2020 was hands down the craziest year ever but quarantine life gave me the opportunity to explore new things. Turns out I'm crafty. I posted several DIY projects on my author page - Lynn Shaw Author. Oh, and I wrote a book with Melanie Gilbert! We hope to have it published in 2021. I read 97 books in 2020 - that's 15 more than 2019. Apparently quarantine life agrees with me. So without further ado let's check out my Favorite Reads of 2020.
Favorite Series from a New to Me Author
First Blood Trilogy by Heather Karn
Free in KU
Free in KU
Devoured First Blood by Heather Karn in one night! The suspense rocketed me through the story and that shocker of an ending was more than I bargained for. Thank goodness the trilogy is complete and I can satiate my hunger!
From Book 1:
Like most other college students in the United States, Koda Niklane’s dream is to join the government’s most advanced military unit: the Elite. Since the President’s great reveal of supernaturals living amongst humans, every college student is required to Interview for the Elite. Being human and unable to fight are setbacks for Koda, but she soon learns she isn’t quite as human as she’d thought, or rather, she’s not human at all.
When a purple-eyed blood drinker named Raven Cartana, a Captain in the Elite, announces publicly that she’s one of his kind, Koda refuses to believe him. As her new Elite trainer, Raven’s job is to keep Koda alive and teach her the ropes. Teaching is the easy part as Raven, Koda, and their team work to keep the streets safe from Threats. It soon becomes apparent that keeping Koda alive will be much harder than Raven had anticipated as the attacks on her become more personal.
As Koda works with Raven and the Elite, she can’t help but wonder how much of herself will remain once her maturity has finished. Will she still be Koda, or will she be something different? And is that why someone has their sights set on her?
First Blood is a YA/NA crossover due to character age. There is no swearing or sexual content. Mild violence.
Recommended reading order for series:
First Blood
Second Lineage
Zero Tolerance
Third House
Like most other college students in the United States, Koda Niklane’s dream is to join the government’s most advanced military unit: the Elite. Since the President’s great reveal of supernaturals living amongst humans, every college student is required to Interview for the Elite. Being human and unable to fight are setbacks for Koda, but she soon learns she isn’t quite as human as she’d thought, or rather, she’s not human at all.
When a purple-eyed blood drinker named Raven Cartana, a Captain in the Elite, announces publicly that she’s one of his kind, Koda refuses to believe him. As her new Elite trainer, Raven’s job is to keep Koda alive and teach her the ropes. Teaching is the easy part as Raven, Koda, and their team work to keep the streets safe from Threats. It soon becomes apparent that keeping Koda alive will be much harder than Raven had anticipated as the attacks on her become more personal.
As Koda works with Raven and the Elite, she can’t help but wonder how much of herself will remain once her maturity has finished. Will she still be Koda, or will she be something different? And is that why someone has their sights set on her?
First Blood is a YA/NA crossover due to character age. There is no swearing or sexual content. Mild violence.
Recommended reading order for series:
First Blood
Second Lineage
Zero Tolerance
Third House
Favorite Serial
Clearview Academy by Amy Richie
Free in KU
Free in KU
I still need to read Book 7 - Death of a Vessel, but y'all this series had me hooked from book 1! I literally hounded the author for each book to come out quicker.
From Book 1:
Avery Lewis is dead.
Avery is destined to be the queen of senior year at Clearview Academy... at least, until she's murdered over the summer.
When she wakes up behind a dumpster in an alley, she knows something is wrong. Things go from really bad to worse for Avery after she's visited by a Reaper and realizes that she's dead. Now she needs to find her vessel – a boy who shares her birthday, a boy she wouldn't be caught dead with.
Clark Daniels.
With Clark being the only one who can see her, Avery is quickly finding out that her picture perfect prom queen life might be as fake as the blonde in her hair. Whether it's being dead that's messing with her mind or it's from spending so much time with him – Avery is actually starting to like Clark. As if things weren't bad enough.
But there's no time for that; not with a Reaper breathing down her ghostly neck. She has to find her killer, and fast. Her time is running out.
Avery Lewis is dead.
Avery is destined to be the queen of senior year at Clearview Academy... at least, until she's murdered over the summer.
When she wakes up behind a dumpster in an alley, she knows something is wrong. Things go from really bad to worse for Avery after she's visited by a Reaper and realizes that she's dead. Now she needs to find her vessel – a boy who shares her birthday, a boy she wouldn't be caught dead with.
Clark Daniels.
With Clark being the only one who can see her, Avery is quickly finding out that her picture perfect prom queen life might be as fake as the blonde in her hair. Whether it's being dead that's messing with her mind or it's from spending so much time with him – Avery is actually starting to like Clark. As if things weren't bad enough.
