This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

"If fate sent you an e-mail, would you answer?"

It all started with a mistyped e-mail address and a message about a pig. Soon Ellie O’Neill finds herself in an online relationship with G. both seventeen, Ellie lives in the tiny, seaside town of Henley, Maine and G lives in California. Never revealing their names to one another, Ellie learns that the pig’s name is Wilbur and G is the son of teachers and a fan of Charlotte’s Web. Quickly, Ellie finds she is staying up late to chat and looks forward to G’s e-mail correspondence.

Ellie loves sleepy little Henley during the off season but feels claustrophobic when the tourists arrive beginning Memorial Day. She and her best friend Quinn work at the ice cream shop, Sprinkles. On her way to work one morning, Ellie is dismayed to see that the town has been taken over by a movie set and teen heartthrob, Graham Larkin. Just before Ellie’s shift ends, Quinn has a mishap with a chocolate milkshake. Ellie offers Quinn her monogrammed work shirt even though it is too long. Stepping out onto the sidewalk, Ellie notices Graham Larkin walking her way, trying to be inconspicuous. As he passes her by, he looks up at Ellie and she is memorized by his eyes. She also realizes that he looks sad and wonders why a famous movie star would be so sad. Ellie catches Quinn’s eye as Graham, enters the ice cream shop as the paparazzi descends. Quinn smiles as Ellie walks away.

Graham Larkin is sad. His life has changed drastically since he was discovered during a high school drama production in which he was trying to impress a girl. Alienated from his parents and friends, the life of a Hollywood star isn’t for him. A loner and somewhat of a homebody, Graham lives with his pig, Wilbur. When he accidentally sends an e-mail to a seventeen-year-old girl in Maine, Graham sees the opportunity as a clean slate. He can be himself, not the perceived public image. Graham believes that E likes him for his true self and he is determined to meet her.

When the location for his next film falls through, Graham pushed for Henley, Maine. Keeping his true intentions a secret, he arrives to the set a few days early to look for the faceless girl that has captured his heart. Making his way to the ice creams hop, he passes a “willowy girl with long red hair.” They make eye contact and Graham realizes that the town of Henley might not be thrilled that he is there. Too late to change his plans, Graham prepares to enter the shop. Relieved to see a stunning girl behind the counter, he is too busy noticing the name embroidered on her shirt, Ellie O’Neill. She eagerly asks him what he wants to order. He is struck by her excited demeanor. Ordering rainbow sherbet because it is both of their favorite, he is dismayed that she makes no comment. Quinn makes small talk with a flirty attitude and Graham asks her for a restaurant recommendation. He then asks her to join him. She agrees and Graham doesn’t realize that he isn’t talking to Ellie.

On their date that night, Graham quickly discovers that he asked out the wrong girl. Hearing his story, Quinn is okay with the situation but wonders why Ellie never told her. She lets Graham know that he probably passed Ellie on the sidewalk. Graham realizes Ellie was the red head he made eye contact with outside of Sprinkles. Quinn tells him to go after Ellie. She is probably at home. Quinn says she will make the waiter (who has a crush on her) eat with her but Graham can pay for it.

Graham makes it to Ellie’s house at nightfall. He sees her on the front porch in a swing. Knowing she only sees him as a shadow, Graham is struck by the sight of her. Ellie thinks that Quinn has stopped by to tell her about her date. She is shocked to find Graham Larkin standing on her front porch. Ellie thinks the situation is a joke when he tells her that he is looking for her. Ellie is confused and wonders why it sounds like Graham is stalking her. Ellie is floored when Graham refers to her dog by its name when he barks. Then he tells her that he wasn’t very creative in naming his pig Wilbur. Ellie realizes that Graham Larkin has been her nameless pen pal.

Feeling embarrassed, Ellie is angry that Graham never revealed who he really was. He apologizes and tells her in no way is she stupid. She got to know him. Thinking about it, Ellie realizes that she did get to know the real Graham Larkin, not the one portrayed in the tabloids. Her mother interrupts and is shocked by who is standing on the front porch. Graham introduces himself to her mother. He then tells them he is really glad someone told him about Henley and leaves. Ellie suddenly realizes that she is too.

Can two people from such different backgrounds find a way to get together? Will the secrets Ellie and her mother have worked so hard to keep buried be unearthed? Can Quinn forgive Ellie for keeping her online relationship a secret? And will this be the best or worse summer of Graham and Ellie’s lives?

Visit Jennifer E. Smith’s website. 

Taken by Erin Bowman (Taken book 1)

“In the primitive town of Claysoot, if you are a man, a brother, son , father – Be prepared: When midnight breaks on the day you turn eighteen, the Heist will take you.”

