Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
Archive - Pass The Parcel
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PtP - Not the Droids You're Looking For (8)
MountainKat wrote: "Shelby wrote: "Week 3Option 1
Book: In the Ruins
Page numbers: 356
How Fits: #250 on the Timeless MM or Gay Romance
"Please change this to Week ..."
Done. Sorry about that. Also book is finished, but I am exhausted and need to get some sleep. Will write up reviews tomorrow. :)
Completion PostWeek 4: #7 Option 1
Better Than Friends by Lane Hayes
Rating: 3 Stars
Review: The entire book was one big lack of communication. I understand in the beginning as the relationship was new and no one wants to be that person saying "define the relationship" that early on but at some point a conversation would have been appropriate. Instead Curt assumes it's just a friends with benefits relationship and Jack is out of his league. So he is also dating Paul through most of the time he's in a relationship with Jack. It's obvious pretty early that Jack really likes Curt and he's jealous of Paul. All of Curt's friends pick up on this but Curt won't believe it so he continues to basically flaunt his relationship with Paul to Jack assuming he doesn't care (when again its obvious he does). Curt wasn't one of my favorite characters - his melt downs when things weren't going his way was just a bit immature. There were things I really did enjoy and I loved Jack. But this was probably my least favorite in the series so far.
NEW THEME!!Week 5
Option 1:
10. National Geographic is a very popular option on Disney+
* Read a book with an animal on cover.
'Animal' definition: any living animal other than a human being.
Birds and insects count. Must be a real animal, not mythical. A drawn bookcover that includes an animal will count, but not statues etc.
You must post the bookcover for qualification.
Option 2:
Key date - 1 April 2020
A book on your team mates 'read' list AND rated at least 3 stars and read on or after the key date.
Option 3:
Pass
This can only be used once each 5 weeks. Only one team mate can use this option each week.
First couple of days in the new M&G round - surely, I have a book that works right?!ETA: Seriously, unless goldfish count, zero animals on my M&G list! 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Sorry, I'm almost done with last week's book! 🤦Hopefully, I'll get it posted today!
Does it work if the animal is like a drawn in logo thing? Like this?
Courtney wrote: "Does it work if the animal is like a drawn in logo thing? Like this? "I don't know. 🧐 You should ask in the Q&A thread.
But yay - goldfish count! I'll make my selection post soon. 😊
Weel 4 - Timeless ClassicIn the Ruins by Hailey Turner
Read: (9/30)
Rating: ★★★★★
Loving this series! This world is so interesting in its' sci-fi elements as well as the powers that Splice forces on the Metahumans it creates. I really loved seeing Jamie and Kyle get to have a little more of a relationship outside of the close knit nature of the team as they still have to hide their relationship from their bosses at MDF. But this mission allows them to pretend to be together as part of their cover so if the rest of the MDF thinks it's fake at least they can have those real moments together.
This books builds on the first really well. Terrorists around the world are attempting to use Splice to build their own forces of Metahumans with whatever humans they can get their hands on, not always willingly. The MDF really needs to find out where they're developing the chemical so they can shut down these efforts. Jamie's family history is just the sort of rich, prominent family background that seems to tempt these criminals and may just give them the inroads they need to find out exactly what's going on. Of course it means Jamie taking on a persona he hasn't participated in in years, since going the military and then MDF.
I can't wait for the next book in this series. I love seeing how this story grows and more elements of the criminal underworld are exposed by the action of Jamie, Kyle and their team. They're a fun group and their banter is always entertaining.
MountainKat wrote: "But yay - goldfish count! I'll make my selection post soon. 😊"I'm very interested in seeing this Goldfish cover. I keep thinking it's some weird shifter novel with people that turn into goldfish 🤣
Selection PostWeek 5, Option 1:
10. National Geographic is a very popular option on Disney+
* Read a book with an animal on cover.
'Animal' definition: any living animal other than a human being.
Timber Wolf
Pages: 232 (Kindle Edition)
How it qualifies:Wolf on cover
Courtney wrote: "MountainKat wrote: "But yay - goldfish count! I'll make my selection post soon. 😊"I'm very interested in seeing this Goldfish cover. I keep thinking it's some weird shifter novel with people that..."
That would be weird!
Week 5: 10. National Geographic is a very popular option on Disney+.Selection Post
Red Fish, Dead Fish by Amy Lane, 352 p. per GRGoldfish on cover.
See, not that exciting - but I really enjoyed the first book!
Week 5: 10. National Geographic is a very popular option on Disney+.Selection Post
Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford 107 pgs/GR
Wolf on Cover
MountainKat wrote: "First couple of days in the new M&G round - surely, I have a book that works right?!ETA: Seriously, unless goldfish count, zero animals on my M&G list! 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️"
Doesn't it always seem like when you're looking for something in particular, you can't find it. But when you don't need it, you have plenty on hand!
