New books this week - 3/21/09

Credit goes to The Story Siren for thinking up the In My Mailbox feature.

The Glass Maker's Daughter by V. Briceland

From enchanted champagne flutes to rituals that hold the city together, magic lies at heart of Cassaforte. Bearing a striking resemblance to Venice, this medieval city of canals is the home of Risa Divetri, whose future is about to be decided.

Risa has led the sheltered life of a nobleman's daughter, but now she's on the brink of adulthood. Soon she will leave home to study the family craft—creating and enchanting glass objects. The gods will choose which school is best for her. But then the impossible happens: Risa remains unchosen. The gods don't need her? The rejection sends Risa into a spiral of shame, anger, and confusion. If she's not meant to be a glass maker, what will she do?

An answer is found when Cassaforte's age-old magic begins to unravel and corruption threatens their kingdom. As she battles against dark forces, Risa's fiery spirit and untapped powers rise to the surface—leading her toward her true fate.


A Claim of Her Own by Stephanie Grace Whitson

It's 1876, and 20-year-old Mattie Flynn is determined to make a fresh start after fleeing from her sinister boss in the gambling house where she was employed as a singer. Mattie travels to Deadwood, South Dakota, in search of her younger brother, who went ahead of her in hopes of making a fortune in the gold mines.

All Mattie wants is a safe and respectable life for the two of them, but that doesn't seem to be her destiny as she faces more heartache and trials. Will the suspicious bottles of gold dust from her brother's claim be the key to her future...or does the handsome street preacher, who is always turning the other cheek, truly hold the answers to her deepest longings?


Pirates of the Caribbean: Legends of the Brethren Court #3: The Turning Tide by Rob Kidd

An army of shadows has been amassed. Its one goal: to destroy the Pirate Lords for their Shadow Lord-an alchemist who has created a special gold that grants him unfathomable power. But the soothsayer Tia Dalma has other plans for the Lords and cannot allow them to be destroyed. So she calls on the one man who can turn the tide-Captain Jack Sparrow...

In the midway point of the epic LEGENDS series, Jack Sparrow finds himself lost in the peaks of the Himalayas. How did a pirate captain wind up atop some of the world's taller mountains? That's exactly what his crew would like to know. And the only man who can answer that question is the Pirate Lord Sri Sumbaji of the Indian Ocean!


Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

Ai Ling has been marked by the Immortals; her destiny lies in the Emperor's palace, where a terrible evil has lived, stealing souls, for centuries. Se must conquer this enemy and rescue her captive father, while mythical demons track her ever step. And then she meets Chen Yong, a youngman with a quest of his own, whose fate is intertwined with hers. A heart-stopping, breathtaking tale for fans of action, fantasy, and romance.

(SQUEE! Thank you to the Paperbackswap member who sent me this ARC!)