Waiting on Wednesday (22)

This past week was a good one in terms of discovering books I would love to read. But in a rather eyebrow-raising coincidence I discovered great-sounding two books, with uncanny similarities...

EDIT: Thanks to some keen-eyed fellow bloggers, it appears that I've been misinformed about the two author names. I thought Fallen was by someone named Kate Lauren, but it turns out that both Fallen and Betrayal are by one person: Lauren Kate. Someone please tell Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and numerous other book websites that they need to change their information as well. Thanks for the heads-up, guys! :)

Fallen by Lauren Kate
(Random House / Dec. 8, 2009)

Seventeen-Year-Old Luce is a new student at Sword & Cross, an unwelcoming boarding/reform school in Savannah, Georgia. Luce’s boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances, and now she carries the guilt over his death with her as she navigates the unfriendly halls at Sword & Cross, where every student seems to have an unpleasant—even evil—history.

It’s only when she sees Daniel, a gorgeous fellow student, that Luce feels there’s a reason to be here—though she doesn’t know what it is. And Daniel’s frosty cold demeanor toward her? It’s really a protective device that he’s used again . . . and again. For Daniel is a fallen angel, doomed to fall in love with the same girl every 17 years . . . and watch her die. And Luce is a fellow immortal, cursed to be reincarnated again and again as a mortal girl who has no idea of who she really is.

Well, right now Becca Fitzpatrick has cornered the market on fallen angels for me, but I'm still curious to see how this will turn out. I'm no Team Zombie, I'll admit, and vampires are definitely starting to get overwhelmingly prolific and cliche. So, fallen angels it is!

And here's the other one:

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate
(Razorbill / Nov. 12, 2009)

A steamy Southern beauty makes one fatal mistake...

Natalie Hargrove would kill to be her high school’s Palmetto Princess. But her boyfriend Mike King doesn’t share her dream and risks losing the honor of Palmetto Prince to Natalie’s nemesis, Justin Balmer. So she convinces Mike to help play a prank on Justin. . . one that goes terribly wrong. They tie him to the front of the church after a party—when they arrive the next morning, Justin is dead.

From blackmail to buried desire, dark secrets to darker deeds, Natalie unravels. She never should’ve messed with fate. Fate is the one thing more twisted than Natalie Hargrove.

Cruel Intentions meets Macbeth in this seductive, riveting tale of conscience and consequence.

Yay, sinister intents, deaths, and beautiful teenagers gone wrong! No, seriously, every once in a while I just want to read something that's like Gossip Girl for the paranormal and non-upper-class set, and this book looks like it can deliver.