MountainKat wrote: "See, not that exciting - but I really enjoyed the first book!"I enjoyed the series as a whole a lot. :)
Completion Post - Week 5Option 1
Completed: 10/4
Timber Wolf
Pages: 232 (Kindle Edition)
Rating: ★★
Review:
I'm sorry, but my goodness, was that boring! I managed to plow my way through it, but it's just a jumble of home repair (sorry, "restoration"), ridiculous inner dialogues between a man and a wolf, and repeated conversations between the MCs that do nothing to move the plot or the relationship forward.
Seriously, what happens in this story?
Mags moves to a small town, her contractor runs off with her money, and luckily hot guy carpenter Jake offers to help her in exchange for a place to stay. Oh, and she's offered a half-million dollars to sell the place, but turns it down because the house "means something to her" even though she didn't know the relative who lived there or had ever even known the place existed until it was given to her.
Then Mags and Jake fix things, and then more things need fixed, and Jake fixes things while Mags works, and then things they thought could wait to be fixed next year need to be fixed now, so Jake fixes more things.
During all the repairing, we learn that Jake is a wolf shifter for absolutely no reason. It does nothing to enhance the story. Why couldn't he just be a regular carpenter?
Oh, and the MCs unnecessarily hide their secret crushes on each other. They never really flirt or show outward interest in each other, and when they finally have sex in the last 15% of the book, it lasts about a paragraph and is about as exciting as you'd imagine a paragraph-long sexual encounter to be.
Then after 200 pages of nothing, there's a custody battle, house tampering plots, hidden mattresses of cash, and an uncovered past murder over the course of 30 pages.
Sorry, I still haven't gotten through Week 4's book yet. Hopefully will finish up tonight!
Courtney wrote: "Completion Post - Week 5Option 1
Completed: 10/4
Timber Wolf
Pages: 232 (Kindle Edition)
Rating: ★★
Review:
I'm sorry, but my goodness, wa..."
That does sound like a mess. :(
Selection PostWeek 5: #10 Option 1
Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis
Pages: 295
How the book fits: Puppy on cover
Cathy M. wrote: "That does sound like a mess. :("Yeah, it was really just such strange pacing. She could have cut out three quarters of the home repair and stretched out the other stuff, and the story would have felt so much better. Really weird.
Completion Post - Week 4Option 1
Completed: 10/5
Someone to Love
Pages: 396 (Kindle Edition)
Rating: ★★★
Review:
My feelings about this book are a bit similar to Anna's for Netherby for the majority of the story - I'm not sure if I like it or not.
There are definitely strong points. I loved the basis of the story - poor orphan girl discovers she's the daughter of a nobleman and inherits a fortune and a family. I loved the writing - it felt very period appropriate.
But... I didn't really feel anything for the characters. For the first half of the book, I enjoyed Anna, but then she just got boring. She just doesn't change between the first and the last page. Yes, I know you don't like opulence or frills. Yes, I know you think you are no worse or no better than others because you're an orphan. Yes, I know you think the rules of the ton are absurd. Yes, I know that you don't want to change.
She ends up feeling a bit robotic and flat to me.
And Netherby? Maybe just too much of an enigma. His snarky comments, exaggerated aloof attitude, and over-the-top foppish appearance with the weird quizzing glass and snuff box performances....
It was just a bit much. And the extra martial arts stuff just took him to a whole different level of WTF for me. I just didn't feel a realness with his character.
The hardest thing for me, though, was that I still didn't really feel that Anna and Avery actually even liked each other that much by the end of the book. Neither of them seemed to feel very strongly about the other, and the whole relationship was a bit surface-level only. It just didn't have much believability.
I'm not sure if I'll bother with Camille's book because she was a bit too wretched for me in this one for me to forgive, but I wouldn't mind revisiting the series for Alex or Elizabeth's stories later. They were definitely my favorites out of all the Westcotts.
Week 5 - Nat Geo on Disney+The Omega Objection by G.L. Carriger
Read: (10/5)
Rating: ★★★★★
So it'd been so long since I read the first book in this series I thought I'd skim it and catch myself up before reading this one. Yeah, I remembered nothing and this magic/shifter world is completely different than any other and all too quickly I got sucked into the book so basically read the entire thing so that I could read this one.
