Meet & Greet Challenge Round 3, Apr-May: READING!

[Melissa]

Nadine, I finished yesterday. It was a great build up of the suspense, but anti-climatic in the end. Worth reading, but I was little disappointed. Thanks for the pick!

Shelby, I just finished . Quick read and fun, but not very exciting. I usually love all "fated mate" stories, but this wasn't as exciting as some of the others in this series. Still worth reading though so thanks for the pick!

[Gigi]

Hadley wrote: "Gigi I just finished ...wow not sure how I feel about it, but I know I want to read the next book to see what happens. It was disturbing, although not as da..."

Hadley, I've been dying to read that book as well. I'm going to move this one up.

[Aarati]

Hi Becky I finished reading and really enjoyed it. There were some baseball terms which I did not understand quite well, but otherwise good book. No overly dramatic relationship. I gave it 3 stars. Thanks for the pick.

[Karla]

Finally finished my first pick for this round
1

Debbie - I finished The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer today. Thanks for the pick, I really enjoyed the book. It was kind of sad, but sweet.

[Katie]

Hi Melissa! I finished Beyond the Highland Mist just now. I really enjoyed it, though Adrienne held out a little too long, IMO. Still, looking forward to reading the next one! 4 stars.

[Desperado]

1st UPDATE:

So far, so good. I'm having better luck this challenge, giving the 4 books I've read thus far 4 ★'s.

Christina: Read and while I didn't like it as much as The Duchess War, the heroine has become one of my favorites in the HR genre.

Gea: Read . It was a pretty good retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" (which is one of my favorite fairy tales).

Gigi: Read . This series has a habit of pissing me off but also capturing-and keeping-my attention. LF exceeded my expectations.

Mandy: Read . This was another retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" and while it was YA, it also seemed much darker than "Entreat Me." I wasn't sold on the insta-love bits but all things considered, it was one of the better YAs I've read (and I've read like 500 of them).

Thank you for the recs, ladies! You did a good job!

[Shelby]

Gea thank you for picking Frat Boy and Toppy for me! I really enjoyed it. It's such a fun sweet read. :D I wasn't expecting anything going in and was nicely entertained throughout. You can see my full review here if you're interested.

[Melissa]

Katie wrote: "Hi Melissa! I finished Beyond the Highland Mist just now. I really enjoyed it, though Adrienne held out a little too long, IMO. Still, looking forward to reading the next one! 4 s..."

Glad you liked it! Moning tends to lean toward the heroine playing hard to get a little too long for me too. :)

[Melissa]

Hadley, I finished last night and really, really liked it. There were a few places that had me backtracking trying to keep the characters straight, but I was completely sucked in and couldn't put it down. SO glad you picked it. Thanks!

[Ezi]

Nichole: I finished and gave it ★★★½. I would have given it 4-stars, but I think it was too long. It got really repetitive. Plus I couldn't in good conscience give it higher when I didn't have Butch and vishous interacting. They are my hellrens and I wanted to have some time with them.

Turtlecollector: I finished and promptly proceed into the next one . both were ★★★★.
Thank you and I will be continuing this series next month.

Joyce: I read and gave it ★★★½. I liked it but it was missing a little something. i will definitely try book 2.

Thank you ladies

[Melissa]

Katie, I just finished your pick for me, . Super fast read because it turns out it is more middle level than YA. It was just okay to me. This is assigned reading in our schools so I was curious. Glad I read it, but I'm not sure I will bother with the novella and sequel.

I am now at 7 books read for this challenge thanks, in part, to having no power for almost 48 hours and nothing to do but read :) Power has been restored so I'm sure my reading speed will suffer now that real life requires my attention, but I'm sure I'll get to several more picks.

[Hadley]

Melissa wrote: "Hadley, I finished last night and really, really liked it. There were a few places that had me backtracking trying to keep the characters straight, but I was co..."

Glad you enjoyed it!

[Katie]

Melissa wrote: "Katie, I just finished your pick for me, . Super fast read because it turns out it is more middle level than YA. It was just okay to me. This is assigned reading in our sch..."

