In My Mailbox #8

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. You can hop on over to Kristi’s blog to see more In My Mailbox lists! This week I received two books for review, and purchased three from Amazon.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore. It’s finally here, but I’ve read lots of mixed reviews of Cashore’s third book in her Graceling Trilogy.  As always, however, I form my own opinions on everything I read, so when time permits, I’ll post a review here.  I really want it to be great! Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Die For Me by Amy Plum.  Amy’s second book in the Revenants series, Until I Die, has been getting lots of attention, so I wanted to catch up and read this first one. I’m very excited to put this on my list. Here’s what Goodreads says:

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier’s parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life–and memories–behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate’s guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he’s a revenant–an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers.  Here’s another book that received very mixed reviews. Which makes me want to read it all the more! Here’s the description from Goodreads:

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

The Gateway to Hell by Ray Mileur. Received a paperback copy for review. Ray is another writer who contacted me after I recently changed my review policies, but I just couldn’t turn him down.  He’s the tenacious sort and I was intrigued enough to give this one a try. Ray is a former Marine and police chief, to name a few of his past identities, but according to the bio on his website, he’s done a lot more as well.  Here’s what Goodreads says about The Gateway to Hell:

Mike Shannon is used to taking on the hard cases. He’s a private investigator and ex-cop in St. Louis, and when the authorities throw up their hands, Shannon is there to bring the guilty to justice. But doing what’s right doesn’t mean keeping your hands clean: he’s stacked up quite a body count over the years-something he’s not proud of-and it’s beginning to take its toll on him. When a teenage girl goes missing, Shannon takes what he believes will be a simple case. But when he finds cocaine hidden in the girl’s bedroom-cocaine that apparently came from the police department’s evidence room-things begin to get complicated. Things get even worse when Shannon begins to suspect his own ex-partner, who was brutally murdered, may be linked to the girl’s disappearance and the stolen drugs. Shannon’s investigation of a possible runaway is shaping up into one hell of a case against police corruption and drug trafficking. As Shannon digs deeper, the danger escalates when he comes face to face with a dark figure from his past, a rogue CIA hitman known as the Sandman. Shannon might be in over his head, but that’s never stopped him before. In all the confusion, Shannon is sure of one thing, he’s not done killing yet. As Shannon’s past catches up with him, his two worlds collide and the dead bodies begin to litter the streets of St. Louis, with a trail of blood leading downtown to the Arch, The Gateway to Hell.

A Dark Time by Dennis Bradford. Received an e-book for review.  Dennis is another tenacious writer!  He ignored my warning that I wasn’t interested in reading indies for a while and asked me to read and review A Dark Time.  He’s hysterically funny and we’ve had several email exchanges that made me smile! Here is the extremely short blurb from Goodreads:

A college student vanishes. Her worried grandfather asks one of her favorite professors, Max Stephansson, to solve the mystery. What Max discovers is tragic. The suspense surrounding her disappearance unfolds to yield insight, but at the cost of danger and death.

What’s in your mailbox this week?