R20: Team #2 ~ Too Hot to Handle

[D.G.]

For the next shelf, my plan is to continue with Sweep in Peace. After all, I think it fits the majority of stamps...it has aliens, vampires, shapeshifters, magic, so it follows that it also fits UF, PNR, futuristic, sci-fi romance, and with Ilona & Gordon being so popular, it should fit most of the series shelves (except for first in series and maybe spin-off.) It definitely has alpha males and a kick ass heroine so I only have to check for wounded warrior, female warrior or hunters. I wonder how many it will end up fitting...:)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

DG. when you do your next Captain's Log, please add the author's names :)

[D.G.]

Yikes, I have a spreadsheet that creates the post with links and everything...I’ll have to modify it to add authors...I’ll do that on the weekend.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Excellent D.G. :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

D.G. wrote: "Yikes, I have a spreadsheet that creates the post with links and everything...I’ll have to modify it to add authors...I’ll do that on the weekend."

Oooooh, spreadsheet? 🤓

Next shelf is up and Sweep in Peace will DEFINITELY fit! 😁

Shelf #2 ~ 3 March: Sci-Fi Romance
DIRECT LINK(s) ~ Sci-Fi Romance -OR- SOS' sci-fi romance

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I'll get back to ya with my choice.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I'm gonna go with

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Hotties!
We now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'book boyfriends'. 

[Our updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Woohoo!! :D

[D.G.]

Steph wrote: "Oooooh, spreadsheet? 🤓"

I created it for past games and it made it easier to keep track of reads in one posts with so many links. I don't know that it is as useful with only 4 people in a team but I'm used to it. :) It's pretty elaborate!

[Deanna]

I'm going with for this week.

For free space, I'm going to dnf my original choice. A single mother of two children should not be making so many stupid decisions. I read this past weekend, which is on the SOS shelves, so I'll use that instead and get a review up after dinner.

[D.G.]

Deanna wrote: "For free space, I'm going to dnf my original choice. A single mother of two children should not be making so many stupid decisions."

HAHAHAHAHA!!! This made me laugh so hard!!

I'll update your books. :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Sounds awesome, DG! Elaborate spreadsheets are the best kind!

LOL Deanna! So true! Glad something better worked for ya.

Happy reading, Hotties!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congratulations on the stamp Hotties!

[Deanna]

Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews
Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #4
Shelf: Free Space (on SOS Bookshelf)
Read: 2/27
Rating: 5 stars

I've had this book for several months now without getting around to reading it. I love the characters Sean and Dina. I love the inn and all the crazy alien visitors. I honestly did not expect to enjoy visiting a vampire planet with Arland, Maud, and Helen nearly as much as the other books in the series. I was wrong.

Arland was his normal confident, loyal gentleman and warrior self. I loved how he supported Maud and gave her time to overcome the horrible experience she had with her deceased vampire husband and his family and to find a her place in his world. He managed to support her while at the same time letting her stand on her own feet and earn the respect that she deserved.

Maud really shone in this book. She understood the vampire politics and the language, corrected all the cultural mistakes the vampires were making with their visitors with the grace and confidence of an innkeeper's daughter, and held her own in every battle with her amazing sword skills. (view spoiler)[The dragons were an awesome touch! (hide spoiler)]

It may not really have the same feel as the other Innkeeper books, but this book did an amazing job at really developing the vampire world/society that was only hinted at in the other books. 5 stars

[D.G.]

Closing my eyes so as not to read your review, Deanna!!

[Deanna]

D.G. wrote: "Closing my eyes so as not to read your review, Deanna!!"

I remembered you were reading the series for the first time and tried really hard not to put any spoilers in.

[D.G.]

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews
Shelf #2: Sci-Fi Romance (shelved by 9 readers)
Date finished/Rating: 3/5/21 ★★★★½
Review: I'm upping my rating to 4.5 stars from my first time reading the book because it made me cry. This story was so full of pain and desolation. Nobody went by unscathed.

