January 2013 new releases – hot picks

There’s a huge pile of fab new releases out in January and here are the eight books I’m planning to read this month.

After the Fall by Charity Norman (3rd January)

Charity Norman has been likened to one of my favourite authors – Anita Shreve and I’ve heard excellent things about this book.

In the quiet of a New Zealand winter’s night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy with severe internal injuries. He’s fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse, and his condition is critical. At first, Finn’s fall looks like a horrible accident; after all, he’s prone to sleepwalking. Only his frantic mother, Martha McNamara, knows how it happened. And she isn’t telling. Not yet. Maybe not ever. 

Tragedy isn’t what the McNamara family expected when they moved to New Zealand. For Martha, it was an escape. For her artist husband Kit, it was a dream. For their small twin boys, it was an adventure. For sixteen-year-old Sacha, it was the start of a nightmare.

They end up on the isolated east coast of the North Island, seemingly in the middle of a New Zealand tourism campaign. But their peaceful idyll is soon shattered as the choices Sacha makes lead the family down a path which threatens to destroy them all.

Martha finds herself facing a series of impossible decisions, each with devastating consequences for her family.

No Such Thing as Immortality by Sarah Tranter (7th January)

A new vampire novel to sink my teeth into – yipee!

I will protect you until the day I die … forever

A vampire does not have to feel any emotion not of his choosing. And Nathaniel Gray has spent two hundred years choosing not to feel. But when he accidentally runs Rowan Locke off the road, he is inexplicably flooded with everything she’s feeling, and that’s rage, and lots of it. He is consumed with the need to protect Rowan at all costs including from himself. To Nate what is happening is unthinkable and is pretty much as unbelievable, as the existence of faeries.

But you see, ‘There is no such thing as …immortality.’

This is Nate’s story …

Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan (17th January)

I’ve heard so many good things about this book so I’m excited that it’s being released in paperback in the UK this month.

A passionate love. A brutal betrayal. Unwavering hope.

In a town where most people worry about what to be seen in and who to be seen with, Emma Thomas would rather not be seen at all. She’s more concerned with feigning perfection, pulling down her sleeves to conceal the bruises. Emma doesn’t want anyone to know how far from perfect her life truly is.

When Emma unexpectedly finds love, it challenges her to recognize her own worth – but at the risk of revealing the terrible secret she’s desperate to hide.

Cupcakes at Carrington’s by Alexandra Brown (17th January)

Looking forward to this debut – the start of a new series based around Carrington’s department store.

Georgie Hart loves her job–running the luxury handbag concession at Carrington’s Department store in the pretty seaside town of Mulberry-On-Sea , and treating herself (once too often!) to a red velvet cupcake with buttercream icing in Carrington’s café.

But Georgie is thrown into disarray when Carrington’s is plunged into a recession-busting makeover, cueing the arrival of femme fatale Maxine, who wields the axe in her immaculately-manicured hands.

It spells a recipe for disaster for Georgie and soon she is fighting not only for her job, but also for the attentions of her gorgeous boss, James. And when hot newcomer Tom arrives, who may or may not be the best thing since sliced bread, Georgie must decide where her loyalties really lie…

The Valentines Card by Juliet Ashton (17th January) 

This debut sounds like it has the potential to be a real tear-jerker and I love the cover!

The Valentine’s card was meant to be Orla’s fairy tale ending, but really, it was only the beginning . . .

Orla adores her actor boyfriend, Sim, who’s away filming a sumptuous costume drama. Although the long-distance relationship means that she can eat toast for dinner and watch as much reality TV as she likes, she misses him like crazy.

But Valentine’s Day changes everything . . . The same morning Orla learns that Sim has died, she receives a card from him. As Orla travels from Ireland to London, to live and breathe Sim’s final moments, can she bring herself to open the Valentine’s card and read his final message?

The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris (17th January)

I’ve already been told to have a box of tissues handy when I read this! I loved Ali’s debut Miracle on Regent Street and can’t wait to read more from her.

How do you hold on to a love that is slowly slipping away from you?

Can you let go of the past when you know what is in the future?

And how do you cope when you know that every kiss is a countdown to goodbye?

This is the story of a love affair, of Ryan and Molly and how they fell in love and were torn apart. The first time Molly kissed Ryan, she knew they’d be together forever. Six years and thousands of kisses later she’s married to the man she loves. But today, when Ryan kisses her, Molly realises how many of them she wasted because the future holds something which neither of them could have ever predicted…

Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Jill Mansell (31st January)

I’ve already had a peek at this one and have loved what I’ve read so far!

Dexter Yates loves his fun, care-free London life; he has money, looks and girlfriends galore. But everything changes overnight when his sister dies, leaving him in charge of her eight-month-old daughter Delphi. How is he ever going to cope? 

Comic-strip artist Molly Hayes lives in the beautiful Cotswold village of Briarwood. When it comes to relationships, she has a history of choosing all the wrong men. Leaving the city behind, Dex moves to Briarwood – a much better place to work on his parenting skills – and he and Molly become neighbours. There’s an undeniable connection between them. But if Dexter’s going to adapt, he first has a lot to learn about Molly, about other people’s secrets…and about himself.

The Reckoning by Alma Katsu (31st January)

The sequel to The Taker which was one of my books of 2011. This is one of the novels I didn’t manage to squeeze in last year but I’m determined to read it this month to celebrate the paperback release!

I turned to Luke and reached for him. My blood felt as though it had seized up in my veins.

“Lanny, what is it?” Luke asked.

I clutched his lapel desperately

“It’s Adair. He’s free.”

For 200 years she’s been hiding.

He gave her immortality. She tried to destroy him. Now he is searching for her. They must not meet.

Or there will be a RECKONING

So a busy and exciting reading start to the year. Which January releases are on your wish list?