Lisa’s Looking Forward To #109 – May 18th, 2021

Posted May 12, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in LLFT / 14 Comments

Lisa’s Looking Forward To #109 – May 18th, 2021

Once again I’ll be joining up with the Can’t Wait Wednesday posts hosted by Wishful Endings. Usually the third week of the month means less books. However, it is getting closer to summer break from school, so I’m guessing there are a lot more books coming out for summer reading? Let’s see what there is!

This is one I’ve been really excited for, and I actually got an ARC from the publisher that I should probably be starting to read this weekend, with a review published next Monday, the 17th.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Frankly in Love meets Shark Tank in this feel-good romantic comedy about two entrepreneurial Korean American teens who butt heads—and maybe fall in love—while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school.

There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris.

Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover…

What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor.

Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for.

But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

This one sounds like it could be an emotional read.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

They say it is quietest in the eye of a storm…they lied.

Bronwyn’s mother is late. Again. Sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, waiting, Bronwyn figures she’s flaked out again. She’s always flaking out. Stomping home ready for a fight, Bronwyn is met by a cataclysmic tornado heading directly toward their run-down trailer. Bronwyn barely escapes with her life. Her mother isn’t as lucky.

Enter Senator Soliday, a.k.a. Bronwyn’s estranged father, who shows up at the hospital and takes her home with him, to a family she’s never been a part of, to people who have proved again and again they don’t want her. Confused, resentful, absolutely raging, Bronwyn enters a world she’s never been privy to, while reeling from the news that her mother wasn’t killed by the tornado but murdered.

Torn between two identities: the daughter of a single drug addict and the middle child of a well-respected senator, Bronwyn is forced to navigate through this new, unfamiliar life alone and with a gut feeling she can’t shake.

Her mother’s killer isn’t unfamiliar…

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Sounds like it could be an interesting story with its setting.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

To cure her post–senior year slump, made worse by the loss of her aunt Sonia, Noreen is ready to follow her mom on a gap year trip to New Delhi, hoping India can lessen her grief and bring her voice back.

In the world’s most polluted city, Noreen soon meets kind, handsome Kabir, who introduces her to the wonders of this magical, complicated place. With Kabir’s help—plus Bollywood celebrities, fourteenth-century ruins, karaoke parties, and Sufi saints—Noreen begins to rediscover her joyful voice.

But when a family scandal erupts, Noreen and Kabir must face complicated questions in their own relationship: What does it mean to truly stand by someone—and what are the boundaries of love?

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I love most of Christina Lauren’s books, and this one definitely sounds right up my alley! I’ll probably wait and get the audiobook with one of my Audible credits or check it out from the library if they get it as an audiobook.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents–who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno–Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands. At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98% compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Pena. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Pena. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess–who is barely making ends meet–is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could make GeneticAlly a mint in stock prices, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist–and the science behind a soulmate–than she thought.

Funny, warm, and full of heart, The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

This book has an interesting and original sounding premise.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Present Day:
Eva has never felt like she belonged… not in her own family or with her friends in New York City, and certainly not at a fancy boarding school like Hardwick Preparatory Academy. So when she is invited to join the Fives, an elite secret society, she jumps at the opportunity to finally be a part of something.

But what if the Fives are about more than just having the best parties and receiving special privileges from the school? What if they are also responsible for keeping some of Hardwick’s biggest secrets buried?

1962:
There is only one reason why Connie would volunteer to be one of the six students to participate in testing Hardwick’s nuclear fallout shelter: Craig Allenby. While the thought of nuclear war sends her into a panic, she can’t pass up the opportunity to spend four days locked in with the school’s golden boy. However, Connie and the other students quickly discover that there is more to this “test” than they previously thought. As they are forced to follow an escalating series of commands, Connie realizes that one wrong move could have dangerous consequences.

Separated by sixty years , Eva’s and Connie’s stories become inextricably intertwined as Eva unravels the mystery of how six students went into the fallout shelter all those years ago . . . but only five came out.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Well, I hate to say it, but I want a physical copy of this book just because I love that cover! But it also sounds like a cute read, right up my alley.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Don’t you just love the smell of old books in the morning?