My feelings on George are not hateful as in the first time I read the book. I'm really sad that the sweet boy we knew has become a manipulative fucker that you shouldn't trust under any circumstances but his ultimate goal was worthy. HOWEVER, his willingness to trample on people to achieve his means is not something that I'll ever get behind because who's to say that his next goal will be as worthy as this one?

Arlo was still my favorite new character!!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I'll have to do a re-read of that series (Innkeeper) eventually, it's such a fun read!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Shades of Allegiance by Sandy Williams
Series: Anomaly #3
Shelf: 'Sci-Fi Romance' (shelved by 2 people)
Read: 5 March
Rating: ✮✮✮✮☆

My Review:
Shades of Allegiance picks up shortly after Shades of Honor with Ash (Lieutenant Ramie "Ash" Ashdyn) back on her home planet, Glory. She's set on tracking down tracking down crime lord Neilan Tahn and stopping the telepaths who are rumored to have infiltrated the Coalition. She's not sure who to trust after her five year absence and the changes she's undergone since leaving cause her to pause where she would've attacked first and asked questions later. Rykus is working to save his home world. The separation is proving to be hard, but manageable because she knows he's safely away from Glory's underworld - until he's not.

He was a warship rattling beneath her feet, and she lived for pushing him off course.

For me, the relationship between Ash and Rip (Commander Rykus) was a perfect blend of will they/won't they, then please-don't-go-separate-ways, finally please-don't-die! She loves to throw him off balance and he struggles with wanting to be extra sure she knows his feelings for her have nothing to do with their forced connection - one gives her all the power, the other gives it to him, only he's promised to never use it.

She was his mission, his universe. He would destroy galaxies to keep her in his arms.

There were ~five years between the release of book 1 and 3, with the biggest gap (4+ yrs) between book 2 and 3. Admittedly, it took me a bit to refresh and get back into the world of Ash and Rip after so long, but things got interesting quickly and I soon found myself cheering for Ash once again. Going into this I wasn't sure if it was to be the finale or not. I'm still not 100% sure because while the threads throughout were wrapped up, others were dangled and would allow for more story to be told. Guess we'll see.

[D.G.]

4+ years in between books? Eek! Whenever I see that, I lose confidence in the author, specially for UF or PNR series. t's different for standalones or for fantasy, although for the latter, I only give them 5 years (looking at you Pat Rothfuss!)

[Katharine]

I will be reading by Mychal Daniels. I'm working on my review for my free space book and should have it done tomorrow. At work today for some intense stuff and need some shut-eye.

[Deanna]

Fractured Souls by Anna Carven
Series: Darkstar Mercenaries #3
Shelf: Sci-Fi Romance (tagged 10 times)
Read: 3/5
Rating: 4 stars

Fractured Souls picks up immediately after Shattered Silence with the alien Thracian out of Enki and moved into Alexis. Alexis starts off very disoriented because the Thracian brought her back to life and her memories are fragmented and disorganized. I loved how patient and protective Nythian was with Alexis. He was so supportive as she struggled to come to grips with her new reality and mentally fought against the Thracian to maintain control of her actions. It was also interesting to watch the Kordolians under Tarak try to make right the damage that the Kordolian empire had done to Thracian people. 4 stars

[D.G.]

Thanks for the update Katharine.

Post 9 is updated with our reads. Looking forward to the next shelf on Wed.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

D.G. wrote: "4+ years in between books? Eek! Whenever I see that, I lose confidence in the author, specially for UF or PNR series. t's different for standalones or for fantasy, although for the latter, I only g..."

Well, thankfully, I didn't read #1-2 until 2018 (when I binged both back-to-back), so I only had to wait 3 years for the finale. Still, I get ya.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Sorry I'm not very chatty y'all. Lots going on health-wise with me and some long distance family ... stressssssss can go suck it!! Enjoying my BSB reads so far though and happy to have the push to keep readin' to escape.

