Books for May

So after the fantastic month that was April (no, I haven’t posted my thoughts on any of the April releases in detail, and yes, I still have the Ann Aguirre and Jo Beverley left to read), here are the May new releases I’m anticipating:

 

First up, Diana Peterfreund’s “Tap & Gown”, the fourth and final book in her Secret Society Girl series.  It’s no secret that I adore these incredibly addictive books, and while part of me gets slightly teary-eyed at the thought of waving goodbye to Amy and the rest of her fellow Diggers, I cannot wait to find out what happens in Amy’s final year.

Re-reading the excerpt for this one has made me so ridiculously excited about “Tap & Gown” now.  Ack.  I’m going to take a deep breath and try to calm down. 

 

Excerpt here (out May 19)

 

I posted a bit about reading Catherine Asaro’s “Diamond Star” earlier, and yes, that’s a May release too.  Okay, that is so a typical Baen cover, but you know what?  Baen has such a great user-friendly digital publishing strategy ($6 ebooks for hardcover releases, no DRM, multiple formats), plus they provide lengthy excerpts (the first eight chapters for “Diamond Star” is online) and they have a large Free Library to try out new-to-you authors… I’m just going to ignore the covers. 

Anyway, I’m a big fan of Ms Asaro’s Skolian Empire books and getting this one was a no-brainer for me.  From her website:

…Del, the renegade prince who would rather be a rock singer than sit on the throne. The royal family wants him to stop, his friends want to use him, his label wants to own him, and his enemies want to kill him. Del just wants to sing—without starting an interstellar war.

Also, Ms Asaro collaborated with the band Point Valid to create a soundtrack accompanying the book, and some of the songs are available on the Diamond Star MySpace website (warning: music plays when you enter the site!).  It’s pretty cool as the lyrics are included in the text and I’m loving the fact I can listen to the actual music.

Excerpt here (out May 5, ebook available now)

 

Charlaine Harris’ latest Sookie Stackhouse, “Dead and Gone”, is also out in May.  This is the ninth book in the Sookie series, and while I’ve wondered whether the series is running out of momentum, that’s not going to stop me from getting this one.

And okay, my jaw just dropped when Amazon UK came up with the cover on the right – please do not say that is the UK cover for “Dead and Gone”?  That is just so wrong – it doesn’t capture the dark but offbeat feel of the series at all!

Excerpt here (out May 5)

 

Another book that has taken what feels like forever to be released is Eloisa James’ “This Duchess of Mine”.  I am an unashamed Eloisa James fangirl, and have been completely absorbed by her Georgian historical romance series. 

This, of course, is Jemma and Elijah’s book – finally.  I know Ms James’ habit of including an unresolved secondary romance is not everyone’s favourite, but the way she has woven the overarching storyline focusing on the Jemma-Elijah-Villiers conflict throughout the past four books has totally worked for me.  I am so invested in Jemma and Elijah getting their HEA (look, it’s a romance and therefore they will have one).

Excerpt here (out May 26)

 

And that’s not all the new releases I want.  Also due out is:

Jacqueline Carey’s “Santa Olivia”, which is something completely different from her Kushiel books.  The blurb says it is Ms Carey’s “… take on comic book superheroes and the classic werewolf myth”.  Okay, I’m not a massive fan of the former (though I expect Thea and Ana to be all over this?), but I love her writing and I will definitely be giving this a go.  Excerpt here (out May 29).

Richelle Mead’s “Succubus Heat”, fourth in her Georgina Kincaid series.  I’ve enjoyed the previous three in this UF series and the last one ended on a bit of a pivotal note, IIRC.  It’s the UK version of the cover below, btw.  Excerpt here (out May 26).

A maybe is Kim Harrison’s “Once Dead, Twice Shy” – when I read the short story setting up this novel in the anthology “Prom Nights from Hell”, I actually thought it felt like a first chapter of a novel.  Well, there you go.  My “maybe” is because it’s a hardcover.  Some further poking around Amazon UK indicates a possible paperback July release for the UK.  Excerpt here (out May 26).

And speaking of “Prom Nights from Hell”, a follow-up anthology is out this month, “Vacations from Hell” featuring contributions from Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski (out May 26).