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R9: Team Eight Reads a Week (8)
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Angie ~aka Reading Machine~
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Jul 14, 2017 08:01AM
No worries Marty.
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Week #7~Old Spot #48 Rolled #6 New Spot #54Spot #54
Alternative #54~Cover Item: 2 or more People
Marty~
Post 163Mandiann~
Post 162BarbaraAnn~
Post 161Katherine~
Post 158Nikk~
Post 159Angie~
Post 164
Week #7Spot #54 ~ Alternative #54 ~ 2 or more People
(Boudreaux #6) by Kristen Proby (280 p.)How the book qualifies: 2 People on the Cover
i will probably do the blood of olympus, 5th in heroes of olympus series.
I will be reading
#4 in the dowser series
Week #7 - Spot #54 All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey
336 pg GR
How the book qualifies: #5 in Kowalski series
Week #7Spot #54 ~ Alternative #54 ~ 2 or more People
(Boudreaux #6) by Kristen Proby (280 p.)How the book qualifies: 2 People on the Cover
Read: 2017-07-16
Rating: ✯✯✯
Review:
I love Kristen Proby, but I couldn't see Savannah's strength, I feel that the book was telling me that she was strong for surviving her ex-husband abuse and all, but I thing that if you are to afraid to leave your husband if he is abusing you for six years, then girl you aren't strong enough.
I do not know what I will do in her situation, but I strongly believe that I will leave as soon as I can.
I loved that finally Ben and Savannah became more that friends.
Week #7 Spot #54
Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (The Dowser #4)How the book qualifies: #4 in the Dowser series
Pages: 275
Read: 7/16/17
Rating: ✯✯✯✯
Review:
I combined reading and listening with this book with kindle whispersync. As far as the story goes, I really enjoyed it. It starts ten months after the end of book 3 and in many ways is the start of a new series arc so in some ways it felt quite fresh whilst also bringing in elements and characters of the previous 3 books. It was an intriguing new adventure and with a new character introduced as a potential love interest for the MC, we got to see a new dynamic in the interactions between the characters which was fun. In this book, Jade seems more settled in her powers and her and it was nice to see this character development. As per usual, with all the talk of cupcakes and Chocolate in this book, I found myself craving blackforest cake chocolate at the end of it. From a listening perspective, I wasn't mad about the narrator. She seemed to have a kind of bored tone to her reading that kind of got under my skin a little but not enough to completely distract from the story thank goodness.Overall I really enjoyed this book and am greatly looking forward to book 5 :-)
Nikk wrote: "Week #7 Spot #54 Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (The Dowser #4)How the book qualifies: #4 in the Dowser series
..."
I'm glad you liked it. I've read the first 2 books and really enjoyed them. I'm hoping that the number 3 pops up for this challenge.
Completion post - Week #7 Spot #54 All He Ever Desired
How the book qualifies: #5 in the Kowalski Family series
Pages: 336
Read: 7/19/17
Rating: ****
Bonus - qualifies as bonus for reading 3 or more books from the same series in the challenge. first two were posts #45 & #123
Review: As a contemporary romance, this was really good. There were real issues to be dealt with in the relationship and one of the parties keeping a secret was NOT one of them (that's one of my pet peeves). The main issues were Lauran had been a single mother of a now-16 year old and did not want any other children. Ryan had assumed he'd have a houseful. the other big issue was that Ryan lived about 4 hours away so one of them would need to move. I thought the issues were dealt with well and of course HEA was achieved.
Completion Post - Week 7 - Spot 54Task: 5th in series
Book: The Blood of Olympus
Author: Rick Riordan
Pages: 516
Date started: 7/17
Date finished: 7/19
How it fits: 5th in The Heroes of Olympus Series
Rating: 3 stars
Review:
While it isn't painful to read and can be quite enjoyable at times the cast is too big and many characters felt like they floundered. I feel that some authors can handle a large cast and quite successfully but I don't think Rick Riordan is one of them. A decent end to this series but not sure I am in any rush to read his next series.
