R20: Team #7 ~ Zeta Team

[Thenia]

✦ Shelf #9 ~ 21 April: Alpha Male
After Sundown - Linda Howard ~ ★★★ (23/04/2021)
(432 pages - marked as alpha-male 7 times)

Review:

Another survival story from Linda Howard, this time on a whole different scale.

Ben, a former marine who lives isolated up in the mountain in his fortress of a home, reluctantly warns Sela, the shy general store owner of the nearby town about an upcoming solar storm that will be catastrophic for the whole power grid.

Unsure whether to believe him or not, Sela starts stocking up on some essentials anyway, which puts her well ahead of everyone else when the official announcement is made.

With communications and electricity down, the town has to find a way to function and survive in conditions none of them are really prepared for, and Sela ends up in a leadership position within her community.

Ben, who initially refuses to join the townspeople, happy and well prepared in his isolation, eventually finds himself drawn in by Sela and the few people he has allowed himself to get to know.

While they make a well balanced couple, supportive and understanding of each other, their love story develops as a background to the new community that's being built, so I didn't get to enjoy the romance as much as I would have liked.

Also, I would have probably enjoyed the story a lot more had I not read it during the pandemic that sadly made their reality feel a bit too close for comfort...

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Thenia wrote: "Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Completion Post: Shelf 8 - Kick Ass Heroine
by Jane Cousins
pgs: 289
how it fits@: shelved as Kick Ass Heroine 1 tim..."

@Thenia***

Did you miss a REVIEW?

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[Thenia]

Art (aka Whistler Reads) wrote: "@Thenia***

Did you miss a REVIEW?"

If you mean Diane's, the post is missing the date read.
If you mean yours, it's logged and I requested our Urban Fantasy stamp too! ;)

How are your books coming along? Don't forget you have the Free Space book pending too!

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Thenia wrote: "Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Completion Post: Shelf 8 - Kick Ass Heroine
by Jane Cousins
pgs: 289
how it fits: shelved as Kick Ass Heroine 1 tim..."

Done - sorry about that

[Allison Ann]

Selection Post

Shelf 9: Alpha Male

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs - 294 pages
Forgot to write down the info, but it is definitely on the alpha-male shelf :D

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Completion Post: Week 9 - Alpha Male
by J.D. Robb
pgs: 379
how it fits: shelved as Alpha Male 2 times
finished: 4/24/21
rating: 4 stars

review: The Icove film is up for an Oscar which annoys Eve. Then a man bombs his workplace during a merger announcement and things go even stranger (view spoiler)[as they find out his family was held hostage for him to do so (hide spoiler)]. The villain was particularly evil and I was glad to see Eve solve it with Roarke as her backup after she cut Peabody loose to attend the Oscars.

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Selection Post

For: Shelf #8 ~ 14 April: Kick-Ass Heroine I will read:


What's Up, Buttercup? by Jane Cousins Kindle pages - 287
How it fits: Shelved twice as 'kick ass heroine'


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[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Selection Post

For Shelf #9 ~ 21 April: Alpha Male I will read:


Shadows in Death by J.D. Robb Kindle pages - 345
How it fits: Shelved once as 'alpha male'





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[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Completion Post

For: Shelf #7 ~ 7 April: Magic I read:


His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik 384 Kindle pages
How it fits: Shelved 38 times as magic
Read: 4/18 Rated: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✩

Review:

I don't know why 38 people shelved this book as 'magic', unless it was for the presence of Dragons in the world...
This is the first of a series of books about the true definition of 'Humanity' and 'Intelligence', and of 'Freedom' and 'Slavery', disguised as sword-fighting, naval battles, and empire building and destruction.
Set in a wonderfully realized world during the Napoleonic wars, with two equally intelligent species, it tells the story of Temeraire, a dragon born (actually, hatched) into a society where slavery is accepted and dragons are considered beasts or cattle.
Many complained that the action was too slow, but hey, when it took weeks, months, even years to move from one place to another, the same for news...
This was an award-winning book in it's year of publication, and I highly recommend it and the entire series to every reader.



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[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Zeta Team!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'urban fantasy'. 

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Greek Team!

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Well two different shelf calls could give us the win (Series Read OR First in Series), unfortunately both those will also give team 2 the win and they have 2 more stamps than us already.

