Top 10 of 2020: New or New-to-Me Authors (and a bonus #11)

Posted December 26, 2020 by Lisa Mandina in Top 10 / 4 Comments

Top 10 of 2020: New or New-to-Me Authors (and a bonus #11)

Top 10 of 2020 is hosted once again by Kimberly Faye Reads, and this year she has four co-hosts: Sarah (@dragonflyreads) | Kate (@kate_reads_), Mollie (@molliesbookshelf) & Jenica (@firewhiskeyreader)

This second topic was harder last year I think, but this year I had a pretty easy time narrowing it down. I found a few brand new authors, although technically one was an audiobook narrator and possibly screenplay writer before. And then I also found some new-to-me authors that are probably now auto-buy authors for me. Let’s start with the author that I cannot stop gushing about how much I loved her debut novel!

First is Erin Mallon. You might recognize her name as someone who narrates a lot of audiobooks. This book was to die for hilarious! I mean, the meet-cute was perfect. And then, oh my gosh, the sex scene in this book! I never thought I wanted a sex scene where I was laughing so hard I needed a drink of water, but yeah, that’s what I got and I still will giggle a little when I think about it! I’ve since enjoyed an audiobook play she wrote and am anxiously awaiting her second book in this series.

My review of Flirtasaurus and These Walls Can Talk.

Next is Teagan Hunter. I read one book by her and was hooked! I’ve now signed up to read as many of her books to review as I can, and I HAVE got to go back and read her back catalog. She is another author that makes me die laughing and also has some really good sexy bits in her stories.

Here are my reviews for Cheesy on the Eyes, Loathe Thy Neighbor, and Love Thy Neighbor.

Emma Lord was a debut author this year and I was lucky enough to get an ARC of her book from a friend who was working for that publisher at the time it came out. I adored how cute this YA book was and look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Here is my review of Tweet Cute.

Another YA debut author I found this year is Mayra Cuevas. While I had a few issues with the book, some of the family drama bits, I really loved this book a lot! All the food was so interesting to read about, and then it even had a connection to the area where I teach, so I hope to get this author to do a virtual author event with my students some day maybe. I hope to read more by this author in the future as well.

Here is my review of Salty, Bitter, Sweet.

I believe that this was Suzanne Park’s debut book as well? She had another one that I think was adult contemporary while this was YA. I really enjoyed this one and wish that I’d gotten the other one as well. I liked the idea of the zombie survival competition and the technology that was used for it, as well as the aspect of #ownvoices with Nate’s Korean family. I hope to read more by this author soon!

Here is my my review for The Perfect Escape.

Cameron Lund is another debut author that I found and now am really excited to read more from. This book was a sweet, if a bit predictable story, but was so real and had me sucked in from page one.

Here is my review for The Best Laid Plans.

So J.J. Knight is a new to me author. I just adored the first book by her that I read, and the second one was good, but I didn’t love it as much as the first. However even with it’s small issues, I loved the family and supporting characters that related back to the first book in this series so I look forward to the book for the third and final brother in this family.

Here are my reviews for Big Pickle and Hot Pickle.

Rachel Lynn Solomon is a new to me author that I discovered this year and I really enjoyed her book! I got an awesome surprise box in the mail from the publisher for her book and was so glad that it lived up to all the hype. I’m now super-eager to read anything else she puts out!

Here is my review of Today Tonight Tomorrow.

While this was the first book I’d actually read by Laura Silverman, it wasn’t the first that a publisher had sent me. I’m a little sad to say that I’ve probably already traded the ARC of the other one away, because now that I’ve read this, I probably would like to go back and read the other. This book spoke to me on so many levels. It really got to me as a former bookseller. I really miss working at the bookstore so much since getting laid off thanks to the pandemic back in April. But this book was sweet and funny and perfect. I will definitely not pass up any other ARCs I get by this author in the future.

Here is my review of Recommended for You.

Dr. Rebecca Sharp is a new to me author that I first heard about earlier this year with her contribution to the K. Bromberg Driven World. Unfortunately I did not have the time to fit that book into my review schedule, but when this Christmas book came up for a review opportunity right at the perfect time this year for me being in the mood for holiday reads, I snatched the opportunity and loved it! I will definitely be looking for more books by this author in the future.

Here is my review of I’ll Be Your Santa Tonight.

Bonus #11:

Okay, I couldn’t pass up sharing my own little tiny bit of pride from this year. I am a self-published author now myself! I decided back in April to go ahead and get my novella polished up and out in the world! So far I’ve only got one review by a friend, and would love to have some reviews, even bad ones, which I’m sure there will be plenty because it’s my first! My pseudonym is Vienna Amans. It has a funny personal meaning. Vienna means “wiener” and I love wiener dogs. Amans means “love” or “lover” and I am writing romance mostly. So it stands for “wiener lover”. Which fits me as a dachshund lover, as well as being perfect tongue in cheek for a romance author, right? Anyway, if you like steamy romance, second chance, set in New Orleans, only 25,000 words, you can get it for free with Kindle Unlimited, or it is 99 cents to purchase the e-book. I of course had to own physical copies, so ordered those for myself as you see in the picture above. The cool glowing mug is from the real NOLA bar that is in my book. If you’re interested, here is the link. Like I said, I want any and all reviews, so please give it a shot if you like that type of story!

Final Thoughts:

Tell me, are any of these authors new to you?  Or are any old favorites?  What new or new-to-you authors did you read this year?

If you’re interested in joining in to the Top 10 of 2020, you can go to the links at the top for the hosting blogs.  Here are the other topics you’ll see coming up:

Also, while you’re here, make sure you go enter into my Monthly Wrap-Up Giveaway HERE. It is open till the end of 2020!

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4 responses to “Top 10 of 2020: New or New-to-Me Authors (and a bonus #11)

  1. Emma Lord’s debut was an absolute standout for me. I read her followup the other day, and it was good too. Looking forward to more from me. I have read and enjoyed all of Solomon’s books, but the two I read this year, The Ex-Talk and Today Tonight Tomorrow, were my favorites! She is fantastic at writing rom-coms.

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’m a new fan of Solomon now! And I can’t wait to read Emma Lord’s new book! Glad to hear the new one was good as well. I’m missing some of my publisher contacts that I lost this past year due to them leaving jobs or maternity leave, etc. Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      As I was just trying to do my favorite books of the year I found a few other new authors I forgot to add! Some good ones this year though. Tweet Cute is cute! Thanks for visiting!

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