But there's no time for that; not with a Reaper breathing down her ghostly neck. She has to find her killer, and fast. Her time is running out.
Favorite Middle Grade
What Rachel Did by Kelly Martin
Wide Release
Wide Release
What Rachel Did is Amityville horror for 12-year-olds! This tween thriller left this adult reader feeling haunted and slack-jawed. A gruesome ghost story that is sure to become a horror classic.
Ava Kirkland knows three things for certain: One, Bradley will always be her BFF. Two, science is the best subject ever. Three, ghosts don't exist. Two out of three ain't bad.
Twenty years ago, Mosley Manor was left abandoned. The haunted house of White's Chapel, Tennessee, has become the local dare—the place kids sneak to see if they are brave enough to go inside. Ava isn't scared of Mosley Manor in the slightest. She believes in facts.
According to her, anyone who is scared of Mosley Manor should be ashamed. Unless that person is her best friend, Bradley. He gets a free pass because he's, well, he's been terrified of the house as long as Ava has known him. In fact, he was originally the person who told her about the house and all the ghosts inside.
Unfortunately for Ava, her parents decide to buy their first house (YAY!), and it ends up being Mosley Manor (no...). Ava isn't afraid of the place, just not happy about leaving her old rental house next to her BFF. It's also not wonderful that it's the only thing anyone at school wants to talk about.
Ava's brother starts acting even weirder than normal, Mama and Daddy never used to fight like this, and by golly, those upstairs doors have minds of their own.
Ava may not believe in ghosts, but they certainly believe in her.
For fans of The Graveyard Book and Coraline by Neil Gaiman and The Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine.
Twenty years ago, Mosley Manor was left abandoned. The haunted house of White's Chapel, Tennessee, has become the local dare—the place kids sneak to see if they are brave enough to go inside. Ava isn't scared of Mosley Manor in the slightest. She believes in facts.
According to her, anyone who is scared of Mosley Manor should be ashamed. Unless that person is her best friend, Bradley. He gets a free pass because he's, well, he's been terrified of the house as long as Ava has known him. In fact, he was originally the person who told her about the house and all the ghosts inside.
Unfortunately for Ava, her parents decide to buy their first house (YAY!), and it ends up being Mosley Manor (no...). Ava isn't afraid of the place, just not happy about leaving her old rental house next to her BFF. It's also not wonderful that it's the only thing anyone at school wants to talk about.
Ava's brother starts acting even weirder than normal, Mama and Daddy never used to fight like this, and by golly, those upstairs doors have minds of their own.
Ava may not believe in ghosts, but they certainly believe in her.
For fans of The Graveyard Book and Coraline by Neil Gaiman and The Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine.
Favorite YA
Filler Friend by Sara Jo Cluff
Free in KU
Free in KU
This is the first book I have read by Sara Jo Cluff, but it certainly won't be the last. Filler Friend is a witty, heartwarming story about family, friends, and self discovery. Elinora is such a relatable character. At the turn of the first page I found myself back in high school feeling as awkward as ever. I loved seeing her grow as a person and in her relationships with her peers. I can't wait to check out more books from Sara!
Friendships aren't worth the drama.
After a catastrophic friendship, Elinora decides that having any relationship isn’t worth the heartbreak. Her parents still want her to socialize, so she starts her Filler Friend operation, unbeknownst to them. She’ll fill-in as a friend for anyone at school, whether it’s getting a gamer out of the house or being a plus one at their parent’s boring work party.
When a client becomes a regular, the lines of fiction and reality begin to blur, making Elinora unsure of what she really wants. Adding to the confusion, she’s slowly falling for the cute guy she met at the library. Before the operation blows up in her face, Elinora will have to decide if friendship and love are worth the risk, or if she’s better off shutting out the world forever.
A coming of age story about finding friendship, learning to love, and figuring what kind of person you want to be. Filled with humor, heartache, acceptance, and family values.
After a catastrophic friendship, Elinora decides that having any relationship isn’t worth the heartbreak. Her parents still want her to socialize, so she starts her Filler Friend operation, unbeknownst to them. She’ll fill-in as a friend for anyone at school, whether it’s getting a gamer out of the house or being a plus one at their parent’s boring work party.
When a client becomes a regular, the lines of fiction and reality begin to blur, making Elinora unsure of what she really wants. Adding to the confusion, she’s slowly falling for the cute guy she met at the library. Before the operation blows up in her face, Elinora will have to decide if friendship and love are worth the risk, or if she’s better off shutting out the world forever.
A coming of age story about finding friendship, learning to love, and figuring what kind of person you want to be. Filled with humor, heartache, acceptance, and family values.
