Joyride

Margaret Atwood - The ​Handmaid's Tale
A ​gripping vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale has become one of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Now she navigates the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules. Like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale has endured not only as a literary landmark but as a warning of a possible future that is still chillingly relevant.

Tara Sim - Timekeeper
Two ​o’clock was missing. In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely. It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors. And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve. But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever. The stunning first novel in a new trilogy by debut author Tara Sim, Timekeeper is perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Victoria Schwab.

Malinda Lo - Adaptation
Reese ​and David don’t remember what happened to them after a bird flew into their headlights on the Extraterrestrial Highway--not the resulting car accident and certainly not a bit of the 21 days of care at the military hospital in Nevada. It’s a good thing, the doctors and colonels tell them, that they crashed on a military base, but they won’t tell Reese and David what the extent of their injuries were, or how they were healed. They do tell them they’re not going home, though, until they sign a confidentiality agreement. When they get home, Reese can’t help but find everything a little weird. Worldwide bird strikes resulting in plane crashes have grounded air travel, David won’t talk to her, and she could swear she’s seen her military doctors around the neighborhood. It’s only when she meets Amber Grey that things in her life begin to really fall apart, and the mysteries of the bird strikes, the military, and her own treatment come together. Reese realizes that she must find out what they did to her in that hospital, but her search for the truth threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret. What if we aren’t alone in the universe? What if the alien is inside us?

David Levithan - Another ​Day
The ​eagerly anticipated companion to David Levithan’s New York Times bestseller Every Day In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you. Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up. Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all

Rachel Manija Brown - Sherwood Smith - Stranger
Many ​generations ago, a mysterious cataclysm struck the world. Governments collapsed and people scattered, to rebuild where they could. A mutation, "the Change,” arose, granting some people unique powers. Though the area once called Los Angeles retains its cultural diversity, its technological marvels have faded into legend. "Las Anclas" now resembles a Wild West frontier town… where the Sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can warp time to heal his patients, and the distant ruins of an ancient city bristle with deadly crystalline trees that take their jewel-like colors from the clothes of the people they killed. Teenage prospector Ross Juarez’s best find ever – an ancient book he doesn’t know how to read – nearly costs him his life when a bounty hunter is set on him to kill him and steal the book. Ross barely makes it to Las Anclas, bringing with him a precious artifact, a power no one has ever had before, and a whole lot of trouble. Stranger stands on its own, but there will be three more books in the series: Hostage, Rebel, and Traitor.

Rachel Manija Brown - Sherwood Smith - Rebel
Welcome ​back to Las Anclas, a frontier town in the post-apocalyptic Wild West. In this perilous landscape, a schoolboy can create earthquakes, poisonous cloud vipers flock in the desert skies, and the beaches are stalked by giant mind-controlling lobsters. The tyrant king Voske has been defeated, but all is not peaceful in Las Anclas. Ross's past comes back to haunt him, Jennie struggles with her new career, Mia faces her fears, Felicite resorts to desperate measures to keep her secrets, Kerry wonders if Las Anclas has really seen the last of her father, and shy Becky Callahan may hold the key to a dangerous mystery. In Rebel, long-held secrets of past and present are revealed, family ties can strangle as well as sustain, and the greatest peril threatening Las Anclas comes from inside its walls.

Rachel Manija Brown - Sherwood Smith - Hostage
Welcome ​back to Las Anclas, a frontier town in the post-apocalyptic Wild West. In Las Anclas, the skull-faced sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can speed up time, and the squirrels can teleport sandwiches out of your hands. In book one, Stranger, teenage prospector Ross Juarez stumbled into town half-dead, bringing with him a precious artifact, a power no one has ever had before, and a whole lot of trouble— including an invasion by Voske, the king of Gold Point. The town defeated Voske’s army, with the deciding blow struck by Ross, but at a great cost. In Hostage, a team sent by King Voske captures Ross and takes him to Gold Point. There he meets Kerry, Voske’s teenage daughter, who has been trained to be as ruthless as her father. While his friends in Las Anclas desperately try to rescue him, Ross is forced to engage in a battle of wills with the king himself.

Emily Skrutskie - The ​Abyss Surrounds Us
Cas ​has fought pirates her entire life. But can she survive living among them? For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the genetically-engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water. There’s no time to mourn. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup, make sure he imprints on her ship, and, when the time comes, teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea.

