R4: SSS Fried Brainiacs (3)

[Shelby]

Girl I love that you always get it in under the wire! :D

[Shelby]

Holy crap I did it!!!! Rolled a 6 we are now on Spot 28. :D

Series #2, Series #8, Author: "T"

[Jonquil]

Shelby wrote: "Holy crap I did it!!!! Rolled a 6 we are now on Spot 28. :D

Series #2, Series #8, Author: "T""

woo hoo!

[Jonquil]

Shelby wrote: "Girl I love that you always get it in under the wire! :D"

She got in just as I was counting down to midnight Central Time ---photo finish, Suzanne!!!

[Jonquil]

I'll be reading

[Suzanne]

I'll read

[Gea]

I-m reading

[Jonquil]

Review
Scared Stiff 9/24 ★★★

I have no idea exactly who was supposed to be scared stiff.
I know that stiff refers to the corpse and is a play on the fact that Mattie, the protagonist, works at the coroner's office.
Scared meshes with the Halloween display in which they discover the corpse.
I'm not very literal. I know that a book called "I Burn for You" rarely involves human combustion. But how hard would it have been to write a subplot that involved intense or prolonged fear? Thousands of writers describe being scared stiff every year. Maybe I just overlooked it. Off the top of my head, I still vividly remember scenes from Karin Slaughter, Patricia Cornwell, and John Grisham that made my heart race. Of course, there's a difference between those books and this novel that I personally shelved as a "cozy." But I was left wanting more than the serviceable book that garnered a publisher's request for book 3.
It was mildly entertaining that, due to severely limited funds, because Mattie walked out on her cheating surgeon husband with just the clothes on her back (rather than kicking his cheating ass to the curb) (view spoiler)[ her personal vehicle is a newly-purchased ancient, traditional hearse (hide spoiler)]-- it's obvious that this will become a running gag in the series. Even so, I doubt I'll go along for the ride.

[Gea]

Space 28

Book: Last Breath (Hitman #2) by Jessica Clare
Read: 25-Sep-2014
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
I quite liked the first book about hitmen and Russian mafia but I hated the ending where the issue about Regan wasn't solved. It's solved quite nicely in this book and I can't wait for the next book where both Vasilly and Naomi who both can't stand to be touched get their HEA.

[Suzanne]

I changed my book

Week 4: New Space 28
Series #2, Series #8, Author: "T"



Read: Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Rating: *****
Date: 9/24/2014
Review: Inkspell continues the story a year later, when Meggie and Farid go into the story of Inkheart to warn Dustfinger of Basta and the remainder of Capricorn's men. Together, they explore the world of Inkheart, with Mo and Resa going after her (with the help of others). They all find that Fenoligo's world has much changed in a year. I liked this book a lot more than the first one, I liked learning more about Inkworld and it's characters. I found the human characters boring compared to the inkworld characters so I'm happy we got to learn more about it!
Brenden Fraiser as the narrator was AWESOME!!

[Suzanne]

Yea, we're ready to roll!

[Gea]

We still need Shelby's review :)

[Shelby]

I'll be a late roll. Probably be posted right before midnight CST. I've got till 10pm my time which should be good. Had an awfully busy week and I'm still reading. I'll get there though. Work shift doesn't start till 4:30 and I should be off by 9pm at the lastest. So either way I'll post before I leave or as soon as I get back.

[Shelby]

Week 4
Space 28 - Author: "T"
Downtime by Tamara Allen


Read: 9/25
Rating: ★★★★

This story was a bit of a slow start for me. I didn’t really connect to Morgan right off the bat, and it made the timeline jump harder to follow as I wasn’t fully sympathetic to him. On the other hand though I did really enjoy Ezra. I liked that he was a bit different and yet was so very sweet. The historical details were well put together and I did feel like I had a strong grasp on the setting for this story. Some of my favorite parts with Morgan were when his fish out of water status really stood out.

