Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
Archive - Pass The Parcel
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PtP - Heigh Ho! It's Off to Read We Go (2)
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I'm travelling, but I'll make a pick Sunday night once I'm home
CompletionWeek #9
Happily Ever After
Date Read: 5/12/18
Rating: ★★★½
This book was a cute sequel, but I did not enjoy it as much as Cinder & Ella. I like how supportive and understanding Brian is of Ella's insecurities with her scars. There were parts of the book that seemed repetitive and could have been eliminated from the story, like some of the family drama with Ella's dad and stepsisters. I am happy to see Ella and Brian get their HEA in the end.
Week #10 SelectionOption 1
Book:
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
159 pages/ GR
How it fits: between 100 and 200 pages
Completion Post - Week #10Option 1
Book:
Whiskey EyesFinished: 5/14/18 - 4 Stars
Review: This was a nice finale to a fun small-town series. Pretty typical Mari Carr (which is definitely not a bad thing), some humor, quirky secondary characters, and plenty of heat. This was definitely written as the final book in the series, updating all the characters from the previous books, etc., but it would be nice to revisit the Sparks clan again at some point in the future!
Week #9 Completion PostBook:
Acting Up by John InmanRating: 4 Stars
Review:
I am a John Inman fan. Everything I have read I have thoroughly enjoyed. This book is not an exception to that. I had fun reading and the book had a cute and funny storyline.
The only thing I found fault with was that I expected a little more humor based on the blurb. The book was more romance with a couple of funny parts thrown in. I was hoping it would be a bit more like Shy where I laughed a good way through.
Overall, I did love the book. I had a great time reading it and liked all the characters. I like snakes, so it was funny having one become a side character. I can say that this book was just another example of good writing from this author.
COMPLETEWeek 10: 100-200pgs
Option 1
Book Link: Priddy’s Tale by Harper Fox
Rating: 4.2 Stars
Review:
When I pick a Harper Fox book to read (or listen to) I know that it's going to be so much more than the summary suggests, and that's half the excitement. And that summary just doesn't do justice to Priddy's state of mind, his character, the things he's experienced and suffered. The overdose and it's after-effects are definitely important, but we also learn how very detached, disaffected and dreamy he was before that even happened; dare I even say that his personality lent itself to accidentally going overboard (ha!) on the drugs? To being more susceptible to accepting the weird, inexplicable happenings around his beach and lighthouse?
And what weird and wonderful happenings they are! I love this almost Fairy Tale like story...bits of it reminded me of The Little Mermaid - I almost expected Priddy to start combing his hair with a fork there at the end!
I have to mention, once again, that Harper Fox manages to make Cornwall, the Atlantic & that village come alive in her prose. The whole setting feels like an additional side character, of equal importance to his BFF Kit IMHO...
CompletionWeek #10
The Good Luck Sister
Date Read: 5/17/18
Rating: ★★★★
This was a very enjoyable novella. I usually feel like there is not enough story but this one was a continuation of Tilly and Dylan's story from the first book and they are several years older. I liked how it included flashbacks back to the events of ten years earlier and from both of their points of view. I admired Dylan's resilience to overcome his abusive father and his willingness to sacrifice for Tilly so he did not hold her back. I think they were perfect for each other. I love Jill Shalvis' humorous writing style and her characters. It was fun to catch up with Quinn and Tilly's rescue dog, Leo, was very cute.
Week #10 Completion PostOption 1
Book:
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
159 pages/ GR
How it fits: between 100 and 200 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review - this is such a great series of novellas. (However, note that they are expensive, which is unfortunate. They are also available on scribd though. )
Murderbot is a security bot - he named himself Murderbot after something happened that resulted in a lot of deaths - and he cannot remember what that something is. In this novella, he is trying to find out. He meets a great artificial intelligence named ART - and their interactions are priceless. His cynical views about people are great, and I just really enjoyed the book.
Week 10: CompletedOption 1:
Easy For Keeps114 pages/GR
How it fits: between 100 and 200 pages
Date read: 5/17/18
Rating: *4 STARS*
It's hard to rate short books like this because there's not a lot of time to develop a story when you are dealing with two brand new characters in a series. I thought the author did a good job with that but there were other things I thought were a little suspect.
I thought Sarah brought Adam around her daughter as a boyfriend too quickly in the relationship since he didn't exactly have the best track record with women and was up front about the fact he didn't want to be tied down. And I thought she took too many risks with her life after her husband was already killed in the line of duty. If her daughter lost her, she'd have no one.