Madeline Moore does. Books & Moore, the musty bookstore her family has owned for generations, is where she feels most herself. Nothing is going to stop her from coming back after college to take over the store from her beloved aunt.

Nothing, that is—until a chain bookstore called Prologue opens across the street and threatens to shut them down.

Madeline sets out to demolish the competition, but Jasper, the guy who works over at Prologue, seems intent on ruining her life. Not only is he taking her customers, he has the unbelievable audacity to be… extremely cute.

But that doesn’t matter. Jasper is the enemy and he will be destroyed. After all—all’s fair in love and (book) wars.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

I love this cover too. The colors just pop so perfectly! Especially her lipstick! And more than that, the story sounds really good. It will definitely be one I’ll want to get for my students.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

The behind-the-scenes access of Almost Famous meets the searing revelations of #metoo in this story of a teen journalist who uncovers the scandal of the decade.

Ever since seventeen-year-old Josie Wright can remember, writing has been her identity, the thing that grounds her when everything else is a garbage fire. So when she wins a contest to write a celebrity profile for Deep Focus magazine, she’s equal parts excited and scared, but also ready. She’s got this.

Soon Josie is jetting off on a multi-city tour, rubbing elbows with sparkly celebrities, frenetic handlers, stone-faced producers, and eccentric stylists. She even finds herself catching feelings for the subject of her profile, dazzling young newcomer Marius Canet. Josie’s world is expanding so rapidly, she doesn’t know whether she’s flying or falling. But when a young actress lets her in on a terrible secret, the answer is clear: she’s in over her head.

One woman’s account leads to another and another. Josie wants to expose the man responsible, but she’s reluctant to speak up, unsure if this is her story to tell. What if she lets down the women who have entrusted her with their stories? What if this ends her writing career before it even begins? There are so many reasons not to go ahead, but if Josie doesn’t step up, who will?

From the author of Full Disclosure, this is a moving testament to the #MeToo movement, and all the ways women stand up for each other.

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Now I’ve unfortunately read some not so great reviews of this one. But I think I still might give it a try if I get time and a copy. I love a second chance romance. So we’ll see. Again, another cover that I really like.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

With her debut novel, Thien-Kim Lam serves up a sexy second-chance romance about exes with unfinished business. Whenworking together reignites their passion, will these former flames sizzle or get burned all over again? 

Trixie Nguyen is determined to make her sex toy business a success, proving to her traditional Vietnamese parents that she can succeed in a nontraditional career. She’s made a fresh start in Washington DC, and her first pop-up event is going well—until she runs into the ex who dumped her. With a Post-it note.

The last person Andre Walker expected to see in his soul food restaurant was the woman he left behind in New Orleans. Their chemistry is still scorching, but he’s desperately trying to save his family restaurant from gentrifying developers. The solution? Partnering with his ex to turn Mama Hazel’s into a vibrator pop-up shop for hungry and horny clients.

Thanks to their steamy truce, both businesses start to sizzle and their red-hot desire soon reignites deeper feelings. But when Trixie receives an incredible career opportunity, will pride ruin their second chance at happiness?

Sound good? Add to Goodreads HERE.

Final Thoughts:

Eight this week, compared to only six last week. I originally had 9 for this week, but decided against sharing one as my wanting to read it has changed. Have you read any of these yet? What new books are you eagerly awaiting this week?

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

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14 responses to “Lisa’s Looking Forward To #109 – May 18th, 2021

  1. Last Chance Books and Happy Endings are both ones I would like to read. I’ve been reading mixed reviews of Happy Endings too, unfortunately. Perhaps we’ll like it though. The Soulmate Equation sounds good to me. I haven’t seen too much about that one yet. I hope you enjoy all of these when you read them!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Lots of good ones out there. The mixed reviews mean I won’t go out of my way to get it, but might read it if I have time some day. Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Good! Sometimes Christina Lauren books, once in a while, don’t grab me, but most are just perfect! Thanks for visiting!

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