Date With the Debuts #1

Date With the Debuts

Welcome to the first edition of Date With the Debuts! Today, I have a bunch of authors visiting Electrifying Reviews to tell us a little about each of their 2012 debut novels. 

Author: Elisa Janine Hoole 

Title:  Kiss the Morning Star
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Release Date: April 1, 2012
Tell Me About Your Book: 

After her mother’s tragic death, Anna has no plans beyond her need to put a lot of miles between herself and the past. With forever friend Kat and a copy of Kerouac’s DHARMA BUMS, the girls set out on an epic road trip across the USA.  It’s a journey both outward and inward--encompassing loss and lust, God and Grizzlies, and the tangled search for love and identity.  But one question haunts Anna--what place does Kat have in her life?  Are they good friends, or something more? And will Anna be able to find a way forward into a new future, a way to declare openly all that lies inside her?

Author: Madison Louise

Title: Shadow Future
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 11th 2012
Tell Me About Your Book:

 Pearl  Underwood is just a normal OverShadower.

Almost.

She's the only girl OverShadower left, and it makes her role in her world even harder. But Pearl was fine with it, until...

Pearl knew what her future would be, the day she was born. But she didn't know it would be so hard to go through with. She didn't know she would fall in love, she didn't know that her powers would almost disappear, and she didn't know that her future would be with someone who's cruel. And she didn't know that she was more different than she thought she was. But Pearl can't get away from her future, but she still wants to make a stand for herself. Not matter what happens.

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Storm (Elemental, #1)

Publisher: KTeen (Kensington Books)

Release Date: April 24, 2012

Tell Me About Your Book:

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—the ones she doesn’t want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

When Hunter, the mysterious new kid in town, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all…

Author: Zoraida Cordova

Title: The Vicious Deep
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: May 1st

Tell Me About Your Book:

When an unnatural riptide sweeps lifeguard Tristan Hart out to sea for three days and then dumps him back on the shore of Coney Island, it’s the start of the Sea Court claiming its own. Suddenly, Tristan’s girlfriend dramas and swimming championship seem like distant worries as he discovers the truth: he’s a Merman. Now Tristan must fight for his life, the lives of his friends, and his humanity (if he still wants it), while competing in a race for a throne as ancient as the gods.

Seductive and duplicitous and with an agenda of their own, these are not the mermaids you know. 

Author: Dan Haring

Title: Oldsoul
Publisher: Pendrell Publishing
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Tell Me About Your Book:

Jason Gouvas doesn’t want to believe he has special abilities or that he's an Oldsoul-- a vessel for the souls of people who have passed away, but the dead girl in his mind can be very persuasive.

Her name is Erin, and through her Jason is able to access the knowledge and skills of the souls within him. And with a group of power-hungry immortals bent on destroying the Oldsouls and overthrowing humanity, he's going to need them all.

Author: Ruth Tenzer Feldman

Title: Blue Thread
Publisher: Ooligan Press
Release Date: February 1, 2012
Tell Me About Your Book:

Welcome to Portland, Oregon, 1912. In a time-travel weave of historical fiction and fantasy, Miriam, 16, strives to work in her father's print shop and campaign for a woman's right to vote. She feels trapped by the socialite life her parents have chosen for her. Miriam meets Serakh, an odd girl who asks about an ancient prayer shawl and expects her to help five sisters struggling 3,000 years ago after their father's death. Serakh insists Miriam is the perfect messenger. Perfect for what?

Author: Jaime Manning

Title: Blood Born

Publisher: Pendrell Publishing

Release Date: April 24, 2012

Tell Me About Your Book:

Waking up in a coffin hungry for blood is only the beginning for sixteen-year-old Ava Blue. When Chance Caldon, the hottie who dug her up, tells her that she’s half vampire, Ava’s world really turns upside down. 

