Most Anticipated Book Releases of 2020

2019 is almost at an end and I'm pretty much dying for the new books that are coming up next year! Most of my anticipated releases are continuation pieces, which I'm the most excited for!

1. Twisted Hearts by Cora Reilly

Twisted Hearts by Cora Reilly




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Expected date of publication:7th January 2020

Why I'm excited: 

This is the fifth book in The Camorra Chronicles, a mafia romance written by Cora Reilly that ties on to the Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles. This particular book is based on Savio Falcone, one of the four infamous Falcone brothers. 

I read the first few books of the Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles and skimmed through the rest, but this series is what I consider the gold standard of mafia romances. It's got this raw love in it that I find very adorable I guess and its writing is genius. The highlight on family and romance in this series is very well done, and I'm very much rooting for all the mafia men in this series to get their own HEA!

2. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

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Expected date of publication: 3rd March 2020

Why I'm excited:

I read City of Bones several years back, and I am pretty sure I read it at least twice. I have been a fan of The Shadowhunter Chronicles since then, and I have tried a little successfully to keep up to date. I loved The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, but I couldn't really keep up with the saga once I started med school five years ago. 

I haven't read The Dark Artifices yet, though I've got the first two books in the trilogy. Hopefully, I'll get a chance next year to get back on track with this saga, so I'm going to keep collecting the books as they come.

And honestly, with these gorgeous covers, who can not buy these books?

3. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins




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Expected date of publication: 19th May 2020

Why I'm excited: 

I read The Hunger Games ages ago, around the time when the movie was a big deal and everything was about THG. I remember loving the series but not the movies so much. But, I'm very excited about this instalment in the series.

However, all I know about this book is that it will be set sixty-four years before events of THG, focussing on the Tenth Hunger Games. I don't know if I'm missing anything, but that's all I know about this book. 

The cover looks gorgeous and I'm excited to have this on my shelves!

4. Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Expected date of publication: 9th June 2020

Why I'm excited: 

I started The Dark Elementals series this year, after procrastinating for an epic amount of time, and I loved it. Not as much as A Wicked Trilogy, but enough to read the trilogy in a matter of days. I loved its main characters: Layla, Roth, and Zayne. But the trilogy's ending left much unsaid about Zayne and his future.

So, when Zayne's story came out, I was so invested in The Harbinger series. It picked up a few months after the predecessor series ended and basically everyone goes on a new world-saving adventure involving Heaven and Hell. There were many new characters introduced (my personal favourite is Trinity), and, after reading Storm and Fury, I honestly believe this series is doing a lot better than The Dark Elementals.

5. The Queen by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Queen by Jennifer L. Armentrout




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Expected date of publication: 20th July 2020

Why I'm excited: 

I have been a huge fan of JLA's A Wicked Trilogy since I read the first book, which was last year I think. It focuses on a world where the Fae cohabit the human world after coming through Portals from the Otherworld. I am pretty much in love with all the characters in it, including the Bad Guys because everyone is pretty much hot as hell. 

The spin-off series is based on The Summer Prince, Caden, and the human Brighton Jussier. The Prince has been a hot enigma since he got introduced in the main storyline and this is the story that everyone has been dying for. The spin-off is, I think, three novellas in total, and The Queen is the last one.

This book is hands-down THE most anticipated 2020 release for me. It is part of an amazing series that I have been invested in for more than a year and I'm rooting for all its characters to get their own spin-offs, to be honest.

6. Nightfall by Penelope Douglas

Nightfall by Penelope Douglas




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Expected date of publication: TBA

Why I'm excited:  

I have this terrible habit of skimming through books when I'm really excited but can't find the time to properly invest in it. It is the dumbest habit of mine since I don't really understand the whole story but I read all the steamy scenes and I love it.

The Devil's Night series is one of those. I never considered it as a 'read' book on Goodreads because I'm not happy with how I skimmed over it, buuuuuut I'm hella excited for this series. It is hot, dark, mysterious and can be taboo at times, but I love it!

This book is Will's story and he's been sort of a quiet character over what little I have read, so this book is much anticipated right now. 

