Hello!

I am 100% focused on cutting down my physical tbr at the moment – I’m reading more consistently and making more time for it than I ever have before, and being able to tick books off my tbr is incredibly satisfying. I have a goal number for the end of the year but I don’t want to shout about it because it feels like jinxing it 😂

But in a moment of pure excitement the other day, I was looking at the release dates of the books I’m really excited for this year and I decided to treat myself and pre-order them (plus, pre-ordering means I don’t have to pay for them right now so everyone’s a winner… right?).

I’m not very good at keeping up with when books are coming out unless I really love the author so the fact I have three pre-orders under my belt now says a lot about how excited I am about these books and I hope this enthusiasm comes through in these three.

Things We Left Behind (Knockemout #3) – Lucy Score
The third (and final?) book in the Knockemout series about Lucian and Sloane’s story – their conflict was heavily and emphatically referenced in both ‘Things We Never Got Over’ and ‘Things We Hide From The Light’ and the fact that no one really seems to know why they hate each other is a bit non-sensical but Lucian is obviously pining, it’s got to be enemies-to-lovers and I think there’s going to be some steamy spice.

Though I must admit I am dubiously excited – I loved ‘Things We Never Got Over’ but I found ‘Things We Hide From The Light’ so cliché and unnecessarily long. The way I’m showing that cautious anticipation is by ordering it on my Kindle and not in paperback because it feels like less commitment (and once I’ve read it I can decide whether I’m going to pretend ‘Things We Never Got Over’ is a standalone).

Released September 5th 2023!

Check and Mate – Ali Hazelwood
I have such a soft spot for YA romance and I’m so excited for all the sweet, adorable romance elements I love from Ali Hazelwood and though she does write smut fantastically, I’m assuming there won’t be any in a book written for teenagers and I’m kind of excited that there’ll be more room for cuteness that will make me squeal.

I honestly know nothing of what this book’s about – I assume from the title and cover that there’s an element of chess, which suggests rivals-to-lovers (squee) but otherwise I don’t really want to know, I like going in blind for full surprise and Ali Hazelwood as an instant-buy author for me.

Released November 7th 2023!

Heartstopper Volume 5 – Alice Oseman
When I saw the announcement for Volume 5 that revealed not only the release date but that there would be a Volume 6, I lost my tiny little mind. I am buzzing for more Nick and Charlie, I love Alice Oseman’s art style and that reminds me I’d like to tentatively try my hand at some more graphic novels, but honestly if Heartstopper is the only graphic novel that ever matches my vibe, I’ll be a-okay.

I’m desperate to get a tattoo of the Heartstopper leaves motif so maybe the release of Volume 5 will be my deadline – if I don’t have it by then, I must get it.

Release November 9th 2023!

Which only gives me two days to read Check & Mate, but honestly I don’t need much encouragement anyway. Maybe I’ll try to read it in a day or do one of those 24 hour reading challenges where you read for 24 hours but not in 24 hours? I need to find a bunch of people to do this with me because honestly two 12 hour reading days sandwiching a girlie sleepover sounds absolutely glorious.

So what these pre-orders really say about me is that I’m a romance girlie at heart – small town romance, YA rivals romance and a gay picture book; I’m pretty happy if that was to summarise me!

Ideally, I’m planning to not get any new books till my birthday in September then go back on the ban until the November books come out and/or the end of the year. I’m so determined to cut down my tbr and I’m making the most of not commuting, not doing a 40 hour office week and buying a pop-socket for my kindle that makes it feel shiny and new when it is probably a decade old.

My immediate gut instinct is to end this post by asking what you’re most anticipated new releases are for the year but that may backfire and make me want to order more books, so do with that information what you will 😂

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx