evening. Wide Open is proving to be a quick read though there are a few parts where the flow of the narrative hangs up a bit. I really like Hallie as a character and I'm kind of dying to find out what's up with Boyd Davies (he's a local cop on the case).

Wide Open officially on shelves tomorrow from Tor.

New Releases 3/13/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond

The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose

Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green

Play Nice by Gemma Halliday

Arcadia by Lauren Groff

The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith

Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers

How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue

Being Lara by Lola Jaye

Autumn: Aftermath by David Moody

The Gilly Salt Sisters by Tiffany Baker

Wide Open by Deborah Coates

The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits

Sail of Stone by Ake Edwardson

The Affair by Alicia Clifford

Rizzo's Daughter by Lou Manfredo

Helsinki White by James Thompson

An American Spy by Olen Steinhauer

Starters by Lissa Price

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter (Gallagher Girls)

Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Chronicles of Nick)

The Savage Grace by Bree Despain (Dark Divine)

Crysanthe by Yves Meynard

New on DVD:

The Descendants

The Adventures of Tintin

The Three Musketeers

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Autumn: Purification by David Moody

Hard Target by Howard Gordon

Blue Monday by Nicci French

The Man From Primrose Lane by James Renner

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose

I'm giving you a double dose of pre-pub posts today since I missed last week. This Tuesday marks the release of MJ Rose's latest, The Book of Lost Fragrances. I'm lucky enough to be participating in the blog tour for the book and am dying to dive in!

Here's what the publicity info says:

Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances--and of her mother's suicide--she moved to America.

Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with its financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing--leaving a dead body in his wake--Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream-infused perfume?

THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

M.J. Rose is a skilled writer and a remarkable storyteller. Using Cleopatra’s lost book of fragrance formulas as a stepping stone, Rose spins a tale replete with stunning twists and compelling characters that will keep readers turning the pages late into the night.

The Book of Lost Fragrances is due out in bookstores on Tuesday, March 13.

Be sure to stop by here on March 18 for a guest post by Rose and a piece of the excerpt scavenger hunt.