Hope y'all are doing well!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Happy Shelf Day!
Woohoo!

Shelf #3 ~ 10 March: Series to Finish
DIRECT LINK(s) ~ Series to Finish

I'll be back soon with my book choice :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Woohoo! A series I'm mid-binge is on the shelf; thanks to one person! :)

I'll be reading :
(Jacky Leon #4) by K.N. Banet

“Series to finish” Shelved by 1 person : https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/users...

[D.G.]

It's not a surprise what I'm reading!!


One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews
Shelf #3: Series to Finish (shelved by 10 readers)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

That was one of my favorites of the series so far :) Enjoy!

[Deanna]

I'll be listening to

Honor Bound by Rachel Caine
Shelf #3: Series to Finish (shelved by 2 readers)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Oooh, I really enjoyed that series. Book 2 ends on a cliffy, so you’ll want book 3 handy 😊

[D.G.]

Message 9 has been updated with our reads for Series to Finish! I'm finishing up a book right now and then I'll start the book for this. :)

@Katharine - Let us know how you're doing with your reads. We're only missing your books to get the stamp for Free Space and Sci-Fi romance. :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

👍🏼

[Katharine]

Series: Psychic Eye #4
Shelf: Free Space (on SOS Bookshelf)
Read: 3/6
Rating: 3.5 stars

I really enjoy this series when I need a break from the intensity of others. The chemistry between Abby and Dutch is endearing, but at the same time, I feel "let's get on with it already!". This time, though, their relationship hits an obstacle that might change the relationship between them. And, just when Abby thinks she gets a break from the tension...SURPRISE!....someone is murdered. Poor Abby, can't she catch a break?

[Katharine]

Series: Olodian Alien Warrior (tagged 12 times by readers)
Read: 3/9
Rating: 3.5 stars

For some odd reason, most sci-fi romance isn't my thing; however, I enjoyed this one and may even read the next one. I really bought into the romance between and Lord Tordin; usually I don't see the attraction between human and alien, but Lord Tordin has quite a few human qualities, which made me like the book more than I thought I would.

[Katharine]

For Shelf #3, I will read

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I like Psychic Eye for the same reason, Katharine. But things can get a bit repetitive. I'm ~ book 12, so things have moved a bit.

Oooh, I'll be interested for your review of the HG prequel. Got that, but haven't read it yet.

[D.G.]

Woohoo! Off to request stamps!!

I read book 8 in the Psychic Eye series 11 years ago and no time since then have I felt like continuing. Last year, I decided to let it go...

[D.G.]

Steph, HELP!

I was re-reading the rules (looking for the minimum # of pages) when I read that we can only do ONE re-read per round of bingo. But I've already done two! So sorry! I hadn't realized this!!

Luckily, I already read one book last week that I could use for either the Free Space and Sci-fi-romance so I could post my review today. My question is...how do I update? I checked in the Captain's log and Sandra had already verified our reads. Do I edit the Captain's log post? Repost?

Please let me know!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Not sure what she wants to do D.G. but at least I can tell you the minimum page count is 200.

[D.G.]

Sandra wrote: "Not sure what she wants to do D.G. but at least I can tell you the minimum page count is 200."

Thanks, I don't think I ended up finding that out!!

I have my post ready so I can post as soon as Steph says the word. And I'll use the new book for Free Space, so Sci-Fi Romance is all good.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Make sure I acknowledge if there's a change in book, as I've already started the stats. :D

[D.G.]

I will, thanks Sandra!!

Also, I need to change my book for Series to Finish because I've also read that one. I want to pick a book from a series I ACTUALLY have to finish so I'm debating to read either:
. Although now that I re-read One Fell Sweep, I can finally continue the series with , which I haven't read (and the reason why I re-read the first three books.)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Oohhh, I loved Sweep of the Blade :D

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I apologize for my late reply. RL is crazy for me at the moment. We try to stick to that one reread per round, whenever possible, so go ahead and switch it out with your other book that fit. Sorry ‘bout that. I don’t always remember to get players to refresh on the rules before we start and didn’t catch they were both rereads for you or I would’ve said something sooner.

