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R9: Team Four Leaved Clovers (4)
WEEK 2Spot: 16 (Alt: Title D)
Book: Introductions by C.L. Stone
How it fits: The Ghost Bird #1
Pages: 163
Finished: June 13th
Rating: ★★★
Review:
This book is clearly, as the title says, an introduction to the characters and setting. It was a short read, not really fast-paced in my opinion, but with a lot happening since the MC has to meet and charm seven guys. The relationships did feel a bit rushed, which I was expecting, but even the MC herself sometimes mentions how quickly it’s all happening, so at least you don’t feel as though the book is trying to pass that as normal. Although I am interested in reading the following books, especially as a light, fast read, it seems like the series may become a bit predictable.
Week 2Spot: 16
How it fits: #16 in the series
Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb
Finished: 6/15/17
Rating: ★★★★★
Review: This series is one of the best I have ever read. Eve Dallas, a cop in the future (2050's) solves crimes in each book along with her reformed criminal husband, Roarke. In this book, Roarke finds out that the woman he thought was his mother wasn't. It sets him on a path to discover the truth. Eve is chasing a photographer who is killing people. This one might be my favorite so far.
Week 2Spot 16
Book: Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children
How it fits: #1 in series
Number of pages: 382
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: I actually watched the movie before I read this book and I really enjoyed it, and the book definitely lived up to my expectations! The story really drew me in (especially the ties to the past with Grandpa Portman), and i liked watching it unfold and the relationships between the characters grow. Even though i usually dont read scary/horror stories, this book was great and Ill definitely be reading the rest of the series.
Week 2Rolled: 8
New Space: 16
Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
Pages: 418
Qualifies: (Star Wars: Aftermath, #1)
Read: 6/12/17
Rating: 3 stars
There were some positives and some negatives, but overall I enjoyed this book. On the positive side, it's set in the Star Wars universe and has a motley crew of misfits saving the day from an interested Imperial Admiral who's just trying to keep the Empire together. Appearances by Admiral Ackbar and Wedge Antilles were welcome, even if they weren't the focus of the book. The author tosses out a lot of new characters though, many of them don't seem to impact the overall story (I'm guessing they're being setup for the next book?). The book really isn't very well written as it sort of starts and stops and the pacing feels off.
"Week 2 Spot: 16
How it fits: #6 in the series
Best Chance by Aria Grace
194p
Date Finished: June 13
4 stars
Review:
I have a good time re read this one. It was really unrealistic on how quickly they became one. But I enjoyed myself and got over it. It surprisely quick read and would more likely be re reading again.
Edited my review into my post, sorry for the delay, I was busy all of today ^^"
Brenna wrote: "Edited my review into my post, sorry for the delay, I was busy all of today ^^""No problem, thanks, Brenna.
And we are all set for the dice roll tonight! Thanks, everyone!
Week 3Rolled 8
New Spot: 24
Reading Options are: #2, 4 or 24 in a series or Alternate: Road Trip
Week 3Rolled: 8
Space: 24
Music of the Soul by Annabella Michaels
Pages: 248
Qualifies: #2 of "Souls of Chicago" series
Read: 6/18/17
Rating: ★★★★
I'm enjoying this series so far. We met Carter in the last book because he's Caleb's twin brother and at the end of that one he was injured in the fire at Gio's restaurant. Enter Ryan, the firefighter who Caleb managed to convince to go back in and save his brother. So now we start this book with Carter in the hospital treating Ryan like a fan-boy and dismissing him without realizing he's the fireman who saved him. Interesting. Anyways, fast forward several months and they meet again and voila, a romance begins. The smexing was fantastic...at first. But there was a whole lot of it. I found myself sex skimming and I hate when I have to do that. This one didn't have too much drama or angst but enough to keep things interesting. I will for sure be moving on to the next one.
WEEK 3Spot: 24 (Alt: Road Trip)
Book: Rival by Penelope Douglas
How it fits: Fall away #2
Pages: 366
Finished: June 21st
Rating: ★★★
Review:
This book wasn’t what I was expecting but I did like it. It was more adult than the previous book (even if it’s tagged as YA I definitely think it’s NA), and the development of the relationship felt different as these two characters had already been in a sort of romantic relationship before they were separated, so when they meet again their physical relationship develops really quickly. Other than that, this book was fun, with a lot of family drama and entertaining characters.
Week 3Spot: 24
How it fits: #2 in the series
Lessons Learned by Nora Roberts
Finished: 6/19/17
Pages: 221
Rating: ★★★★
Review: This is the 2nd book in this series about chefs. Carlo is a renowned chef who has written a cookbook and Juliet is the publicist handling his book tour. Of course, they fall for each other. This book has a bit of angst but is a sweet romance which I loved because I usually read the dark, hold my breath books.