Lori M. Lee - Gates ​of Thread and Stone
In ​the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe. In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her. Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

Jade Archer - How ​To Steal Blade
A ​disillusioned Dom and a bratty sub chafing against being a slave—oh! and those nasty cuffs that are cutting off the circulation to his wrists—this time making contact is going to require discipline. Deminic’s not happy. He relocated to the fast paced, cut-throat business world of the Mebian system to try and find what was missing in his life. Instead, he finds his days an endless parade of sycophantic business owners, fawning hostesses and toadying charity organisations. Even the joy he once found in dominating a sub has long since lost its appeal, as more and more often he finds they’re only interested in the tempting bulge of his credit chip. Surely, while he’s trying to figure out what he wants in life, it’s not too much to ask to find an honest sub? Someone who’s just the right combination of submission and challenge? Blade’s smart mouth and disrespectful attitude are always getting him into trouble. But this time he’s really outdone himself. He’s naked, gagged and bound over a rather ominous looking black leather bench. And the cuffs are really becoming annoying. For a start, they won’t loosen enough for him to get away before whoever he’s being offered up to like a tasty little lubed snack comes in. If only being bound and gagged didn’t feel so…incredibly tempting. When these two meet there’s bound to be some misunderstandings, but is the biggest one of all destined to drive a wedge between them forever, just as they finally manage to get free of the system that’s been dragging them both down?

A. G. Henley - The ​Scourge
Seventeen-year-old ​Groundling, Fennel, is Sightless. She's never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings' tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be. And she's always known this day would come—the day she faces the Scourge alone. The Sightless, like Fenn, are mysteriously protected from the Scourge, the gruesome creatures roaming the forests, reeking of festering flesh and consuming anything—and anyone—living. A Sightless Groundling must brave the Scourge and bring fresh water to the people of the forest. Today, that task becomes Fenn's. Fenn will have a Lofty Keeper, Peree, as her companion. Everyone knows the Lofties wouldn’t hesitate to shoot an arrow through the back of an unsuspecting Groundling like Fenn, but Peree seems different. A boy with warm, rough hands who smells like summer, he is surprisingly kind and thoughtful. Although Fenn knows his people are treacherous, she finds herself wanting to trust him. As their forest community teeters on the brink of war, Fenn and Peree must learn to work together to survive the Scourge and ensure their people’s survival. But when Fenn uncovers a secret that shatters her truths, she’s forced to decide who and what to protect—her people, her growing love for Peree, or the elusive dream of lasting peace in the forest.

Jade Archer - What ​To Do with Lore
A ​rough around the edges mercenary and a little spit-fire determined not to be anyone's pleasure slave-making contact has never been so volatile . . . or so much fun! Rhyn is an ex-lawman working as a mercenary. He's contracted to protect large space freighters and passenger liners through space. He considers most sentient beings too annoying to be around on a permanent basis. He's content to swear at inanimate objects and tinker with his pride and joy-Baker's Pride; a bastardised freighter with more than one nasty little surprise under the hull skin just waiting to spring on the unsuspecting pirates he loves to goad and chase. That is until his latest assignment brings him face to face with a stunning, fiery little cat man slave named Lore. Will the siren he discovers lead him to new horizons or will he crash and burn up on re-entry to reality? Lore's not having a very good day. He's been reclassified as a pleasure slave, traded off-world, knocked on the head and placed in stasis and now he's woken up surrounded by four of the biggest, hairiest men he's ever laid eyes on. Oh! And it looks like they're pirates. Just as well he's handy with a skillet and the pirates aren't immune to a few well placed hits! Will the sudden appearance of a glorious, dark skinned angel in a lawman's hat be the answer to all his lust filled prayers, or is he just another devil in disguise sent to snatch all his hopes and dreams away again?

James Phelan - Quarantine
It's ​now or maybe never sixteen year old Jesse has spent eighteen days in post-apocalyse New York, waiting for help that never comes. He owes it to his new friends, Rachel and Felicity, to go beyond their temporary refuge to find other survivors who may hold the key to escape. Could the collective at Chelsea Piers have the answers or prove to be just another distraction in his quest? Meanwhile, Jesse is burdened with guilt and sadness at the fate of his other friend, Caleb, who has fallen prey to the virus and become a Chaser. So when it emerges that a cure-all serum may be available, Jesse determines to secure it to save his friend. At any cost perhaps even his own future.

James Phelan - Survivor
Jesse ​is alone. His friends are gone. His supplies are gone. And the chasers, the zombies, are getting bolder. So when he starts to see signs of life, of other humans, he can't believe his luck. But in post-incident New York, the only thing more dangerous than the chasers, are the survivors.

