Top 10 of 2019: Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2020

Top 10 of 2019 is hosted once again by Kimberly Faye Reads, and this year she has a co-host Ginger @greadsbooks.   Today's topic was the easiest, because even though there are tons of books I'm looking forward to next year, there are ten that definitely stand out the most!

1.

Loved the original His Fair Assassin series, and the book that started us back, Courting Darkness, so I need this one soon!

2.

I really liked the first two in this series and have been patiently waiting for this one, has it been over a year?

3.

Christina Lauren books can be hit or miss on whether I am excited for what the book is about, but this one sounds perfect!

4.

Seeing as the first book in this series was on my top list for last year, it's probably obvious how anxious I am for this one!

5.

I've also mentioned how much I love Cletus Winston, so a whole series where he is solving mysteries?  Sign me up!

6.

I also can't wait for Jackson James to finally get his own HEA.

7.

No cover yet, but I am ready for the conclusion? or at least the third book in yet another series by JLA that I adore!

8.

Even though I don't think I picked the first book, The Haunted, on any of my other Top 10 lists, it was a really good book, so I'm eager to see where the author will take it next.

9.

So, I'm not positive if this is coming out in 2020, it says it is, but the author also mentioned that she is having a bit of trouble with it. But I hope it does, because I love this series!

10.

Now this one comes out in January, so I'm ready for it now though!  I love Hunting's hockey boys, new and old, and I love when she brings the older characters back in these stories as well.

Were any of these books on your TBR for 2020?  If not, I hope maybe I've given you a few to add to your list.

I always love doing these Top 10 lists every year, but kind of sad it's over.  Now on to determining what challenges I'm going to do for next year!

Also, while you're here, make sure you go enter into my weekly Cleaning Up My TBR Giveaway HERE.  It's open until this Friday until midnight!

Three YA ARCs, One YA Audiobook, and One YA Finished Copy Mini-Reviews

Finally, finally getting around to posting a review on a book I read clear back in April, because I was waiting until I finished its sequel, an ARC I had, so I could review them together.  Then another book that I just finished reading this past week, an ARC that was top of my list to get at ALA this past summer.  And the other two are a free audiobook I got from the Sync program this summer, as well as another ARC I received from a publisher. 

Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1) by Zoraida CordovaGenre:  YA Paranormal
Release Date:  September 6th, 2016
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire
Source:  Purchased finished hardcover copy. 
My rating:  5 stars

Now, I first bought this because I was going to get to meet the author at NOLA StoryCon that same month it was published.  So I have had this autographed copy sitting on my shelves for over a year while I just didn't get around to reading it for one reason or another.  Then last spring, the publishers sent me an ARC of the sequel to the book, and I thought I would go ahead and get this one read and jump right into the sequel.  I picked this one up and got sucked right in, and as you can tell from my 5 star rating, I loved it!  But then, I had other books on my review calendar that I had to get to, and so the sequel got pushed back and back.  I waited to do the review for this one, because I wanted to do them together.  So now, I'm finally getting around to it, because I made myself finally finish the second one, even though I had other review books.  I loved the world of these witches, or brujas.  Their own mythology and spells that really drew me in to find out just how it all worked.  I love the cultural aspects of this family and story, as well as the real world of Brooklyn that was the background setting for all of this drama.  I can now highly recommend this to my students based on my own reading.  Before I share the synopsis for this one, here is the picture I took with the author when I met her at NOLA StoryCon.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation...and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can't trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange marks on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland...


Bruja Born (Brooklyn Brujas #2) by Zoraida Cordova:

Genre:  YA Paranormal
Release Date:  June 5th, 2018

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire
Source:  Received ARC from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  4 stars


Something about this one didn't grab me as much as the book before.  I don't know why, because I still enjoyed it though.  The sad thing is that my ARC of this one got messed up pretty bad on my trip back from ALA.  I put it in a regular duffel bag that got soaked in the rain in New Orleans as it was being loaded onto the plane I guess.  It was still readable. But it is in horrible condition now.  I wouldn't want it, but I'm going to keep it since it is the sequel to the first book and I just am.  The first book was the story of Alex, one of the three sisters in the family.  This book is about her older sister, Lula.  When things go wrong for Lula, boyfriend problems, then a horrible accident that causes her to make choices no witch/bruja should make, things now go wrong for all those around her as well.  We get a little back into the culture from the first book, until the Mortiz family starts getting shunned not only from what Lula has done, but also from what her sister Alex did in book one.  We meet some other big players in this magical world because of the separation between all the bruja families.  Lula must find out if these other players or organizations are there to help, or what their real motives are when they do help her.  I still kind of love Nova from book one, and I like the bit of romance that Lula gets closer to the end of this one.  I'm looking forward to the final book that is maybe coming out next year, as the youngest sister had some things happening in this one that suggest some major events for that story.  Another book I need to get in for my students to read.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Three sisters. One spell. Countless dead.