Claysoot was founded forty-seven years ago by children after a mysterious storm devastated the town. Friends and neighbors became strangers overnight as only siblings remembered one another. Before chaos took over, Bo Chilton led the effort to rebuild the town. The residents soon discovered a Wall surrounded the community. Bo couldn’t see what lay on the other side because of the darkness. Several residents attempted to climb the Wall but their bodies came back badly burned. Bo was the reason the children of Claysoot thrived.

One morning, Bo went missing. Even though a body was never found, everyone assumed that he was dead. A few months later, another boy disappeared and a week later, one more. Bo’s younger sister Maude noticed something in common relating to the missing boys and decided to test her theory. When the next boy in Claysoot was on the eve of his eighteenth birthday, everyone gathered around him and waited. Soon the ground shook, the sky lit up and the boy was gone. They repeated the experiment for the next several birthdays and the same thing occurred. No men live in Claysoot because they all disappear on their eighteenth birthday due to the Heist.

Gray Weathersby is dreading his seventeenth birthday. He shares it with his older brother Blaine who will turn eighteen and disappear during the Heist. Always the rational one, Blaine holds it together on his last day while Gray is having a difficult time. He will be left without any family. Blaine’s daughter will be his one connection. Getting onto a fight with Chalice that morning, Blaine finally talks Gray into getting his face stitched up. Going to the clinic, he finds that Carter is out but her daughter Emma is there. Having had a crush on her forever, he knows Emma likes Blaine better. She gives him something to numb the pain and he wakes up hours later. Realizing he has almost missed telling his brother goodbye one last time, Emma helps him to the town center. Blaine comforts Gray and tells him that they will meet again. Then he is gone due to the Heist.

Gray’s loss hits him two weeks later. When Chalice knocks on the door to inform him that Maude wants to see him, he slams the door shut. He inadvertently knocks a framed drawing of Blaine’s off of the wall. The frame is broken but Gray notices a second piece of parchment. It is a letter from his mother to Blaine that she wrote on her death bed. She writes that Blaine must uncover the truth about the Heists and Wall. The letter suddenly ends with “Gray is, in fact –“ The rest of the letter is missing. Gray then finds Blaine’s journal and reads the entry about their mother’s death. A cryptic entry talks about how fortunate he is to still have gray sheds no more light on the mystery. Gray is boiling with resentment that he was left alone without any answers. Suddenly he remembers that he needs to go to Maude’s house.

At the age of fifteen, boys in Claysoot are considered men. The council led by Maude matched boys to girls for one month in order to conceive more children before their Heist. Maude informs him that his mourning period is over and he is slated to be with Emma Link for the next month. Not waiting to be told what to do, Gray would rather something happen naturally between the two of them. He wants Emma but bot if she is forced onto him. Rumor has it that Emma has turned down all of her slatings. He heads to the clinic and blurts out the news to Emma. She immediately turns him down but Gray lets her know that he has no interest in being a father. He proposes a deal. Play the game for one month. He could possibly persuade the council into several more after that to keep them off of their backs. She agrees and asks him what he would like to go. Gray is pained when Emma smiles at him. Emma decides that they should spend the afternoon at the pond.

After talking about their mutual dislike for the slatings, Emma apologizes for the way she has judged him in the past. Gray is different from his brother and maybe for the first time, she realizes that it is not a bad thing. Trying to lighten the mood, Gray decides to go swimming. Eventually, Emma joins him. They splash around and after several dunkings, Gray concedes to Emma being the better swimmer. Next time they will have an archery match. Emma says that it is not fair and asks Gray to teach her. They make plans to spend more time together and head back into town. Gray grabs Emma’s hand as they walk by some of the council members for show.

Happy for the first time that he is spending time with Emma; his mother’s letter is never far from his mind. Looking through everything in the house turns up nothing and Gray continues to be haunted. After decidedly winning the archery match, Gray is shocked when Emma asks him if he ever questioned what originally happened in Claysoot. What happened to the parents and how could the children remember survival skills but not the names of their neighbors? Gray believes that maybe the early histories are incomplete but that she does have a point. Feeling comfortable around her but still hoping for more, he shows her the letter that his mother left behind. Gray then asks is he could see his mother’s chart at the clinic. They make plans for the next day.

After reading through his mother’s, Blaine’s and his own medical scrolls, no new information comes to light. When Emma looks through her mother’s notebook for the year Blaine was born, they find an entry that rocks Gray to his very core!