Morgan Nash is in London on loan from the FBI to work a case. He’s been on this stakeout for awhile waiting for their informer to come in. Only when he finally gets the details for a meet it’s not where they expected it to be and certainly doesn’t go down how he expects. After thinking he’s been shot and is pretty much doomed to die Morgan is surprised to find himself hale, whole, and hearty only he’s no longer in the 21st century. Suddenly he’s in the 19th.

Ezra Glacenbie’s life hasn’t always been an easy despite having been born into a luxurious lifestyle. His father has tried to hide his affliction his entire life in order that Ezra would not reflect badly on the family. Having a son who claims to speak to ghosts is certainly not going to do his reputation any good. His other “proclivities” are best not spoken of and a good marriage will solve those problems anyway. Ezra may work for the museum and do a séance here or there, but as long as he goes through with the engagement he’ll retain access to his father’s money. Everything was going to plan until a joking attempt at reading from a spell book actually has a real world result and a strange man is suddenly standing in front of Ezra and his friends.

So for me Morgan came off a little too harsh and unfeeling to start things off and it really made him hard to connect with. He didn’t even really start to connect with Ezra until a ways into the book. He was so focused on going home he was often rather abrupt and came across as uncaring making him difficult to like. Once he started to let himself be interested in Ezra though, even if he wasn’t going to act on it, things began to pick up. By the time he and Ezra finally did come together I was nicely behind their romance, partially because well I just love Ezra so much.

Ezra, oh my dear Ezra! I love that all the voices keep him from sleeping and then his life is so topsy turvy all the time. He’s clearly such a strong soul even if he is a little quieter and shy. I loved the way he dealt with Morgan and all his skepticism. Morgan has little care for how out of his depth he often is and Ezra was always there to clear up the aftermath. The loyalty he inspires from his friends is touching as well.

Speaking of his friends, I loved this little band of misfits. Their boarding house was just lovely. Derry and Kathleen we’re perfect foils for each other, the gentile bachelor and his tough hardline (at least on the outside) spinster sister. I enjoyed watching Kathleen soften as the story went along. Hannah was absolutely adorable and her relationship with Morgan was one of my favorites. Even Henry for all his being at odds with Morgan and Ezra so often had his place.

For me the biggest thing that didn’t fit was the Ripper side plot. Sure it gave Morgan something to focus on, big picture, and distract him from his situation, but it really had little place in the storyline over all. It was silly and only marginally tied back into the greater plotline. It irked more often than it felt like it really belonged.

Overall this story built into being more enjoyable as it went along. The ending was emotionally touching and everything came to a very satisfactory conclusion. The historical details and backdrop really helped serve the story even if some of the side plots were a little superfluous. I did very much enjoy the writer’s style though. She has a really nice ability with words and the story flowed very smoothly. I would definitely be back to read something else by Ms. Allen.

[Shelby]

Week 4, Spot 28


Jonquil - Msg. 108 -
Gea - Msg. 109 -
Suzanne - Msg. 110 -
Shelby - Msg. 114 -

[Shelby]

Woohoo! Got it in just under the wire! Rolled a 4 we are now on Spot 32. :D

Series #3, Series #2, Shelf: 3-star

[Gea]

I'll read either or I have them both at home from library

[Jonquil]

One was good, so I'm trying 2

[Shelby]

Week 4.5: (32 - Series #2) Sidelined - 168pgs/GR

[Shelby]

Week 4.5
Space 32 - Series #2
Sidelined by Mercy Celeste


Read: 9/26
Rating: ★★★½

While I’m happy this was a fast read I never really felt like I connected with, or understood these characters. While Tracy’s personality wasn’t as all over the map as Levi’s I still never really got a clear picture of what made him tick. The story also left me feeling like things were still very unsettled/unfinished. There were parts though that I enjoyed a lot as well. I struggled with things seeming very disjointed.

Tracy Wright my have a masters degree in Sports Medicine, but he’s happy to have returned home to coach the newly created East County High football team. Taking three rival teams and forcing them to blend all together is a challenge he welcomes. Getting his high school crush, and rival QB thrust on him as an offense staff coach doesn’t sit well with Tracy though. From what he’s seen of superstar NFL standout Levi Brody there isn’t a lot of character behind all that supreme athletic talent.