Gotta say I am so happy I read this book now. I had forgotten how good the first book was when it came out and really happy I came back to this. I loved this book. I love this whole pack. Tank is such a sweetie and Isaac is unique in what he is. There was so much to love about this story. The information about Isaac's past is slowly revealed over the course of the story and even when you suspect some of what's coming there was a lot to learn about how he got to be how he was. Tank's slow steady presence and his wish to be nothing more than what Isaac needed was just so lovely. I found this story to be touching in just how much everyone needed that little extra care that Isaac could provide, but that Isaac probably needed what Tank gave him even more.
I really enjoyed every element of this story, from Isaac learning to trust in Tank to giving his pack a chance. I loved his introduction to the pack and how Alec handled everything. I want to jump into the next book immediately! This was just such fun and the characters are all really great. The world building is different and makes the things interesting instead of this being just another shifter world.
Week 5: 10. National Geographic is a very popular option on Disney+.Completion Post
Red Fish, Dead Fish by Amy Lane, 352 p. per GRGoldfish on cover.
Completed 10.5.2020 *5 Stars*
I should probably go back and change my rating of the first book to a 5 too. These books have just stuck with me - I am so invested in the characters and their story! And that is a good thing. This book was gritty and hard to read at times, but I loved it nonetheless. The relationship between Jackson and Ellery got even more real in this book, that was both joyful and heartbreaking. This was just full of contradictions and I can't wait for more!!
I listened to the audio with Greg Tremblay narrating and he just masters all of these characters! The characters have so much personality and emotion. It was a joy to listen to this book!
Shelby wrote: "Week 5 - Nat Geo on Disney+The Omega Objection by G.L. Carriger
Read: (10/5)
Rating: ★★★★★
So it'd been so long since ..."
Is the series really magic-y? I love shifter books, but don't like witches and stuff for some reason. Why I think spells are ridiculous and people turning into animals is not, I have no idea 🤣.
Courtney wrote: "Shelby wrote: "Week 5 - Nat Geo on Disney+The Omega Objection by G.L. Carriger
Read: (10/5)
Rating: ★★★★★
So it'd been..."
It's more mage than witch really and I feel like there's a big difference in magic style. But it's not a "magic" book really. It definitely leans more shifter.
Tracking updated in time to watch the baseball game, not a huge fan but the local team is playing...All current through Week 4 and all selection posts made for Week 5! Only missing a couple of completions for Week 5 too - so we are in good shape so far!
Week 5: 10. National Geographic is a very popular option on Disney+.Completion Post
Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford
Date Read: 10/3
Rating: 3 Stars
Review: I normally love books by Rhys Ford but I admit this one was just okay. There wasn't anything wrong with it but it won't stand out in my mind at all. Gibson and Zach were both good characters but there wasn't a lot of depth to them and the romance felt very rushed. I admit my attention was more on Ellis and because I liked him so much I'll read the next book which looks to be about him. Nothing new for the genre and it was a bit short for all that it covered.
NEW THEME!Week 6
Option 1:
11. The National Geographic magazine has been published continuously since its first issue on September 22, 1888.
* Read a book with a publication date with double numbers within that date.
You may convert the month to numbers. The following dates qualify: July 22, 2018 (22), November 01, 2015 (11), August 13, 2002 (00). Any edition's date of publication will count.
Option 2:
Key date - 8 April 2020
A book on your team mates 'read' list AND rated at least 3 stars and read on or after the key date.
Option 3:
Pass
This can only be used once each 5 weeks. Only one team mate can use this option each week.
So many options... I'll decide when I finish my current book, only 2 1/2 hours left. 😊
Selection PostWeek 6, Option 1:
11. The National Geographic magazine has been published continuously since its first issue on September 22, 1888.
* Read a book with a publication date with double numbers within that date.
You may convert the month to numbers. The following dates qualify: July 22, 2018 (22), November 01, 2015 (11), August 13, 2002 (00). Any edition's date of publication will count.
Big Rock
Pages: 244 (Kindle Edition, listed above)
How it qualifies: Polish edition published on January 11th, 2018
Completion PostWeek 5: #10 Option 1
Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis
Rating: 4 Stars
Review:
This was a cute contemporary romance. But I admit that the most memorable thing really were the animals!
Lilah was pretty likable - she was hard-working, funny and I couldn't help but like her. It took a while to like Brad on the other hand. Their relationship was a bit formulaic and predictable but I liked them together. Though this was a lot more explicit than I was expecting.
It had some great secondary characters who I'm sure will be featured in future books in the series. I loved the small town setting and I felt like the pacing was good. All in all, was an enjoyable light-hearted romance.
Selection PostWeek 6: #11 Option 1
Waking Hearts by Elizabeth Hunter
Pages: 315
How the book fits: Published 11/24/2015
Week 6: 11. The National Geographic magazine has been published continuously since its first issue on September 22, 1888.Selection Post
Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb, 388 p. per GROriginally published 11.1.1997 - double 1s and 9s in publication date.