Thanks! I’ll post my latest book review ASAP, before the next shelf, for sure.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Sandra wrote: "Oohhh, I loved Sweep of the Blade :D"

Ditto!!

[Deanna]

Honor Bound by Rachel Caine
Series: The Honors #2
Shelf #3: Series to Finish (shelved by 2 readers)
Read: 3/13
Rating: 4 stars

Honor Bound picks up right where book 1 left off, so it was a bit of a struggle to make sense of the storyline and characters since it has been 2 1/2 years since I read the first book. Overall this book reminded me of "The Empire Strikes Back" in the middle of the original Star Wars trilogy. It has some character development and a few interesting plot lines, but it feels like its main purpose is to bridge between the events in book 1 and book 3 rather than actually standing on its own to tell a story. The Sliver was interesting, but the series of events there felt too forced to me to be a believable storyline with the sudden hiring of Beatrice to sing, the first group of aliens approached being eager to sponsor Zara and C-X, and the speed with which they drew the attention of the Sliver's leader. The trip to retrieve the god-king had the potential for and amazing tomb raid sequence, but it seemed like the author made it far too easy for a task that had repeatedly killed many others before them. Despite all that, I'm still giving the book 4 stars because it was entertaining and I just love Nadim.

[D.G.]

Steph wrote: "I apologize for my late reply. RL is crazy for me at the moment. We try to stick to that one reread per round, whenever possible, so go ahead and switch it out with your other book that fit. Sorry ..."

No worries, Steph! You have enough to do as it is!! I'll post the new review and edit the Captain Log's.

[D.G.]

Megan's Mark by Lora Leigh
Free Space: SOS Bookshelf
Date finished/Rating: 3/8/21 ★★★½
Review: I've hated every single book I've read by Lora Leigh and that was the reason I hadn't picked up this series before. And it wasn't bad!! Yes, there was a lot of sex but this is supposed to be erotic PNR and was exactly the reason why I picked it up.

I started the series with this book (#6) and was able to follow along pretty well -the earlier books are not available at my library in audio. Megan got on my nerves at the beginning - if she's supposed to be a deputy, why doesn't she follow her boss' orders? (It doesn't matter that he's her cousin.) But then I realized how frustrated she must be, not be able to fulfill her dreams of adventure and I got her a little more (although she was still super annoying.) Braden was sort of indistinguishable from other romance heroes - I can't say there's anything about him that made him special. The most interesting thing about the story was the worldbuilding.

The character I hated the most was Jonas, the manipulative head of breed affairs or whatever. He's a horrible person! I wonder though if LL redeemed him in future books.

I'll totally continue listening, as long as they're from the library.

[D.G.]

Shadow's End by Thea Harrison
Shelf #3: Series to Finish (shelved by 2 readers)
Date finished/Rating: 3/14/21 ★★★½
Review: This book ended up being better than I hoped although now I remember why it took me so long to read it. I really, REALLY, didn't like how the author approached the Liam situation. Given how long these people live, this plot point didn't make sense to me at all and it's in fact, a bit icky. And it robbed real good growth for Dragos and Pia as parents as they didn't get to experience the day to day of parenthood. Hopefully it will be different for the new one.

This story had a real worthy villain and very big struggle and the conclusion was heartbreaking. The part I connected the least was the relationship between Graydon and Beluviel. I just didn't really believe this relationship sprouted from only one night and they were able to pick it up 200 years later - and yes, I get that Wyr mating is mysterious, bla, bla, bla but still.

The last hour of the audiobook was all about the aftermath of the battle. This was needed but it was too long. I think the author should have made this shorter.

Hope this is the end of the series. I'm really not keen to see Liam as an adult (eek!!)