TART Challenge - Round 3 - Fast like Molasses (11)

[Courtney]

I've already written two complaint letters 🤣🤣. Lots of exclamation points and using words like "terrible" "awful" and "don't do this"!

[Chan]

Courtney wrote: "Chan wrote: "Eloisa James is fine with me.
We didn't get to Ruby Dixon last round so i'm okay with you picking that again."

Do you want to do the Wildes of Linlow Castle series, or should I put he..."

Is that about the aliens you were telling us about? I was hoping to read that one :o)
Honestly, i'm up for either one - Ruby Dixon or the Wildes series.

[Courtney]

Ok, I'll but Wildes for the series, and I'll do Ruby Dixon as an author. She has a whole bunch of series. If anyone doesn't want to do aliens, Bound to the Battle God is a more fantasy style series. If you want to kind of dip your toe into sci-fi romance, though, I think Dixon is a good place to start. Not very violent, and the men are all really devoted. Some dark stuff from the baddies, but not from the heroes.

Is everyone ok with doing Dixon first? Her books are short, so it shouldn't be too bad even if it's not totally up your alley.

is kind of the first book to all of her alien series. There is a rape that happens off page to another character - no descriptions, but just a warning in case.

uses the same type of aliens, but they are in space instead of on a planet.

is a completely separate series with different types of aliens. There's like a doomsday on Earth, and there's a rip in the sky, and alien dragons come through and kind of destroy everything. I think this one is kind of dark, and not really my fav, but if you like dragon shifters, you might like it.

Are we allowed to do anthologies? If so, Bedlum Butchers and Bear Bites are too short on their own, but the sets are over 150 pages.

- The first one is M/F, and the next two are M/F/M.

- These are cute. I think about 5 stories altogether. It's been awhile. Typical shifter fare - smell human, know its his mate, bang bang, live happily ever after 🤣

I wouldn't do the Icehome series because it's a spin off of the Ice Planet Barbarians. Lots of overlapping characters.


Annnnnnd I really know a lot about Ruby Dixon 🤣🤣

[Courtney]

OK, I'm going to put James as an author one because we might get to #9 before the next one in the Wildes series comes out and Karen will have to reread something, and if I save her for 82, we all have to read a different book in the series, and I think at least two of us will need book 1.



1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task.
Ruby Dixon
9. Each player reads a book in the same series, teams decide. No pass for this task.
51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task.
73. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide author.
Elosia James (For this task, we all need to read 375 pages, so I figured best to do James here since her books all run close to 400 pages)
82. Each teammate reads a different book from the same series.

So we need two series, one that we're all in kind of different places for, and one author.

Oh, or I could move Ruby Dixon to number 9! If you guys all want to try Ice Planet Barbarians, we could do that. She just released the final book in the series, and I haven't read it yet, so that's cool for me.

Or if Chan is the only one who wants the aliens, I can just change one in my recommendations, and do Em Petrova instead 🤷‍♀️

[Courtney]

Series I'm kind of in the middle of for 82. Are you guys working on any of these?

Cold Fury Hockey
Seattle Sharks
Play by Play
Stage Dive
Lucky Harbor (But we'll have Shalvis for the FAC, right? So I don't know if you guys want to do twice)
Big Rock
Scandal and Scoundrel
Damon's Mountain

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Courtney wrote: "Series I'm kind of in the middle of for 82. Are you guys working on any of these?

Cold Fury Hockey
Seattle Sharks
Play by Play
Stage Dive
Lucky Harbor (But we'll have Shalvis for the FAC, right? S..."

Your link is broken for Scandal and Scoundrel, but there are only 3 books in the series so it won't work for that task anyway. I'm fine with any of the rest of those series...would need to read book 2 for Seattle Sharks or Damon's Mountain (yes, I'm one of those that HAS to read a series in order if it's my first time through). All of the others would be rereads for me, which I don't mind at all and it means I could read any book in them.

[Courtney]

~KarenH~ wrote: "Your link is broken for Scandal and Scoundrel, but there are only 3 books in the series so it won't work for that task anyway."

Ooops! 🤪

Are there any other series you're in the middle of?

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Hmmm, not sure that any of these would suit our purposes, but here are a few I'm working on:

Arizona Vengeance
Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery
Argeneau
Southern
In Death

Even some of these are rereads...

[Courtney]

Arizona Vengeance and Argeneau are ones I wouldn't mind starting, but I haven't gotten to them yet, so I would need to do book 1 for both.

I read the first book in Southern and freaking loved it, so I could do Book 2 there.

Do you have an author pick? Or do you want to do one of your series for Number 9? They all look good.

[Courtney]

Maybe some other options for 82:

Castles Ever After (I've read 1 and 3. Looks like Liz and Karen have read 1, so Chan could do 1. And Liz read 4, which was the crossover for Spindle Cove.)
Spindle Cove (I've read 1 and 1.5. Looks like Karen has done 1 as well.)
MacKenzies (I've read most of them, but wouldn't mind rereading any because it's been awhile. Looks like Chan and Karen have read 1, so Liz could do the first one.)

There's also Bridgertons....Not sure if you guys have all finished it. I only did the first one.

[Courtney]

OK, so here's what's left, I think:

Task 29: Athlete?
Task 33: Contemporary?
Task 47: NYC?
Task 49: February 2021?
Task 52: White? Or something else? All my books just have buff naked men on them, so I don't know what color they are. Tan? 🤣🤣I do have one white cover for sure, though.
Task 55: UK?
Task 79: Fake relationship or Friends to Lovers? Or something else?
Task 88: Motorcycle?
Task 92: Past?
Task 96: Sun?