Awesome job team!! Tracking is updated and we are complete through Week 5 - all selections and completions made. Only missing one selection for Week 6 too.You make my job easy!! 🥰
Completion Post - Week 6Option 1
Completed: 10/11
Big Rock
Pages: 244 (Kindle Edition)
Rating: ★★★
Review:
There's definitely a lot of fun stuff happening in this story. Spencer is a hoot, and it was interesting having the story entirely from the hero's POV. Unfortunately, the downside with that is that Charlotte never felt fleshed out enough for me. For a lot of the story, she felt more like a prop. A lot of Spencer's dialogue was a little too over the top and felt like he was performing for an audience rather than talking to her. Perhaps this was intentional on the author's part because Spencer is certainly a larger-than-life character, but it was hard for me to find the relationship really believable because of it.
My biggest hurdle with this book, though, is that I wish there had been more time spent showing Spencer and Charlotte as friends. They just didn't come across as being as close as I think the author intended them to. A few more flashbacks or something would have really helped their relationship feel more solid I think.
I definitely enjoyed the writing enough to continue with the series, though.
Completion PostWeek 6: #11 Option 1
Waking Hearts by Elizabeth Hunter
Rating: 4 Stars
Review:
After watching how Ollie loved Allie from afar in the last book, I was glad that this one concluded their story. Their love story was pretty sweet - Ollie had loved Allie since high school and watched her live her life from the sidelines, thru a bad marriage, having 4 kids, and trying to make ends meet. Now that her husband Joe is out of the picture, it is finally time that he got his gal!
I love the family and community dynamics of this town/series and this one didn't disappoint. I especially loved Allie's children who were dealing with their own issues of abandonment and grief over their father. But it was heartwarming how they took to Ollie pretty quickly.
I knew there would be some mystery component but I wasn't feeling it as much as in previous books (all centered around her ex). But it did introduce us to some new villains who will surely be seen again. And it was pretty easy to guess who the next book will be about.
I will definitely be continuing on with this series when it is available!
Selection PostWeek 6, Option 1:
* Read a book with a publication date with double numbers within that date.
Book: Lawless by R.G. Alexander
Pages: 350 Pages
How it qualifies: Published: Nov (11), 15, 2017
Week 6: 11. The National Geographic magazine has been published continuously since its first issue on September 22, 1888.Completion Post
Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb, 388 p. per GROriginally published 11.1.1997 - double 1s and 9s in publication date.
Completed 10.13.2020 *4 Stars*
I am loving these stories even more the second time through! It is so good to be reminded of how the different relationships evolved. It doesn't hurt that I completely forget most of the details between readings - doesn't help that it's been seven years!
As usual, loved Susan Ericksen's narration!
Hey, team - I'm heading out to run some errands so I won't be home when the new task is announced. If someone wants to post it, go right ahead! If not, I'll post it when I get home this afternoon. 😊Fingers crossed for a task we can all easily find books for! 🤞🏼
Week 7Option 1:
3. A week later, the Disney+ service was expanded to Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.
* Read a book set in Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico or in the broader Caribbean region.
Qualification may be found in precis, main page, tag/shelf or list.
Option 2:
Key date - 15 April 2020
A book on your team mates 'read' list AND rated at least 3 stars and read on or after the key date.
Option 3:
Pass
This can only be used once each 5 weeks. Only one team mate can use this option each week.
Man, Australia books are always the ones that I mark for my TBR because I know I'll need them for a challenge, but then I forget which ones they are and have the hardest time finding something to read 🤣🤣🤣
Courtney wrote: "Man, Australia books are always the ones that I mark for my TBR because I know I'll need them for a challenge, but then I forget which ones they are and have the hardest time finding something to r..."I'm not sure I have anything - might be Option 2 again for me. 🤷🏻♀️ Off to check...
NR Walker is my usual go-to for that region but I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for that right .Might have to go to option 2 but I'll keep looking.
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
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Week 4: #7 Option 1
Faith & Fidelity by Tere Michaels
Rating: 3 Stars
Review:
So that's it???? Talk about abrupt ending. And seeing how the 2nd book is about a different couple, and with how horrible the narrator was, I just couldn't give this more than 3 stars.
So two seemingly hetero guys develop feelings for each other. Sure, okay. I did believe that they developed a deep friendship and bond, but not sure I completely bought that they were in love. Or at least I didn't FEEL it. There were emotions all over the place with the heartache and depression and angst, and I didn't mind all the drama. Just wish I would've been affected more by it and that I believed more in their love.
Not sure if it was the story, the writing, the narrator, or it could've been just me. I didn't hate it but I sooo wanted to love this one. I'm sorry to say it just didn't do it for me.