Lula Mortiz feels like an outsider. Her sister's newfound Encantrix powers have wounded her in ways that Lula's bruja healing powers can't fix, and she longs for the comfort her family once brought her. Thank the Deos for Maks, her sweet, steady boyfriend who sees the beauty within her and brings light to her life.

Then a bus crash turns Lula's world upside down. Her classmates are all dead, including Maks. But Lula was born to heal, to fix. She can bring Maks back, even if it means seeking help from her sisters and defying Death herself. But magic that defies the laws of the deos is dangerous. Unpredictable. And when the dust settles, Maks isn't the only one who's been brought back...  

Echoes by Alice Reeds:

Genre:  YA Thriller
Release Date:  August 7th, 2018

Publisher:  Entangled Teen
Source:  ARC received from Publisher which did not influence my review
My rating:  2 stars


If you have been following me, you'll know that if I am going to rate a book lower than 2 stars, usually it's one I didn't finish.  This book had soooooooo much potential!  And I'll say this, it kept me reading until the very end.  But then, the ending, let me just say I was so angry at the end!  There were elements of this story that totally had the feeling of that tv show, Lost.  Not only throughout the story, but in how much that ending ticked me off!  I got to the end, there were no explanations of any sort, NONE!  There were parts that were possibly either earlier moments or flashbacks, or maybe they were alternate timelines or realities.  Or maybe other parts of the story were memories that weren't real.  Someone was after them, but why?  Did they want to kill them, or were they experimenting on them?  When I finished I totally felt like I had wasted my time reading this. The details and situations I had overlooked, expecting some sort of answers or something, ANYTHING at the end, all came crashing back with that ending.  I may be an unpopular opinion on this one, I don't know, haven't read all the other reviews, but man.  I do NOT recommend this one.  Unless you want to go read it, and then come back and tell me what I missed.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
They wake on a deserted island. Fiona and Miles, high school enemies now stranded together. No memory of how they got there. No plan to follow, no hope to hold on to.

Each step forward reveals the mystery behind the forces that brought them here. And soon, the most chilling discovery: something else is on the island with them.

Something that won't let them leave alive. 

Imposters (Uglies #5) by Scott Westerfeld:

Genre:  YA Dystopian
Release Date:  September 11th, 2018
Publisher:  Scholastic Press
Source:  ARC received from Publisher which did not influence my review
My rating:  4 stars

This was one of my unicorn ARCs to get at ALA this summer.  The Uglies series is one of my all time favorite series, maybe even one of the first YA books that got me back into YA when I was teaching.  So when I heard there was going to be another book in the series, I was very excited.  Honestly, this book didn't disappoint in a new addition to the story.  Obviously it had been a while since I'd finished the first four books, so I was worried I wouldn't quite be able to jump right back in.  Fortunately, just a short way into the book, the earlier books were caught up to in a perfect way to not just be an info dump.  Not only did we get a refresher, but we also got filled in on the things that had happened between those books and this one.  I like the new characters, I like the intrigue, and I like how to defeat the real enemy, groups that may not have gotten along before must work together now.  There was a part in this that I definitely got a hint of a poke at today's  real world climate and culture, and I liked it as well.  Of course we're left in a way that we need to continue into another book, so I'll be eagerly awaiting that as well, and hopeful that I will get that one early as well.  Also, I got to meet the author again when I got this, so here is my picture of that.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Frey and Rafi are inseparable . . . but very few people have ever seen them together. This is because Frey is Rafi’s double, raised in the shadows of their rich father’s fortress. While Rafi has been taught to charm, Frey has been taught to kill. Frey only exists to protect her sister. There is no other part of her life. Frey has never been out in the world on her own – until her father sends her in Rafi’s place to act as collateral for a dangerous deal. Everyone thinks she’s her sister – but Col, the son of a rival leader, is starting to get close enough to tell the difference. As the stakes grow higher and higher, Frey must decide whether she can trust him – or anyone in her life. 