Levi’s reality is in ruins. The love he thought he had is gone and now his career is as well after the destruction of his shoulder from the hit the season before. Rather than give him the respect to sit on injured reserve for the last year of his contract his team has out and out cut him and now Levi’s at loose ends. Slinking off to his home town to mourn in peace seems like a good idea at the time. Of course Levi didn’t expect his interfering brother to hook him up with a job at the local high school, nor did he expect that his random drunken hook up after his night of wallowing in misery to be the head coach of said team.

I’m not sure, even after getting to the end of this story what really drew Tracy and Levi together other than physical attraction. I mean they fought over everything and said some pretty nasty things to each other on a regular basis. Neither man really seemed to respect the other for most of the story. I felt their insane attraction for each other, but I never really got the love side of it. I think a lot of that comes from feeling like I never really understood Levi’s character. He’s such a mess in his own head that mess is all that ever really came through on the page. I never felt like the sides of his personality ever really balanced out or were ever reconciled with each other.

The plot points get a little overly dramatic at times, but at least I understood where things were going. I did very much enjoy the barbeque/fireworks scene. The colors there were painted well and I it was one of the few places in the story where I felt like I understood where both Levi and Tracy were coming from. There weren’t the big timeline/emotional jumps present in this story that there were in the first so the flow was much easier to follow. In fact we got a bit of the flashbacks that filled in pieces from the previous book.

Honestly I think some of my biggest struggles with this story stem from the ending. It felt very unfinished. I’m not really sure where Tracy and Levi go with their lives now other than that they are together. I’m assuming the next book will give us a little bit more continuation of their decisions because of who it’s about, but if not I’ll be feeling a little let down. I’m glad these guys are together, but once the dramatics hit a lot of the emotional details got skipped over again and we never get to see how they are reacting to the craziness going on around them.

All in all I enjoyed this book with a real 3.5 stars vibe about it. I’ll be back to read book 3 mostly because I’m curious in the end where everything is going to end up. It’s just not the most memorable story for me.

[Jonquil]

Review
The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice #2)

John Flanagan does a wonderful job of advancing the plot of his many-volumed saga while drawing detailed descriptions of his characters. It's easy to pull for his major characters and dislike his minor villains (bullies, thieves, opportunists). He writes strong female characters (so far secondary characters) and complex, multi-layered male characters. His players are people with skills, strengths, weaknesses and emotions. They are brilliant and limited, gifted and challenged--a nice change from Clan of the Cave Bear's Ayla who personally discovered every dawn-of-man advancement or tragically flawed anti-heroes who are too stupid to live. These are heros who feel fear, prize-winners who never stop training, friends who fall short and go the extra mile.
The suspenseful final chapters must be torturous for readers who have followed this series starting in 2008 and waiting a year for each new volume. The books don't end with the hero hanging by a thread, but they do end with tension and threat. They leave me wanting to check on the continuing saga but not desperate to forego my other books to binge read these.
On goodreads, the number of ratings for each successive volume in the series naturally decreases, but the ratings stay at 4 stars, so I am hoping the series will continue to hold my attention.

[Paris]

Hey just to let y'all know, Danielle found this and I just thought I'd warn everyone in case they can't roll until tomorrow.

Advisory: RANDOM.ORG will be intermittently unavailable on Sunday 2014-09-28 due to maintenance work.

You can go here, you just have to change the number of dice and the number of rolls to 1

Roll Dice Online

[Jonquil]

Paris wrote: "Hey just to let y'all know, Danielle found this and I just thought I'd warn everyone in case they can't roll until tomorrow.

Advisory: RANDOM.ORG will be intermittently unavailable on Sunday 2014-..."

Shelby- Now they offer you a second set of dice... ;P

[Gea]

Unfortunately I started playing Travian again this Autumn and so I'm left with very little time for my favorite past time - books. I will try to read Fool for Love today so you guys don't miss a roll but then I'm bowing out of this challenge. I'm very sorry to go as this is my favorite team challenge in existence but for the next two, three months or so Travian will take most of my time.

