Tag: 2020 Releases

#TopTenTuesday: The Current Possibility Pile

Dini @ dinipandareads53 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Books On My Fall 2020 TBR (or spring if you live in the southern hemisphere)

I’m calling it The Current Possibility Pile because I live in the tropics and get neither autumn or spring. My seasons consist of hot/humid and hot/humid/rainy, right now it’s the latter, but the sun continues to shine bright every day! I’m also a mood reader so set TBRs are not a thing for me. Lately my moods have been all over the place and the reality is that the possibilities in this pile are more than likely to change the minute I pick one or several of these books up 😂 That’s just really how it be for me!

On that note, I do have a lot of blog tour reads that I need to get through in the coming months (so I guess that really is a TBR lol) but I’ve decided I’m going to focus this list on all the books I want to read outside of the tours I’m joining and outside of the ARCs I have to read!

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Book Blitz: Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

🥳 Happy Book Birthday to Maya and the Rising Dark! 🥳

I’m delighted to be taking part in a book blitz with TBR & Beyond Tours for Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron. This middle grade fantasy was pitched as Stranger Things meets Percy Jackson and seriously, how good does that sound?! Plus, this cover is just love!

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: Maya and the Rising Dark
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: 22 September 2020
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

In this highly anticipated contemporary fantasy, twelve-year-old Maya’s search for her missing father puts her at the center of a battle between our world, the Orishas, and the mysterious and sinister Dark world. Perfect for fans of Aru Shah and the End of Time and The Serpent’s Secret.

Twelve-year-old Maya is the only one in her South Side Chicago neighborhood who witnesses weird occurrences like werehyenas stalking the streets at night and a scary man made of shadows plaguing her dreams.

When Papa goes missing, Maya is thrust into a world both strange and familiar as she uncovers the truth. Her father is the guardian of the veil between our world and the Dark—where an army led by the Lord of Shadows, the man from Maya’s nightmares, awaits. Now that the veil is failing, the Lord of Shadows is determined to destroy the human world and it’s up to Maya to stop him. She just hopes she can do it in time to attend Comic-Con before summer’s over.

BUY NOW: Amazon (US) | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Indigo

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ARC Review: The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen

Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

🎈 Happy pub day to The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life! 🎈

Thanks to NetGalley and Second Story Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life
Publisher: Second Story Press
Publication date: 22 September 2020
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Panda Rating:


Alison Green, desperate valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying Yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be “out” and what she might be willing to give up for love.

Note: The quotes below are taken from an advanced/unfinished copy and are subject to change in the final version.

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Blog Tour Review: May Day by Josie Jaffrey

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

Hi friends! I’m so excited to be back for another @WriteReads blog tour for May Day by Josie Jaffrey. Special thanks to the author for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

Be sure to check out all the other bloggers participating in this tour here.

Goodreads: May Day (Seekers #1)
Publisher: Silver Sun Books
Published: 09 July 2020
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Panda Rating:

If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective. Just maybe not this one.

It’s not that Jack Valentine is bad at her job. The youngest member of Oxford’s Seekers has an impressive track record, but she also has an impressive grudge against the local baron, Killian Drake.
When a human turns up dead on May Morning, she’s determined to pin the murder on Drake. The problem is that none of the evidence points to him. Instead, it leads Jack into a web of conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the country, people to whom Jack has no access. But she knows someone who does.
To get to the truth, Jack will have to partner up with her worst enemy. As long as she can keep her cool, Drake will point her to the ringleaders, she’ll find the murderer and no one else will have to die.
Body bags on standby.

May Day is the first book in Josie Jaffrey’s Seekers series, an urban fantasy series set in Oxford, England.

BUY NOW: Amazon (UK) | Amazon (US)

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Blog Tour Review: Hollow Road by Dan Fitzgerald

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

🎉 Happy Book Birthday to Hollow Road! 🎉

I’m back with another blog tour with The Storytellers on Tour for Hollow Road (Maer Cycle #1) by Dan Fitzgerald. Thanks to the Timy & Justine for organising this tour and thanks to the author for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: Hollow Road (Maer Cycle #1)
Publication Date: 17 September 2020
Genre: Fantasy
Panda Rating:

Legends describe the Maer as savage man-beasts haunting the mountains, their bodies and faces covered with hair. Creatures of unimaginable strength, cunning, and cruelty. Bedtime stories to keep children indoors at night. Soldiers’ tales to frighten new recruits.

