Waiting on Wednesday #21

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Fool's Gold

(Order of Darkness #3)

by Philippa Gregory

Publication Date: February 11, 2014

From Goodreads:

Tasked to expose a coin counterfeiting scheme, Luca and Isolde travel to Venice just in time for Carnival. Amid the masks, parties, and excitement, the romantic attraction between the two reaches a new intensity that neither can deny.

Their romance is interrupted by the arrival of the alchemist, who may be the con artist they've been looking for. But as Luca starts to investigate the original charge, the alchemist reveals his true goal - he plans to create the Philosopher's Stone, a mystical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold and producing the elixir of life.

With pounds of undocumented gold coins and an assistant who claims to be decades older than she appears, all evidence points to the possibility that the alchemist has succeeded in his task. But as Luca and Isolde get closer to the truth, they discover that reality may be more sinister than they ever could have imagined.

Death Sworn

(Death Sworn #1)

by Leah Cypress

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

From Goodreads:

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 send 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.