Lisa’s Looking Forward To #97 – February 23rd, 2021

Posted February 17, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in LLFT / 24 Comments

Lisa’s Looking Forward To #97 – February 23rd, 2021

Once again I’ll be joining up with the Can’t Wait Wednesday posts hosted by Wishful Endings.  Usually the last week of the month has the least books to share, but there seem to be more than usual this month.

This one sounds really good, and perfect for my students, and I’ve seen some good reviews too!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Fans of Netflix’s On My Block, In the Heights, and readers of Elizabeth Acevedo and Ibi Zoboi will love this debut novel about a girl whose life is turned upside down after one local act of vandalism throws her relationships and even her neighborhood into turmoil. 

Chinelo, or Nelo as her best friend Kate calls her, is all about her neighborhood Ginger East. She loves its chill vibe, ride-or-die sense of community, and her memories of growing up there. Ginger East isn’t what it used to be, though. After a deadly incident at the local arcade, all her closest friends moved away, except for Kate. But as long as they have each other, Nelo’s good.

Only, Kate’s parents’ corner store is vandalized, leaving Nelo shaken to her core. The police and the media are quick to point fingers, and soon more of the outside world descends on Ginger East with promises to “fix” it. Suddenly, Nelo finds herself in the middle of a drama unfolding on a national scale. 

Worse yet, Kate is acting strange. She’s pushing Nelo away at the exact moment they need each other most. Nelo’s entire world is morphing into something she hates, and she must figure out how to get things back on track or risk losing everything⁠—and everyone⁠—she loves.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

While this might be more of a women’s fiction than a romance, it sounds like one I could probably get into with my life the way it is.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

What if you made yourself your number one priority?

Of all the women and men Noni Blake has pleased in her life, there’s one she’s often overlooked–herself. After the end of a decade-long relationship, Noni decides it’s time for that to change. She’s finally going to prioritize her wants and desires and only do things (and people) that feel good in the moment.

As she embarks on a pleasure-seeking quest that takes her halfway around the world, she discovers that maybe she can have everything, and everyone, she’s ever wanted.

Effortlessly hilarious and relatable, Claire Christian spins a fresh, feel-good tale about starting over as a thirtysomething woman who’s been living life for everyone else. A story of self-discovery for the ages, Noni’s journey serves as a sparkling reminder that life is what we make of it–so why not enjoy it?

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I love the idea of this one, taking inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe, plus I need to read something by this author some day.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Welcome to Amontillado, Ohio, where your last name is worth more than money, and secrets can be kept… for a price.

Tress Montor knows that her family used to mean something—until she didn’t have a family anymore. When her parents disappeared seven years ago while driving her best friend home, Tress lost everything. She might still be a Montor, but the entire town shuns her now that she lives with her drunken, one-eyed grandfather at what locals refer to as the “White Trash Zoo,” – a wild animal attraction featuring a zebra, a chimpanzee, and a panther, among other things. 

Felicity Turnado has it all – looks, money, and a secret that she’s kept hidden. She knows that one misstep could send her tumbling from the top of the social ladder, and she’s worked hard to make everyone forget that she was with the Montors the night they disappeared. Felicity has buried what she knows so deeply that she can’t even remember what it is… only that she can’t look at Tress without having a panic attack.

But she’ll have to.

Tress has a plan. A Halloween costume party at an abandoned house provides the ideal situation for Tress to pry the truth from Felicity – brick by brick – as she slowly seals her former best friend into a coal chute. With a drunken party above them, and a loose panther on the prowl, Tress will have her answers – or settle for revenge.

In the first book of this duology, award-winning author Mindy McGinnis draws inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe and masterfully delivers a dark, propulsive mystery in alternating points of view that unravels a friendship… forevermore.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

This one sounds really intriguing, and I love that cover!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

In this spellbinding thriller and YA debut from bestselling author Marti Leimbach, Kira Adams has discovered a cure for deathand it may just cost her life.

Things aren’t going well for Kira. At home, she cares for her mother and fends off debt collectors. At school, she’s awkward and shy. Plus, she may flunk out if she doesn’t stop obsessing about science, her passion and the one thing she’s good at . . . very good at.

When she wins a prestigious science contest she draws the attention of the celebrated professor Dr. Gregory Munn (as well as his handsome assistant), leading to a part-time job in a top-secret laboratory. 

The job is mostly cleaning floors and equipment, but one night, while running her own experiment, she revives a lab rat that has died in her care. 

One minute it is dead, the next it is not.

Suddenly she’s the remarkable wunderkind, the girl who can bring back the dead. Everything is going her way. But it turns out that science can be a dangerous business, and Kira is swept up into a world of international rivalry with dark forces that threaten her life.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Even though I’m not a fan of the show This Is Us, this book does sound good.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

This Is Us for teens, this luminous and heartbreaking contemporary novel follows a girl caught between two brothers as the three of them navigate family, loss, and love over the course of two summers. For fans of Far From the TreeEmergency Contact, and Nina LaCour.