Favorite Audiobook
Of The Blood (Heir of Blood & Fire Bk1) by Cameo Ranae
Produced by The Audio Flow Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Wide Release
Produced by The Audio Flow Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Wide Release
Holy smokes!!!! Cameo Renae has done it yet again! Her new series, Heir of Blood & Fire, is simply amazing. Leave it to Renae to take the vampire trope into a whole new world. I am in love with the characters. Calla is absolutely brilliant. She handles all the challenges (and there are a lot) with dignity and strength. Trystan is perfectly swoon worthy as her vampire prince.
The narrator slays this story. I found myself completely immersed as I devoured her every word. Cameo Renae has created a beautiful world I can't wait to escape to again.
The narrator slays this story. I found myself completely immersed as I devoured her every word. Cameo Renae has created a beautiful world I can't wait to escape to again.
One malicious prince. Two rival kingdoms. And an innocent girl caught in the crossfire.
Raised in a war-ravaged continent, temptation comes to Calla Caldwell in the form of a charming and mysterious stranger. Giving in to his intimate seduction, her world is forever changed by a single bite.
Calla quickly learns the handsome stranger is vampire prince, Trystan Vladu. His bite was an attempt to claim and save her from a plot of vengeance generations in the making. However, the claws of that ancient vendetta are scraping ever closer.
Thrust into a new nightmare by the Prince of the corrupt kingdom of Morbeth, Calla is captured, tortured, and starved in the dank confines of his dungeon. While in captivity, she takes part in a séance with a witch of light where she contacts a departed relative—a Princess of Incendia—who bequeaths a gift to Calla that will tip the scales of good and evil . . . if she can learn to harness it.
With a dark tapestry of secrets, lies, and murder unraveling around her, Calla must learn to embrace the power roiling through her veins, or be snuffed out by the strangling fist of a malevolent darkness.
Raised in a war-ravaged continent, temptation comes to Calla Caldwell in the form of a charming and mysterious stranger. Giving in to his intimate seduction, her world is forever changed by a single bite.
Calla quickly learns the handsome stranger is vampire prince, Trystan Vladu. His bite was an attempt to claim and save her from a plot of vengeance generations in the making. However, the claws of that ancient vendetta are scraping ever closer.
Thrust into a new nightmare by the Prince of the corrupt kingdom of Morbeth, Calla is captured, tortured, and starved in the dank confines of his dungeon. While in captivity, she takes part in a séance with a witch of light where she contacts a departed relative—a Princess of Incendia—who bequeaths a gift to Calla that will tip the scales of good and evil . . . if she can learn to harness it.
With a dark tapestry of secrets, lies, and murder unraveling around her, Calla must learn to embrace the power roiling through her veins, or be snuffed out by the strangling fist of a malevolent darkness.
Favorite Book of 2020
The Girl at the Hanging Tree by Mary Gray
Wide Release
Wide Release
I have been gushing about this book for 6 months. I read an ARC in August and was absolutely blown away. Gray takes on several hot button topics including mental illness and racism but handles them all in a dignified manor. This story is thought provoking. It left me in the throws of a serious book hangover. I love it so much I own 2 copies - paperback and hardcover! I am also gifting one papberback copy to a lucky fan on my YouTube Channel. Watch my video for more info. (YouTube Link - https://youtu.be/7zg2MssBOZ8) Winner to be announced 1/15/21 on FB and YouTube.
Gemma Louise Coldiron has two personalities. One is herself—easygoing, curious, and travel-hungry. The other is a dictatorial other half named Tansy, who only lets Gemma come out of their Victorian mansion to do the shopping every two weeks.Gemma also has amnesia, and Tansy’s too busy painting macabre art to be forthcoming about their past. The town speaks to Gemma about a “Mr. Hardin,” and it doesn’t take her long to learn she was married to the oil tycoon before he mysteriously went missing.
While Gemma begs Tansy to tell her more about their life with the handsome stranger, Gemma soon learns that the town harbors a secret society. And Mr. Hardin? He was the leader.
If Gemma can’t figure out what happened while maintaining her volatile relationship with Tansy, the town will assume Gemma killed Mr. Hardin—and even more alters will take root in Gemma’s already crowded mind.
An acutely observed modern-day psychological thriller that plunges into the daunting abyss of mental illness, community indoctrination, and cult group-mind.
While Gemma begs Tansy to tell her more about their life with the handsome stranger, Gemma soon learns that the town harbors a secret society. And Mr. Hardin? He was the leader.
If Gemma can’t figure out what happened while maintaining her volatile relationship with Tansy, the town will assume Gemma killed Mr. Hardin—and even more alters will take root in Gemma’s already crowded mind.
An acutely observed modern-day psychological thriller that plunges into the daunting abyss of mental illness, community indoctrination, and cult group-mind.
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