Lisa’s Looking Forward To #87 – November 17th, 2020

Posted November 11, 2020 by Lisa Mandina in LLFT / 14 Comments

Once again I’ll be joining up with the Can’t Wait Wednesday posts hosted by Wishful Endings.  There are several listed for this third week, which is unusual, but maybe they figure we’ll have Thanksgiving week with lots of time to read?

From my ARC list for November 17th, 2020:

So, besides the beautiful cover of course, the retelling idea sounds so good. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this from the publisher, and am actually planning to read at the end of this week.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

So this is a New Adult story from a romance author that is one of my favorites, her first real new adult. I have an e-galley that I should be reading next week as part of a blog tour. And it is the daughter of one of the characters from the series that I love, but it is considered a standalone, you don’t have to have read the series.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

I don’t want you.
You mean nothing to me.
I never loved you.

I turned my words into swords.
And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall.
I said I’d never hurt her and I did.
Years later I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted when all I wanted was to indulge in my obsession.
Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of.
I used to be the one who saved her.
Over and over again.
But I don’t want to save her anymore.
I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

So I have only read the YA series by this author, but I loved it. And he is such a great social media presence. He even asked for women with tattoos to answer some questions for him as he was writing this book, and I know I emailed him some answers. I don’t know if any of what I said will have anything to do with his book, but I love how much he interacts with his fans!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry comes a standalone supernatural thriller Ink, about a memory thief who feeds on the most precious of dreams.

Tattoo-artist Patty Cakes has her dead daughter’s face tattooed on the back of her hand. Day by day it begins to fade, taking with it all of Patty’s memories of her daughter. All she’s left with is the certain knowledge she has forgotten her lost child. The awareness of that loss is tearing her apart.

Monk Addison is a private investigator whose skin is covered with the tattooed faces of murder victims. He is a predator who hunts for killers, and the ghosts of all of those dead people haunt his life. Some of those faces have begun to fade, too, destroying the very souls of the dead.

All through the town of Pine Deep people are having their most precious memories stolen. The monster seems to target the lonely, the disenfranchised, the people who need memories to anchor them to this world.

Something is out there. Something cruel and evil is feeding on the memories, erasing them from the hearts and minds of people like Patty and Monk and others.

Ink is the story of a few lonely, damaged people hunting for a memory thief. When all you have are memories, there is no greater horror than forgetting.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Sounds right up my romance reading alley!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

A woman ready to give up on love discovers that age is truly just a number in this heartwarming and steamy new romantic comedy by USA Today bestselling author Nicola Marsh.

For almost a decade, successful 37-year-old Samira Broderick has used her bustling LA practice as an excuse to avoid a trip home to Australia. She still resents her meddling Indian mother for arranging her marriage to a man who didn’t stick around when the going got tough, but now with a new job Down Under, she’s finally ready to reconnect with her. And while she’s there, a hot international fling might be just what she needs to get out of her recent funk. 

Aussie stuntman, Rory Radcliffe, has been hiding his stutter for years by avoiding speaking roles. When a job he can’t refuse comes up as a reality show host, he knows he’ll need some help for the audition: a dialect coach. But he finds himself at a loss for words when he discovers it’s the same sexy woman with whom he just had a mind-blowing one-night stand… 

Samira can think of many reasons why Rory is completely wrong for her: he’s ten years her junior, for one, and he’s not Indian–something Samira’s mother would never approve of. Even if things were to get serious, there’s no reason to tell her mother…is there?

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Awesome cover, and by an author I really need to check out!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

From the bestselling author of Frankly in Love comes a contemporary YA rom-com where a case of mistaken identity kicks off a string of (fake) events that just may lead to (real) love.

When Sunny Dae—self-proclaimed total nerd—meets Cirrus Soh, he can’t believe how cool and confident she is. So when Cirrus mistakes Sunny’s older brother Gray’s bedroom—with its electric guitars and rock posters—for Sunny’s own, he sort of, kind of, accidentally winds up telling her he’s the front man of a rock band.

