Sunday Wrap-Up #8

Sunday Wrap-Up is all about sharing the books and book related items that I’ve picked up recently. I also recap what went on last week and let you in on what’s coming up. I link up my post to Sunday Post, Bought, Borrowed & Bagged and Stacking the Shelves. I will post Sunday Wrap-up every other week.

I had bags made! My mom works at a printing company back home in Syracuse called Papa’s Sports and I decided to take the leap and get some cool stuff made. I actually received the bags a couple of weeks ago but because I decided to give one to Marissa as a surprise Christmas gift, I had to wait until she had hers before I posted them on here.

Last week on the blog:
Ask Her at Christmas by Christi Barth (Review)
The Laird’s Choice by Amanda Scott (Review)
25 Days of Authors with Nikki Duncan (Interview & Giveaway)
The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong (Review)
Between by Cyndi Tefft (Review)
Proximity by M.A. George (Excerpt)

Next week on the blog:
Game Plan by Karla Doyle (Review)
The Calling by Kelley Armstrong (Review)
A Cinderella Christmas Carol by Hope Tarr (Guest Post)
Die Run Hide by P.M. Kavanaugh (Review)

 Pieces
(Breakaway, #2)
By: Michelle Davidson Argyle
Genre: New Adult

Goodreads | Barnes & Noble

Two years after watching her kidnappers go to prison, Naomi Jensen is still in love with one of them. Jesse will be released in a few years, and Naomi knows college is the perfect distraction while she waits. But when her new friend Finn makes her question what is right and what is wrong, she begins to wonder if Jesse is the one for her … until she discovers he’s out on parole. Naomi must sort through her confusion to figure out where love and freedom truly lie—in Finn, who has no connections to her past, or Jesse, who has just asked her to run away with him.

 Real Men Don’t Break Hearts

(Real Men, #1)

By: Coleen Kwan

Genre: Romance

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Ally Griffin is horrified to learn her new landlord is none other than the infuriating playboy Nate Hardy—the man whose wiles she just knows got her jilted at the altar six years ago. Add to it that her ex-fiancé Seth is showing up in her hometown of Burronga, Australia, to marry his beautiful new bride…for real this time. But the kicker? Everybody’s treating Ally as though she’s still heartbroken. She’s just fine, thank you very much, but could The Jilter have the decency not to hire her sister as his florist?

Nate Hardy is tired of his high-flying city career and bachelor lifestyle and is looking for something more real. The last thing he needs is to find himself undeniably attracted to Ally, the woman with whom he never saw eye-to-eye. But is he even capable of what Ally wants and deserves?

As Ally tries to pull her life out of the rut it’s fallen in, she doesn’t count on Nate stirring up her emotions. A short-term fling with the resident bad boy is practically irresistible, but only if she can guard her heart…

Winterblaze

(Darkest London, #3)

By: Kristen Callihan

Genre: Parnanormal/Historical Romance

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Once blissfully in love . . .

Poppy Lane is keeping secrets. Her powerful gift has earned her membership in the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals, but she must keep both her ability and her alliance with the Society from her husband, Winston. Yet when Winston is brutally attacked by a werewolf, Poppy’s secrets are revealed, leaving Winston’s trust in her as broken as his body. Now Poppy will do anything to win back his affections . . .

Their relationship is now put to the ultimate test.

Winston Lane soon regains his physical strength but his face and heart still bear the scars of the vicious attack. Drawn into the darkest depths of London, Winston must fight an evil demon that wants to take away the last hope of reconciliation with his wife. As a former police inspector, Winston has intelligence and logic on his side. But it will take the strength of Poppy’s love for him to defeat the forces that threaten to tear them apart.

  Mr. Wham Bam

By: Alexandra O’Hurley

Genre: Romance

Goodreads  | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 Kensington Clarke is career-driven and completely focused, so when she meets Jace, or as her friends call him, Mr. Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ma’am, she ignores the attraction she feels. His charm is wasted on her. She doesn’t want to be another notch in his bedpost and doesn’t have time for his attentions, even if he’s the sexiest man she’s ever seen and the mere mention of his name makes her panties wet. Romantic entanglements just aren’t on the agenda.

Jace Briarfield is accustomed to women throwing themselves at his feet. He’s not egotistical; it’s just a horrible fact of life. All the women are the same and only want him for his face, his package, and his bank account, not the man he is inside. When he meets Kensington, he knows she’s different from the rest, especially when she ignores him. Having to chase a woman is a new experience, but one he is prepared to face head-on. He’s ready to be the relationship kind of guy.

The Selkie

By: Rosanna Leo

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

This was supposed to be her year. However, after losing her job and discovering her fiancé cheating, Maggie Collins has her doubts. When her grandmother dies, she hits rock bottom. Maggie travels to her grandmother’s home in Orkney, Scotland to sort through her gran’s things, only to discover the old woman has left her a seal pelt as her inheritance. She also learns that others are after the pelt.

To add to her frustration, Maggie’s dreams are filled with luscious images of a long-haired man, images that draw her to the magical beaches in Orkney. Although she’s lost her trust in men, this dream man inspires her with a lust she’s never known before.

Calan Kirk has also been dreaming. Dreaming of Maggie, the mortal woman who arouses him as no other woman ever has. Meeting her in the flesh when she arrives in Orkney is nothing short of spontaneous sexual combustion. But she is a human, and not to be trusted. He needs the seal pelt, not a red-haired temptress.

 Spiders Bite

(Elemental Assassin, #1)

By: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I’m the most feared assassin in the South — when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don’t use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.
Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I’m still one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I’m battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction…especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

How Beauty Met the Beast
(Tales of the Underlight, #1)
By: Jax Garren
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Beast

Scarred. Damaged. Living with a terrible secret. Agent of the Underlight Wesley “Hauk” Haukon has nothing left but the fight for liberty against the oppressive Order of Ananke. He’s starting to lose hope…and then he sees her.

The Beauty

Despite her night job as a burlesque dancer, grad student Jolie Benoit has always played the mostly good girl. That all changes following a scorching sexual encounter with a stranger whose face she doesn’t see. After she’s kidnapped by thugs and rescued by a man with a very familiar voice, Jolie becomes a pawn in a struggle she never knew existed.

Hauk knows he cannot have her, and resolves to protect his heart and his secrets. But as they work together and grow closer, he finds new reason to keep fighting. Dare he risk hope in a new life, one where Jolie can see past his ravaged face and where their friendship can grow into something more?

 Wildefire

(Wildefire, #1)

By: Karsten Knight

Genre: YA

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Every flame begins with a spark. Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her.

But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own.

With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

Embers & Echoes

(Wildefire, #2)

By: Karsten Knight

Genre: YA

 Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 Ashline Wilde may have needed school to learn that she is actually a reincarnated goddess, but she’s ready to move beyond books. She leaves her California boarding school behind and makes for Miami, where she meets a new group of deities and desperately seeks her sister Rose, the goddess of war. But she’s also looking for love—because even though her romance with Cole had to be snuffed, Ash is a volcano goddess—and she doesn’t get burned.