[Gea]

Space 32

Book: Fool for Love (The McCarthys of Gansett Island #2) by Marie Force
Read: 28-Sep-2014
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
This was another nice, quick read from the author about the McCarthy family of Gansett Island. In this book Janey found out her fiancee David cheating on her and went to Joe for some time to get together. Joe has had feelings for Janey for many years and this is their story.

[Shelby]

Week 4.5, Spot 32


Jonquil - Msg. 121 -
Gea - Msg. 125 -
Suzanne - Msg. -
Shelby - Msg. 120 -

[Shelby]

So we're just waiting for Suzanne's review and then I'll attempt to roll with the new shiny dice. :D

Gea we'll be really sad to see you go. :(

[Suzanne]

I'm going to try to read but that may change

[Shelby]

Ok so I'm going to use our pass so that we can roll today rather than be behind. :D

[Suzanne]

Oh shoot I thought our book was due tomorrow! I'm sorry!

[Shelby]

One minute to go and I got us in! Rolled a 6 too!!! We are now on Spot 38. :D

Series #3, Series #8, Published: 2014

[Shelby]

Suzanne wrote: "Oh shoot I thought our book was due tomorrow! I'm sorry!"

No worries my dear. That's what the pass is there for. :)

[Jonquil]

Wow, you gals sure keep this exciting!

Gea, sorry to lose you, but have fun empire building.

Shelby-rather than predicting your dice rolling success perhaps I should have bought a lottery ticket and guessed those numbers. :P

[Jonquil]

I'm looking forward to (Rainshadow #3) Jayne Castle (Krentz) usually comes thru for me.

[Jenne]

Hate to see you go Gea :(
I'll get to looking for a back up for y'all. If any of you have any friends that you'd think would like to play please feel free to ask them.

[Jonquil]

Review
The Hot Zone 9/29 ★★★★★

Definitely a four but I gave it an extra star because of the mediocre books I've slogged through lately.

This is the third book set on Rainshadow Island on Harmony--a planet colonized by Earthlings long before the first Harmony book. Something on Harmony triggers latent psychic abilities in the humans, most people exhibiting one "talent."
When the humans arrived, they found cities that had long been abandoned by the original Harmony inhabitants. One of the series' mysteries is what happened to those inhabitants. The couples in the 11 Harmony books make their living exploring, analyzing, selling, preserving Harmony's artifacts.
This is the third book set on Paradise Island (think Northern Exposure for you baby boomers or Eureka for the sci-fi crowd). This is the destination for quirky characters who don't quite fit in more traditional communities.
With each book, Castle adds more questions than she answers--she really needs to stay healthy and prolific long enough to start answering some of them. :O Her formula is consistent--strong woman facing some struggle, alpha male with talents unusual even for Harmony, some problem that they eventually overcome together, then they come together--no pun intended. This is entertaining escapist fiction at its best, my only complaint is the wait between books.

[Suzanne]

I started reading so that will be my book this round

[Suzanne]

Week 4.5: Spot 38
Series #3, Series #8, Published: 2014



Read: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
Date: 10/1/2014
Rating: *****
Review: A good conclusion to an awesome series about bibliophilia! I was not impressed with this series but ended up really getting into it by the end. Maybe the movie ruined it for me but Brendon Fraiser was a great narrator for the audio books!

[Shelby]

Week 5
Space 38 - Series #3
Dirty Laundry by Rhys Ford


Read: 10/2
Rating: ★★★★★

Oh god I’m so in love! Jae is so beautiful and I want him! Of course tall dark and charming Cole is awesome and so perfect for Jae. I just adore these two together. So they tried to break my heart in this book. Poor Jae in all his tortured angst. His cultural boundaries are such a limiting factor in his life and I hate seeing him all torn up inside. He wants so badly to be happy.

