New Book Releases for January 2017

What’s the best way to ring in the new year? New books, of course. January 2017 has a great range of new titles, something for everyone to enjoy. Here are the books that are on my list for this month.

Adult Fiction

Despite the odds, Yelena and Valek have forged an irrevocable bond and a family that transcends borders. Now, when their two homelands stand on the brink of war, they must fight with magic and cunning to thwart an Ixian plot to invade Sitia.

Yelena seeks to break the hold of the insidious Theobroma that destroys a person’s resistance to magical persuasion. But the Cartel is determined to keep influential citizens and Sitian diplomats in thrall and Yelena at bay. With every bounty hunter after her, Yelena is forced to make a dangerous deal.

General fiction: Fantasy

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Vaela lives a safe and privileged life in the Spire, where there has been no wars for many years. She is a cartographer and thrilled when her parents gift her with a trip to the Continent, where the landscape is rugged and a bloody war is still fought between those that live there. But Vaela’s exploration of the Continent ends in disaster and she is left alone to fight for survival, both against the icy and treacherous landscape and the inhabitants. But as she makes a home there, Vaela learns to look anew at life on the Continent and hopes the war can somehow be ended before she once again loses everyone she holds dear.

Young adult fiction: Fantasy

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Whenever I’m With You – Lydia Sharp – Scholastic Press – Published 3 January 2017

After Gabi’s parents’ divorce, she moves from California to Alaska with her dad. At first, it feels like banishment—until she meets Kai. He welcomes her into his life, sharing his family, his friends, and his warmth. But as winter approaches, Kai pulls away for seemingly no reason at all. He’s quiet, withdrawn. Then one day, he disappears.

Young adult fiction: Adventure

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The Heartbeats of Wing Jones – Katherine Webber – Delacorte Books – 14 March 2017

Wing Jones, like everyone else in her town, has worshipped her older brother, Marcus, for as long as she can remember. Good-looking, popular, and the star of the football team, Marcus is everything his sister is not.

Until the night everything changes when Marcus, drunk at the wheel after a party, kills two people and barely survives himself. With Marcus now in a coma, Wing is crushed, confused, and angry.

Young adult fiction: Contemporary

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A List of Cages – Robin Roe – Disney-Hyperion – Published 10 January 2017

When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian–the foster brother he hasn’t seen in five years.

Young adult fiction: Contemporary

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You Don’t Know My Name – Kristen Orlando – Swoon Reads – Published 10 January 2017

Seventeen-year-old Reagan Elizabeth Hillis is used to changing identities overnight, lying to every friend she’s ever had, and pushing away anyone who gets too close. Trained in mortal combat and weaponry her entire life, Reagan is expected to follow in her parents’ footsteps and join the ranks of the most powerful top-secret agency in the world, the Black Angels. Falling in love with the boy next door was never part of the plan.

Young adult fiction: Mystery/Thriller

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Frostblood – Elly Blake – Little, Brown Books – Published 10 January 2017

Being a Frostblood means a death sentence. The king rules the land with ice, terror, and death. Ruby has lived a simple life hiding her gift of fire and helping her mother as a healer. But when the king’s soldiers raid her village and kill her mother, Ruby vows revenge. Taken to prison, her gift is hampered by damp and ice until she is rescued by a monk with the frost gift and a sullen and angry young man. They say they too seek to dethrone the king but they are hiding things from Ruby. Ruby will have to risk everything if she is to have the revenge she desires.

Young adult fiction: Fantasy

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Poison’s Kiss – Breeana Shields – Random House Books – Published 10 January 2017

Marinda has kissed dozens of boys. They all die afterward. It’s a miserable life, but being a visha kanya—a poison maiden—is what she was created to do. Marinda serves the Raja by dispatching his enemies with only her lips as a weapon.

Until now, the men she was ordered to kiss have been strangers, enemies of the kingdom. Then she receives orders to kiss Deven, a boy she knows too well to be convinced he needs to die. She begins to question who she’s really working for.

Young adult fiction: Fantasy

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On a planet where violence and vengeance rule, in a galaxy where some are favored by fate, everyone develops a currentgift, a unique power meant to shape the future. While most benefit from their currentgifts, Akos and Cyra do not — their gifts make them vulnerable to others’ control. Can they reclaim their gifts, their fates, and their lives, and reset the balance of power in this world?

Young adult fiction: Science-fiction

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Seventeen-year-old Raychel is sleeping with two boys: her overachieving best friend Matt…and his slacker brother, Andrew. Raychel sneaks into Matt’s bed after nightmares, but nothing ever happens. He doesn’t even seem to realize she’s a girl, except when he decides she needs rescuing. But Raychel doesn’t want to be his girl anyway. She just needs his support as she deals with the classmate who assaulted her, the constant threat of her family’s eviction, and the dream of college slipping quickly out of reach.

Young adult fiction – Contemporary

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By Your Side – Kasie West – HarperTeen – Published 31 January 2017

Autumn has plans to spend the long weekend with her friends at their cabin up the mountains. She might even work up the courage to tell Jeff she likes him. But as they are about to leave Autumn runs back into the library for something and ends up being locked in. But her friends will realise she’s not with them and be back soon, right? On the verge of a panic attack, Autumn discovers she isn’t the only one locked in the library. Dax, school loner, is also in the library. But maybe not by accident. In the days they are locked in the library together and after their release, Autumn will have to decide if Jeff is the guy for her or if the connection she has with Dax is worth fighting for.

Young adult fiction: Contemporary

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It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.

But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.

Young adult fiction – Contemporary

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Christian Fiction

Still Life – Dani Pettrey – Bethany House – Published 31 January 2017

Work hits too close to home for crime scene photographer Avery Tate when her best friend disappears. The only lead is a chilling photo of her–apparently dead. As Avery, her boss Parker, and his friends dig into the case, she’s forced to confront her feelings for Parker when they come face-to-face with a dangerous criminal.

Christian Fiction – Mystery-Thriller

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