I had never heard of this book and was looking forward to seeing what you thought. Thanks for posting...I've never been a huge fan of YA, so I think I'll stay away from this one. :)

Glad your power has come back! I hope you're not somewhere cold.

[Melissa]

Katie wrote: "Glad your power has come back! I hope you're not somewhere cold. "

I am actually in Michigan, a Detroit suburb, and we woke up to about 2 inches of snow this morning :( Monday morning started in the low 70's and this morning started in the low 20's. Love this Michigan weather...NOT! This is officially the snowiest winter in Michigan's recorded history...yay -_- Luckily the power came on before the temps dropped to much yesterday evening.

[Shelby]

Melissa wrote: "Katie wrote: "Glad your power has come back! I hope you're not somewhere cold. "

I am actually in Michigan, a Detroit suburb, and we woke up to about 2 inches of snow this morning :( Monday mornin..."

Ok that's scary. I'm going to be in Michigan in about 2 1/2 weeks for almost a month on this film I'm doing. I was hoping for a little more towards spring weather than snow since I'm leaving warm sunny LA for this project. :D

[Melissa]

Shelby wrote: "Ok that's scary. I'm going to be in Michigan in about 2 1/2 weeks for almost a month on this film I'm doing. I was hoping for a little more towards spring weather than snow since I'm leaving warm sunny LA for this project. :D "

It IS scary! We have warm weather and rain in the forecast by the end of the week. I hope spring is officially here by the time you roll into town. Either way, it won't compare to what you'll be leaving!

P.S. Watch out for the potholes...they will swallow any car whole ;)

[Katie]

Melissa wrote: "Katie wrote: "Glad your power has come back! I hope you're not somewhere cold. "

I am actually in Michigan, a Detroit suburb, and we woke up to about 2 inches of snow this morning :( Monday mornin..."

Really? I'm from Michigan. In fact, I'm going to be there next week! :) Glad you avoided no heat in those temps! So true about the pot holes. Worst pot hole I've ever seen was on 8 mile in Livonia. I thought I'd have to get a new car.

[Katie]

Hey Gigi! Just finished Reaper's Property. Ok, so I didn't dislike this book. I liked it...I think. It was all just a bit less than what I had hoped for. I had hoped for a less stupid brother and less annoying MCs. And, though I didn't know it at the time, a LOT less of the phrase "sweet butt". Seriously? Sweet butt?! WTF? Lol! I'm still going to read the second book, though. 3 stars.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Katie - I finished last week and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the pick.

LethalLovely - I just finished and loved it! I so want to be an innkeeper! Thanks for the pick.

[Katie]

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Katie - I finished last week and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the pick.

LethalLovely - I just finished [bookcover:Clean Sweep|1909..."

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Diane. :)

[Grace]

Nikita finished reading and really enjoyed it. I am really enjoying this series. Thanks for the pick!

Tina"coffee and books" Finished and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Romantic suspense can sometimes be iffy, but I loved this book. Can't wait to continue on in the series!

Gigi Finished was a good read for me. Sometimes Gabrielle became a TSTL character for me, but I am curious about some of the other characters and will check out some of the other books in the series.

Thanks for all the picks!

[Becca]

I'm from mi too!! I was there for what I thought would've been the last snow storm but I guess not! Glad you got your power back on!! :)

[Melissa]

Becca wrote: "I'm from mi too!! I was there for what I thought would've been the last snow storm but I guess not! Glad you got your power back on!! :)"

I was REALLY sad to wake up to more snow. You'd think I'd have been used to seeing it out there after 3 solid months of the white stuff! I have never really complained about it in all the years we've lived here until this winter. I just keep telling myself it can't last forever!

I noticed Becca and Katie said "from" so I assume you were smart enough to leave this crappy weather at some point!

[Katie]

Lol...not that smart. I'm in Pittsburgh and doing my best to get back to Michigan. :P

[Melissa]

Ha! You didn't get far...and...what am I complaining about? You must have had the worst winter ever as well!

[Nadine Bookaholic]

We got snow in NY as well. I wish spring would stick around for a while I'm tired of the cold :(

[Fran, Moderator]

Nadine wrote: "We got snow in NY as well. I wish spring would stick around for a while I'm tired of the cold :("


It was 65 degrees the other day here in NY, and this morning my son was scraping ice off of his windshield! I am so done with the cold....maybe it will stay warm once it gets to May...

