Precommendations: Volume 2, Issue 5

4/30/2018

May is here, and it has brought warmer weather with it! I am so excited to see summer around the corner, and my anticipated releases certainly reflect that. I am very much a mood-reader, so when the seasons change, my genre ratio in my reading shifts, specifically to contemporaries in the summer. So, I have lined up six up-and-coming books to share with you this month along with some exciting news.

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Ship It, by: Britta Lundin

May 1st
Claire is a sixteen-year-old fangirl obsessed with the show Demon Heart. Forest is an actor on Demon Heart who dreams of bigger roles. When the two meet at a local Comic-Con panel, it's a dream come true for Claire. Until the Q&A, that is, when Forest laughs off Claire's assertion that his character is gay. Claire is devastated. After all, every last word of her super-popular fanfic revolves around the romance between Forest's character and his male frenemy. She can't believe her hero turned out to be a closed-minded jerk. Forest is mostly confused that anyone would think his character is gay. Because he's not. Definitely not.
Unfortunately for Demon Heart, when the video of the disastrous Q&A goes viral, the producers have a PR

nightmare on their hands. In order to help bolster their image within the LGBTQ+ community-as well as with their fans-they hire Claire to join the cast for the rest of their publicity tour. What ensues is a series of colourful Comic-Con clashes between the fans and the show that lead Forest to question his assumptions about sexuality and help Claire come out of her shell. But how far will Claire go to make her ship canon? To what lengths will Forest go to stop her and protect his career? And will Claire ever get the guts to make a move on Tess, the very cute, extremely cool fanartist she keeps running into?

I love books centered around fandoms, so when I saw that this book is hitting the shelves in May, I knew I had to get my hands on it. If you didn’t already know, I signed up for a NetGalley account a little while ago, and I have a couple of May releases lined up for review. The good news is that this book is one of them! The publisher just granted my wish for this book in the past couple of days, so it might take a week or so to get a review up on here, but I promise to get it read soon! For now, you all will have to wait in agony for a review. Mwahahaha!

Love & Luck, by: Jenna Evans Welch

May 8th
Addie is visiting Ireland for her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding, and hoping she can stop thinking about the one horrible thing she did that left her miserable and heartbroken—and threatens her future. But her brother, Ian, isn’t about to let her forget, and his constant needling leads to arguments and even a fistfight between the two once inseparable siblings. Miserable, Addie can’t wait to visit her friend in Italy and leave her brother—and her problems—behind.
So when Addie discovers an unusual guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken, hidden in the dusty shelves of the hotel library, she’s able to finally escape her anxious mind and Ian’s criticism.

And then their travel plans change. Suddenly Addie finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped in the world’s smallest vehicle with Ian and his admittedly cute, Irish-accented friend Rowan. As the trio journeys over breathtaking green hills, past countless castles, and through a number of fairy-tale forests, Addie hopes her guidebook will heal not only her broken heart, but also her shattered relationship with her brother.
That is if they don’t get completely lost along the way.

Jenna Evans Welch is coming out with another book, and I am so excited to read it this summer! She centers her contemporaries around on romance and travel, which are two things I crave during summer vacation. I’ve never read a book set in Ireland, so I’m excited to see how she explores the country. The first book set in her universe is Love & Gelato, and she has posted on her Goodreads that those characters will be making an appearance in this book as well. I love when authors set their standalone in the same universe as each other; it adds that little extra connection from book to book.

Always Never Yours, by: Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

May 22nd
Megan Harper is the girl before. All her exes find their one true love right after dating her. It’s not a curse or anything, it’s just the way things are, and Megan refuses to waste time feeling sorry for herself. Instead, she focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theatre, and fulfilling her dream school’s acting requirement in the smallest role possible.
But her plans quickly crumble when she’s cast as none other than Juliet–yes, that Juliet–in her high school’s production. It’s a nightmare. No–a disaster. Megan’s not an actress and she’s certainly not a Juliet. Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright who agrees to help Megan catch the eye of a sexy stagehand in exchange for help writing his new script.