Why do all of the males of Claysoot disappear on their eighteenth birthday? What happens during the Heist? What lies beyond the Wall? What secret did his mother and Blaine keep from Gray? Will Emma open her heart to Gray? And can Emma and Gray discover the secrets of Claysoot before his eighteenth birthday?

Readers will find that Taken has so many more layers than just the story of Claysoot and the Heist. With chapters ending as cliffhangers, unexpected twists and turns and a great male POV, I absolutely adored this book and cannot recommend it enough. Book two in the trilogy, Frozen, doesn’t come out until 2014. Readers will definitely be left satisfied with how the book ends and waiting to see what comes next.

Visit Erin Bowman’s website.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

"First came the storms.
Then came the fever.
And the wall."

Before

A series of six progressively worse hurricanes struck New Orleans over five years. The causalities quickly mounted while the number of survivors soon fell to an estimated 10,000. A devastated society began to crumble when the quarantine was declared by FEMA and the CDEC to stop the spread of Delta Fever. Just five years later, the United States government withdraws from the affected regions of the Gulf States to protect the rights of the majority of its citizenry.

After – 31 years later

Now a primitive society isolated from the United States by a wall, Orleans is divided by blood, type that is. Sixteen-year-old Fen de la Guerre is living with an O positive tribe led by its chieftain, Lydia Moray. Lydia is eight months pregnant and the tribe is hosting a powwow with the O negatives at their camp in an attempt at unity. After the feast, Fen decides to check the camp’s defenses. Soon she runs into trouble and the camp is under attack by a group of Abs. fen finds Lydia but she is unable to help. She has gone into labor and Fen struggles to get them to safety. Away from the attackers, Lydia soon gives birth to a baby girl but quickly bleeds out. Fen is left alone without a tribe to care for Lydia’s newborn.

Daniel’s younger brother Charlie was a victim of the Delta Fever. He made it his mission to find a cure. After college, Daniel went to work for the military because it allowed him access to the best laboratories and samples of the virus. Hoping to find a way to make the virus attack itself, Daniel only succeeded in making it deadlier. Unwilling to destroy years of work, Daniel decides to break the quarantine and go into Orleans. He hopes to find the missing link to make his version of the virus into a cure. Daniel wants to save the world and ventures beyond the wall.

The city formerly known as New Orleans is not anything like Daniel imagined. Quickly becoming terrified, he decides to leave and return back over the wall. Despite his disguise as a leper, he is soon captured by a group by men and chained. Fen is hiding in a foxhole with Baby Girl after narrowly escaping from Mama Gentille and her blood camp. They both fall asleep and night has fallen when Fen is awoken by a hungry baby. Trying to quickly fix a bottle, she hears the rustle of blood hounds and knows there is no escape. She is chained and tries to stay away from the leper that they have also captured.

Back at the blood farm, Fen and Baby Girl are allowed to stay together for the time being. They place the two of them along with the leper in a cell. Remembering the advice her father gave her on escaping, Fen assesses their situation and realizes the leper is really in disguise. She asks him if he is a smuggler and she is disappointed to learn he isn’t. Daniel is looking for a guide to take him to the Institute of Post-Separation Studies. Fen is unwilling until Daniel says he will take the baby back over the wall with him. Fen begins to formulate a new plan. As morning dawns, they are able to escape by pretending to be lepers and aren’t followed.

Will Fen and Daniel make it to the Institute and what will they find there? What secrets is Fen keeping? Can Daniel locate the information he needs to create the cure for Delta Fever? Will he be able to get back over the wall undetected with Baby Girl? And what will happen to Fen?

Visit SherriL. Smith’s website.

Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting (Body Finder book 4)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first three books in the series, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the series for you.

“Sometimes the dead can’t be silenced.”

Violet Ambrose is struggling to put her life back together after the events in The Last Echo. She now lives with an ever-present imprint of her own. Forced by Dr. Lee to stay in the FBI team led by Sara Priest, he keeps check on her weekly through unproductive office visits. The only true help he is able to provide Violet is the pills that allow her to sleep, drowning out the imprint. She has stopped her visits to the team’s center. She closed herself off from all of her friends over the summer despite their attempts to reach out to her. Her parents and boyfriend Jay are concerned by her behavior but allow Violet her space.

The start of senior year of high school brings a major surprise for Violet and Jay. Two new students have enrolled, Rafe and Gemma. Violet is further dismayed to find Rafe shares the majority of her classes. Turns out Dr. Lee is responsible for their transfers. Violet isn’t keeping her end of their bargain and fully committing to the team. She will work with Sara priest and the others. Dr. Lee continues to threaten to harm her friends and family.