John Goode - Raise ​Your Glass
Tales ​of Foster High - Sequel to The End of the Beginning Kyle Stilleno used to be the invisible student. Brad Graymark used to be the baseball star. Then they fell in love and Brad outed them both with a spectacular public display of affection, and now everything is different. After spending a few days lying low, Kyle and Brad are going back to school. It's time to face the music and see how Foster High deals with their growing romance. But the school's reaction-and the staff's hostility-are not what they expected. Everyone they know seems to be allied against them. Isn't there anyone they can count on to defend their happiness?

Laura Kreitzer - Phantom ​Universe
Sold ​into slavery to pirates at the young age of four, Summer learns to survive the rough seas of subterfuge and thieves through silence. When the boat she's lived on most of her life is destroyed, Summer finds herself washed up on the shore of a new world, a phantom universe full of the bizarre and extraordinary. She meets Gage, the one boy who understands the girl with no speech. But when their lives are put on the line, will Summer finally call out? Or will all be lost in the fathomless depth of silence?

D. J. Manly - Wanton ​Renegade
Hang ​on. The boys are back in Eternal Souls 3: Wanton Renegade! Tyler Rose is truly a wanton renegade. He's a spoiled, oversexed nineteen-year-old, looking for trouble, and used to getting his own way all the time. But, he is completely unprepared for Bryce Donavan, the hunky military commander his grandfather places in control of the Sky Police. Tyler's grandfather is concerned with the traffic of ID--a powerful aphrodisiac drug that's been circulating in Ruby City--and with what he considers to be the "out of control" behavior of his grandson. He expects Donavan to rein in Tyler--and by any means possible. When Bryce Donavan is summoned to Ruby City, he is not amused at what he is asked to do. Aside from tackling the drug problem, he is expected to baby-sit Jack Rose's wanton--and totally annoying--grandson. From the time they set eyes on each other, the sparks fly! An oversexed, spoiled, rich boy, and a tough, gorgeous military commander... Ooh, what trouble they can get into--especially when they are meant for each other. Eternal Souls 3: Wanton Renegade will deliver all the sex, comedy, and intense passion of Vampire Lust and Beloved Foe--and then some! Don't miss how the story ends--or will it continue?

Jennings Wright - Ixeos
The ​McClellands are enjoying a lazy summer vacation at the beach when they are lured from our world into Ixeos, an alternate Earth. Finding themselves lost in a maze of tunnels under Paris and surrounded by strangers, they discover that they have been brought to Ixeos for one purpose: to take the planet back from humanoid aliens who have claimed it. With the aid of the tunnels and a mysterious man named Landon, the teens travel the world seeking the key that will allow them to free Darian, the long-imprisoned rebel leader. The aliens aren't the only problem on Ixeos -- the McClellands have to deal with brutal gangs, desperate junkies, and a world without power, where all the technology is owned by the aliens, and where most of the population has been killed or enslaved. The worst part? There's no way home.

Belle Whittington - Firefly
“The ​darkest days are ahead of us,” Andrew whispered as the drape of shadows slipped away, allowing Blair to awaken. And in her heart of hearts she knew it was true. The unmistakable signs were all around her, growing within her. She was becoming something more than human. All she could do was accept the inevitable. “I’ve become a freak … an alien. I no longer belong to the human world,” Blair told her true love, and he held her close, determined never to give her up. “I’d stay in this darkness forever as long as I could be with you. Wherever you are … that’s my home.” Everett meant every word. In fact, he’d willingly give up his own life to protect the girl he’d always loved. But there was a storm brewing … a firestorm so strong and catastrophic that it could keep them apart forever. That storm roared into town wearing a brown leather bomber jacket and riding a motorcycle. Ash was like a secret in human clothing … a dangerous secret. Everything about him was mesmerizing – right down to the swirls of ink that flowed over the smooth muscles across his chest and around his arms. Being with him was like playing with fire. Blair knew all about playing with fire. She knew something else, too. A small quiet voice deep within whispered that she really would be separated from everyone and everything she’d known and loved. Because some secrets run too deep.

Belle Whittington - Cicada
Summertime ​for Blair Reynolds and her friends had always been carefree and fun...until the summer they happened upon something that was not human. As they band together in a fight for their lives, Blair's true love becomes something more than human. Something unnatural. And their survival depends entirely upon their ability to keep a secret.