Week 7 - Spot 54
Book: Red Wolf by Liza Marklund
Qualification: 5th in the Annika Bengtzen series
Pages: 400
Rating: 2 stars
Review: I'm somewhat exhausted after plowing through this book. I usually like Nordic crime, but this one was so heavy I had to force myself to read it. It was another case of the plot getting lost in all the details. The author is a journalist and unfortunately that leaked into the book a little too much. I felt like I was reading an overly wordy, confusing news report, which isn't what I want in a murder mystery. I also don't think it's necessary to have the main character embroiled in a domestic drama with their spouse while chasing down a killer either. By the time I found out who the Red Wolf was, I pretty much could care less, just wanted it finished. I doubt that I'll be reading the rest of this series.
Week #7~Spot #54
by Kimber WhiteQualifications:Fifth and final book in the series
Pages:191
Finished:7/19/17
Rating & Review:4 Stars
I really enjoyed reading this series. I loved that it was uncommon shifter book featuring bears instead of wolves. Surprisingly unique and intriguing too.
Great Job Everyone!
Week #8~Old Spot #54 Rolled #8 New Spot #62Spot #62
Alternative #62~Cover Item Animal
Mandiann~
177BarbaraAnn~
Post 174Nikk~
Post 168Marty~
Post 178Katherine~
Post 176Angie~
Post 167 Bonus Point~
Week #8~Spot #62
by Dale MayerQualifications:Sixth book in a series
Pages:230
Finished:7/27/17
Rating & Review:4 Stars
Dale Mayer has done it again. Our hero Logan is rugged and handsome and ready to find his leading lady. The action and sex scenes are smokin' hot. Can't wait for the next story.
week 8 ~ Spot #62
by Ilona AndrewsQualication: #2 in the hidden legacy series
Pages: 389
Date read: 7/27/17
Rating & Review:
4 1/2
This book was just as much fun as the first. The characters are all so vivid and distinct and the tension between Nevada and Rogan is exquisitely done. I like that we got to know more about the previously more peripheral characters in this book. I love the way this books combines action, romance along with a dry humour that caused me to laugh out loud more than once. I took half a point off because whilst i loved it, i struggled a little bit in the first half but once i hit just past half way I was unable to put it down until the end.
Week #8~Spot #62Bound Together by Christine Feehan
Qualifications:Sixth book in Sisters of the heart series
Pages: 416
Finished:
Rating & Review:
Hmmm. Not sure yet exactly which book but will do a second in series. Too many choices.
Week 8 - Spot 62
Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood
Qualification: #2 in the Phryne Fisher series
Pages: 157 (picking a short read this week)
Mandiann wrote: "Hmmm. Not sure yet exactly which book but will do a second in series. Too many choices."I had that same problem as I have two book 2 that i would like to read this week. I went with my choice as I need to post a review of it anyway this week :-)
Week #8Spot #62 ~ Alternative #62 ~ Cover Item Animal
(Sea Breeze Meets Rosemary Beach #2) by Abbi Glines (241 p.)
Week #8~Spot #62Bound Together by Christine Feehan
Qualifications:Sixth book in Sisters of the heart series
Pages: 416
Finished: 7/25/17
Rating & Review: ****
I really enjoyed this book in spite of myself. It was way over the top but I had to laugh at the ending. The Sisters of the Heart series is a spinoff of the Drake Sisters series and there will be a spinoff of the Sisters of the heart series called the Torpedo Ink series. This brought in 8 of the 17 members of Torpedo Ink - all very damaged as children, all lethal and each with his/her own story. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Mandiann wrote: "Hmmm. Not sure yet exactly which book but will do a second in series. Too many choices."Reading Embers and Echoes (Wildfire #2)
Week #8 Spot #62 ~ Alternative #62 ~ Cover Item Animal
(Sea Breeze Meets Rosemary Beach #2) by Abbi Glines (241 p.)How the book qualifies: Sea Breeze Meets Rosemary Beach #2
Read: 2017-07-26
Rating: ✯✯✯✯
Review:
I was very exited for Eli's book, more then about Lila, so you get my disappointment when after 14 chapter Eli became not mane character, but side.
But good thing that the next day I got used to Idea Lila with Cruz, I actually Liked Cruz. And this book gave me Nan's book vibe, because I was thinking that a book was about one guy, but actually it's about another.
Two things why I didn't gave 5 stars, Because of Lila, It's all because of her. Sometimes she got on my nerves. And of course this wasn't Eli's book.
