Lisa’s Looking Forward To #103 – April 6th, 2021

Posted March 31, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in LLFT / 16 Comments

Lisa's Looking Forward To #103 - April 6th, 2021

With Easter coming up this weekend, thought it would be fun to have an Easter button too! There are a ton of new books coming out next week it thinks, at least a ton that I’m interested in. Once again I’ll be joining up with the Can’t Wait Wednesday posts hosted by Wishful Endings.

This sounds like a really good suspenseful story.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Winter. The sky is dark. It is cold enough to crack bones. 

Jack Morton has nothing left. Except his younger brother, Matty, who he’d do anything for. Even die for. Now with their mother gone, and their funds quickly dwindling, Jack needs to make a choice: lose his brother to foster care, or find the drug money that sent his father to prison. He chooses the money.

Ava Bardem lives in isolation, a life of silence. For seventeen years her father has controlled her fate. He has taught her to love no one. Trust no one. Now Victor Bardem is stalking the same money as Jack. When he picks up Jack’s trail, Ava must make her own wrenching choice: remain silent or help the brothers survive.

Choices. They come at a price.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

This one sounds kind of unique, but definitely interesting! It’s also an author that I need to read something by soon!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years.

The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.

When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all.

As Nami works with a team of rebels to bring down Ophelia and save the humans under her imprisonment, she is forced to reckon with her past, her future, and what it is that truly makes us human.
From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes an incisive, action-packed tale that explores big questions about technology, grief, love, and humanity.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I adore the cover and the title of this one for sure. And it sounds like a cute read!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Mia, an American girl at an elite summer ballet program, has six weeks to achieve her dreams: to snag an audition with one of the world’s best ballet companies. But there’s more to Paris than ballet—especially when a charming French boy, Louis, wants to be her tour guide—and the pair discover the city has a few mysteries up its sleeve.

In the vein of romances like Love and Gelato, this is the perfect summer adventure for anyone looking to get swept away in the City of Love.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Love the idea behind this story. And it’s got a cute cover too!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

What happens when her two worlds collide?

AJ is a buttoned-up, responsible student attending a high-achieving high school in Michigan. She lives with her mother, stepfather, and two younger half sisters.

Della spends every summer with her father in Florida. A free-spirited wild child, she spends as much time as possible on the beach with her friends and older siblings.

But there’s a catch: AJ and Della are the same person. Adelaide Beloise Jepsen to be exact, and she does everything she can to keep her school and summer lives separate.

When her middle sister crashes her carefree summer getaway, Adelaide’s plans fall apart. In order to help her sister, save her unexpected friendship with a guy who might just be perfect for her, and discover the truth about her own past, Adelaide will have to reconcile the two sides of herself…and face the fact that it’s perfectly okay not to be perfect all the time.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I’m a bit embarrassed to say I still haven’t read I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, which I need to. And this one is compared to that. Plus it is about an aspiring pastry chef, so I’m guessing I’ll love reading about all the food!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter meets Emergency Contact in this stunning story of first love, familial expectations, the power of food, and finding where you belong.

As an aspiring pastry chef, Penelope Prado has always dreamed of opening her own pastelería next to her father’s restaurant, Nacho’s Tacos. But her mom and dad have different plans — leaving Pen to choose between disappointing her traditional Mexican-American parents or following her own path. When she confesses a secret she’s been keeping, her world is sent into a tailspin. But then she meets a cute new hire at Nacho’s who sees through her hard exterior and asks the questions she’s been too afraid to ask herself.

Xander Amaro has been searching for home since he was a little boy. For him, a job at Nacho’s is an opportunity for just that — a chance at a normal life, to settle in at his abuelo’s, and to find the father who left him behind. But when both the restaurant and Xander’s immigrant status are threatened, he will do whatever it takes to protect his new found family and himself.

Together, Pen and Xander must navigate first love and discovering where they belong — both within their families and their fiercely loyal Chicanx community — in order to save the place they all call home.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Love the storyline of this one! It sounds really cute! And I adore the cover as well.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

A fun and upbeat paperback original romance about a girl who finds a cheat sheet for love.

Spring break . . . heartache?

For coder extraordinaire Ashley, high school is all about prepping for college. Her love life? Virtually nonexistent. She’s never been on a date. Never been kissed. Never been in love.

When her plans veer off course, Ashley realizes she might be missing out on her high school experience. Now that spring break is finally here, Ashley vows to have fun . . . and, for the first time, follow her heart.

Starting with Walker Beech, her gorgeous, maybe-not-so-unrequited crush. But with Jason Eisler–her childhood friend turned prankster–in the picture, trouble is bound to follow. Will Ashley’s epic spring break lead her to love, or will her heart crash and burn?

“Smart, fun, fast-paced.” —USA Today bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient Helen Hoang on Kristin Rockaway’s How to Hack a Heartbreak

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I’ve loved the other books I’ve read by this author and this one sounds really good as well! And that cover is so cool!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

A buttoned-up overachiever works overtime to keep her inner nerd at bay—failing spectacularly—in Nancy Werlin’s hilarious and heartfelt return to contemporary realistic fiction.