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather:

Genre:  YA Thriller/Historical
Release Date:  July 26th, 2016
Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers
Source:  Audiobook received free through Sync Audiobooks for Teens 2018 Program
My rating:  5 stars


I loved this book.  I actually kind of thought I would, I'd been interested in reading it for a long time. When I saw it was one of the books available this past summer through the Sync summer audiobook program, I immediately downloaded it, and listened to it pretty soon afterwards.  One really cool part was the author read her own book, which I think definitely means a lot of the inflections and way things are read out loud was done the way the author intended, obviously.  All throughout the book we got clues dropped as to who could be causing all the things that were happening.  And just when I'd think it had to be one of those people, something else would happen that totally pointed me in the opposite direction.  A little over halfway through, it seemed to get to a point that we could be wrapping the whole story up, and I wondered where else it could go.  But the author moved it in such a way that I kept on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next.  I really could see this as a movie, and would LOVE to see it as a movie.  I love how it ended, and it is one that I am definitely recommending to my students whenever I get the chance.  So glad I got the chance to listen to this, and I'll definitely be looking into reading the sequel.  

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
It's the Salem Witch Trials meets Mean Girls in a debut novel from one of the descendants of Cotton Mather, where the trials of high school start to feel like a modern day witch hunt for a teen with all the wrong connections to Salem’s past.

Salem, Massachusetts is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of Samantha Mather. Recently transplanted from New York City, Sam and her stepmother are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for those trials and almost immediately, she becomes the enemy of a group of girls who call themselves The Descendants. And guess who their ancestors were?

If dealing with that weren't enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real live (well technically dead) ghost. A handsome, angry ghost who wants Sam to stop touching his stuff. But soon Sam discovers she is at the center of a centuries old curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials. Sam must come to terms with the ghost and find a way to work with The Descendants to stop a deadly cycle that has been going on since the first accused witch was hanged. If any town should have learned its lesson, it's Salem. But history may be about to repeat itself. 

Five New Adult/Romance Free/Cheap E-book Mini-Reviews

Normally I like to do about 10 of these at a time, but the I loved the last one I'm going to review so much, that I had to go ahead and post a review!  So, here goes!

The Opposite of Wild (Clover Park #1) by Kylie Gilmore:

Unleash the wild woman…?

Ex-cop Ryan O'Hare takes one look at buttoned-up control freak Liz Garner and just itches to loosen the woman up. Not that he’s into her. Because a woman like that comes with way too many expectations. Not to mention, she practically works for him, and he didn’t hire Liz to watch after his beloved Harley-stealing Gran so he could turn Liz loose in his bed. Still, there’s something about her, a hidden wild side, that makes him wonder what it would take.

Liz must be crazy to work for the insensitive, arrogant, horribly…hot man she's avoided for years. Unfortunately, she needs the money and Ryan's grandmother needs a keeper. (Midnight tango lessons and ziplines with Gran, anyone?) Ryan's rare smile and swaggering confidence have Liz torn between throwing her favorite pinot grigio at his head or throwing herself at him. Can this control freak find a way to let loose with the tough, no-strings guy who once broke her heart?

This was a quick easy read.  Nothing too remarkable about it.  I might try more in the series.  We'll see.

Draw (Gentry Boys #1) by Cora Brent:

“All my life I’d always known what the Gentry boys were. A set of fraternal triplets born to a depraved family, they were rough, sexy and wild as wolves."

Saylor...
I don’t even know if love is real. After running from the bastard who brutalized me, I limped back to Arizona, choosing a vibrant college town in the hopes of starting over. I never expected to find him there.
Cord Gentry.
He and his brothers were tough, lusty forces of nature I’d known since childhood. Years ago, Cord seduced me as a sick game. I’ve hated him ever since. Now here he is again, a man who beats other men bloody for money.
Cord has always been heartless, dangerous, not to be trusted.
And I want him so much I can’t think.

Cord...
They called us ‘those white trash Gentry boys’ until we believed that’s what we were. Our people squatted at the edge of a hellhole prison town for generations. The childhood we endured was the stuff of nightmares. I’d learned early on that my brothers, Chase and Creed, were the only people on earth worth my time.
They all told us we were bad, that we’d always be bad.
The horrors of the past have scarred my soul.
But now I need to be better.
For her.