Cole’s out of the hospital and mostly recovered from his wounds. Claudia is still recovering from her wounds after she got shot and isn’t yet back to work. It’s business as usual though for Cole and he’s got a new case on the horizon. One of the fortune-tellers in the Korean community wants Cole to look into a series of deaths of her clients. She’s convinced they’re connected. Meanwhile Cole’s personal life is up in turmoil. The half brother he’s never known existed has come to meet him and Mike and Jae’s sister turns up unexpectedly resulting in the unplanned exposing of Jae’s homosexuality to his family.

Oh man I just hated seeing the boys all torn up about everything. I just want Jae to get his happily ever after and be ok with his relationship with Cole. They’re just so beautiful together. Cole is head over heels for Jae and it’s obvious for anyone to see. I loved Jae telling Cole he’s not allowed to get shot again. Cracked me up every time Jae was adding some new injury Cole’s not allowed to get on the job anymore. Cole’s inability to get through any job without injury is almost tragically funny.

The mystery here is much more a back plot to what’s going on between Cole and Jae and I enjoyed that aspect of it. It was a good little piece of distraction, but there was definitely way more details in the inner personal relationships going on. I appreciated the multiple levels of it all. I mean Tiffany’s and Ichiro’s showing up throws everything into chaos in a way that’s emotional devastating but yet also freeing. My heart broke for Jae as he was leveled on Cole’s stoop. And it’d already done the same for Cole when Jae tried to pull away.

The twisted mess of lives that is Madame Sun’s case was fun to try to piece together. I enjoyed figuring out all the puzzles and enjoyed Cole’s spider web of drawings linking together all these seemingly unconnected people. Fun times! The byplay he had going with the cops was fun and of course Bobby is such the fantastic best friend. He’s such a caring soul under all that snark and pestering. I will admit I did miss Scarlett in this story. She’s just so much fun.

This book is so much more than the mystery, it’s all about the feels. And feel I did! Oh I just love this boys. These fantastic broken but trying boys. They’re picking up the pieces of all that others have thrown away and the craziness they’ve had in their past. They’re becoming stronger together and individually because of it. I want to cuddle them both. I love the family elements in this story too, but the blood relations and those Cole and Jae have found on their own. Claudia and her brood are just as much Cole’s family as Mike and his wife. Tiffany is a great teenager full of her own piss and vinegar, but I still get the feeling she really does care or Jae.

Love, love, love this series! So much! I just want to keep reading. This was definitely a favorite of mine. The boys are in my heart and I can’t wait to read the next book in their story. So wonderful. :D

[Shelby]

Week 5, Spot 38


Jonquil - Msg. 136 -
Suzanne - Msg. 138 -
Shelby - Msg. 139 -

[Shelby]

Rolled a 5! Whoot! We're on Spot 43.

Series #4, Series #3, Location: Illinois

[Jonquil]

nice, Shelby, we're neck-in-neck with the other groups

hoping this rises above my expectations

[Jenne]

Ok Tea will be joining y'all. It's totally up to her if she reads this roll or starts the next :)

[❀Tea❀]

Hi everyone.
Looks like I'm stepping in for Gea.
Same time zone as her (CET).


I could squeeze a book by Sunday.

[Jonquil]

❀Tea❀ wrote: "Hi everyone.
Looks like I'm stepping in for Gea.
Same time zone as her (CET).


I could squeeze a book by Sunday."

Hey Tea!! Welcome.
I'm in Central Time-- Nashville, TN (the official challenge clock time so no mental math for me). But you'll basically be doing morning as I'm starting evening. That's one of the fun parts of goodreads.

Busy Mom, Suzanne, generally gives Shelby some excitement at last-minute-rolling-time on Sunday and Thursday night by just getting in under the time's up wire. I personally suspect they enjoy the adrenaline rush ;P I'll admit that I log in at 11:50PM specifically to watch the excitement and it is breathtaking! :-) Who ever said that reading was dull?!

Thanks for agreeing to play with us.
Jonquil

[❀Tea❀]

Spot 43



Book: Fish & Chips by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Series: Cut & Run #3
Read date: 04.10.14
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
This is actually reread for me. Needed something fast. And U for challenge :P
Ty and Zane go undercover on the cruise ship as married couple to gather evidence about smuggling ring. From the start nothing goes as it's supposed to. Somebody is trying to kill Ty and they are not sure if their cover is blown or those attempts are on guy Ty is playing. Not to mention their backup crew is gone missing and home base isn't very helpful with their responses (and are too far to help anyway).
I love this series (ok maybe not last one that much). They are always fun and quick reads.