Half vamp? Ava can’t believe it...she doesn't even know what that means. Not until Aldric, a thousand-year-old vampire, shows up and tells her it’s true--and that he’s the one who turned her. Only then does Ava truly begin to believe what she is. Now, she has to deal with a sudden and powerful bloodlust, the desire to see Aldric dead, and her growing crush for Chance. Ava knows she's a monster now, she can feel it; and her life is over. 

But redemption isn’t lost. Aldric is giving her a chance to regain her humanity. The price? Kill a hundred vampires, or remain a bloodsucker forever. 

So Ava sets out to get her life back. But killing vampires begins a battle that could destroy everything she is working toward. In the end, Ava's decisions will forever change her life and the lives of those she loves.

Author: Lynne Kelly

Title: CHAINED

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux

Release Date: May 8, 2012

Tell Me About Your Book:

 Hastin leaves his village in India to work as an elephant keeper far from home. He expects adventure, but isn’t prepared for the cruel circus owner. Spectators see a lively elephant who plays soccer and balances on milk bottles, but Hastin sees Nandita as his friend, who's punished until she learns her tricks perfectly. With the help of Ne Min, a wise old man who knows all about elephants, Hastin protects Nandita as best as he can. Still he wonders–will they both survive long enough to escape?

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Title: Shadow & Bone
Publisher: Henry Holt/Macmillan
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Tell Me About Your Book: 

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life– a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha… and the secrets of her heart.

Author: Elisa Ludwig

Title: Pretty Crooked

Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins

Release Date: March 13

Tell Me About Your Book:

Willa’s secret plan seems simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones. Yet playing Robin Hood is anything but. Bilking the Glitterati without them suspecting isn’t easy. Delivering care packages to the ostracized scholarship girls is way more fun than she’d expected. The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, VP’s most notorious ace-degenerate, whose mere existence is distracting. But when the cops start investigating the thefts at VP and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could Aidan wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?

Author: Trish Doller

Title: Something Like Normal

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Release Date: June 19, 2012

Tell Me About Your Book:

When Travis comes home from Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl who has hated him since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. As he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. 

Author: Kathleen Peacock

Title: Hemlock
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins
Release: May 8th, 2012

Tell Me About Your Book:

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends--until Amy was brutally murdered by a white werewolf.

Now Mac must solve the riddle of Amy’s death before the wolf strikes again. But in a town filled with secrets, werewolves aren’t the only ones with things to hide.

Hemlock is the first in a supernatural mystery trilogy coming from Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Author: Cat Hellisen

Title: When the Sea is Rising Red
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Release: February 28, 2012
Tell Me About Your Book:

After Felicita’s dearest friend Ilven kills herself to escape an
arranged marriage, Felicita chooses freedom over privilege. She fakes her own death and leaves her sheltered life as one of Pelimburg’s magical elite behind to go live in the slums. But Ilven's death has called a dangerous wild magic from the sea. Felicita must decide whether her loyalties lie with the family she ran from or with those who would twist this dark power to destroy Pelimburg's caste system, and the city along with it.

Author: Marissa Burt

Title:  STORYBOUND

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's

Release Date: 4/3/12

Tell Me About Your Book: 

In the land of Story, children go to school to learn to be characters: a perfect Hero, a trusty Sidekick, even the most dastardly Villain. They take classes on Outdoor Experiential Questing and Backstory, while adults search for full-time character work in stories written just for them.

In our world, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild has always felt invisible. But all that changes when she stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, opens the cover, and suddenly finds herself transported to the magical land of Story.

But Story is not a perfect fairy tale. Una's new friend Peter warns her about the grave danger she could face if anyone discovers her true identity. The devious Tale Keeper watches her every move. And there are whispers of a deadly secret that seems to revolve around Una herself...

With the timeless appeal of books like A Wrinkle in Time and the breathtaking action of Inkheart, Storybound has all the makings of a new classic. Brimming with fantastical creatures, magical adventure, and heart-stopping twists, Storybound will leave readers wishing they too could jump through the pages into this enchanting fairy-tale world.

Be sure to check back to hear more from these authors, and more to come! If you're a 2012 debut author and would like to participate in Date With the Debuts, email me.