Before she kissed one of the Cohen boys, seventeen-year-old Jessi Rumfield knew what it was like to have a family—even if, technically, that family didn’t belong to her. She’d spent her childhood in the house next door, challenging Rowan Cohen to tennis matches while his older brother, Luke, studied in the background and Mel watched over the three like the mother Jessi always wished she had.

But then everything changed. It’s been almost a year since Jessi last visited the Cohen house. Rowan is gone. Mel is in remission and Luke hates Jessi for the role she played in breaking his family apart. Now Jessi spends her days at a dead-end summer job avoiding her real mother, who suddenly wants to play a role in Jessi’s life after being absent for so long. But when Luke comes home from college, it’s hard to ignore the past. And when he asks Jessi to pretend to be his girlfriend for the final months of Mel’s life, Jessi finds herself drawn back into the world of the Cohens. Everything’s changed, but Jessi can’t help wanting to be a Cohen, even if it means playing pretend for one final summer.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I’ve wanted to read something by this author since her last book. And this one is compared to other books and authors that I like.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

One of Goodreads Hottest Romances of 2021!

A sparkling and tender novel from the acclaimed author of Love Lettering, full of bickering neighbors, surprise reunions, and the mysterious power of love that fans of Christina Lauren, Sarah Hogle, and Emily Henry will adore.

Sixteen years ago, a teenaged Will Sterling saw—or rather, heard—the girl of his dreams. Standing beneath an apartment building balcony, he shared a perfect moment with a lovely, warm-voiced stranger. It’s a memory that’s never faded, though he’s put so much of his past behind him. Now an unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property and get back to his regular life as an overworked doctor. Instead, he encounters a woman, two balconies above, who’s uncannily familiar . . .

No matter how surprised Nora Clarke is by her reaction to handsome, curious Will, or the whispered pre-dawn conversations they share, she won’t let his plans ruin her quirky, close-knit building. Bound by her loyalty to her adored grandmother, she sets out to foil his efforts with a little light sabotage. But beneath the surface of their feud is an undeniable connection. A balcony, a star-crossed couple, a fateful meeting—maybe it’s the kind of story that can’t work out in the end. Or maybe, it’s the perfect second chance . . .

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I have loved this whole series, and can’t wait for the latest that is supposed to have a little bit of a shout out to Grease. I will be reading and posting a review of it later on for a blog tour as well.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

There is no such thing as luck. 

Roxy Kincaid isn’t a biker chick anymore. She’s made herself more than Jethro Winston’s castoff, and she’s never going back to her old life with the Iron Wraiths. But one summer night, a charming stranger threatens to sweep Roxy off her feet. Ignoring fate and their instant attraction, she has to get back to her real life in Green Valley. He couldn’t be the one that she wants when he’s exactly the thing that could ruin everything. If only she could stop thinking about him. 

Luck is everything. 

Sanders Olsson is going to fix his mistakes. He’s determined to show his best friend he’s a reliable business partner not the distracted flake he’s been lately. But he has to listen when the universe brings him a sign in the form of a guarded beauty he can’t keep his eyes off. Their instant connection is almost magical but she leaves without giving him even a last name. When fate gives Sanders a second chance in life and love, he sets out for Green Valley without a backward glance. 

Their summer lovin’ happened so fast but what will it take to make it last? 

‘The One That I Want’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #3 in the Scorned Women’s Society series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Originally this was supposed to come out the 16th, but the author had to push it back a little. I should be reading and posting a review on the day it comes out! If you want to read my reviews to the others in this series, you can go here: The Bookworm’s Guide to Dating and The Bookworm’s Guide to Faking It.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

What I thought I’d get on Valentine’s Day: a card.
What I got on Valentine’s Day: a blind date with my brand new roommate.

Let it be known that I, Saylor Green, am wholeheartedly against blind dating. I think it’s superficial, unnecessary, and designed wholly to force people into relationships they aren’t ready for.
It’s me. I’m people.
So when Dylan Parker takes the seat across from me, I’m ready to dismiss him at one glance.
The problem? He’s hot and funny and sweet and the exact kind of guy I read about in the romance novels I sell like hotcakes in my bookstore.
He’s also my new roommate.
Who likes to walk around in his sweatpants and peer over my shoulder and comment on all my online dating escapades.
When he offers to help me flirt my way to dating success, I’m all for it.
But what am I supposed to do when the only person I want to flirt with is… Dylan?

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Final Thoughts:

Eight this week, which is twice as many as 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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24 responses to “Lisa’s Looking Forward To #97 – February 23rd, 2021

  1. That first one- I just saw that one over at Steph’s blog and it looks great! Love the sound of the community! Dragonfly Girl has me super curious now too.

    Love At First looks awesome.

  2. Another great group of wonderful books to look forward to! Love At First is on my TBR pile and I look forward to reading it. It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake sounds really good. And I’m interested in Like Home too. I hope you enjoy all of these when you read them!

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