Planning is Zoe Rosenthal’s superpower. She has faith in a properly organized to-do list and avoids unnecessary risks. Her mental checklist goes something like this: 1) Meet soulmate: DONE! 2) Make commitment: DONE! 3) Marriage: TO COME! (after college). She isn’t sure which college yet, but it will have a strong political science department, since her perfect boyfriend, Simon, plans to “save the country,” as his sister puts it, “and the planet and everything.” Zoe will follow along, the perfect serious, supportive girlfriend. It’s good to have her love life resolved, checked off, done. But speaking of unnecessary risks, Zoe’s on a plane to Atlanta, sneaking off to Dragon Con for the second season premiere of Bleeders. The show is subject to her boyfriend’s lofty scorn, but Zoe is nothing like these colorful hordes “wearing their inside on their outside.” Once her flirtation with fandom is over, she will get back to the important business of planning a future with Simon. The trouble is, right now, Bleeders—and her fellow “Bloodygits”—may just mean the world to her. Will a single night of nerdery be enough? 

Best-selling and award-winning author Nancy Werlin is best known for science fiction, fantasy, and suspense, but here she turns her pen to realistic fiction with broad appeal. Confirmed nerds will revel in a diverse cast, zany fandoms, and cosplaying crowds, but this is for any reader seeking a smart, breezy coming-of-age story about finding your friends—and your inconvenient self.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

This one sounds really good, and I’ve read a lot of good reviews. Another great cover as well!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. 

Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind. 

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children. 

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years. 

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

This one sounds really good and I love that the cover reminds me of Sims characters.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Naomi and Ethan will test the boundaries of love in this provocative romance from the author of the ground-breaking debut, The Roommate.

Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the sex-positive start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won’t hire her.

Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag named him one of the city’s hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Taking a gamble in an effort to attract more millennials to the faith, the executive board hired Ethan because of his nontraditional background. Unfortunately, his shul is low on both funds and congregants. The board gives him three months to turn things around or else they’ll close the doors of his synagogue for good.

Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems–until they discover a new one–their growing attraction to each other. They’ve built the syllabus for love’s latest experiment, but neither of them expected they’d be the ones putting it to the test.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I really liked the author’s book Slay, so I’m excited to read this one. I have an e-galley and should be reading and posting a review next Monday.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End in this gripping, evocative novel about a Black teen who has the power to see into the future, whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death, from the acclaimed author of SLAY.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short.

It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life.

And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes.

With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

So this one sounds really creepy, and reminds me of the one story of the little girl ghost that was part of the movie Sixth Sense.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Cara’s been sick all her life . . . but in this case the cause might be more shocking than the cure. A creepy, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller perfect for fans of true crime.

It’s a mystery – why is Cara so sick? It feels like she’s been sick all her life . . . but she and her mom have never stayed in one place long enough for doctors to really understand what’s happening to her. Now, at fourteen, Cara is tired of being tired, and sick of being sick. She’s trying to get better . . . but it’s only getting worse.

Unable to afford the care she needs, Cara’s mom starts a Caring for Cara campaign online. The money starts pouring in. But something’s not right to Cara. And the harder she looks, the less she understands.

From Eireann Corrigan, the spellbinding author of Creep and You Remind Me of YouRemedy is the gripping story of a girl solving the mystery of her own health . . . before it’s too late.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I keep seeing so many good reviews for this! I need to read it so bad!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Can you find real love when you’ve always got your head in the clouds?

Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start.

Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn’t the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who’s as grouchy as he is gorgeous—and it turns out he has very different vision for the property’s future.

Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley’s scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one’s comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Final Thoughts:

For the first week of the month, twelve! That’s more than even the last two weeks combined! So many good books, so little time. Anyway, today is the very last day to enter two of my giveaways: my monthly giveaway HERE as well as the giveaway I had for my 100th post of this weekly meme HERE.

What new books are you eagerly awaiting this week?

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16 responses to “Lisa’s Looking Forward To #103 – April 6th, 2021

  1. I feel like Easter has sneaked up on me! I can’t believe it is this weekend. There are so many great sounding books coming out. Infinity Courts is one I am really looking forward to. And you’ve reminded me I haven’t read I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter either. I have it sitting on my TBR shelf right here and everything. Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet sounds great too. I love that title. Bittersweet is one of my favorite words and any play on it makes me happy (I’m weird that way). Ooh! The Cost of Knowing! I have to add that one to my wish list. I hope you have a great day, Lisa. Happy reading!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, Easter seems really quick this year! How neat that one of your favorite words is bittersweet. I love that! I’m reading The Cost of Knowing right now, and while it’s okay, I’m not being blown away as I thought I would be. We’ll see, maybe it will pick up. Thanks for stopping by!

  2. I read 5 of these. The adult romances were both fabulous. The hero in Twice Shy was something special. Kisses & Croissants and My Epic Spring Break Up were both cute, which was what I was looking for. Hope you find lots of hits in the bunch

    • Lisa Mandina

      I love cute and sweet romances. Pretty much seem to read a ton of them these days! Thanks for visiting!

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