[Jonquil]

Review
Alibi in High Heels 10/4 ★★★
Not my type of protagonist. Shoe designer Maddie Springer is invited to design the shoes for a Paris fashion week show. A model who's even more annoying than her gets murdered. Then we have I Love Lucy stumbling around for 300 pages. Obviously not a series meant for me.

[Shelby]

Lol Tea - I still loved the last one too, but I enjoy Nick and Kelly. :D

[Suzanne]

I'm trying not to be an adreline junkie this weekend :)

Spot 43



Read: Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Rating: *****
Finished: 10/4/2014
Review: Another great Wallflower book! I was really looking forward to reading Evie's story so I really enjoyed it.

[Shelby]

Week 5.5
Space 43 - Series #4
Secrets by Jordan Castillo Price


Read: 10/4
Rating: ★★★★★

Oh these two are oh so yummy together! Hottie hot hotness! I just adore the twisty tormented soul that is Victor Baynes. He gives new meaning to the phrase “I see dead people.” They’re just everywhere and there aren’t a lot of ways for him to shut it off without being in a medicated stupor. I love how his relationship with Jacob gives him something else and that their needs balance each other out so well.

Victor and Jacob have both taken a couple of days off from their respective precincts to finally make their move happen. The cannery is all ready for them to move in and they’ve found a place that’s ghost free to give Victor the respite he needs. Of course as soon as they’ve really gotten started Jacob and Carolyn’s phones go off calling them into a particularly twisty sex crimes case in an old folks home. The case is really rough on Jacob and starts to put a kink in Victor and his relationship. All the while Victor is trying to figure out why Camp Hell and himself seem to have no footprint in the digital world.

The more little pieces we get about Victor’s past the more curious I become. Camp Hell seems like such a horrible place, but clearly things happened there that are going to be important to Victor’s figuring out all his talents. There are certainly things that he doesn’t fully have a grasp of in his abilities.

Lisa is back!!! Ok so it was only for a short time, but I love her and her si/no abilities. I love how concerned for abusing her abilities Victor was. He’s really taken her cutting off contact to heart and wants to help her. Lisa and Victor have such a fantastic working relationship. I love how they balance each other out and support each others strange abilities. They’re protective of each other and yet push each other to find the right uses of their abilities.

Oh jealous Victor you are soooooo adorable! I loved seeing his freak out over it all and then the hot surges of pulse pounding chemistry between him and Jacob. Victor is just insecure enough to be interesting. He’s been a loner for so long it’s difficult for him to be comfortable with all the changes and upheaval in his life currently. Not that he doesn’t want all these changes with Jacob, but they make him uneasy. I just love being in Victor’s head, his twisty makes so much sense.

I do enjoy the way each of these stories is building on each other. They’re each relatively short and building one complete overarching story. I am enjoying watching Victor and Jacob figuring out each others quirks…quirks like oh I don’t know one testy ex boyfriend named Crash. Hehehe. Seriously though I enjoy the fact that they aren’t the perfect couple. They have their issues and are still feeling their way through their relationship.

Of course this mystery was just as kooky as one would expect of a Victor Bayne story. I appreciated that it took Victor storming onto the scene in a jealous growly storm to drag him into the investigation. It wasn’t his case even though his special talents were what were needed to solve this one. Carolyn reactions to Victor and Jacob together though were especially fun. Hehehe. I swear she wants to smack the two of them and send them to separate corners so they can all get some real work done without the crime scene bursting into sensual flames.

All in all I am still really enjoying this series. I like the direction it’s going and can’t wait to find out more about what happened in Victor’s past and just how crazy his powers really are. I like the characters in these stories a lot, including the fascinating secondary characters like Crash and Lisa. These are a really intriguing romp in the paranormal world and I’ll definitely be back for the next book. ☺