In My Mailbox (10)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.  I was very sick last weekend and missed getting this up, so I have a double edition this week.  I also had some ebooks come in, but I did not write down which ones came this week, so I'm going to skip over them to avoid accidental duplicates.  Next week you'll be seeing my first ever post for a blog tour.  I'm so very excited!


Hustle by Jason Skipper - won on So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
In this powerful, debut novel, an alcoholic ex-con man grandfather, his restless, philandering seafood salesman son, and his hopeful musician grandson struggle to make up for their past and somehow set course for the future.  In the past, the grandfather has hustled for money; now he's hustling for redemption.  The son has hustled for women; now he's hustling for love of a different sort.  His son, Chris, is hustling to be a famous musician with enough  money to solve his family's unsolvable problems.  Chris's coming-of-age story explores the ways people struggle to fulfill their wants and desires - and what they are willing to sacrifice to feel free.

Crossed by Ally Condie - won on Diana's Amazing Book Adventures

Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons.  On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of rebellion.  But even as Cassia sacrifices everything to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.
Narrated from both Cassia's and Ky's point of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their path more twisted than ever.

A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander - Litfuse Publicity Group upcoming tour

Claire Laurent's greatest aspiration is to paint something that will bring her to acclaim.  Yet her father insists she work as a copyist.  A forger.  When she's forced to flee her home, her path collides with attorney Sutton Monroe, who shows her kindness by not turning her in to authorities.  But when he later refuses to come to her aid, Clair fears she's sorely misjudged him.  Finding herself among the elite of Nashville society, Claire believes her dream of creating a lasting impression in the world of art is within reach - but only if her past remains hidden.
The Federal Army destroyed Sutton's home, confiscated his lands, and now threatens to destroy his family's honor.  His determination to reclaim what belongs to him reveals a truth that may costhim more than he ever imagined - as well as the woman he loves.
Set at Nashville's historic Belmont Mansion, a stunning antebellum manor built by Adelicia Acklen, A Lasting Impression is a sweeping love story about a nation mending after war, the redemption of those wounded, and the courage of a man and a woman to see themselves - and each other - for who they truly are.

Escape Velocity by Robin Stevenson - LibraryThing Early Review Copy

It's the end of a long hot summer in Alberta's Badlands, and fifteen-year-old Lou is restless and dreaming of escape.  Then an unexpected crisis turns her dream into reality and Lou is forced to leave Alberta and stay with the mother she has never known.  Lou is overflowing with questions.  Why did her mother never want her?  She is convinced that the answers lie hidden in her mother's novels, and is determined to find the truth...no matter what the cost.

The Arranger by L.J. Sellers

The year is 2023 and ex-detective Lara Evans is working as a freelance paramedic in a new bleak world.  She responds to an emergency call and is nearly killed when a shooter flees the home.  Inside she finds the federal employment commissioner wounded, but she's able to save his life.
The next day Lara leaves for the Gauntlet - a national competition of intense physical and mental challenges with high stakes for her home state.  She spots the assailant lurking at the arena and soon after, she lands in deep trouble.  Who is the mysterious killer and what is motivating him?  Can Lara stop, stay alive, and win the Gauntlet?

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

From the author of the critically acclaimed Elsewhere comes this brilliant novel about an impossible romance, a family living outside the law, and the ties that bind us forever.
Chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is increasingly scarce, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty.  And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine - going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new DA's son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend.  That is until someone in her inner circle ends up poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame.  Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight - at school, in the news, and, most important, within her mafiya family.

Escape by Barbara Delinsky

Have you ever woken up in a cold sweat thinking you're stuck in a life you don't want?  Did you ever consider disappearing - leaving family, friends, even a spouse - ditching everything you've known and starting over again? ... Maybe even returning to an old lover?
Emily Aulenbach is thirty-two, a lawyer married to a lawyer, living and working in Manhattan.  An idealist, she had once dreamed of representing victims of corporate abuse.  Now she spends her days in a cubicle talking on the phone with victims of tainted bottle water - and she is on the bottler's side.
But it isn't only work.  It's her sister, her friends, even her husband, James, with whom she doesn't connect in the way she once did.  She doesn't connect to much in her life, period, with the exception of three things: her computer, her BlackBerry, and her watch.
Acting on impulse, Emily leaves work early one day, goes home, packs her bag, and takes off.  Groping toward the future and uncharacteriscally following her gut rather than her mind, she heads north toward a New Hampshire town nestled in the mountains.  She knows this town.  During her college years she spent a watershed summer here.  If she were to map out the turns she's taken in life, this would be the spot where she had first gone wrong.  Painful as returning feels, she knos that if she is to right her life, she has to start here.