Okay, people. It’s been so long since I’ve done a Sunday Showcase, I don’t even know all I’ve received since the last time. All I know is I’ve collected a LOT of books over the last few weeks. The sad thing about it all is I haven’t taken the time to do any major reading with NaNo in November and working on the latest releases. Anyway… time for the rundown of the ones I remember.

Eighteen-year-old Jess Bonner is casting off pretense—and, with it, some friends from his past who aren’t particularly trustworthy. In just a few months he’ll be starting college, and it’s time for him to admit the truth: he’s gay, not bi, and only one of his childhood buddies holds any kind of real interest for him. When Dylan Finch, aka Mig, follows his lead and puts some distance between himself and the old crowd, he and Jess give in to a mutual attraction that’s been building for years.

But navigating a fledgling relationship isn’t easy for beginners, and forces they can’t seem to control keep tripping them up: sexual appetite, personal insecurities, fear of discovery, and more. They need clarity. They need courage. Just as they’re on the verge of finding both, a vindictive act of jealousy sends one of them to jail. All their hard-won victories are in danger of falling to dust. The only way to save what they have is to recognize it for what it is . . . and fight for its integrity.

Why I chose it: I totally need to expand my horizons. Really, I’m curious. I’ve never read a straight gay (can you use straight and gay in the same sentence?) YA book. Perhaps with a bit of understanding, I might be encouraged to write Seth Richard’s story. I’ve got a whole lot of reading to do before I can even consider that.

Available: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it’s his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Why I chose it: This book just plain sounds weird, plus it’s dystopia — my new favorite genre.

Available: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository

If someone gave you a chair and said it was made by Jesus Christ, would you believe them?

When an elderly lady shows up in Corin Roscoe’s antiques store and gives him a chair she claims was crafted by Jesus, he scoffs. But when a young boy is miraculously healed two days after sitting in the chair, he stops laughing and starts wondering . . . could this chair heal the person whose life Corin destroyed twelve years ago?

As word spreads of the boy’s healing, a mega-church pastor is determined to manipulate Corin into turning over the chair. And that mysterious woman who gave him the piece flits in and out of his life like a shadow, insinuating it’s Corin’s destiny to guard the chair above everything else. But why?

Desperate, he turns to the one person he can trust, a college history professor who knows more about the legend of the chair than he’ll reveal. Corin’s life shatters as he searches for the truth about the artifact and the unexplained phenomena surrounding it. What’s more, he’s not the only one willing do almost anything to possess the power seemingly connected to the chair.

Why I chose it: I’ve really been getting into the Christian genre lately — Amish romances, Christian non-fiction, a bit of Christian fiction here and there. And this one sounds extremely intriguing. A chair Jesus made…. hmmm?

Available: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository

Lupita, a budding actor and poet in a close-knit Mexican American immigrant family, comes of age as she struggles with adult responsibilities during her mother’s battle with cancer. A novel in verse.

Why I chose it: I’m intrigued by cultures other than my own. Some might have read that The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is my favorite book. My interest in other cultures came about many, many, many (don’t think there’s enough many’s for this but go with me) years ago when I took a Women’s History class. Later, I joined the military and had an opportunity to learn about Korean… There’s a whole other world out there my fellow Americans, and it’s cool. I believe this will be my first Mexican-American book. I’m excited to read how the Mexican-American culture differs from other American cultures.

Available: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository

You can run from the grave, but you can’t hide . . .

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.

Being around him awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline kick of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head—wanted: dead or half-alive—means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard she tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever . . . and that Bones won’t let her get away again.

Why I chose it: I’m a Book Depository loyalist. Well, I’ve been waiting and waiting for this book to come in stock at the Book depository ever since I read Halfway to the Grave (review here). It’s been half a year, and it hasn’t happened yet. When my husband asked me if I wanted anything from Amazon, you better believe I hopped on this book!

Available: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people’s dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie’s seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
She can’t tell anybody about what she does they’d never believe her, or worse, they’d think she’s a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn’t want and can’t control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else’s twisted psyche. She is a participant.

Why I chose it: I picked up the second two books in the trilogy back when Borders was having their going out of business sale. Well, they didn’t have Wake. Today, we stopped by the Books a Million store which opened in the same shopping center. haha Would you believe the same clerks from Borders are working at Books a Million now? That’s another story. Well, they had Wake in the bargain aisle for more than 1/2 the regular price. Odd, because they also had the same book on the regular shelves for full price. Guess it pays to cruise the bargain bins.

Available: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository

If everyone told you love wasn’t real, would you still be willing to die for it?

Citizens of a six-moon system in our arm of the Milky Way don’t remember Earth, only the History of a generational worldship culture. In their multi-partner society a caste system rules tradition, but the governing body of the Embassy rules everything else. Obsessed with celebrity, beauty, and power, relationships and conceptions are based more on DNA than emotional ties…or should be.

What the citizenry can’t escape are the human feelings of love and jealousy that turn the sterile to honorable suicide, force a couple to make the ultimate sacrifice, and allow rebels to spin their world into a violent revolution.

Ambasadora Sara Mendoza becomes the unwilling face of this revolution. Captured, tortured, and given a second chance at freedom, she proves that sacrifice for the man she loves is more honorable than sacrifice to a society’s antiquated mores.

Why I chose it: Ms. Miller offered me a copy of her book a few weeks ago when she sponsored giveaways here. Yep… I’ll be reading my copy along with the winners. Thanks, Ms. Miller!

Available: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository, Smashwords

JUSTINE JONES FACES HER ULTIMATE ENEMY: HERSELF

In an attempt to put her unhappy past behind her, Justine Jones throws herself into nursing school and planning her wedding to the man of her dreams. But something is off. Random details aren’t adding up…and is it her imagination, or are her friends and fiancé keeping secrets from her? And what’s with this strange sense of unease, and her odd new headaches?

Justine tries to stay upbeat as Midcity cowers under martial law, sleepwalking cannibals, and a mysterious rash of paranormal copycat violence, but her search for answers leads her into the most dangerous mind game yet.

With the help of unlikely allies, including her paranoid dad and best frenemy Simon, Justine fights her ultimate foe…and unravels the most startling mystery of all.

Why I chose it: I’ve been waiting for this book since I finished the 2nd CLIFFHANGER book in the series (see review here). At last, it’s arrived. You know this book is only available in eBook right now? And for once, the traditional price isn’t outrageous. Well, I picked up my copy, did you?

Available: Barnes & Nobles

So… what’s in your wallet? I’m mean… shelf.

Julianna Baggott, K.Z. Snow, Jaems L. Rubart, Guadalupe Garcia Mcall, Jeanienne Frost, Carolyn Crane, Heidi Ruby Miller, Lisa McMann, Brodi Ashton