Hi everyone! I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday post and this week’s prompt is to list the The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I love doing these type of posts. I’ve never written blog posts about book hauls, mostly photographed them and posted them on IG. Today I’m listing some of the latest additions to my shelf, most of these books I’ve listed below are gifted or received for review.
Publication date: January 21st, 2020 Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks Pages: 384 Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary Buy: Book Depository | Wordery
Synopsis:
Piper Manning’s about as tough as they come, she’s had to be. She raised her siblings and they’ve thankfully flown the coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it, and then she’s free.
When a massive storm hits, she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There’s a spark there, one that shocks her. Surprising her further, her sister and brother return, each of them holding their own secrets. The smart move would be for Piper to ignore them all but Cam unleashes emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny, making her yearn for something she doesn’t understand. And her siblings…well, they need each other.
Only when the secrets come out, it changes everything Piper thinks she knows about her family, herself…and Cam. Can she find a way to outrun the demons? The answer is closer than she thinks-just as the new life she craves may have already begun.
– My Thoughts –
“Chin up, Princess, or the crown slips.”
I can’t remember the last time I read a Jill Shalvis book. When I saw this pop up on the available eARCs on Edelweiss, I had to request it.
Almost Just Friends has multiple POVs, Piper(our mc), Camden, and Piper’s brother Gavin’s. There are two romances as well, one of which is an M/M romance that I would have loved to read more about.
Piper has raised her siblings since the day their parents died. She had to push her dreams and hopes aside to see to it that her siblings’ are fulfilled, until now. Her brother and sister are grown-up enough that Piper can finally sell the Lake House and go to university.
Then she meets Camden Reid at her birthday celebration. Although she bids goodbye to Cam soon after, a storm brings them face-to-face again! Surprisingly, both of them have a lot in common and that includes grief. Recognizing the pain in each other, they form a tentative friendship, a friendship that involves kisses everywhere.
That’s not the only surprise in store for Piper. Her sister and brother turn up announced at the lake house with secrets of their own. Will Piper be able to achieve her dreams? Can she and Cam have any future together?
Piper is my kind of woman. She is a planner and in her journal, she has all her hopes and dreams written to be checked out. When her siblings come back home, her planner doesn’t work anymore. I loved the whole family dynamics in this story. Each character has their backstories are that well fleshed out and it’s a treat to read their character growths as well. As I mentioned before, there are two romances. Cam and Piper’s can be described as “strangers at first but found out acquaintances later” kinda romance and the other romance was a “second chance” one.
I loved every bit of the story which was about overcoming grief, accepting help, being vulnerable and to let the love of others heal you. This story is also about hope and there are so many instances of it(all them are spoilers) that I couldn’t help but feel peaceful.
Overall, I would highly recommend thisbook. This has a heroine who journals, sibling love, two romances that’ll make you emotional and blush a lot. If you want to read a beautiful story where people who were never supposed to find love does so and in turn heals others, then go to your nearest bookstore or the library and pick this one up!
Thanks to the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
– About the Author –
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras with her family and far too many assorted quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental.
Look for Jill’s ALMOST JUST FRIENDS and get all her bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold. Visit http://www.jillshalvis.com for a complete book list and fun blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
Thank you for reading! Have you read Almost Just Friends or any of the author’s previous books? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Publication date: January 7th, 2020 Publisher: Inkyard Press Pages: 432 Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance Buy: Book Depository | Wordery | Amazon
Synopsis:
What if your safe place…is a person?
Adam Moynihan’s life used to be awesome. Straight As, close friends and a home life so perfect that it could have been a TV show straight out of the 50s. Then his oldest brother died. Now his fun-loving mom cries constantly, he and his remaining brother can’t talk without fighting, and the father he always admired proved himself a coward by moving out when they needed him most.
Jolene Timber’s life is nothing like the movies she loves—not the happy ones anyway. As an aspiring director, she should know, because she’s been reimagining her life as a film ever since she was a kid. With her divorced parents at each other’s throats and using her as a pawn, no amount of mental reediting will give her the love she’s starving for.