Before he knows it, Sunny is knee-deep in the lie: He ropes his best friends into his scheme, begging them to form a fake band with him, and starts wearing Gray’s rock-and-roll castoffs. But no way can he trick this amazing girl into thinking he’s cool, right? Just when Sunny is about to come clean, Cirrus asks to see them play sometime. Gulp.

Now there’s only one thing to do: Fake it till you make it.

Sunny goes all in on the lie, and pretty soon, the strangest things start happening. People are noticing him in the hallways, and he’s going to football games and parties for the first time. He’s feeling more confident in every aspect of his life, and especially with Cirrus, who’s started to become not just his dream girl but also the real deal. Sunny is falling in love. He’s having fun. He’s even becoming a rocker, for real.

But it’s only a matter of time before Sunny’s house of cards starts tumbling down. As his lies begin to catch up with him, Sunny Dae is forced to wonder whether it was all worth it—and if it’s possible to ever truly change.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I’ve liked other books by this author I think, and this one compares to Black Mirror, so that grabbed my attention.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Black Mirror meets My So-Called Life in this fast-paced, timely YA thriller about separating fact from fiction—and how far we’ll go to create our own version of reality.

Like any other teenager, Jess Flynn is just trying to get through her junior year without drama . . . but drama seems to keep finding her. Between a new crush on her childhood best friend, overprotective parents cramping her social life, and her younger sister’s worsening health, the only constant is change—and her hometown of Swickley, which feels smaller by the day.

Swickley is getting weirder by the day, too. Half the population has been struck down by a mysterious flu. Conversations end awkwardly when Jess enters the room. And then one day, a tiny, sleek black device—with an apple logo on it—falls out of her best friend’s backpack and lands at Jess’s feet. 

But the year is 1998, and the first iPhone won’t exist for another nine years.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

So the synopsis sounds really cute and actually reminds me of an episode of The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon let dice decide all his decisions for him.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Penny wise or pound foolish? A heartbroken young Brit decides to turn his love life over to the flip of a coin—in this delightfully British rom-com in the vein of Jenny Colgan, Rosie Curtis, Nick Hornby, and David Nicholls.

To coin a phrase, Josh is suffering a quarter-life crisis. He just broke up with his long-term girlfriend, lost his job, and moved back home with his parents (shudder). Welcome to rock bottom in Bristol. As Josh starts questioning all his life choices, he has a mad thought: Maybe he would just be better flipping a coin. After all, careful planning has landed him homeless, jobless, and single.

What starts as a joke soon becomes serious and Josh decides to start putting his faith in the capriciousness of currency. He doesn’t have anything to lose.

But when the chance of a lifetime and the girl of his dreams are on the line, will the coin guide him to a rich love life or leave him flat broke?

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Final Thoughts:

Seven this week, that’s even more than last week. Are any of these on your TBR, or have you already read them? If so, which do you recommend? Leave me a link to your post in your comment and I’ll be sure to return the visit!

Also, while you’re here, make sure to go enter my monthly giveaway HERE.

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14 responses to “Lisa’s Looking Forward To #87 – November 17th, 2020

    • Lisa Mandina

      His Rot & Ruin series is one of my favorites. It’s funny, because there is a scene in one of the later books in the series that it seems like the tv show The Walking Dead stole from the book. He is great about interacting with his fans. And I’ve met him in a person a couple of times, and he is so nice! Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Good to hear! I don’t think I’ve ever watched a whole episode of My So-Called Life, but I get the gist of it and it does sound good. Thanks for visiting!

  1. I am really looking forward to These Violent Delights. The more I hear about it, the more I want to read it. The Boy Toy sounds like a lot of fun as does The Flip Side. I hope you enjoy all of these if you read them! Have a great week, Lisa. Stay safe and well.

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’ll be starting These Violent Delights tonight, don’t know when I’ll get to the Jess Show one since I don’t have a copy. Thanks for stopping by!

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