Between rehearsals and contending with her divided family, Megan begins to notice Owen–thoughtful, unconventional, and utterly unlike her exes, and wonders: shouldn’t a girl get to play the lead in her own love story?

I’m starting to see more and more books featuring theatre and drama into their stories, and this book is one that I am very excited to read. It sounds like it has elements of Jenny Han’s stories and Emma Mill’s Foolish Hearts, and I loved both of those novels. I love reading about drama productions because the chemistry of a cast is such a unique bond between a group of people. After being in multiple companies myself, I can relate to these situations and treasure them with the protagonists. (Also, this book is GORGEOUS. #BookstagramGoals)

Legendary, by: Stephanie Garber

May 29th
A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.
After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.
The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval

has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever.
Welcome, welcome to Caraval...the games have only just begun.

Ever since I finished Caraval about six months ago, I have been counting down the days until Legendary hits shelves. The first part of this duology was such a smart and magical read, and I can’t wait to see what the second half brings.
Also, remember how I mentioned that I had a couple of May releases queued up on my NetGalley? Well, this one is the second! I could not have dreamed that I would get a chance to read an ARC of this book, so I am so excited that I get the privilege to read and review it before it gets released to the public.

LIFEL1K3, by: Jay Kristoff

May 29th
On a floating junkyard beneath a radiation sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.
Eve isn’t looking for secrets—she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she’s just spent six months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her Grandpa from the grave was the fistful of credits she just lost to the bookies. To top it off, she’s discovered she can destroy electronics with the power of her mind, and the puritanical Brotherhood are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.
But when Eve discovers the ruins of an android boy named Ezekiel in the scrap pile she calls home, her entire world comes crashing down. With her best

friend Lemon Fresh and her robotic conscience, Cricket, in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, infiltrate towering megacities and scour the graveyard of humanity’s greatest folly to save the ones Eve loves, and learn the dark secrets of her past.
Even if those secrets were better off staying buried.

Jay Kristoff is part of one of my all-time favorite writing duos (along with Amie Kaufman), so I am thrilled to read a book of his own. This sci-fi tale has everything I could want, including (but not limited to) robots, mechanics, best friends, an adventure-type journey, and badass powers. What more could a girl want? I am hoping that this book kicks as much butt as I think it will, and I am trusting Jay to exceed my expectations.

Listen to Your Heart, by: Kasie West

May 29th
Talking to other people isn't Kate Bailey's favorite activity. She'd much rather be out on the lake, soaking up the solitude and sunshine. So when her best friend, Alana, convinces Kate to join their high school's podcast, Kate is not expecting to be chosen as the host. Now she'll have to answer calls and give advice on the air? Impossible.
But to Kate's surprise, she turns out to be pretty good at the hosting gig. Then the podcast gets in a call from an anonymous guy, asking for advice about his unnamed crush. Kate is pretty sure that the caller is gorgeous Diego Martinez, and even surer that the girl in question is Alana. Kate is excited for her friend ... until Kate herself starts to develop feelings for Diego.

Suddenly, Kate finds that while doling out wisdom to others may be easy, asking for help is tougher than it looks, and following your own advice is even harder.
Kasie West's adorable story of secrets, love, and friendship is sure to win over hearts everywhere.

Yep, that’s right: another contemporary romance. You know it's summer when these books are the majority of my reading. I know that Kasie West has come out with lots of beloved books, but I have only gotten the chance to read one so far. Hopefully, this book will be the one to change that. I’ve also never read a book that centers around podcasts, so I’m interested to see how something that dependent on sounds transposes into a book. (Although, it will make a great audiobook. I might have to look into this.)

Those are all of my anticipated releases for May. Are there any that you think I should add to my “watchlist”? Let me know in the comments!

The newly crowned ARC reader,
Ashton

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.

— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

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