Forced to spend every other weekend in the same apartment building, the boy who thinks forgiveness makes him weak and the girl who thinks love is for fools begin an unlikely friendship. The weekends he dreaded and she endured soon become the best part of their lives. But when one’s life begins to mend while the other’s spirals out of control, they realize that falling in love while surrounded by its demise means nothing is ever guaranteed.
– My Thoughts –
What a heart-wrecker of a book! Adam and Jolene both need to spend every other weekends at their father’s places at the same apartment. These two unlikely teens come closer due to some similarity in their life but on the way, they become each other’s family.
Thank god it was an ebook because I have shed many tears in many pages. Specifically when Jolene’s chapters came, I was bracing -like her- for any incoming onslaught. Although I loved Adam’s character, I loved Jolene’s more. Her passion for filmmaking seem to pour out of the pages, her grief would sometimes overwhelm me to the point I would start putting off reading the book once in a while. With all that said, I felt the story also dragged a bit too long and I hope the finished copy comes with some edits.
Overall, I would recommend this if you’d like to read a sweet and wholesome YA contemporary.Meanwhile, this coming-of-age story also deals with heavy issues like loss of a loved one, neglect and abuse(also sexual abuse) by parents. If you do read it, then keep some tissues handy ’cause you’re gonna bawl I guarantee you that. With that said, please go buy/borrow this book!
Thanks to the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review and to the FFBC for including me in the blog tour!
Abigail was born in Pennsylvania. When she was twelve, her family traded in snow storms for year round summers, and moved to Arizona. Abigail chronicled the entire cross-country road trip (in a purple spiral bound notebook that she still has) and has been writing ever since. She became a tetraplegic after breaking her neck in a car accident when she was seventeen, but hasn’t let that stop her from bodysurfing in Mexico, writing and directing a high school production of Cinderella, and becoming a published author.
Hi everyone! It does feel more than a million years since I last posted on here. I’ve been writing blog post ideas but never could I get my fingers to type up one. Will I do better at posting in 2020? Who knows..but I’ll try my hardest. While I was away from blogging, I was posting on Instagram so follow me, if you’re there!
I had a list of 2020 releases written up but I lost it, so I had to compile another one and uhh..this is not a Top Ten list as that is way too much pressure for me.. SO, here are some book releases I’m eagerly awaiting and this is only Part I!
Without any further ado, here are some Book Releases I’m Anticipating in 2020..
Give me a combination of an own-voices Indian fantasy + knock-me-dead gorgeous cover and watch me how fast I add it to my tbr. It’s about the daughter of a star and a mortal. Sheetal, who needs the help of a full star like her mother to save her injured father. “Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets a rich landscape of Hindu mythology and celestial intrigue in this sparkling YA fantasy debut.”
Bringing Down the Duke‘s one of my favourite books of 2019 and when I read a sneak-peek of the next book in this extraordinary series, I had to have it(but of course, I have to wait until SEPTEMBER!!)
Since I loved A Curse so Dark and Lonely (where I think Grey should have totally ended up with Rhen), I didn’t think twice about adding AHSFAB to my tbr.
This is a contemporary YA set around NASA’s first mission to Mars. Cal’s a a successful social media journalist who’s father is on the mission along with another “Astrokid” Leon’s parent.
Gorgeous cover and an own voices Latinx fantasy described as, “A lush tapestry of magic, romance, and revolución, drawing inspiration from Bolivian politics and history.“? Count me in!
“From the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi comes the first novel in a brand-new series set at an elite international boarding school, that’s a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast.” Even though I haven’t read any of Sandhya Menon’s books yet, I’ve heard good things and the synopsis makes me hopeful that it’s going to really good!
“A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.“ I’ve heard a lot of chatter about this YA romance on Twitter(irony) and I’ve got an eARC too!
“New York Timesbestselling authors Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed have crafted a resonant, funny, and memorable story about the power of love and resistance.“ I’m both excited and anxious about this book!
Thank you for reading! What about you? Do you have any of these books in your TBR? If you have some other books on your anticipated lists, then let me know in the comments below!
Book Rambler 