Waiting On Wednesday: HarperCollins Winter 2014 Catalog

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which upcoming, eagerly anticipated releases are highlighted on the blog.

This week, I've chosen to feature a few picks from the HarperCollins Winter 2014 Catalog:

The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine
Date: December 31, 2013

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Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.
Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.
One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

I admit my interest in The Promise of Amazing has a lot to do with that seriously cute cover. I can't help it. Contemporary romance isn't even a genre that I am normally drawn to, but I would give this one a go because of the cuteness of the cover.

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale
Date: January 7, 2014

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Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population: 688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.
Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary (which Ruth’s mother had asked her to read in order to redact any, you know, sex parts), sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.

I'm such a sucker for murder mysteries. They just suck me right in. I love trying to guess the murderer, but am always disappointed when it's too easy a solution. I hope No One Else Can Have You keeps me guessing right to the end!

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Date: January 28, 2014

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The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.
When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.
Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

A girl who becomes ostracized when a genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer? Oh yes, that is one intriguing premise! I am SO curious about Uninvited and I hope the story lives up to my high expectations!

Death Sworn by Leah Cypress
Date: March 4, 2014

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When Ileni lost her magic, she lost everything: her place in society, her purpose in life, and the man she had expected to spend her life with. So when the Elders sent her to be magic tutor to a secret sect of assassins, she went willingly, even though the last two tutors had died under mysterious circumstances.
But beneath the assassins’ caves, Ileni will discover a new place and a new purpose… and a new and dangerous love. She will struggle to keep her lost magic a secret while teaching it to her deadly students, and to find out what happened to the two tutors who preceded her. But what she discovers will change not only her future, but the future of her people, the assassins… and possibly the entire world.

Umm, can I read this one now?? Seriously, Death Sworn is COMPLETELY my kind of read. Or at least, I'm hoping it will be. And with assassins and magic and mystery, I'm finding it hard to believe that it won't be.


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these HarperCollins Winter 2014 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the HarperCollins Winter 2014 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?