Stacking the Shelves (4)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where book bloggers share the books they've added to their shelves this week (physical or electronic).

These are the books I've added to my collection this week...

Purchased from the bookstore:

Icons (Icons #1) by Margaret Stohl
Blurb:
Your heart beats only with their permission.

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol's family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn't know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside -- safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can't avoid.

She's different. She survived. Why? (Click for rest of description on Goodreads)

I'm really excited for this one even though I didn't really enjoy the Caster Chronicles. I'm strongly hoping the style will be different (since it's Stohl on her own and not a blending of two writers) and it won't be as dull as I eventually found the Beautiful Creatures books to be. Interesting premise (I do love a good post-apocalyptic!)

The Collector (Dante Walker #1) by Victoria Scott
Blurb:
He makes good girls...bad.

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.

Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.

YAY I'm so glad I saw this at work on a shelving cart. I had them order it a few weeks ago and it FINALLY came in! This will be my next physical book read (since I've gotten into a routine of reading one e-book and one physical book at a time). SO excited. I've heard many good things about this one, guys. Expect a review in the coming weeks.

E-galleys via Netgalley:

The Stone Thread by J.R. Evangelisti
Blurb:
Not all men are created equal.
Dr. Elizabeth Wellstrom who loves to study historic words is about to find out why. The Council controlled the most powerful computers in the World. They delved into such diverse studies as predicting the exact time and occurrence of earthquakes, man's impact on Earth, and how man would develop as a species into a far distant millennium. Her terrifying discovery will change man's understanding that precedes birth and extends far beyond death as she has stumbled into the existence of the eternal epic battle between good and evil or is Elizabeth delusional?

This one seems like it could be interesting, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's not high up on my list, but we'll see how it goes!

Found (Penny Black #1) by Stacey Wallace Benefiel
Blurb:
Penny Black hasn’t had it easy. Just about everything you’d expect to happen to a harassed foster-kid turned junkie has happened to Penny. Add in the mysterious power to rewind time, conducting events around her, and it’s a wonder she held up on the streets for so many years. Now, at seventeen, the New Society has found her. Finally, Penny is where she belongs. But that doesn’t stop the visions, or the need to protect the victims shown to her.

Wyatt Adams is excited and intrigued when his sister Melody assigns him to be Penny’s Lookout. Being the youngest, and hopelessly ordinary in the family that created the New Society, has left Wyatt feeling like he has a lot to prove -- and Penny is a big deal. She’s got abilities that surpass any he’s seen before…and pretty much every quality he looks for in a girlfriend, but no one needs to know about that, especially Penny.

This series is a companion series to another by the same author, which I've not read, but I'm hoping that won't matter. This one sounds super interestesting and right up my alley.

Sworn to Raise (Courtlight #1) by Terah Edun
Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Ciardis has grown up in poverty, a cleaner in a small vale on the outskirts of the kingdom. But beneath her kingdom’s seemingly idyllic surface lies a hidden secret. Whispers of an inept crown Prince are growing ever louder—intensified by the five year anniversary of the soulbond initiations.

Amidst scandalous whispers, Ciardis finds herself chosen to train for the Companion’s Guild. She leaves her home and sets off on a personal journey to become a Court Companion. A position she’d never thought possible for a lowly servant to obtain, she must prove that she has the skills to attract a Patron.

But she must master those skills quickly. If the legends are true, only Ciardis can harness the power to raise a Prince in an Imperial Court sworn to bring him down.

Fantasy? Yes, please!

Untraceable (The Nature of Grace #1) by S.R. Johannes
Blurb:
16-year-old Grace has lived in the Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival.

When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him.

One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father.

Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.

This one sounds adventurous, and I love the cover!

Blood and Snow (volumes 1-12) by RaShelle Workman
Blurb:
Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she's chosen Snow White.

Snow isn't an ordinary girl. She doesn't know that yet.

When Snow gets bitten by a Hunter, her life is thrown into a whirlwind of change where instead of worrying about what to eat, she has to fight not to drink the blood of fellow high school students. She becomes a revenant - not quite human, not quite vampire.

With the help of an eccentric old Professor, his seven adoptive sons, and her best friend, Snow learns to control her blood craving. Sort of. She drinks a bloodlust tea, but she'd rather drink from her Hunter.

Or, a human.

She also discovers a whole other realm, one filled with fairies, dragons, and magic. And not only does the Vampire Queen want her, but there's a pendant called the Seal of Gabriel created for Snow by the Vampire Queen's twin sister. And Snow's supposed to use it to restore balance to all magical creatures. Including vampires.

This is basically everything I love all thrown into one. I can't wait to read all of these :D

Escape From Eden by Elisa Nader
Publication date: August 18th, 2013
Blurb:
Since the age of ten, Mia has lived under the iron fist of the fundamentalist preacher who lured her mother away to join his fanatical family of followers. In Edenton, a supposed “Garden of Eden” deep in the South American jungle, everyone follows the Reverend’s strict but arbitrary rules—even the mandate of whom they can marry. Now sixteen, Mia dreams of slipping away from the armed guards who keep the faithful in, and the curious out. When the rebellious and sexy Gabriel, a new boy, arrives with his family, Mia sees a chance to escape.

But the scandalous secrets the two discover beyond the compound’s façade are more shocking than anything they ever imagined. While Gabriel has his own terrible secrets, he and Mia bond together, more than friends and freedom fighters. But is there time to think of each other as they race to stop the Reverend’s paranoid plan to free his flock from the corrupt world? Can two teenagers crush a criminal mastermind? And who will die in the fight to save the ones they love from a madman who’s only concerned about his own secrets?

And yet another intriguing blurb that has me expecting a fun read!

This is quite the haul, and I don't know when I'll ever have time to read all of these, not to mention the 70+ books I have on my shelf and 20+ on my Kobo, but it will happen!
It's a disease, I tell you. An addiction and a disease, and the only cure is to read more.
Anyway, any thoughts on any of the above? (No spoilers if you've already read them; I know some were published prior to this year)