[Fran, Moderator]

Here's my update so far....I've read 3 of my choices and enjoyed them all. None of them were fantastic, but all were easy, fun reads, which I really enjoy :)


Completed: 3/19


1. Aarati- Avoiding Mr. Right
2. Angi- Pole Star 4/10 (3.5*)
3. Becky- Backwoods
4. Debbie- Revealing Us
5. Elizabeth- Clarity of Lines
6. Emma- Control
7. Fran- skip
8. Gianna- Bound in Sin
9. Jane(PS)- Objection
10. Joanne- A Shade of Vampire 4/1 (3.5*)
11. Jojo- Seven Sons
12. KarenH- Off the Record
13. Karla- Surf, Sea And A Sexy Stranger (Modern Heat)
14. Kay- Snow Kissed
15. Kristi (Passion for the Page)- Play With Me at Noon 4/14 (3.5*)
16. Lauren- The Seduction Vow
17. Sandy- Sin at Sea
18. Skandia- Red Fox
19. Ty- The Story Guy
20. Vi- Handle with Care

[Nadine Bookaholic]

Fran wrote: "It was 65 degrees the other day here in NY, and this morning my son was scraping ice off of his windshield! I am so done with the cold....maybe it will stay warm once it gets to May... "

I couldn't believe when I looked outside this morning and I saw snow on the ground. Did you get any or did you just get the hail? We had hail and then snow about an inch or so, not much but geeze its April not February! I'm so done with waking up and it being below freezing. Hubby turned on the central air the other day when it was in the 60s and he had to turn the heat back on last night...mother nature should make up her mind already...

[Fran, Moderator]

Nadine wrote: "Fran wrote: "It was 65 degrees the other day here in NY, and this morning my son was scraping ice off of his windshield! I am so done with the cold....maybe it will stay warm once it gets to May......"


I think we had flurries in the middle of the night and just some ice on the cars this morning. Not as bad as some of the upstate areas that got several inches. It's crazy...it's the never-ending winter :(
It's cold today, about 40 degrees...I really didn't want to take that wool jacket back out of the closet. I keep telling myself....just a little bit longer, lol.

[Nadine Bookaholic]

Fran wrote: "I think we had flurries in the middle of the night and just some ice on the cars this morning. Not as bad as some of the upstate areas that got several inches. It's crazy...it's the never-ending winter :( It's cold today, about 40 degrees...I really didn't want to take that wool jacket back out of the closet. I keep telling myself....just a little bit longer, lol."

My daughter wanted to take her summer clothes out of the attic the other day and I told her not to she thought I was joking....the surprise was on her when she woke up this morning...LOL

[Becca]

I'm in Arizona now so I haven't had to deal with any of that white stuff except for when I visited haha :)

[Becky]

The weather guy announced that he didn't have to use the flurries symbol once when making his 7 day forecast. He said it like it was some sort of achievement. :P

[Lauren]

Finished my first book and absolutely loved it! Thanks for the pick, Kay :0)

[Aarati]

I started reading and I don't know what to make of it. Thereare some parts I like and some that I pretty much hate!

[Melissa]

Becca wrote: "I'm in Arizona now so I haven't had to deal with any of that white stuff except for when I visited haha :)"

Good move! My parents are snowbirds in AZ for the second year so they missed our record breaking 94.8 inches of snow this season while making me jealous with all of their reports of good weather!

[Katie]

Hi ~Melissa~! I finished up Wild Man and liked it a lot! Much more than the first one. There was still a lot of "babe" being thrown around, but Brock was capable of conversation and Tessa was much less annoying than Gwen. All around a win! Thanks so much for picking this one...looking forward to Law Man. :) 4 stars

[~Melissa~]

Katie wrote: "Hi ~Melissa~! I finished up Wild Man and liked it a lot! Much more than the first one. There was still a lot of "babe" being thrown around, but Brock was capable of conversation ..."