Week 3Space: 24
Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Pages: 480
Qualifies: (The Edge #2)
Read: 06/22/2017
Rating: 4 stars
While at first I missed Rose and Declan, I quickly grew to enjoy Cerise and William's story and all the fascinating characters and creatures from the Mire. Much like the Kate Daniels series, the author duo does dialogue well, making the relationships between the characters less sickly sweet than in standard romances.
Roll 3: Spot 24Just a Bit Wrong
203p
How it Fits: Series #4
Read: 6/22/17
4 stars
Review
Alessandra Hazard's books are just crack to me. I love them and I love rereading them multiple times and never get tried of them. I really like the bite in this one. They weren't quick with the mushy. This is my kind of enemies to lovers trope that I like to read.
Week 3Spot24
Book: Hollow City
How it fits: #2 in series
Number of pages: 482
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: I'm glad I decided to continue to read this the next book in this series! I liked how the book continued to develop the characters throughout the story and how new characters were also introduced. I also liked how this book had more adventure in it with the characters leaving the island and venturing through London and even going through other loops. I wasn't expecting the twist in the middle at all and the ending was great too. It definitely has me wanting to read the last one!
Week 4Rolled 9
New Spot: 33
Reading Options are: #3 or 33 in a series or Alternate: 33. Cover Item Building(s)
Week 4Space: 33
Torch by Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliot
Pages: 287
Qualifies: #3 in "Unbreakable Bonds" series
Read: 6/25/17
Rating: ★★★★
So I had to go back and read the blurbs from book 1 and 2 and my reviews so I could go into this one with some kind of clue about what's going on and it's a good thing I did. I don't have the kind of memory I wish I did but these stories came right back to me. And with that came the sadness about Mel, Rowe's wife. Boohoo, I kept getting teary through this book remembering what she was like. Anyway, this is the continuance of the first 2 stories with the guys still trying to get Jagger without much success. A lot of life threatening situations, a bit of smexing and tons of love between this little family. I just adore this series. It's all about the romance with action and drama riding shotgun. I think I'll have to read Ian's story right away. Love that kid!!
WEEK 4Spot: 33 (Alt: Cover Item: Buildings)
Book: End of Days by Susan Ee
How it fits: Penryn and the end of days #3
Pages: 344
Finished: June 28th
Rating: ★★
Review:
This book had some interesting concepts intertwined with the post apocalyptic setting, but I don’t think they were well developed, either by not explaining enough or even presenting contradictions. Then, the romantic portion of the book was just wrong; it was basically a few spread out scenes to quickly develop the relationship, which in my opinion was completely unnecessary, the book would have been better without it. However, I did appreciate that the heroine didn’t seem to be invincible or all powerful.
Week 4Spot 33
Book: The Black Key
How it fits: #3 in series
Number of pages: 295
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: Im so glad I finally decided to finish this series! I liked all the characters and how triumphant this book felt, even though it had so many twists and turns. I especially liked how all of the characters got their justice and all the loose ends were tied up by the end, and how the book ended with them all seeing the ocean. Im sad this series is over, but I think Ill go read the other mini-installments the author has added.
Nice roll! I'm thankful we got a 3 - I have several to choose from this week :) P.S. Thanks for being Captain, Karen. I appreciate you taking that on and herding our posts each week
Mod
ROLL 4: SPOT-33
Duty & Devotion by Tere Michaels
234p
How its fits: Series book #3"
One of my alltime favorite books and couples, Matt & Evan :D
Colleen wrote: "Nice roll! I'm thankful we got a 3 - I have several to choose from this week :) P.S. Thanks for being Captain, Karen. I appreciate you taking that on and herding our posts each week"
Thanks, Colleen.
ROLL 4: SPOT-33Duty & Devotion by Tere Michaels
234p
How its fits: Series book #3
Read: 6/25/17
Review
5 stars
I still love reading this book after reading it for the first time 6-7 years ago. They are my favorite MM couple of all time. I can never get enough of them. Matt is wonderful and Evan is Evan. I still hate how little of them were in the last book of the series. I still can't stand Griffin for no real reason but I love how he was here with Evan. I still refusing to read book 2 in the series. This series is why I love reading MM in the first place.
Whoops, forgot to mention I posted my review in post 75. :)
Week 4Spot: 33
How it fits: #3 in the series
Double Heat by Lynn Kelling
Finished: 6/25/17
Pages: 322
Rating: ★★★★
Review: This is the final book in the series. Both Evan's and Brennan's exes come back into the picture which causes huge problems. Even though this series is definitely a taboo subject, I really enjoyed it.
Shannon wrote: "Whoops, forgot to mention I posted my review in post 75. :)"Got it, thanks, Shannon.
Sorry!! Crazy week and long book....Week 4
Spot: 33
How it fits: #3 in the series
Finished: 6/30/17
Pages: 613
Rating: 4 stars
Review: The writing is amazing, this series has such incredible world building and everything is so vivid. The final book focuses on Sieh, who is pretty interesting (God of Childhood), but I still feel like book 1 was my favorite.