7. Bound by the Past by Cora Reilly

Bound by the Past by Cora Reilly




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Expected date of publication: TBA

Why I'm excited: 

And here it is! The next milestone in the Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles. I have read only the first book in this series and skimmed the rest, but it's an amazing bunch of characters and lots of kinky stuff. 

Bound by the Past revisits Dante and Valentina, who we have not properly seen since their story in Book 2. I'm very excited about these two, but also for the rest of the characters too. Definitely excited to see more Dante and Luca confrontations because those two have this rival mafia boss roles down pat.

So, that's it for my list! I can't wait for next year's releases, but honestly, I'm not sure if I'll end up buying all these releases or not. I certainly didn't buy some of the anticipated releases for this year, so who knows... I do have a few of these pre-ordered, so I'm excited!

How about you guys? Any book releases you are excited for next year? Let me know in the comments below and I might just add those to my list too!

Book Review: Storm and Fury (The Harbinger, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.  

To buy the book click here.

I took a break after the Dark Elementals series before I moved on to this, hence me reading it almost a month later.

The story is basically the start of Zayne's "second chance". We get to meet Trinity, this badass Trueborn, who grew up protected in this community that ends up attacked. Zayne's clan has their own troubles in DC, and well, trouble attracts trouble, so these two end up meeting each other. Then on, it's Trin weaving her way through a treacherous and demonic journey to find her kidnapped Protector, and we get a whole lot of Zayne!

via GIPHY

First, the plot.

Basically this book starts off around 7 months after Every Last Breath. I've been a sucker for the gargoyle Warden concept since I read the Dark Elementals, so I loved seeing it coming back for another series. I think the whole heavenly plot might be getting stretched a bit thin with the whole Trueborn and her Protector concept, but I'm still loving the development since we're getting a badass heroine from it. And the plot twists? Too good! I loved it! I gotta commend this book for it majorly twisty plot twists because I'm a sucker for emotional turmoil!

via GIPHY

Then, the characters.

We've got Trinity, this badass Trueborn with human flaws and superhuman fire in her blood. Maybe I'm biased by my experiences this year, but I found her independence as sexy as hell. She's got this strength and unapologetic confidence that had me loving her from the beginning of this book.

Then there's Zayne, our resident good guy Warden who's been through hell in the last few books. I definitely got a better look at him in this book as compared to the previous books. I saw more of his personality, his flaws, his inner turmoil and his goodness in this. To be honest, I was very surprised by some of his actions in this whole book. And somehow, he was a lot hotter in this book compared to before.

Then, there were the cameos of the characters everyone loves. It was so good when the original characters started actively getting involved in the plot, and I had many moments where I squealed in delight at characters that popped up along the way.

via GIPHY

So, the new characters? Pretty damn good ones too. Including the villains. I loved Matthew & Thierry; they're just too precious. They're pretty much Trinity's parent figures, and I think they're doing a damn great job! Peanut the ghost is basically the typical comedian that brings all the humour by just being themselves; it was snorting-laughing goodness with him. Misha was basically a very interesting guy, who has this incredibly faceted personality you only see parts of throughout the book.

Then, the chemistry...

Trinity & Zayne are meant to be. I'm gunning for them so hard, especially after the developments at the end of the book. Their banter is pure art. And their chemistry makes me blush. Trin & Zayne have a lot more depth to their relationship, as compared to when Zayne dated Layla, and that's glaringly obvious to me.

Trinity has very strong relationships with the people she grew up with, and that warms my heart. She has this genuine selflessness that I find very charming, and some insecurities that are relatable. I found her friendships and family very inspiring and downright good people. I pretty much want to meet them in person after this book.

Zayne's bond with his clan is definitely different after what he's been through, and this is something we hardly saw in Every Last Breath. He has many walls up that he has to break through and deep waters to wade through to heal. But, I like that he isn't being douchy about it; he's pretty much got supportive relationships all around him, but Trinity brings that extra push he needs to work through what he experienced.

My overall impression is that this story is going in a very different tangent to what its predecessor did but in the same premise. So, it's a very welcome chapter to the Warden story, in my opinion. We saw and learnt more of Hell's mysteries in the Dark Elementals, and now its Heaven's turn to spill some beans. I'm also very excited to see more of what Zayne & Trinity are gonna bring to the table; they're two very strong people with very different personalities coming together in an interesting way, so I foresee more amazing stuff for these two.