Glad you liked it - I felt exactly the same - people either love or hate Hawk and Gwen. Mitch is awesome too in the next book.

[Becca]

Finished linger last night and loved it! Can't wait to read the last of the trilogy! I'm interested to see how she's going to end it...!

[Nadine Bookaholic]

Finished my 3rd book

Gea The Dom Who Loved Me I gave it 4*s. It's a great start to a new series for me.
Thank you

[Joyce]

Hi Lizz: I finished Hex Appeal and give it four stars. I liked most of the stories very much.

[Melissa]

Becca wrote: "Finished linger last night and loved it! Can't wait to read the last of the trilogy! I'm interested to see how she's going to end it...!"

Good timing! is due out in July...all about Cole and Isabel!

[Aarati]

Fran,
So, I finished and I stand by what I said earlier. But I did like the epilogue. It was sweet and romantic. But the book still irritated the hell out of me. And I still wanted to cry out of frustration. And probably strangle someone too. I don't know how to rate it yet! Probably in a couple of days I can think through it!!

It wasn't very tstl. In fact the girl leaves her abusive husband behind, and starts new without any interference from anyone. But when it comes to the male protagonist, she is putty. Like the book itself claims, their relationship was quite dysfunctional.

As for Horse(he is named one because he is hung like one), which IMO was a very bad joke. I don't what to make of him either. When he was an asshole, I hated him vehemently, and when he was sweet he was really sweet.

Also there was a lot of swearing. Their fave word happens to be fu*k. It was used at least 3-5 times in one page. I don't mind cursing every now and then, but when your every sentence starts and ends with a curse word it's excessive.

And the little bit of mystery that was there was not mysterious at all. It was pretty obvious to me. I don't know if I'll continue the series. Maybe if I feel like torturing myself or having a good cry I just might.

[Katie]

Hey Pam! I finished Iced today. Man...this series has got to be one of my favorites. I loved it. I get that a lot of people are having "ick factor" moments because of Dani's age, but it didn't bother me. At all. I'm just sad the next book won't be out until January! And I'm reading this two years after it's release! God...some authors just need to write faster, huh? 5 stars.

[Hadley]

Christina I finished today. I really enjoyed it, looking forward to the rest of the series. Thanks for the rec.

[Katie]

Hi Christina! I just finished Fury and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'd heard a lot of comparisons to Lora Leigh's Breeds series (which is fine if you read one book every 3 years), but I found this to be similar, but without a few annoying parts, which is great. :) Thanks for the rec. 4 stars.

[MountainKat, Moderator]

OK, I guess I have a few updates to make... Thought I was keeping up with that better, but I've four more since my last post. Yay!

I finished Taking Chase by Lauren Dane on 4.11.14 and I enjoyed it, I gave it four stars. It was simple, but also sweet. Thanks Tina "coffee and books"!

Next was Nan's pick, Rocky Mountain Haven by Vivian Arend on 4.13.14. Probably not smart to read stories about abused women back to back, but the stories were quite different. I liked this one a lot too!

Then I read Gea's pick A to Z by Marie Sexton on 4.15.14. I didn't like it as much as the first book in the series, but I still really enjoyed it. And I loved Angelo!

And just today I finished The King by J.R. Ward - Shelby's pick. As expected, I loved it. The beginning was tough for me to get through because there were so many different things going on, but once I got into it, it was really good.

Thanks for the great picks! I know I will be reading at least two more this month which will get me halfway through the list! Looking good to finish them all next month at this rate! =)

[Nadine Bookaholic]

I finished my fourth pick. Christina Hidden a BIG 5*s thank you for the pick I loved it even thought I wanted to scream when I read the epilogue, this was a fairly long book but I could had read more I was so pulled in that I was poised that it had ended.

[Aarati]

Sandy, I finished and I really enjoyed it. I'd rate it 3.5 stars. It was fun and quite enjoyable. Thanks for the rec Sandy.

[SandyC]

Aarati wrote: "Sandy, I finished and I really enjoyed it. I'd rate it 3.5 stars. It was fun and quite enjoyable. Thanks for the rec Sandy."

I'm glad you liked it. I'll have to check it out since I'm partial to historicals!