Hello and welcome back to Monday.

This week I’m going to read a book that I picked up at ALA Midwinter, a book that I received in a book box, and a book that the author sent me.

What are you reading?

They Wish They Were Us (The Player’s Table #1)- Jessica Goodman

Gossip Girl meets One of Us Is Lying with a dash of The Secret History in this slick, taut murder mystery set against the backdrop of an exclusive prep school on Long Island.

In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems.

Freshman year Jill’s best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.

Now, it’s Jill’s senior year and she’s determined to make it her best yet. After all, she’s a senior and a Player–a member of Gold Coast Prep’s exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill’s year. She’s sure of it.

But when Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham’s innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year start to crumble. If Graham didn’t kill Shaila, who did? Jill vows to find out, but digging deeper could mean putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy.

The Night Weaver (Harrowsgate #1)- Monique Snyman

“Stephen King’s It meets Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight … in a frightening story of horror and fantasy woven together to create a delectable tale of the macabre … romance and action. Snyman’s storytelling will have people lining up for the next book.” – School Library Journal

SHADOW GROVE IS A PERFECTLY PLEASANT TOWN …

Shadow Grove isn’t a typical town. Bad things happen here. Children disappear, one after the other, and nobody is doing anything about it. Parents don’t grieve, missing posters don’t line the streets, and the sheriff seems unconcerned.

Seventeen-year-old Rachel Cleary lives on the outskirts of Shadow Grove, next to the creepy forest everyone pretends doesn’t exist. Usually the forest is filled with an eerie calm, an unmistakable graveyard solemnity. But the trees have started whispering, forgotten creatures are stirring, and the nights feel darker than ever.

Something is stalking the residents of Shadow Grove, changing them into brain-dead caricatures of themselves. It’s up to Rachel to stop the devouring of her hometown before all is destroyed and everyone she loves is forever lost.

“With its boogeyman-like creature based in lesser-known folklore, the novel is unique, as well as creepy and unsettling. The familiar small town atmosphere is imbued with a chilling aura, and the mystery at the heart of the book keeps pages turning. The Night Weaver introduces a world of myth, intrigue, and darkness with considerable technique.” – Foreword Reviews

“Snyman’s creative adoption of English folklore adds a unique twist, and satisfying frights abound. An enjoyable, frenetically paced fantasy.” – Publishers Weekly

Vitality- Crysta Levere

She’s fighting for life. He’s fighting for death.

What does it take to live? What does it take to love?

To Ava, love is about as real as fairy tales. But it might be that fairy tales, myths, and magic have some truth to them after all — as well as the monsters that lie in the shadows. Or she could just be completely out of her mind.

After a mental breakdown and a move to a new town, everything changes when Ava clashes with a stranger with eyes as black as midnight and a terrifying sinister air. Her wishes to feel something again become granted. But Ava soon learns that not only is he as cold as he is beautiful, but he brings something out of her, stronger than ever, like fuel to fire — something she’s desperate to bury. He haunts her dreams and waking life, and staying away becomes harder than she could have ever imagined, risking her life, her humanity, and the people that she cares about. Not to mention the fate of the world.

A violent passion. A dangerous bond. A nightmare that will change everything.

EXCERPT:

He had let everything else go, picked her up, and carried her down the hill beside the house and the passageway to the small beach, where he’d sat her in the rocky sand so that she could breathe in the fresh air — where he could attempt to breathe in air. He sat on the log near her. Not too close. He was unsure now.

When she looked up at him, her eyes pulled him into some kind of void within himself. The intensity of them made him feel as though, for a second, he was actually feeling what she was feeling, a violent storm of warm lights — spiraling; was that her or him? For that brief moment, he thought he would follow her to the ends of the earth. It almost seemed genuine; though he knew it was not. Still, he lingered in the illusion of it.

It was clear she didn’t know what she possessed. Everyone else felt it. As well as the animals. It was magnetic and as lunacy-provoking as the moon. She was invaluable, and Layton would find the key to unlock her.

She was magnificent.

He’d watched her break into a million pieces every time she’d gone into her room alone, shining in the dark, and then built herself back up again. And every time, she had come out to her people with a sober face, only to give them something they needed, a little life. There was an intense ever flow of crashing waves in her soul, a force as vital and vivacious as blood, blood that brings nourishment and oxygen, with the power to live and grow, create life. It was the source of life and essence of vitality. If only she knew.

She had the Vitality of blood.

**Please note: This story is a dark romance – dark fantasy. It contains graphic language, explicit sexual situations, and violence. 18+