Other than those two sticking points, I really liked the story. It was hot and sweet and I just wished it had be about 100 pages longer. LOL
Hey everyone! I hope you're all ready for our final theme call! We're in pretty good shape, just missing one completion for the current week. I tend to treat this mostly as a personal challenge...if I finish my book before a winner is announced I'm happy, but I won't lie...winning is fun! =PSome tips/reminders for finishing quickly: If you have the time to line up some short books that fit each of the remaining themes, you can get started reading right away rather than spending time hunting for a book. Also, remember that we will be picking from a different team for Option 2. Since the current round's theme was a short book, another possibility would be to look at the books read by each team this week and see if any of them appeal to you. We won't know which team we're picking for until the theme is announced though.
Just a few hours left! =D
Thanks Karen! I'll try to focus on this new call soon as it happens :)
Week 11Option 1
9. Read a book with an MC who earns their living from the land using one of the following lists:
Grizzly Adams: Romance Heroes Who Are Mountain Men
Farmers in Romance
MM bookshelf 'Profession - Farming'
Best Gay Cowboys
Love on the Range: Romance Novels Set on Ranches
If you use Option 1 your book MUST be chosen from one of the above lists.
Option 2
Key date: 17 November 2017
This week if you choose option 2, you will choose your book from the bookshelves of the team I have randomly allocated below (NOT your own team). Please select your book from the team's shelves below your team:
Team 11
Team 9
Team 2
Team 3
Team 7
Team 1
Team 6
Team 4
Team 8
Team 5
Team 10
So team 11 will select their book from team 9, team 9 from team 2 etc. Team 10 will select from team 11.
Please ensure you follow the format shown in msg 3 of your team threads. when you post your selection and completion posts.
Selection Post - Week #11Option 2
Book:
The Good Luck SisterPages: 147 (Kindle version)
How the book qualifies: ☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ (Team 3) read book 1 in the series (Lost and Found Sisters) and 12/14/17 and rated it 4 stars.
Week 11Option 2:
The King's Spinster Bride138 pages/GR
How it fits: Shan ~ A ~ read on 5/13/18 and rated *4 STARS*
Selection PostWeek #11
Book: The Cowboy's E-Mail Order Bride
Pages: 260
How the book qualifies: #41 on Love on the Range: Romance Novels Set on Ranches
Week 11 ~ Farmer/CowboyOption 1:
Compromised by Bailey Queen
Page Count: 195
How it Qualifies: Currently #273 on Best Gay Cowboys
Selection Post: Week 11 Option 2:
The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare
Page Count: 271
How it Qualifies: Shan ~ A ~ read on 3/13/18 - 4 stars
Week 11: COMPLETEDOption 2:
The King's Spinster Bride138 pages/GR
How it fits: Shan ~ A ~ read on 5/13/18 and rated *4 STARS*
Date completed: 5/18/18
Rating: *4 STARS*
This was an interesting world. The warriors including the hero of the story would remove an eye to show their strength so they were known as the cyclops warriors. And a kindness that that the heroine did for him when he was a boy is at the center of how they get together. I thought that was sweet but everything wasn't easy for them.
I would have never picked this book if it was for this challenge, but I thought it was an interesting read and will likely get the next book in the series at some point.
CompletionWeek #11
The Cowboy's E-Mail Order Bride
Date Read: 5/18/18
Rating: ★★★
This book was an okay read for me. I liked the characters for the most part but some of their actions were annoying. The prank that Rob played on Ethan was funny but the insta-love between Ethan and Autumn was super fast. I just kept wishing all of the secrets would be revealed and get it all out in the open. I will probably continue with the series eventually.
Selection Post - Week #11Option 2
Book:
The Good Luck SisterFinished: 5/18/18 - 4 stars
Review: This was a nice little novella, set about 10 years or so after the first book in the series. It was great seeing Tilly all grown up, and revisiting Quinn and Mick, too. And as is very common in a Jill Shalvis story, the animal stole the show...Leo was wonderful! In a perfect world it would have been a little longer, there were places that felt just a tiny bit rushed or incomplete, but that's the case for me with most novellas. I listened to the audio version, and as usual Karen White did a wonderful job with the narration. I can't wait for the next book to come out next month!
Week #11 Selection PostBook:
Torn by Sage WhistlerPage Count: 108 pgs/GR
How it Qualifies: Book is #80 on Best Gay Cowboys list
Hey Jenny! Have you finished your book for last week yet?