In an attempt to get into the swing of things, Violet agrees to meet her friends at the lake. On her way there, two echoes cause her to take a detour to follow them. Finding herself at a locked gate to the house, Violet decides to check out the scene herself instead of calling for backup. Inside the house, she discovers three bodies but only two echoes. She knows the only person she can call is Rafe and calling him means letting Sara know as well. She persuades her Uncle Stephen to let her visit the scene again. Placed on a couch are a man, woman and little boy. Violet notices again that the little boy doesn’t have an echo. In looking around the house, she sees a photo on the refrigerator of a young couple dressed for a dance. Not knowing who the girl is, they assume she is the dead couple’s daughter, who is missing. Violet recognizes the boy in the photo. It is Grady Spencer, the boy who tried to forcibly kiss her at a party last year. She lets her Uncle Stephen know.

Back at home, Violet’s mother has found a box of keepsakes that belonged to Violet’s grandmother, the one she shares her ability with. Digging around, she discovers that her grandmother kept journals for many years. At first, she believes reading them would be an invasion of privacy but her grandmother is the only other person she knows who had the same ability. Getting a glimpse into her life, Violet realizes why she didn’t get an echo from the little boy. Calling Sara, she asks if the little boy was missing his heart. Shocked, Sara tells her he was and Violet lets her in on her suspicions.

Uncle Stephen stops by to inform Violet that Grady is a suspect. Even after all that happened between them, Violet doesn’t believe that he is the killer. She goes by his house just to check if he carries an echo. She is relieved her doesn’t but is bothered by the fact that everyone at school gossips about him. Rumors are also going around about the student who discovered the bodies. Violet’s name isn’t mentioned but her friend Chelsea voices her suspicions to Violet.

If Grady isn’t the killer, then who is? What other secrets about her grandmother does Violet uncover by reading her journals? What is Dr. Lee adamant about Violet not quitting the team? Will Chelsea uncover Violet’s secrets? Can Rafe and Jay put aside their differences to be there when Violet needs them?

Visit Kimberly Derting’s website.

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta (Lumatere Chronicles book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read the first two books in the series, Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles, Stop! I don't want to ruin one of my favorite series for you.

“Blood sings to blood.”

The last time Froi saw Quintana, he had eight barbs lodges in his body. He was screaming at her to run, save herself and their unborn child, the future king and curse breaker of Charyn. Now recovered, he travels across Charyn looking to build an army to restore her and their unborn child to the throne before the former king’s advisor or another kingdom comes in to seize complete control. Froi travels with his newly found parents; Gargarin of Abroi, the former king’s former adviser and Lirah of Serker, known throughout the kingdom as the king’s whore and Quintana’s mother. She’s not, the oracle was.

Back in Lumatere, Isaboe, Finnikin and the guard eagerly await word of Froi, fearing that he is dead. Isaboe sends Finnikin, Trevanion and Perri to act on information a spy obtained. Finnikin arranges to meet Gargarin, whom Lumatere believes was the mastermind behind the slaughter of Isaboe’s family. Coming across Froi, they are greatly relieved to find him alive but their joy is short-lived. Froi refuses to leave his parents and the search for Quintana to return to Lumatere with them. His friends are devastated at first but soon realize that Froi is now a man.

Hidden in a cave back in the Monts' valley, Quintana has found refuge with Phadrea, Lucian’s supposedly dead wife. Keeping her identity and location a secret is hard, especially when it seems that Quintana is hiding so near to Lumatere. Sides are quickly drawn as Phaedra and Tesadora vow to keep Quintana safe as Isaboe blames her for the massacre of her family.

In this stunning and epic conclusion to the lUmatere Chronicles, readers will be rewarded and satisfied by the paths beloved characeters follow. The perfect ending to the trilogy. All books should strive to end this way. A story not to miss!

Visit Melina Marchetta's website.

The Elite by Kiera Cass (The Selection book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, The Selection, Stop! I don’t want to ruin one of my favorite series for you.

“35 girls came to the palace. Only 6 remain.”

There are only six girls left in the Selection. The winner becomes the Princess of Illea and the wife of Prince Maxon. The public opinion polls place America Singer at the bottom of the pile but Maxon wants to spend the rest of his life with her. He is willing to wait until she is over the boy who broke her heart back home in the Carolina province. Unknown to Maxon, that boy, Aspen, is now one of the guards at the palace and therefore helps guard America. He isn’t ready to let her go but will if Maxon is her choice. Aspen only wants what is best for her and will make her happy.