Week 8 - Spot 62Task: 2nd in series
Book: Embers and Echoes
Author: Karsten Knight
Pages: 461
Date started: 7/26
Date finished: 7/27
How it fits: 2nd in Wildfire series
Rating: 2.5 star
Review: Honestly, the switching from 2nd person to third person just really bugged me. A lot. Very few books can be successfully written using 2nd person and this just wasn't one of them.
Week 8 - Spot 62
Book: Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood
Qualification: #2 in the Phryne Fisher series
Pages: 157 (picking a short read this week)
Rating: 5 stars
Review: This is a delightful series and I'm only two books into it. In this episode, Phryne, the quintessential 1920's flapper, has learned how to fly a plane as well as wing walk and has moved from a fashionable hotel to her own home in Melbourne. In between hiring additional staff, settling her bills and packing, she is handling two mysteries at once, a murder and a child abduction. The first involves a wealthy but temperamental young man who is accused of murdering his brutally abusive father. The second pits Phryne and a whip-smart six-year-old against three less-than-prepared kidnappers. It's pretty ingenious how Phryne gets into and out of the most dangerous of scrapes while barely turning a hair.
Week #9~Old Spot #62 Rolled #10 New Spot #72Spot #72
Alternative #72~Humor
Marty~
Post 186Nikk~
Post 184BarbaraAnn~
Post 185Mandiann~
Post 190Katherine~
Post 188Angie~
Post 191Bonus Point~
Week #9Spot #72 ~ Alternative #72 ~ Humor
(Elemental Assassin #7) by Jennifer Estep (384 p.)
Week #9 - Spot #72Entwined by Elisabeth Naughton
320 pg GR
How the book qualifies: #2 in Eternal Guardian series
Read:
Rating:
Review:
Week 9 - Spot 72
Red Queen by Christina Henry
Qualification: #2 in The Chronicles of Alice series
Pages: 291
Week #9 - Spot #72
Dream On by Kerstin GierHow the book qualifies: #2 in The Silver Trilogy
Pages: 336
Read: 7/30/17
Rating: 4
Review: I am really enjoying this trilogy and I really liked the direction this book went in after the end of the first. The whole idea of dream corridors and doors is a really interesting idea and I like what the author did with it. The characters are fun and distinctive and the book has a really good feel to it that keeps you in the story and speeding through relatively quickly. I really enjoyed this book and went straight on to book 3 after finishing it :-)
Week #9 - Spot #72Entwined by Elisabeth Naughton
320 pg GR
How the book qualifies: #2 in Eternal Guardian series
Read: 8/2/17
Rating: ****
Review: So far, I am enjoying the series. It definitely follows the basic romance formula, but I liked both Calia and Zander individually, so I could appreciate them as a couple. I also like how the myth elements are woven into the story. I'm curious to see what happens next.
Week 9 - Spot 72
Red Queen by Christina Henry
Qualification: #2 in The Chronicles of Alice series
Pages: 291
Read 8/1/17
Rating: 4 stars
Review: I was a little bit disappointed in this second installment. The first book was a darker, more of a steampunk horror tale. This one definitely read more like a fairy tale. It was still good though. Alice and Hatcher escape the Old City after defeating, the Rabbit, the cannibalistic Walrus and the evil magician Jabberwocky. After a trek through a barren wasteland, they wind up facing off against the White Queen and the Black King, both of whom stolen the magic of others. The White Queen regularly demands a sacrifice of the village children, for the purpose of bolstering her power. The Black King is in a constant power struggle with her, fighting to reclaim his daughter. Alice slowly develops her own magical powers through trial and error, just in time to ally herself with the (deceased) Red Queen and save Hatcher and the remaining children. I don't know if there will be more books in this series. I hope so - it's a pretty original take on the Alice in Wonderland story.
Week #9Spot #72 ~ Alternative #72 ~ Humor
(Elemental Assassin #7) by Jennifer Estep (384 p.)How the book qualifies: Elemental Assassin #7
Read: 2017-08-01
Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯
Review:
So after her holiday (By a Thread) Gin returns to her life - her job (both as an assassin and restaurant owner),but as always someones want her dead.
This time her enemy - Salina. She is crazy water elemental and Owen's ex-fiance. Salina wants what she thinks belongs to her - her fathers place in Ashland underworld and her ex-lover Owen.