Thought I would post the bonus features available for this challenge since Colleen's book enables us to use the bonus point. Please remind me if we have another point to use NEW FEATURE:
Bonus Points ~
✸Teams will have a chance to earn 1 Free Pass to roll. To earn your free pass your team has to complete their reads a day before the next roll. Once your team has done this you will have 1 free pass. The free pass will allow a team to roll if they are missing a review(s) before the cutoff. Once you've used it, you can't earn another one. It's a one-time shot. NOTE: The free pass may not be used for the win.
✸ One point can be earned for reading three or more books in a series
✸ One point can be earned for starting and finishing a series (there must be more than 4 books in that series...I will entertain series with spin-offs) ~ no re-reads on this one.
✸ One point can be earned for never picking a book from the alternate lists (earned week before winning roll)
****Each of those can only be earned ONCE. So That is a FREE PASS and a total of 4 bonus points****
Thought I would keep our bonus pt to use when we have a lower roll. Hope that's okay with everyone.Week 5
Rolled 11
Old Spot: 33
New Spot: 44
Reading Options: 4 or 44 in a series - Alternate: New Release (first Published within 6 months of this date)
Week 5Space: 44
A Kind of Home by Lane Hayes
Pages: 224
Qualifies: #4 in "A Kind of Stories" series
Read: 7/2/17
Rating: ★★★★
Finally we get the band's new drummer Isaac's story. He came across as kind of standoffish and rude at the beginning of the book but as we got the know him, we could see why. Imagine coming home exhausted after touring only to find your childhood crush living at your place. You'd think that would be a good thing. Isaac didn't think so. I loved how they really started out working towards a friendship which they totally blew one drunken night. The morning after made me lmao. I can just imagine two grown men screaming after finding themselves naked next to each other. Ha! Anyways, they have their issues to work through but what followed was a lovely romance. I really enjoyed the mysterious, creepy stalker part. I kept going back and forth wondering who it was. Fun aspect of the story. Really enjoyed this addition to one of my favorite series.
Oh, Bonus!! Worth sliding in at the last minute then. ;)
Mod
Duty & Devotion by Tere Michaels..."
One of my all time favorite books and couples: Matt and Evan :D
WEEK 5Spot: 44 (Alt: New release)
Book: Rush Too Far by Abbi Glines
How it fits: Rosemary beach #4
Pages: 242
Finished: July 5th
Rating: ★★★
Review:
I enjoyed this book and it was pretty much what I was expecting, but as it is the same story of the first book but in Rush's POV, and at this point we also already know what happens next, I didn't feel very invested or eager to continue reading. I would have liked to get a few more passages where we see Rush's relationship with his family, especially Grant, other than in connection to Blair.
Week 5Space: 44
Deep Kylie Scott
How it Fits: #4 in series
Pages: 271
Finished: 7/5/17
Rating: ★★★★
Review: This is the final book in the series. Loved it. Ben and Lizzy have one night and she becomes pregnant. Ben has never wanted a relationship much less a wife and baby. I really enjoyed this one. There was a lot of interaction with couples from previous books. 4.5 star read for me.
Roll 5 | Spot: 44
P.S. I Spook You
256 p
How it fits: New Release (June 12, 2017)"
Read: 7/3
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review:
I'm going to start off by saying I would recommend that you should give this one a read this summer. The snark is lovely and good to quash my dislike of reading mystery. I really hope this one becomes a mini series. I don't like ghost in my stories but I love these ghosts especially Ethan. He is a great support character for the main character, Rain. I admit the thing that frustrated me the most were the damn reluctant witnesses. Overall, it was funny and flowed just right for me.
Week 5Spot: 44
Title: Son
Author: Lois Lowry
Pages: 405
Rating: 2 stars
Review: This book was longer than it needed to be (and longer than others in the series - I think). There was a lot of time spent on things that didn't seem to make much sense - and the narrative device of one character withholding information from another as a way to build tension is one of my least favorite things.
The Challenge Factory
Books mentioned in this topic
A Little Bit like Love (other topics)Magic Binds (other topics)
Secrets Exposed (other topics)
City of Bones (other topics)
The Sea of Monsters (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Lisa Renee Jones (other topics)Rick Riordan (other topics)
Karina Halle (other topics)
Cherise Sinclair (other topics)
Kate Meader (other topics)
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Rolled: 8
New Space: 16
Dyeing to be Loved by Aimee Nicole Walker
Pages: 224
Qualifies: #1 in "Curl Up and Dye Mysteries"
Read: 6/11/17
Rating: ★★★★
Really more of a 3.5 stars but it made me want to read the next in the series so I'll round it up. At first I was all in with this one. I loved how Josh and Gabe interacted with each other but after a while Josh's insecurities started to wear me down. So hot and cold and mean and snarky. Why Gabe stuck around, I don't know. Then it got really good again towards the end and I loved the mystery part of the book so I'll be moving on to the next one very soon.