New Books–May 2009

I’ve been AWOL from my blog for quite awhile. Things are busy in my regular life and I just haven’t gotten back here–or to other blogs. I hope to write more often, but probably short items and more often. We’ll see how that works out….

I have a lot of books I’m excited about this month plus a few I didn’t get into my April list. At the top of my list this month though is Charlaine Harris’ next book in the Sookie Stackhouse series–Dead and Gone. I already have the book, but am waiting a few days to start it. I like to savor things for awhile. (For example, I will keep a special dessert for several days while I nibble on it!) I’m also excited about the second season of True Blood which starts in June.

Without further ado, here are my choices for May.

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The Perfect Poison

• by Amanda Quick
• Arcane Society series, #6
• Hardcover released April 21
• Putnam
• Historical Paranormal Romance
• “Plagued by rumors that she poisoned her fiancé, Lucinda Bromley manages to live on the fringes of polite society, tending her beloved plants—and occasionally consulting on a murder investigation…. the death of a lord has shaken Lucinda to her core. At the murder scene, she picks up traces of a poison containing a very rare species of fern. So rare, in fact, that only one specimen exists in all of England—and it was stolen from her conservatory just last month.”

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

• by Jennifer Ashley
• #1 in series
• Paperback released April 28
• Leisure Books
• Historical Romance
• “The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family–rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn’t be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them–of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.”

Always a Scoundrel

• by Suzanne Enoch
• The Notorious Gentlemen series, Book 3
• Paperback released April 28
• Avon
• Historical Romance
• “Lord Bramwell Johns, the second son of a duke, is an unrepentant scoundrel. Now that his two closest friends are disgustingly ensconced in domestic bliss, Bram is feeling strangely restless. And not even relieving London’s least deserving artistocrats of their ill-gotten jewels is enough—until the night he overhears an argument. It seems that Lady Rosamund Davies is about to be forced into marriage with a rogue even worse than himself.”

The Language of Bees

• by Laurie King
• Hardcover released April 28
• Bantam
• Mystery
• “In a case that will push their relationship to the breaking point, Mary Russell must help reverse the greatest failure of her legendary husband’s storied past—a painful and personal defeat that still has the power to sting…this time fatally.”

Vision in White

• Nora Roberts
• The Wedding Quartet, book 1
• Trade paperback released April 28
• Berkley Trade
• Contemporary Romance
• “Wedding photographer Mackensie “Mac” Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be’s brother . . . an encounter that has them both seeing stars. A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac’s type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turn into something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have to turn to her three best friends–and business partners–to see her way to her own happy ending.”

To Beguile a Beast

• by Elizabeth Hoyt
• The Legend of the Four Soldiers, Book 3
• Paperback released May 1
• Forever
• Historical Romance
• “Reclusive Sir Alistair Munroe has hidden in his castle ever since returning from the Colonies, scarred inside and out. But when a mysterious beauty arrives at his door, the passions he’s kept suppressed for years begin to awaken.”

Silver Falls

• Anne Stuart
• Paperback released May 1
• Mira
• Romantic Suspense
• “Rachel is finally getting it right. After years of wandering, she’s married the perfect man and settled into the ideal life. But as her sleepy little town turns into a killing ground, she realizes that this new life might come at too high a price. Caleb Middleton says he’s returned home to set things right. But as her husband’s dangerous brother circles like a hungry wolf, poking holes in her perfect world, Rachel draws her young daughter in close. The rain and violence keep coming, and Rachel must decide whether to trust her dream life or her instincts…before the town of Silver Falls becomes her grave.”

Diamond Star

• by Catherine Asaro
• Skolian Empire series
• Hardcover released May 5
• Baen
• Science Fiction
• “Del was a rock singer. He was also the renegade son of the Ruby Dynasty, which made his career choice less than respectable, and gave him more to worry about than getting gigs and not getting cheated by recording companies, club owners, or his agent. For one thing, the Ruby Dynasty ruled the Skolian Imperialate, an interstellar Empire, which had recently had a war with another empire, the Eubian Concord. For another, Del was singing on Earth, which was part of a third interstellar civilization, and one which had an uneasy relationship with the Imperialate. Del undeniably had talent, and was rapidly rising from an unknown fringe artist to stardom. But, with his life entangled in the politics of three interstellar civilizations, whether he wanted that or not, talent might not be enough. And that factor might have much more effect than his music on the lives of trillions of people on the thousands of inhabited worlds across the galaxy.”

Dead and Gone

• by Charlaine Harris
• Sookie Stackhouse series, book 9
• Hardcover released May 5
• Ace
• Urban Fantasy
• “Except for Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, know little about vamps—and nothing about weres. Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to reveal their existence to the ordinary world. At first all goes well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found near the bar where Sookie works—and she feels compelled to discover who, human or otherwise, did it. But there’s a far greater danger threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings—older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves—is preparing for war. And Sookie finds herself an all-too human pawn in their battle.”

Seducing an Angel

• by Mary Balogh
• Huxtable Quintet, book 4
• Hardcover released May 19
• Delacorte Press
• Historical Romance
• “The recently widowed Cassandra Belmont, Lady Paget, has arrived in London during the social Season. But she receives neither welcome nor sympathy from society. Quite the opposite. There are questions surrounding the death of her husband, and rumor has it that Cassandra murdered him. Her son-in-law has used threats rather than law to cut her off without a penny. But she had dependents as well as herself to support. Her situation is desperate indeed when she decides there is only one way to save them all from destitution. She goes in search of a wealthy, well-connected protector-and she settles upon the Earl of Merton.”

Not Quite a Husband

• by Sherry Thomas
• Paperback released May 19
• Bantam
• Historical Romance
• “Their marriage lasted only slightly longer than the honeymoon—to no one’s surprise, not even Bryony Asquith’s. A man as talented, handsome, and sought after by society as Leo Marsden couldn’t possibly want to spend his entire life with a woman who rebelled against propriety by becoming a doctor. Why, then, three years after their annulment and half a world away, does he track her down at her clinic in the remotest corner of India?”

This Duchess of Mine

• by Eloisa James
• Desperate Duchesses, Book 5
• Paperback released May 26
• Avon
• Historical Romance
• “Wedding bells celebrating the arranged marriage between the lovely Duchess of Beaumont and her staid, imperturbable duke had scarcely fallen silent when a shocking discovery sent Jemma running from the ducal mansion. For the next nine years she cavorted abroad, creating one delicious scandal after another (if one is to believe the rumors). Elijah, Duke of Beaumont, did believe those rumors. But the handsome duke needs an heir, so he summons his seductive wife home. Jemma laughs at Elijah’s cool eyes and icy heart—but to her secret shock, she doesn’t share his feelings. In fact, she wants the impossible: her husband’s heart at her feet.”

My Forbidden Desire

• by Carolyn Jewel
• Sequel to My Wicked Enemy
• Paperback released May 26
• Forever
• Paranormal Romance
• “Alexandrine Marit is a witch in mortal danager. An evil mage craves the powerful, mysterious talisman that supplies her magic, and the only person who can keep her alive is a dark and dangerous fiend called Xia. With his fierce animosity toward witches, he’s hardly the ideal bodyguard. Yet as days turn into nights, she can’t deny the white-hot passion between them.”