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Completion Post

For: Shelf #8 ~ 14 April: Kick-Ass Heroine I read:


What's Up, Buttercup? by Jane Cousins Kindle pages - 287
How it fits: Shelved twice as 'kick ass heroine'
Read: 4/28 Rated: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✩

Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⁶/₁₁✩ actual, due to an exceedingly distracting formatting glitch. Words were frequently hyphenate-
d, sometimes even thusly-
.
But as this was out of the author's control, I rounded up.
My thanks to @Diane Firefly for re-calling Jane Cousins to my attention...
Her note at the front tells us that 'Vexatious Valkyries, the series' is set in the world of 'Southern Sanctuary', 18 years in the past... ***mental scramble to time travel*** ... I found the same well delineated World populated with strong-to-start-with characters who grew to equal the stresses they encountered.
As this is the first in the new series, I'll have to be content with the hope that I find Ms Cousins again after a couple more episodes have accumulated... I dearly hope I do.

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[Diane ~Firefly~]

Looks like team 6 got a winning shelf call and they have 9 stamps, so likely to finish soon.

[Allison Ann]

Selection Post

Shelf 10: Vampire

At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost - 342 pages
Shelved 673 times as vampire, page 1

[Allison Ann]

So sorry, I must have forgotten to hit post the last time I wrote this.

Completion Post

SHELF #9 - Alpha Male
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs - 310 pages
How It Fits: Shelved 62 times as alpha-male, page 8
Read: 4/24/21
Rating: 3 stars
Review: While I love Mercy Thompson with all my heart, this was not quite as good for me. A good story but a little too much focus on the pack and pack politics and mating to make my favourites list. I would have prefered a focus on Asil and his story, but I do like Anna and I can tolerate Charles. :D I will continue and hope that I will grow to love the series as much as Mercy.

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Completion Post

For Shelf #9 ~ 21 April: Alpha Male I read:


Shadows in Death by J.D. Robb Kindle pages - 345
How it fits: Shelved once as 'alpha male'
Read: 4/27 Rated: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review:

When I first met Eve Dallas, her world was sixty plus speculative years in the future. I am so pleased to renew our acquaintance. Her timeline is running more slowly than mine, but as I catch up, it's amazing to see how accurate those technical guesses were.
Ms Robb/erts is one of my most favored authors. I've read and followed her work for years, long before I knew of Goodreads, this is the 51st of this series that is logged here.
Her stories flow sooo smoothly, her characters continue to show growth even after all this time...
And her post-apocalypse world is solidly believable.
Wow! this round has renewed my tbr list!!!



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[Diane ~Firefly~]

Selection Post: Shelf 10 - Vampire
Spellcasting with a Chance of Spirits by Mandy M. Roth
pgs: 452
how it fits: shelved as Vampires 8 times

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Selection Post

For Shelf #10 ~ 28 April: Vampire... I will read:


Immortal Unchained by Lynsay Sands 384 Kindle pages
How it fits: Shelved 11 times as vampire


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[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Completion Post

For Shelf #10 ~ 28 April: Vampire... I read:


Immortal Unchained by Lynsay Sands 384 Kindle pages
How it fits: Shelved 11 times as vampire
Read: 4/29 Rated: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁵/₁₁

Review:

It was with great pleasure that I slipped back into the world of Lynsay Sands' "Immortals".
Her verbal brush paints such beautiful pictures in my mind, working the explanation immortals vs vampires into the story situationally, not as an infodump, smoothly developing her characters and delineating their environs.
But incongruities do creep in after 25 episodes to bug the reader's unconscious. (view spoiler)[The biggest,
that 325...750...1400year old beings, warriors and hunters who have remained (mostly) undetected by reading and controlling those around them could forget to do so, causing so much havoc and pain to their fellows and loved ones... (hide spoiler)]
I'll still keep reading for that paintbrush... the humor, the clarity, the vision ...but the ratings will probably continue to suffer, unconsciously, of course.

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[Diane ~Firefly~]

Completion Post: Shelf 10 - Vampire
by Mandy M. Roth
pgs: 452
date read: 4/30/21
how it fits: shelved as Vampires 8 times
rating: 3 stars

review: Marcy is trying to find records of her birth parents in Grimm Cove and help her bestie reconcile with the father she didn't know is alive (sort of). Marcy came across as hippie type in the previous books but seems to take the naiveness to a new level which is a bit cringe-worthy.

Bram seems to spend a lot of his time arguing with the demon inside him (which was humorous) and trying to get Dana to have some sort of relationship with him. I feel like we missed out on a good father/daughter reconciliation story because most of Bram's focus was on his new mate (his daughter's bestie).

The story tended to drag, especially the Marcy scenes and the ending fight was over in a flash. I'll still check out the next book because the town is interesting and I'd like to learn more about it.

