Sunday, September 11, 2011

Mailbox Monday

It's time once again for Mailbox Monday.  This weekly travelling meme is being hosted for the month of September by Amused by Books.

My book buying addiction really shows this week, as, thanks in large part to having a few Chapters gift cards at my disposal, a lot of new books made their way into my house.   In fact, I received so many I'm only going to list the synopses for a few of them and just list the others. 

So, without further ado, here is my mailbox (Note: all synopses courtesy of Chapters.indigo.ca):

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

A modern gothic novel of love, secrets, and murder--set against the lush backdrop of Provence.

Meeting Dom was the most incredible thing that had ever happened to me. When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom in Switzerland, their whirlwind relationship leads them to Les GenEvriers, an abandoned house set among the fragrant lavender fields of the South of France. Each enchanting day delivers happy discoveries: hidden chambers, secret vaults, a beautiful wrought-iron lantern. Deeply in love and surrounded by music, books, and the heady summer scents of the French countryside, Eve has never felt more alive.

But with autumn's arrival the days begin to cool, and so, too, does Dom. Though Eve knows he bears the emotional scars of a failed marriage--one he refuses to talk about--his silence arouses suspicion and uncertainty. The more reticent Dom is to explain, the more Eve becomes obsessed with finding answers--and with unraveling the mystery of his absent, beautiful ex-wife, Rachel.

Like its owner, Les GenEvriers is also changing. Bright, warm rooms have turned cold and uninviting; shadows now fall unexpectedly; and Eve senses a presence moving through the garden. Is it a ghost from the past or a manifestation of her current troubles with Dom? Can she trust Dom, or could her life be in danger?

Eve does not know that Les GenEvriers has been haunted before. Benedicte Lincel, the house's former owner, thrived as a young girl within the rich elements of the landscape: the violets hidden in the woodland, the warm wind through the almond trees. She knew the bitter taste of heartbreak and tragedy--long-buried family secrets and evil deeds that, once unearthed, will hold shocking and unexpected consequences for Eve.

The Taker by Alma Katsu

True love can last an eternity . . . but immortality comes at a price. . . .
 
On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae-Lanny-walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.

Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town's founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep-an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley.

Part historical novel, part supernatural page-turner, The Taker is an unforgettable tale about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy, and how each of us is responsible for finding our own path to redemption.

The Eagle and The Raven by Pauline Gedge

She was the flame-haired Boudicca, Queen of the Britons, whose passion and pride lit up the mysterious world of the ancient Celts. From the valleys and mountains of still barbaric Britain to the classic grandeur and corruption of Claudius's Rome, here is the unforgettable drama of a warrior queen torn between love and destiny.



Kanata by Don Gilmour


From the author of Canada: A People's History comes a novel of Canada written in the tradition of such great epics as The Source and Sarum.

Kanata was inspired by the life of David Thompson, a Welshman who came to the New World at the age of fifteen, and went on to become its greatest cartographer. He walked or paddled 80,000 miles and mapped 1.9 million square miles, cataloguing flora and fauna as well as the language and customs of the Natives. But though he has been described as the greatest land geographer who ever lived, he died impoverished and unknown.

Following the lives of Thompson's illegitimate son and his descendants, Kanata takes readers on a fictionalized, multi-generational journey through millennia and across a continent to examine the stories, myths, and legends of those who formed the country and who were formed by it.

Kanata is the story of the invention of a nation.

Other books that found there way into my home this past week include: 

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen
Sharpe's Triumph by Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe's Fortress by Bernard Cornwell
The Memoirs of Helen of Troy by Amanda Elyot
Empire by Steven Saylor
The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

What arrived in your mailbox this week?