What did you think of this book? Did it meet your expectations? Exceed them? Anything you guys were irked by? Let me know in the comments below!

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Dec '19 TBR Pile

Hi everyone! How's December going so far? I don't really celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas but I saw loads of great photos on Instagram!

I'm planning on getting some reading done! Since I will be at my grandma's place for a while, my TBR pile is mostly my Kindle books. I'm currently reading Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout (simply amazing!) so I plan on finishing that up this month -- I'm already 66% done! 

The rest of my TBR is gonna focus on lots of new adult and adult books this time around. So, these books made the cut:

1. The Score by Elle Kennedy

So, I whizzed through the first two books in the Off-Campus series, and they were amazing! But then I had this impulse to read something different, so I totally fell out of this series. I need to basically pull back into this series, and hope I haven't forgotten too much from the first two books.

2. King by T.M. Frazier

This is one book that I have heard great reviews on! It's all steamy criminal romance, and I haven't read these in a while so all the more reason to pick this up. 

3. Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

If I'm being completely honest, this is the book I'm most excited for this month! This will be my first Penelope Douglas book and from what I know, this author is great! I wish I had a physical copy of this book though because that cover is so fantastically colourful! There's certainly a charm to this book.

4. El Diablo by M. Robinson 

I came across El Diablo during my mafia romance phase, and this book has got some great reviews. This came out in 2016 and it's the first book in its series, The Devil. There weren't anymore books published in this series but I'm hoping I'll enjoy as much as I enjoy Cora Reilly's books. Cora Reilly is like my gold standard for mafia romances, so at this point I compare every relevant book to her writing!

That's it for my planned TBR. I've got a whole bunch on my Kindle app but I've got commitment issues when it comes to Kindle books; most of my DNF books are Kindle copies.

What's on your December TBR pile? Have you read any of these books on my pile? Let me know in the comments below!

Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Read from June 02 to 21, 2019

If you are to survive, you must believe.

Shadow Moon has served his time. But hours before his release from prison, his beloved wife is killed in a freak accident. Dazed, he boards a plane home where he meets the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who professes both to know Shadow and to be king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange road trip across the USA, encountering a kaleidoscopic cast of characters along the way. Yet all around them a storm threatens to break.

The war has already begun, an epic struggle for the very soul of America, and Shadow is standing squarely in its path.

This is my second Neil Gaiman novel and I was so hyped to read it. I heard great things about the STARZ series, so I started watching it right after I finished this book and I'm loving it!

I was wary at the beginning of the story because it was a huuuuge book - 736 pages, to be exact, and that's insane and scary at the same time. However, I was too excited to drop it, and I ended up devouring the whole book. The plot concept is uniquely different; I'm pretty sure I have never seen this storyline being explored on such a grand scale as this before. It was sort of fun to try to guess all the gods that kept popping up, and I'm very motivated to start reading old folklore and history books after this read. 

I loved the characters! Even the gods were so human and mortal in their characterisation, and that appealed so much to me. It was also so relatable in my head because it left me feeling like there could be gods living among us. Imagine the possibilities! Gods aside, the human characters were just as appealing, alive or dead. 

This is one of the only books where the plot appealed to me more than the characters did; I was more engrossed in how the story would unfold, rather than on a character or more. There were very twisty plot twists that I absolutely loved! And honestly, I'm ready for a sequel if it ever comes out. 

my Goodreads review

It's been a while...

Greetings, humans!

I have been MIA for so long I actually forgot how far back my last post was! Maintaining a blog is hard work and juggling that with medical school is crazy hard. Fortunately, it's 2019 and I am in my final year as a medical student, meaning the hardest bits are behind me and I am pretty much drifting around in my honeymoon year before internship.

Making a comeback without a revamp felt wrong; my blog should grow the same way I do, right? However, since med school has been a huge part of me these last few years, I'm considering the possibility of posting med school posts in addition to my bibliophile posts. Try a bit of that "increasing my audience pool" concept, I guess.

Here's to a great comeback! Hopefully I manage to maintain a streak and not disappear again when life gets hard!