Jennefer’s Comments (group member since Mar 12, 2010)

Jennefer’s comments from the Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous group.

********challenge closed***********
In the group survey one of the suggestions that came up was to do a quarterly group challenge and I say, hey, why not!?! We will try it and see how it goes. :) I thought I would try to do a challenge that would have varying degrees of success depending on how much you wanted to put into it so I hope this fits the bill and will be fun for everyone!

Challenge will run from July 1st to September 30th (I know this is being posted late but I have been having a hard time deciding on how I wanted to do this. I wanted it to be full quarter... so you can backdate and include any books you have read since the 1st of the month)

Rules: This was inspired by a favorite card game Gin Rummy. Basically the idea is try to get as many 'runs' and 'books' as possible. A book read can only be used once in this challenge (you can not use a book for two separate 'runs' etc.) Books read can be from any genre you like so don't worry about only using bodice rippers :)

Run: A run is a minimum of 4 books and a maximum of 14 books with consecutive copyright dates: 1978,1979,1980,1981 etc.. (original date, not reissue).
Book: A book is a minimum of 3 books (no maximum, we could be playing with a dozen decks of cards right? lol) that are published by the same publisher or written by the same author.

You can play as many different 'books' and 'runs' as you like. So if you like read only 3 books by the same author for one 'book' and Yay! Challenge complete! Or you can be competitive and try to put down as many cards (books read) as possible!

Please post only once and edit that post with your updates. Please include the date that each book was finished.

FYI- I am moving this thread to the "Challenges and Games" folder.... doing a bit of rearranging with our folders today :)

I am going to start with A Pirate's Love by Johanna Lindsey. I found a first edition with the original cover the other day at the library book sale and I just can't wait to read it!

At the back of this book Avon is pushing:
Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey
The Flame and the Flower, The Wolf and the Dove, and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss
Devil's Desire and Moonstruck Madness by Laurie McBain
Sweet Savage Love, Dark Fires, The Wildest Heart, and Wicked Loving Lies by Rosemary Rogers
Taras Song by Barbara Ferry Johnson

Now someone who has an early edition of one of the above mentioned books can list what is advertised in that book and so on... we will see where this goes :)

I always get a kick out of seeing what other books are advertised in the BR's I read. You know at the very back where the publishers has a couple pages of "check out what else is new in the world of romance" I enjoy it partially to get ideas for other BR's to pick up and also just to see what other books were being published at the time.

So I thought it would be fun to start a game of sorts... I am going to post a book I have and what titles are mentioned at the end. Then someone who has an early edition (not a reissue) of one of those books will post what books are listed in the back of that book, and on and on until it fizzels out (not just 6 degrees, I am guessing we will come around to certain authors again and again). Then we can start again with a book from a different publisher. Clear as mud? Ok, lets try this and see where it goes :)

Rules have been amended, see message 15... its just easier and just as much fun this way! LOL

Just got my copy in the mail today! Yay! I am going to start it tonight!

Welcome to the group Liane! Glad to have you!!!

Or he wants to eat her alive!

Welcome to the group Cat! xoxo

I finally finished this today! And oh, I just loved it so.....

How would you rate this book on a BR scale of 1-10? 1 because like others have pointed out this really is not a BR or a romance
Did this book meet your expectations? Well I guess I didn't really have any expectations... this was my first Small and I didn't really know much about it other than Karla has been wanting to read it for a while :)
Did you like the authors style/voice? Yes! I enjoyed the authors style very much! I really enjoyed reading Cyra/Janet entire life story and I enjoyed how the narrative would kinda slow down for a bit and give some snap shots of her life and relationships and a good amount of detail about some years of her life and then speed up and just hit on some high points. The story was told very well in a way that really sucked me in.
How does this compare to other bodice rippers/romance novels you have read? Very different from most BR's and romance... I enjoyed this for different reasons than I enjoy most romance. There was not much build up and tension between her a Selim because the story was truly not about their romance but their lives. They just fell in love and you got to see how they made their relationship work and their life together but that was just part of the story, it was more about her and her position in the harem and then later back in Scotland and the contrast of those two worlds. It was not the romance that necessarily kept me reading to see how the couple gets their HEA so it is hard to compare to any other romance. It reminded me of Hide My Savage Heart in that way which I also loved.
Do the characters seem real and believable? I think so! I can go with how Janet responded to being in captivity, she was just very reasonable and level headed about her situation and chose to see it as an opportunity. I like that! Good girl! I loved all the characters, especially the 4 Kadins.
Can you relate to their predicaments? Nope! I was transported to a completely different world with different predicaments than I will ever face, but I still felt I could relate in some ways.
Who was your favorite character? Cyra and also Hadji Bey
What was your favorite scene? Hmmm... hard to say, I am not sure any one scene truly stood out to me, I was left with more of an overall impression of the story and the characters and their lives.
At what point in the book did you decide if you liked it or not? I enjoyed it right from the beginning and yet felt a bit like it could all go wrong at any moment... so I guess I did not decide for sure that I liked it until the very end :)
What helped make this decision? It never went wrong!
If you could change something about the book would you? If so what/how? Yes.... I wish that Janet's son in Scotland had survived her. I can deal with all the other deaths (and there were many!) but I really wish he had survived her and lived a long happy life. Oh well.

I will have to write a review here soon... I still need to write my review of Sweet Savage Love too! I am getting behind! LOL

Awe.... Thank you all so much for the kind words! I am so glad you all enjoy the group! It is my favorite group on GoodReads too because of all of you! :)

Terri wrote: "do we start the read july i am reading this novel now so i may have a head start"

You are more than welcome to start early if you like :) No problem!