This one I really enjoyed.  I loved the triplets, they were pretty funny, and so fun to read about.  Several things about the story I liked.  Saylor saying her story wasn't finished yet, really hit me, as I feel that way as well.  What the author surprised me with about Millie was also just great!  I love that the author did that.  I look forward to reading on in the series, and finding out what will happen for the other two Gentry boys, Chase and Creed.

The Lesson (Delicious Desires #1) by Lilith Knight:

To steal her ex back, Emma needs to learn how to please a man in a way that brings him to his knees. Cole's the kind of man that knows how to teach a woman that spending time on her knees will have her ex crawling back on his.

This was a very quick, very sexy read.  Fun for sure.  A little bit more to the story than the description above makes it sound like.  I might read on in the series.










Luck on the Line (On the Verge #1) by Zoraida Cordova:

To turn her life around, she’ll have to stand the heat. To fulfill his dreams, he’ll have to get Lucky.

Despite her name, Lucky Pierce has always felt a little cursed. Refusing to settle for less or settle down, she changes jobs as often as she changes boyfriends. When her celebrity chef mother challenges her to finish something, Lucky agrees to help her launch Boston’s next hot restaurant, The Star. Even if it means working with the infuriating, egotistical, and undeniably sexy head chef.

James loves being known as Boston’s hottest bad boy in the kitchen, but if he wants to build a reputation as a serious chef, he has to make this restaurant work and keep his scandalous past out of the headlines. Getting involved with his boss’s spoiled, sharp-tongued daughter is definitely not on the menu.

As the launch of The Star looms and the tension and chemistry heat up in the kitchen, they’re going to need more than a little luck to keep everything from boiling over. 

I chose to read this one because I am going to get the chance to meet this author at the end of this month, and it was a free/cheap ebook, so I figured I'd give it a try.  It was a good read.  There were some things I didn't like, about the guy really, but overall, it was definitely a sexy read, with some good emotions.  If I can get a hard copy of this when I'm at the convention, I'll definitely get it autographed.

Now, get ready for some fangirling!!

Smut by Karina Halle:

Smut is a standalone, tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy from the NYT bestselling author of The Pact.

What happens when the kink between the pages leads to heat between the sheets?

All Blake Crawford wants is to pass his creative writing course, get his university degree and take over his dad's ailing family business. What Amanda Newland wants is to graduate at the top of her class, as well as finish her novel and prove to her family that writing is a respectful career.

What Blake and Amanda don't want is to be paired up with each other for their final project but that's exactly what they both get when they're forced to collaborate on a writing piece. Since Amanda thinks Blake is an arrogant jerk (with a panty-melting smirk and British accent) and Blake thinks Amanda has a stick up her (tight, round) bottom, they fight tooth and nail. That is until they discover they write well together. They also might find each other really attractive, but that's neither here nor there.

When their writing project turns out to be a success, the two of them decide to start up a secret partnership using a pen name, infiltrating the self-publishing market in the lucrative genre of erotica. Naturally, with so much heat and passion between the pages, it's not long before their dirty words become a dirty reality. Sure, they still fight a lot but at least there's make-up sex now.

But even as they fall hard for each other, will their burgeoning relationship survive if their scandalous secret is exposed or are happily-ever-afters just a work of fiction?

NOTE ABOUT THE BOOK: Smut has coarse language and many explicit scenes of a sexual nature (sensitive readers be advised). However, the title of Smut is tongue-in-cheek, and this book should not be considered erotica.

I don't even know where to start.  I have found a new author that I am in love with!  Even cooler was realizing that she will be at Apollycon in March where I get to be!  The story was a cute one, the characters were fun, and I really enjoyed reading them.  The sex scenes were definitely hot, but also, as the little note above says, not probably considered erotica.  I love when they're writing the books, it even made me think maybe I want to try to write a book like that for fun, it is the popular book, the one that I seem to be reading a lot of lately.  There was one scene, a sex scene in the library, that man, I was sitting on my break at the bookstore when I read it, and it was really hard to keep it out of my mind afterwards.  It was HOT!  And I loved the guy's fear of spiders, and his dislike of Benedict Cumberbatch was hilarious.  I loved that both characters were nerdy, even going to a LARP day.  And then there is the author's little afterward at the end of the book. She sounds totally like the kind of nerd I am.  Plus, the reason she gave it the title she did, and how she hates how people call all romance smut, and look at it as being bad, that was just a really great bit to read.  I loved this book, can't wait to read more by the author, and am definitely cooking up new ideas for possible NaNoWriMo stories this year!