[Thenia]

✦ Shelf #10 ~ 28 April: Vampire(s) ~ ☑ 4/4 ~ stamp pending

☑ Allison Ann - At Grave's End - Jeaniene Frost ~ ★★.5 (04/05/2021) - Review
☑ Art (aka Whistler Reads) - Immortal Unchained - Lynsay Sands ~ ★★★★⁵/₁₁ (29/04/2021) - Review
☑ Diane ~Firefly~ - Spellcasting with a Chance of Spirits - Mandy M. Roth ~ ★★★ (30/04/2021) - Review
☑ Thenia - White Witch, Black Curse - Kim Harrison ~ ★★★★ (01/05/2021) - Review

[Thenia]

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Completion Post: Shelf 10 - Vampire
by Mandy M. Roth
pgs: 452
how it fits: shelved as Vampires 8 times
rating: 3 stars

revi..."

Diane the date read is missing again. :)

[Thenia]

✦Shelf #10 ~ 28 April: Vampire(s)
- Kim Harrison ~ ★★★★ (01/05/2021)
(504 pages - marked as vampires 422 times)

Review:


White Witch, Black Curse on Books On Track

Rachel's story continues and she's in trouble as always. She is still trying to get her memories of the night (view spoiler)[Kisten died (hide spoiler)] back and avenge his murder, while work has her going after a banshee, a predator way above her league.

To make matters worse, (view spoiler)[she gets shunned by the magical community that considers her a black witch after they discovered that she has made deals with demons, which means she is banned from magical shops and her budding relationship with Marshall is abruptly over. The church has a ghost that turns out to be Pierce, a white witch from old times that Rachel helped when she was a teenager and developed a crush on. He had been trying to communicate with her for the past year, and the moment he finally manages to talk to her, he gets snatched by Al, Rachel's incorrigible demon mentor, which makes Rachel furious and determined to rescue Pierce and show Al that he cannot cross that line again (hide spoiler)].

Her life might be a mess, but she still has people supporting her, and with her usual determination and perseverance she eventually manages to get some things off her overflowing plate.

(view spoiler)[In the final confrontation with the banshee, she gets her memories of Kisten's death back and the clues she gives Ivy allows them to discover the murderer, whom Kisten managed to injure bad enough before his own death, exacting his own revenge.

The banshee, who had lost her marbles and wanted to go back to the good old times when she could do whatever she wanted, is captured, and her murderous baby girl is the answer to Ford's problem, giving the empath psychiatrist that's been helping Rachel cope with her trauma some much needed peace from the emotions constantly bombarding him. (hide spoiler)]

I am looking forward to reading more of Rachel's crazy adventures in Black Magic Sanction next.

[Thenia]

Well done team ~ our Magic, Kick-Ass Heroine and Alpha Male stamps are on the way!

We only have our Free Space stamp and the current shelf pending, and we are one book away from them both.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Thenia wrote: "Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Completion Post: Shelf 10 - Vampire
by Mandy M. Roth
pgs: 452
how it fits: shelved as Vampires 8 tim..."

sorry, fixed

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Zeta Team!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'magic', 'kick ass heroine' and 'alpha male'. 

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamps Greek Team!

[Allison Ann]

Sounds like we have a winning team. I'm heading to bed and I'll probably finish the last 45 pages of my book before I fall asleep, but I might not get a review up for a bit. Tomorrow is going to be an insanely busy day. I'm always sorry to see the game end, but honestly the timing is outstanding for me. There won't be much reading time these next two weeks. :D Very nice meeting all of you. See you next round hopefully.

[Thenia]

It's been fun meeting and playing with you all!

I can request our two pending stamps if Art and Allison Ann post their last reviews before Sandra posts the game stats.

Hope you all had fun playing and discovered lots of interesting books - see you all in a future round!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yes, please post the outstanding reviews :)

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Thanks team, it was fun playing!

[Allison Ann]

Completion Post

SHELF #10 - Vampire(s)
At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost- 342 pages
How It Fits: Shelved 673 times as vampire, page 1
Read: 5/04/21
Rating: 2.5 stars
Review: I really didn't like the first book in this series. The second was a little better, the third a little better than the second. I still cringle every single time I see the name Bones or Kitten. I still roll my eyes at the emerald gaze. But the stories are a bit more interesting and my eyes learn to skim over the stuff that bugs me. :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

So you only need 1 review to get the Badge.

Art, surely you've read something that would qualify for Free Space, remember the book only needs to be on the SOS shelves ~ over 5,000 to pick from.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Zeta Team!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'vampire(s)'. 

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Greek Team!