America is torn between two boys but also whether she is capable of being a princess. With the competition heating up, Maxon seriously begins to look for a second choice should America turn him down. As his attentions start to fall elsewhere, America discovers she has a jealous streak when it comes to Maxon. She begins to entertain a future with Aspen when he makes time to be with her. As Celeste continues to push America’s buttons, she continues to make unfavorable statements and disastrous actions. After writing to her father about her perceived lack of leadership qualities, she decides she has what it takes for the job. America decides she needs to step up her game if she has any hope of being Illea‘s princess.

Will America be able to choose between Aspen and Maxon? Can she navigate the political climate of the palace to survive elimination? Will Maxon see through Celeste? What happens when the rebel forces attack the palace? And in the end, will America be The One Maxon chooses?

The Selection trilogy will conclude with The One due out in April 2014.

Visit KieraCass’s website.

Fragments by Dan Wells (Partials Sequence book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Partials, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“Their world ended. Their war didn’t.”

Kira Walker discovered the cure for RM but also discovered that she was a Partial. For now, only Samm and Dr. Morgan know her secret. She hasn’t even told her best friend/boyfriend Marcus the truth about herself. Kira may be a Partial but she ages like humans do. Also she isn’t able to link up with other Partials and lacks certain traits. Kira is on a quest for answers about herself.

Working from a photograph of herself as a young child, Kira is shown as a young child with her father and her guardian, Nandita, in front of a ParaGen building. Having lived with Nandita for the past twelve years, Kira wonders how much she really knew about her origins. Dr. Morgan was horrified when she found out what Kira was. She decides to travel to Manhattan to search the ParaGen office for answers. On her second day there, she discovers that Nandita was on the payroll with one of the largest salaries. The following day, Kira searches the second floor where she finds mostly cubicles. She sees evidence that two computers have been removed sometime after the Break. Kira also notices a few offices along one wall. One has been emptied of everything and recently. The office door is labeled Afa Demoux, IT. Kira wonders who Afa is and why his office was emptied.

Madison’s baby is the only newborn in twelve years to survive RM. Kira figured out that the Partials carried the cure. Time is running out and infants are once again dying. Marcus and the other medical research teams have repeatedly failed to replicate the cure. Now there is talk of kidnapping a Partial to extract more of the cure. On the other hand, Partials only “live” for twenty years and they are now “dying off.” They believe humans are the key to survival. War once again between humans and Partials seems imminent. Feeling the weight of human existence on his shoulders, Marcus heads outside. Heron, a Partial, reveals herself and asks Marcus to keep quiet. She shows him a photograph (the same one Kira has) and he immediately recognizes Nandita. Heron tells him to look at the child she is with. Marcus realizes that it is Kira. Heron asks him if he knows where they are and he doesn’t. She tells him that Dr. Morgan believes Kira and Nandita are vital to solving to solving the problem of the Partial expiration date. She warns Marcus that things will get interesting if they aren’t found.

Kira scavenges an abandoned electronics store. She notices that someone recently took a generator and a HAM radio from the shelves. Kira realizes that someone else is looking for the same information that she is and they are one step ahead of her. Marcus is at another Senate meeting. Humanity’s situation is growing direr. Word arrives that the Partials have come ashore and war may be closer than anyone thought. Marcus knows their only hope is to stall the Senate until he hears something from Kira.

When Kira finds Afa Demoux, he is more than she bargained for. Alone for the past twelve years, Afa believes that he is the last human on Earth. He has brief moments of lucidity. At these times, he is a wealth of information, having collected newspaper articles and every email message sent through the ParaGen server. Filed in hundreds of boxes that make sense only to Afa, Kira is a bit disappointed that he knows nothing about the Trust. Afa does have radios set up to monitor Partial communications and Kira is shocked to hear her friends are being attacked back home by Partial forces. Finding a microphone, Kira is able to radio a warning to Marcus. Two Partials find Afa’s hideout and enter. When his defense systems fail to stop them, Afa leaves for another safe house. Kira is left alone to stop them. She is surprised to find that the intruders are Samm and Heron. They heard her radio transmissions and they came to find her before Dr. Morgan does.

Realizing she was wrong about the Trust and needing to find out what she is before Dr. Morgan locates her again, Kira decides she needs to get to the ParaGen server to find the information she needs before anyone else beats her to it. With Afa’s computer expertise and Heron and Samm’s military skills, the four set out for Chicago where the server was kept.

Who and what is Kira? What secrets did Nandita keep from her? What information does she discover in Chicago? Why is Dr. Morgan looking for her? What is so important about Kira to warrant a Partial invasion? Can Marcus and the others survive until Kira comes back? Will the cure for RM and the partial expiration date be found? What is the Trust and can Nandita be found?

The Partials Sequence will be continued with book three.

Visit Dan Wells' website.