Mandiann wrote: "Is this due today or tomorrow?" tomorrow
Week 9 - Spot 72Task: 2nd in series
Book: The Wish Granter
Author: C.J. Redwine
Date read: 8/3
Rating: 4 stars
Review: Great continuation to this world. I love how the author explored a different kingdom and characters making the world richer and more enjoyable. Really liked that it was a retelling of Rumplstiltskin, don't think I have read one yet. Like the MC, Ari, she reminded me a lot of the MC from Rae Carsons Girl of Fire and Thorns except that she didn't undergo a big transformation. Liked that she was confident and fine with who she was even though others tried to ridicule her. Can't wait to see what book 3 has in store for us.
Week #9~Spot #72
by Jayne BlueQualifications:Second book in the series
Pages:196
Finished:8/3/17
Rating & Review:4 Stars
Benz only lived for the club and let nothing stand in his way of protecting his club. But all that change from one kiss of Jenny Guffy. Jenny grew up hating The Dark Saints and only wanted to bring them to justice. Yet Jenny was just as lost as Benz from one kiss.
Awesome Job Everyone!
Week #10~Old Spot #72 Rolled #10 New Spot #82Spot #82
Alternative #82~Europe
Katherine~
Post 206Marty~
Post 200Nikk~
Post 199BarbaraAnn~
Post 198Mandiann~
Post 209Angie~
Post 204Bonus Point~
Week #10Spot #82 ~ Alternative #82 ~ Europe
(Elemental Assassin #8) by Jennifer Estep (369 p.)
Week #10 - Spot #82The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
512 pg GR
How the book qualifies: #8 in Newford series
Read:
Rating:
Review:
Week 10 - Spot 82
Silent Murders by Mary Miley
Qualification: #2 in the Roaring Twenties Mystery series
Pages: 320
Completion post:Week #10 - Spot #82
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
508 pg GR
How the book qualifies: #8 in Newford series
Read: 8/6/17
Rating: *****
Review: I think I originally read this book in 2000 and reading it again reminded me how much I love Charles deLint's work. The Onion Girl revolves around Jilly, who is a character in most of the Newford Series books. Jilly is the victim of a hit and run accident and ends up paralyzed in a hospital. It's hard to explain the full story as it involves the dream world that is mentioned in the earlier books, Jilly's younger sister's life and how Jilly's condition affects the people around her. It was a lovely story with an ending that opens the way for other tales.
Week #10 - Spot #82
Underworld by Meg CabotHow the book qualifies: #2 in The Abandon Trilogy
Pages: 318
Read: 8/8/17
Rating: 3 1/2
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing style still annoys me as it did in the first though not as much this time round. Rather the MC Pierce annoyed me in the way she acted. I am not sure if it was a flaw to the writer or the character but she didn't seem all that consistent throughout the book and I didn't really believe the chemistry between her and John. I felt like the author was struggling with where to peg her character so she swung between being quite child like to being more adult and back again and this felt more along the lines of a writing flaw as opposed to a character flaw. She also seem to make these random connections about things that were out of the blue and never really explained all that well. That being said though I am kind of addicted to the storyline and flew through the book in a matter of hours and will probably start on book 3 later on tonight. It is an interesting take on the Hades/Persephone myth and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Week 10 - Spot 82
Silent Murders by Mary Miley
Qualification: #2 in the Roaring Twenties Mystery series
Pages: 320
Read: 8/10/17
Rating: 4 stars
This was an interesting sequel to the Impersonator. It wasn't as intricate as the first mystery but it was an interesting look into the United Artists/Hollywood studio system in the pre-sound era. Prohibition is in force but largely ignored, the drug trade on the West Coast has exploded, honest cops not on the take are almost considered freaks and Al Capone has just taken over the Chicago rackets. All of this has some relevance to the plot. Jessie Beckett, as she's known now, is working in the United Artists lot as a script girl and ends up being a sleuth on the payroll of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. There were two murder mysteries in the book, one involving a contract/witness murder with a side of stolen dope and a jealousy-inspired poisoning, both of which the sensationalist media tries to lay at the feet of Lottie Pickford, Mary's alcoholic, histrionic sister. I enjoyed this turn in Jessie's tale. It'll be interesting to see what her new friend, Mary Pickford, gets her into next.
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