Stacking the Shelves, 2016-2

Stacking the Shelves is an awesome meme hosted by Tynga's Review.

Bloggers share the books they've received, bought, borrowed - and I collect more and more books for my 'must acquire' list.

I earned $35 for my book budget this week, but haven't actually paid for anything yet. I picked up four freebies off of Amazon (thanks Bookbub :P ) and then a few books for review...

Note: All blurbs are straight from Goodreads.

The Girl in the Box series (Books 1-3) by Robert J. Crane

This is a collection of the first three titles in The Girl in the Box Series, which are about a teenage girl who develops powers far beyond those of a normal human, and her battles against those who would use her against her will. (Approx. 185,000 words total.)

Alone

Sienna Nealon was a 17 year-old girl who had been held prisoner in her own house by her mother for twelve years. Then one day her mother vanished, and Sienna woke up to find two strange men in her home. On the run, unsure of who to turn to and discovering she possesses mysterious powers, Sienna finds herself pursued by a shadowy agency known as the Directorate and hunted by a vicious, bloodthirsty psychopath named Wolfe, each of which is determined to capture her for their own purposes...

Untouched

Still haunted by her last encounter with Wolfe and searching for her mother, Sienna Nealon must put aside her personal struggles when a new threat emerges – Aleksandr Gavrikov, a metahuman so powerful, he could destroy entire cities – and he's focused on bringing the Directorate to its knees.

Soulless

After six months of intense training with the Directorate, Sienna Nealon finds herself on her first assignment - tracking a dangerous meta across the upper midwest. With Scott Byerly and Kat Forrest at her side, she'll face new enemies and receive help from unlikely allies as she stumbles across the truth behind the shadowy organization known only as Omega.

Chelsea's Thoughts: Blurb got me. I like the idea of developing powers. One of mine would be getting a good night's sleep...


Devil You Know by Max Henry

Love.

How do you define it? I guess it’s up to the individual. Love can be a sweet gesture of flowers on your anniversary. Love can be a meal waiting at home after a long day at work. Love can be a gentle caress. Or the unspoken words in your lover’s eyes.

Love isn’t a backhand, given because of a warm beer. Love isn’t wearing long-sleeves to hide bruises from the ladies at the supermarket.

I thought I’d never experience love. Such emotion didn’t seem to fit with what I had—who I was.

But he stepped in, and showed me his.

He pulled me from the dark abyss I had lost myself to, and showed me the simple things which could bring such joy. Sun on my face. The smell of fresh coffee. Colours in the autumn leaves. All the little things.

He shows me these things, but he doesn’t share in them. He knows happiness, but he doesn’t feel it. He will give love, but never accept it. 

He saved me. Now it’s my turn to return the favour …

Chelsea's Thoughts: This looks like it'll have an erotic component, but at the same time, there's a certain sweet intensity going on. It's a combination I could like! 

Twenty Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen-- do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.

Chelsea's Thoughts: I'm bemused by the sense that Rose isn't really all that broken up about the death of her mom. Which makes me curious about the book. 

Tears of Blood by M R Forbes

------------------------------------ 
A wizard without family...
A warrior without memory...
A world without hope... 
------------------------------------ 

One thousand years ago, the world was broken and reborn beneath the boot of a nameless, ageless tyrant. He erased all history of the time before, enslaving the people and hunting those with the power to unseat him. 

The power of magic. 

Eryn is such a girl. Born with the Curse, she fights to control and conceal it to protect those she loves. But when the truth is revealed, and his soldiers come, she is forced away from her home and into the company of Silas, a deadly fugitive tormented by a fractured past. 

Silas knows only that he is a murderer who once hunted the Cursed, and that he and his brothers butchered armies and innocents alike to keep the deep, dark secrets of the time before from ever coming to light. 

Secrets which could save the world. 

Or destroy it completely. 

Chelsea's Thoughts: I feel this overwhelming urge to read fantasy these days. I want a good fantasy novel to sink into. Maybe these books will satisfy? 

I also picked up, for review:

You Were Here by Cori McCarthy - This book seems sad and life-affirming at the same time. I hope I am pleasantly surprised by it being fun. ;)
The Courier by Gerald Brandt - Love the cover, love the grimy futuristic vibe I get from the blurb.
A Gentleman's Game by Theresa Romain - I like the author, I like historical romance, I like horses. Feels like a good fit for me, right?

I picked up seven new books this week, as long as I ignore two of them being collections of three books apiece, and I read three. I am not making a dent in my pile at all. My goal for next week is to acquire *fewer books than I read.*

As always, if you have written a review of any of my 'for review' books, please drop me a link here in comments or email/tweet it at me so I can include your link in my 'don't take my word for it' section of my review post.

That's it for me this week. What's on your list this week?