In My Mailbox - 5/2/09

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

Here are the books I bought or received this week:

The Witching Hour by Elizabeth Laird

When her grandmother is accused of witchcraft, sixteen-year-old Maggie has to run for her life. With King Charles's soldiers on the march across the Scottish Highlands, nowhere is safe - certainly not Ladymuir, where Maggie's uncle is determined to defy the king. And wherever she goes, Maggie takes her problems with her. When an old enemy turns up at Ladymuir and settles in as one of the family, Maggie is sure that trouble will result, but even she can't imagine anything as awful as betrayal, imprisonment, and the prospect of transportation - or even death...


The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner

Paris, 1793: The blade of the guillotine falls on the neck of the King himself, and the spirit of the French Revolution lies in tatters. The Reign of Terror has begun.
Yann Margoza, the mysterious young man known as the magician, is helping desperate people to escape to England, where Sido, the girl he loves, waits to hear from him.
But Yann's past haunts him. He is in grave danger, and so is Sido. For under the streets of Paris, in the catacombs, the howl of a great beast can be heard. And a boy with angelic looks and an evil heart is ready to do the bidding of a man who has made a pact with the devil.
A thrilling tale of secrets, of locks and keys, of murder, revenge, and romance, written with the vividness and passion that made The Red Necklace such a fantastic success.


The Reluctant Heiress by Eva Ibbotson

Being an heiress in 1920s Austria with nothing but a broken-down castle to your name and nary a penny in your purse could be frustrating for anyone but the Princess Theresa-Maria of Pfaffenstein. "Tessa," however, is thrilled with her situation, as it allows her to concentrate on her love of the arts—and no one in the Viennese opera company need know that their delightful and charming under-wardrobe mistress is really a princess. But when the dashing self-made millionaire Guy Farne arrives at the opera in search of suitable entertainment for his high society guests, Tessa realizes that there may be more to life—and love—than just music. But while the attraction between them in undeniable, Guy's insufferable snob of a fiancée only solidifies Tessa's determination to keep her true identity a secret. Yet, after a chance meeting with the handsome Englishman, Tessa's reserve begins to melt, and she starts to wonder if it's not too late for a fairytale ending...


Immortal by Gillian Shields

Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, housed in a Gothic mansion on the bleak northern moors, is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn away from her home by the sea to become the newest scholarship student, she is more isolated than she could have dreamed. Strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave Evie drowning in loneliness.
Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a rebellious, mocking, dangerously attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian grow with each secret meeting, she starts to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie, she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. And as the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.
Gillian Shields's electrifying tale will dazzle readers with suspense, mysticism, and romance.