Waiting on Wednesday (#5)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This meme highlights some of the books whose releases bloggers are most anticipating this year.

The book whose release I am most excited for this week is...

Title: Ironskin

Author: Tina Connolly

Release Date: October 2nd, 2012

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask. It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin. When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help. Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey. Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

I'll be the first to admit it - that gorgeous cover ensnared me. Yet, the enigmatic synopsis is equally - if not more - interesting. Ironskin seems to be a futuristic, paranormal, and almost gothic mystery. Not only does it have elements of Jane Eyre visible in its romance, it also contains rich world-building in a new realm. Furthermore, I am very much intrigued by the romantic setting of this story and am thrilled that the characters in this tale are adults and not teens as that gives scope for a more well-developed love story. In addition, that iron mask on the cover is not only eye-catching (not to mention the dress and the mist and the ominously bare branches and the silhouette of a mansion in the background and the dark steps and gosh that beautiful slipper!), but I am also intrigued to learn more about it. I tend to love novels with faeries in it - not the Tinker Bell kind, but the evil kind who are apt to curse you - and Ironskin seems to perfectly fit the bill. This is a novel that has paranormal creatures, futuristic technology, and an old-age love story - all qualities that are making the wait for this book pure hell. Plus, that cover will look amazing on my bookshelf! ;) What are you waiting on this week?