Week #10 Completion PostBook:
Bright Water, Dark Sky by Augusta LiRating: 4 Stars
Review:
I originally decided to read this book because it fulfilled more than one challenge I was doing. I usually don't find books with tentacles all that thrilling. I've read a couple and can give or take them. I have to say this book was pretty good though. Basically, I like both the plot and the characters. Sure, I would love to have had the book be a bit longer. I think I wish that for all shorter books though. I just had fun reading.
Lioness7 wrote: "Week #10 Completion PostBook:
Bright Water, Dark Sky by Augusta LiRating: 4 Stars
Review:
I originally decided to read this book beca..."
Yay...thanks! =)
Completion Post - Week 11 Option 2:
The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare
Finished 5/18/18 - 4.5 stars
Review: Tessa Dare always makes me laugh - and this book was no exception - I know I laughed out loud quite a few times. The main characters were both so enjoyable, and it was really a heartwarming story. It was KIND of a take of beauty and the beast - the Duke has been horribly scarred, and the MC is a seamstress that he decides to marry. Neither of them is a pushover, and their conversations were great. What a fun way to spend a Friday night!
Week #11 Completion PostBook:
Torn by Sage WhistlerRating: 4 Stars
Review:
To me this book was probably a 3.5 star read. I upped it because it was more than 3. I liked the book even though I don't usually read incest. I tend to like pseudo much better. My favorite part was reading about how the twins were so torn about being together. To me, I think that seemed realistic. I can't imagine anything else happening. I think the biggest thing for me that brought down the rating was the first half of the book. I just felt like there wasn't a ton of build-up to them getting together. I know they are twins and love each other but jumping into sex seemed too fast.
Overall, this book was a fun and relatively quick read. I think the writing was nice and I would definitely try more books.
The Reading Queens (team 4) have won the round of PTP!Way to pull it out there in the end Jenny. We were so close!
Sorry guys! I just finished my book...
⚣❣☙ Cocky™ Michaelle ❧❣⚣ wrote: "Sorry guys! I just finished my book..."We did a great job, Michaelle! No worries. We'll get em next time.
Hope to see you all in the next round. :)
So the completist in me wouldn't let me NOT post the review anyway...COMPLETE
Week 11 ~ Farmer/Cowboy
Option 1:
Compromised by Bailey Queen
Rating: 4.0 Stars
Review:
I wasn't expecting much from a book I picked randomly from a list to complete a challenge simply because I needed a green cover & an author with a Q in their initials for 2 other challenges. Well, evidently my Book-Fu is strong today and damn, color me surprised by how much I ended up liking it.
Did I have the serial killer pegged from pretty much the get-go? Yep. Did the plot progress pretty much like one would expect given the whodunit genre? Yep. Was it a little overly Insta-lovey and heavy on the saccharine prose at times? Yep & Yep. Did any of that matter to me? Oddly enough, No. I was hooked by the characterization. Ben was interesting, imperfect, a little broken by his past and completely, predictably self-sacrificing. I think it's a stereotype for most LEOs that they have this "White Knight" personality, and in this story there is no glossing over that. In fact, Bailey Queen hung a lampshade on it...but it still worked for me.
Tanner was a bit less well-fleshed but I liked that he didn't let Ben off the hook right away for his actions pre-murder case. I liked that he made Ben talk, made him see how he was hurting himself as well as Tanner by his decisions.
And because I figured out the murderer pretty early, I also saw that ending coming a mile away. Not just the climax but also the HEA resolution...
Still enjoyed the hell out of it.
Great job everyone! I sure enjoyed playing with all of you :)Thanks for the great Captaining, Karen!
Suzanne wrote: "Great job everyone! I sure enjoyed playing with all of you :)Thanks for the great Captaining, Karen!"
Thanks, Suzanne! and thanks everyone for making it so easy!
I love that we actually finished, even if we didn't quite manage the win...you guys were great!
⚣❣☙ Cocky™ Michaelle ❧❣⚣ wrote: "So the completist in me wouldn't let me NOT post the review anyway..."I'm right there with you Michaelle! My sister was the same way and always referred to it as her "completion complex"!
We couldn't have gotten much closer - what a fantastic job everyone did!
Congrats everyone. I think we did great even without winning. I had fun playing, and that mattered a lot to me. Hope to see you in a later round.
I enjoyed playing this round with all of you!
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Compromised (other topics)Torn (other topics)
Torn (other topics)
The Duchess Deal (other topics)
Bright Water, Dark Sky (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Bailey Queen (other topics)Tessa Dare (other topics)
Tessa Dare (other topics)
Bailey Queen (other topics)
Martha Wells (other topics)
More...
Option 1:
114 pages/GR
How it fits: between 100 and 200 pages