Amanda wrote: "...Sweet! Well I'll start this one first, you start that one soonish, then we'll switch. Too perfect :) ..."

Sounds like a plan! Yay! :)

Amanda wrote: "I've been anxious to read this one so I'll definitely get in on this. I want to read Lady Vixen too, but I don't have that one at the moment... maybe I'll read this while I'm working on getting tha..."

Thanks sister! :) I ordered Lady Vixen so I can pass that one on to you when I am done with it. I ordered it yesterday so hopefully it won't take to long to get here so we have enough time to both get it read for July!

Well we have successfully completed 3 monthly group reads, 2 monthly swap it with me exchanges and started the 'No Book Left Behind Campaign' to review the unreviewed! We are up to 113 members, have 78 discussion threads with a total of 2132 posted comments! Whoo hoo!

When I started this group my hope was simply to create a fun and open atmosphere to read and discuss some of my favorite kinds of books! Thanks to all of you this group has certainly met my expectations! But how about you?

I have created a 6 question survey for you to let me know what you think! How are we doing? Take the survey here! I would greatly appreciate your participation/thoughts/comments!

xoxo
Jennefer

I am not sure exactly when I will get to this but I am going to plan on reading it in July. I have a copy of this one (or my sister does that I can borrow) so I don't have to wait to order it but I do have a couple other things I want to get read first (reading The Kadin right now and then I really do want to read my Fabio book for the 'author buddy read' and then I have this PNR by Deidre Knight I have been wanting to try forever! And then if I get my copy of Lady Vixen I might want to read that one first.... You know how it goes LOL) so we will see.

But I hope you will all jump in as soon as you are ready! I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks of this one :)

This book has come in second in our group read poll twice in a row now (well it tied for the July poll but if I take my vote out of consideration it was second in the group members votes)! So I think that there are a few of you that might be interested in reading this one with me in July :) Let's do it!

Forever My Love by Rebecca Brandewyne 1982

Average GoodRead rating: 4.10
GoodReads description: They were born to hatred, but DESTINED TO LOVE
Echoing across the stormy waters of Loch Ness came a gypsy's haunting curse, foretelling a forbidden passion that would drench the Scottish crags with blood.
And from the first moment that Mary Carmichael lifed her violet eyes to those of Hunter MacBeth, the prophecy began to come true.
Hunter was Mary's kidnapper - and her lover. He begged a king for her hand, and she braved secret torture to be true.
Theirs is a legend of struggle against relentless hate, of two wild hearts who pledged defiantly, Forever My Love
Availability: Amazon really does not have any reasonably priced copies of this one, but looks like there are a few at AbeBooks and PaperbackSwap

Discussion: Did the book live up to your expectations? How would it compare to other historical romance you have read? Other bodice rippers? Did you find the characters likable? Did they become more or less likable as the book progresses? Who was your favorite character? When did you decide if you liked the book or not? What was your favorite scene? Other thoughts???

Please be considerate of others and use 'spoiler spaces' when revealing key plot elements.

Just ordered my copy! I can't wait to read this with all of you!!! :)

We ended up with a tie this month! But if I take my vote out of consideration (I voted for Forever My Love in the poll) this book received the most votes from the group members so we are going to make this our 'official' group read for July! I hope that seems fair to everyone. I think I will go ahead and start a buddy read thread for Forever My Love for those interested in reading that one this month as well. :)

Lady Vixen by Shirlee Busbee

Average GoodRead rating: 3.58
GoodReads description:Beautiful, headstrong Nicole Ashford was yet untouched by passion, but destined for adventure - and pleasure - beyond anything a woman of her time had ever known.
Outwitting a ruthless plot against her, she fled her aristocratic England home on a privateer's ship bound for the luxurious pirate havens of New Orleans - and exquisite abandon in Bermuda's hidden coves. Yet the very daring of her escape plunged her into even graver peril as captive mistress to notorious high seas outlaw, Captain Saber, whose savage passion made her a woman, but whose tender kisses plundered her soul.
And nothing now could stop what was begun between them - nothing could still the urgent fires of the love they were born to share!
Availability: This one looks to be a bit harder to grab than some of the others we have read but hopefully it will be worth the hunt! This seems to be a favorite among many romance readers and the author is certainly considered one of the greats! I didn't see any copies on Amazon but AbeBooks does seem to have a few! Check out your local used book store!

Discussions: How would you rate this book on a BR scale of 1-10? What did you think of the authors style/voice? What did you think of the setting/atmosphere of the story? How does this compare to some of our other group reads (The Conqueror, Whitney My Love, The Kadin)? Could you relate to certain characters more than others? Did your feelings about the characters change as the book progressed? At what point in the book did you decide if you liked it or not? What helped make this decision? If you could change something about the book would you? If so what/how?


Please be considerate of others and use 'spoiler spaces' when revealing key plot elements.

Mary wrote: "Hi. Don't know if I ever posted on this thread but I've posted in this group before. I thought I'd friend some people but it seems like most are set to private and I can't answer the questions the..."


Welcome to the group Mary! Glad to have you! :)

Tonya wrote: "I just finished reading Midnight Slave by Rochelle Wayne. Here is my review. Just be sure to cut me some slack because I stink at writing!!"

I think you did a great job in your review! Don't be so hard on yourself! :)