It is said the Maer once ruled the Silver Hills, but they have long since passed into oblivion.

This is the story of their return.

Carl, Sinnie and Finn, three companions since childhood, are tasked with bringing a friend’s body home for burial. Along the way, they find there is more to the stories than they ever imagined, and the mountains hold threats even darker than the Maer. What they discover on their journey will change the way they see the world forever.

Travel down Hollow Road to find out which legends are true, and which have been twisted. 

Buy: Amazon

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Blog Tour Review: The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Hi friends! I’m so excited to be back for another @WriteReads blog tour for The Beast and The Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips. Special thanks to Netgalley and Egmont Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Be sure to check out all the other bloggers participating in this tour here.

Goodreads: The Beast and the Bethany
Publisher: Egmont Publishing
Published: 01 October 2020
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Panda Rating:

The most exciting new children’s book of 2020 and a modern classic in the making. The Beast and the Bethany has all the classic macabre humour of Roald Dahl with the warmth and charm of Despicable Me, finished off with a gleeful bite of Little Shop of Horrors! This book should be on every little monster’s birthday and Christmas list.

Ebenezer Tweezer is a youthful 511-year-old. He keeps a beast in the attic of his mansion, who he feeds all manner of things (including performing monkeys, his pet cat and the occasional cactus) and in return the beast vomits out presents for Ebenezer, as well as potions which keep him young and beautiful. But the beast grows ever greedier, and soon only a nice, juicy child will do. So when Ebenezer encounters orphan Bethany, it seems like (everlasting) life will go on as normal. But Bethany is not your average orphan . . .

BUY NOW: Amazon

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Blog Tour Review: Love at the Little Wedding Shop by the Sea by Jane Linfoot

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

I’m back with another blog tour and this time it’s for Love at the Little Wedding Shop by the Sea by Jane Linfoot. Thanks to Rachel @ Rachel’s Random Resources for organising this blog tour, and to Netgalley and One More Chapter for providing the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: Love at the Little Wedding Shop
Publisher: One More Chapter
Release Date: 03 September 2020
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Romance
Panda Rating:

St Aidan: a cosy Cornish village where friendships are made for life and it’s always cocktail hour somewhere… Return to your favourite little wedding shop by the sea for love, laughter and a romance to sweep you off your feet!
It’s the most romantic day of the year but the girls aren’t just gearing up for Valentine’s Day and a busy wedding season ahead, it’s also the 10 year anniversary of their beloved shop! Jess is planning the party of the decade and with the champagne and cocktails flowing, sparks are going to fly…and not just from the fireworks display!

BUY NOW: Amazon (UK) | Amazon (US)

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#TopTenTuesday: Favourite 2020 Romance Covers

Dini @ dinipandareads43 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Cover Freebie

I’m a little sad that this week is a cover freebie because I. Am. Tired and fresh out of ideas right now. 😂 I thought I’d do illustrated covers but then realised that I had already done an illustrated cover post for the last TTT cover freebie… So then I thought about what covers I’ve been loving lately and thought I’d share some of my favourite contemporary romance covers from 2020. Looking at the covers below, it’s really easy to see what kind really catch my eye: they’re (mostly) illustrated, bright and colourful, and just gives an all around fun-loving impression!

Okay, so basically I did another illustrated covers post but for romances HAH…

And I know this is a cover trend I’ve heard people say is “overdone” and that they’re completely over it, but I’m still 100% living for it! LOL if physical copies of contemporary romances weren’t so pricey I would love to add all of these to my physical shelves, but *wistful sigh* as it is, I’ll have to be satisfied with having them in my digital library (for now!) 😉

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Goodreads Monday – The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.

This week’s featured book is The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke. This is a middle grade historical fantasy that was released in May 2020 and it has a 4.13 star rating on Goodreads.

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Book Spotlight: The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

I’m delighted to be sharing a book spotlight today for The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen. Thanks to the TBR & Beyond Tours team for organising and including me in this blog tour!

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life
Publisher: Second Story Press
Publish Date: 22 September 2020
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Alison Green, desperate valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying Yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be “out” and what she might be willing to give up for love. 

BUY NOW: Amazon (US) | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Indigo

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