Let’s be real, I am not the most up to date or book focused blog anymore. There’s just always so many releases and aside from me just not having a lot of time to read, who can keep up with so much new stuff? Backlisted books have been my friend and I like that I can talk about pretty much anything on here no matter the topic, but there are a couple reads I am really excited for this year and that I am looking forward to. No clue if I will actually get around to reading them, but I will be on the lookout for copies. So, why not share them!?
Anna K: Away by Jenny Lee (Anna K #2)
April 27th
How the mighty have fallen. Anna K, once the golden girl of Greenwich, CT, and New York City, has been brought low by a scandalous sex tape and the tragic death of her first love, Alexia Vronsky. At the beginning of the summer, her father takes her to the other side of the world, to connect with his family in South Korea and teach his daughter about her roots. Is Anna in exile? Or could this be her chance to finally figure out who she really is?
Back in the U.S., Anna’s brother, Stephen, and his girlfriend, Lolly, are falling even more deeply in love. But when Lolly learns about unexpected consequences from Stephen’s cheating the previous year, she has to consider how much she is willing to forgive. Lolly’s little sister, Kimmie, and her new boyfriend, Dustin, are thinking about having sex together for the first time. And Bea, Vronsky’s cousin, is having her own romantic and sexual awakening, though she hasn’t forgiven her ex-BFF, Anna, for her role in Vronsky’s death.
Anna K was one of my top reads of 2020 and I cannot wait to see it continued, especially how Anna will deal with her grief and heartbreak.
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
May 4th
Cee awoke on an abandoned island three years ago. With no idea of how she was marooned, she only has a rickety house, an old android, and a single memory: she has a sister, and Cee needs to find her.
STEM prodigy Kasey wants escape from the science and home she once trusted. The eco-city—Earth’s last unpolluted place—is meant to be sanctuary for those committed to planetary protection, but it’s populated by people willing to do anything for refuge, even lie. Now, she’ll have to decide if she’s ready to use science to help humanity, even though it failed the people who mattered most.
What first drew me in was definitely the cover, but I love a good story about siblings and family and the setting sounds intriguing as well.
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
June 1st
When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too.
Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures.
As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?
This book is often described as Gossip Girl meets Get Out and honestly, how could that not grab your attention!? Also, the author was a Dair shipper when they watched Gossip Girl and so was I and I see great promise in all of that.
Better Together by Christine Riccio
June 1st
Jamie’s an aspiring standup comic in Los Angeles with a growing case of stage anxiety.
Siri’s a stunning ballerina from New Jersey nursing a career-changing injury.
They’ve both signed up for the same session at an off the grid Re-Discover Yourself Retreat in Colorado. When they run into each other, their worlds turn upside down.
Jamie and Siri are sisters, torn apart at a young age by their parent’s volatile divorce. They’ve grown up living completely separate lives: Jamie with their Dad and Siri with their Mom. Now, reunited after over a decade apart, they hatch a plot to switch places. It’s time they get to know and confront each of their estranged parents.
With an accidental assist from some fortuitous magic, Jamie arrives in New Jersey, looking to all the world like Siri, and Siri steps off her flight sporting a Jamie glamour.
The sisters unexpectedly find themselves stuck living in each other’s shoes.
I know that Christine’s first book (Again, But Better) wasn’t ALL THAT, but I’d like to give her writing another chance. Also, this time, I’ll be more prepared for the magical aspect, which totally threw me off in the last book.
For the Wolf by Hannah F. Whitten
June 15th
The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.
As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.
Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.
But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.
I am honestly surprised too that this is the only Fantasy book on the list so far. I usually go for that genre more than I do for contemporaries, but maybe I’ve gotten pickier?
Like a Love Song by Gabriela Martins
August 3rd
Fake boyfriend. Real heartbreak?
Natalie is living her dream: topping the charts and setting records as a Brazilian pop star…until she’s dumped spectacularly on live television. Not only is it humiliating—it could end her career.
Her PR team’s desperate plan? A gorgeous yet oh-so-fake boyfriend. Nati reluctantly agrees, but William is not what she expected. She was hoping for a fierce bad boy—not a soft-hearted British indie film star. While she fights her way back to the top with a sweet and surprisingly swoon-worthy boy on her arm, she starts to fall for William—and realizes that maybe she’s the biggest fake of them all. Can she reclaim her voice and her heart?
This book releases on my birthday and COULD NOT sound anything more up my alley. Fake relationship. Set in the world of gliz and glam. I am already head over heels into this!
Life and Other Disasters 
That’s nice you’re going to give Christine Riccio another chance. I’ll be interested in hearing what you think.
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yeah, I am not 100% sure she deserves it, but I am too curious not to try.
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So many great releases coming out in 2021! I’m also excited for Like a Love Song and Ace of Spades! 🥰
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I am sure there are many many that would have deserved to be mentioned here haha I am still glad I thought of the ones I did, I am never up to date. I hope we will both get to read those releases and that we will love them.
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Fake boyfriend? Sold. 😀 God, such trash for that fake relationship trope it’s not even funny. I think it stems from my hate for love at first sight trope and the double POV trend in recent years. I get so tired of reading TWO perspectives of people who instantly like each other.. so boring. 😀
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I love that trope as well!!! It’s just so fun and insta love really is the most dreadful
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Omg I’ve never heard of For the Wolf, but it sounds like a book I’ll really enjoy! looking forward to Better Together as well, though I really enjoyed Again But Better
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I didn’t hate Again but Better, I just thought it could have been much better haha I think “better” seems to turn into Christine’s on brand word for her novels though ahaha
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Ah Kat I LOVE your list so much, I’m excited to read many of these! I think The Ones We’re Meant to Find will be a hit for me, I hope so. Ace of Spaces and Like a Love Song both sound incredible as well! ❤
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I think there’s going to be so many beautiful reads this year! I picked only such a small amount haha
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Some exciting books on here! I love how you realized towards the end how you were craving more contemporaries than fantasy these days hahah Hope these turn out fantastic for you! 😀
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I don’t really know when that switch from fantasy to a more contemporary-preference happened, but maybe it’s just a phase. I do tend to be in an ebb and flow kind of mood with these things haha
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