In My Mailbox - 12/20/09

This is a day later than I usually post IMM because I was going to Strand and wanted to wait so I could post about what I got there. So most of these are from there but a couple came in the mail for review.

Credit goes to The Story Siren for creating and hosting the In My Mailbox feature.

The Raven Saint by M.L. Tyndall

Join bestselling author M. L. Tyndall for another seafaring historical full of romance, intrigue, action, and adventure. Grace Westcott has piously served God her whole life. Captain Rafe Dubois cannot pass up the opportunity to earn more gold toward the hospital he’s building for the poor by kidnapping Admiral Westcott’s youngest daughter. But when the missionary and the mercenary meet, it’s full-sail-ahead into tumultuous waters! Find out what happens when a bitter mercenary who’s sworn off God falls in love with a pious woman determined to change him.


The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.
The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.
The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.


Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen

Samuel, 13, spends his days in the forest, hunting for food for his family. He has grown up on the frontier of a British colony, America. Far from any town, or news of the war against the King that American patriots have begun near Boston.
But the war comes to them. British soldiers and Iroquois attack. Samuel’s parents are taken away, prisoners. Samuel follows, hiding, moving silently, determined to find a way to rescue them. Each day he confronts the enemy, and the tragedy and horror of this war. But he also discovers allies, men and women working secretly for the patriot cause. And he learns that he must go deep into enemy territory to find his parents: all the way to the British headquarters, New York City.


Boys of Wartime: Daniel at the Siege of Boston, 1776 by Laurie Calkhoven

Twelve-year-old Daniel Prescott cheered when the Sons of Liberty dumped English tea into Boston Harbor. Then King George sent his soldiers to take over Boston and its port. Now Daniel's home is a city under siege.
When his father slips away to join the rebels, Daniel works in the family tavern and eavesdrops on Redcoat officers. He soon learns how to slip across British lines and becomes a messenger and spy, bringing vital news of the enemy to his father, and even to General Washington. To do so puts Daniel's life in danger. But, to a Patriot, liberty is well worth any risk.


Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out by Meg Cabot

When her parents announce they're going out of town, Allie is convinced she's going to have the best weekend ever with Uncle Jay in charge...until Allie's mom announces that Allie has to go to Brittany Hauser's birthday party.
But Allie doesn't even like Brittany Hauser, or want to go with all her snobby friends in a stretch limo to her big blowout birthday bash at the Build-a-Bear store, and then spend the night in a deluxe hotel suite in the city. Allie's going to miss all her real friends.
Besides, Allie knows Brittany only invited her because Mrs. Hauser made her, since Allie's mom is the star movie reviewer for Good News!, the local cable news show.


Betrayal by Gillian Shields

When Evie Johnson started at Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, her life changed in ways she couldn’t possibly have envisioned: the discovery of her link with Lady Agnes, her special bond with Helen and Sarah, and their sisterhood in the astonishing secrets of the Mystic Way. Above all, Evie’s love for Sebastian has turned her world upside down.
Now Evie returns to Wyldcliffe for another term and more danger. The Wyldcliffe coven is plotting to destroy Evie and use Sebastian to secure their own immortality. Evie and her sisters, Helen, Sarah, and Agnes, must master the power of the Talisman before it is too late. But could it be Sebastian himself who will ultimately betray Evie?


Wayfarer by R.J. Anderson

The faeries of the Oak are dying, and it’s up to a lone faery named Linden to find a way to restore their magic. Linden travels bravely into dangerous new territory, where she enlists the help of an unlikely friend—a human named Timothy. Soon they discover something much worse than the Oakenfolk’s loss of magic: a potent evil that threatens the fate of all faeries. In a fevered, desperate chase across the country, Timothy and Linden risk their lives to seek an ancient power before it’s too late to save everyone they love.


Raven Speak by Diane Lee Wilson

In 854, the bold fourteen-year-old daughter of a Viking chieftain, aided by her old and thin but equally intrepid horse and an ancient, one-eyed seer, must find a way to keep her clan together and save them from starvation.