[Elizabeth]

I’m happy to read any series. I think I’m on number 5 for the Bridgertons.

[Courtney]

Ok, cool. Are you okay doing Ruby Dixon, too? Or would you prefer Em Petrova?

[Chan]

I feel like Karen.
I go to sleep and wake up and you ladies have been working.

[Chan]

I'm good with any of these series

Stage Dive
Luck Harbor
Big Rock
In Death
Mackenzies and McBrides (I'm on book 2 for this one)

These two series I haven't started yet, but I really want to try them. I believe I picked up Argenaeau from one of the previous TART rounds from one of you lovely ladies. Similar to Karen, I would need to read book 1. I can't start series in the middle - it makes me itch

Beechwood
Argeneau

[Chan]

Task 29: Read over 750 pages in books about the same profession, teams decide which profession.
What about Military?

Task 33: Read 6 books in the same sub-genre, teams decide.
Contemporary again is okay with me

Task 47: Read 6 books set in a major city.
NYC is okay with me.

Task 49: Each teammate reads a book published in the same month and year, teams decide.
I would prefer something from last year, but I'm sure I could find something for Feb 2021

Task 52: Read 6 books with the same color cover, teams decide color.
white, tan (lol), any color is okay with me

Task 55: Read 6 books set in the same country outside the US, teams decide country.
UK is fine with

Task 79: Read 6 books that have the same romance trope, teams decide which trope.
Out of fake romance or friends to lover, i would prefer friends to lovers

Task 88: Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.
Motorcycle again is okay with me

Task 92: Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide.
for past, are these books that alternate between present and past? if so, please don't make me read that. There are very few books that I like that go back and forth. Unless 'past' means something different

Task 96: Read a minimum of 1200 pages with the sun or the moon on the cover, teams decide which.
Sun is okay with me too

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Chan wrote: "Task 92: Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide.
for past, are these books that alternate between present and past? if so, please don't make me read that. There are very few books that I like that go back and forth. Unless 'past' means something different"

Ok, I'll go back and go through the rest of this list, but this one jumped out at me so I'll answer your question first, Chan. This just means historical or futuristic...no need to jump back and forth in time unless you want to!

[Chan]

~KarenH~ wrote: "Chan wrote: "Task 92: Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide.
for past, are these books that alternate between present and past? if so, please don't make me read..."

Whew! okay. thanks Karen.
In that case, I'm open to either one - historical or futuristic.

[Chan]

By the way, are we going with

Fast Like Molasses

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Chan wrote: "By the way, are we going with

Fast Like Molasses"

I think most of us liked that one, but not sure about Liz...don't remember seeing input from her on the name (doesn't mean it's not there somewhere, just that I don't remember it!)

[Elizabeth]

I’m good with Fast like Molasses

[Janeylou]

Hi ladies 👋👋👋👋
Here's to another great challenge . We all doing Scavenger Hunt on MM group this time so we are taking it a bit more slowly , so ill be cheering you all on 😄😄

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

For #82, it's looks to me like the Mackenzies series might be the best option for us. Unless I missed something, Liz could read #1, Chan #2, and Courtney and I would be rereads so we could read anything later in the series. I read the new Christmas novella in December, and wouldn't mind at all revisiting the clan!

I'm open to pretty much any of the series that have been mentioned, though...

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Janeylou wrote: "Hi ladies 👋👋👋👋
Here's to another great challenge . We all doing Scavenger Hunt on MM group this time so we are taking it a bit more slowly , so ill be cheering you all on 😄😄"

Thanks Janeylou! We're not planning on pushing for speed either, but appreciate the encouragement! 😃

[Chan]

Elizabeth wrote: "I’m good with Fast like Molasses"

Great. I'll post the team name in the other thread

[Chan]

~KarenH~ wrote: "For #82, it's looks to me like the Mackenzies series might be the best option for us. Unless I missed something, Liz could read #1, Chan #2, and Courtney and I would be rereads so we could read any..."

okay. That works for me!

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Ok, now to tackle the list from Courtney and Chan's posts above:

29. Read over 750 pages in books about the same profession, teams decide which profession.
I'm easy...athlete, law enforcement, military...any of them would be fine
33. Read 6 books in the same sub-genre, teams decide.
Contemporary is always easy
47: Read 6 books set in a major city.
New York works for me too
49. Each teammate reads a book published in the same month and year, teams decide. No pass for this task.
I can always find something that will work, but I tend to agree with Chan...for me something from last year would probably be easier.
51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task.
I'll suggest Pamela Clare here, since she has multiple genres that
52. Read 6 books with the same color cover, teams decide color.
I'm good with any of the more neutral or common colors, so white is fine with me. Or we could ask Kat what color we should choose that would include (as she put it) nekkid man chest! 🤣🤣🤣
55. Read 6 books set in the same country outside the US, teams decide country.
UK works for me
79. Read 6 books that have the same romance trope, teams decide which trope.
Friends to lovers would probably be my preference, but again, I'm easy.
88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.
Motorcycle is probably easiest
92. Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide.
I really have no preference on this one...read both regularly
96. Read a minimum of 1200 pages with the sun or the moon on the cover, teams decide which.
Sun is fine with me

[Elizabeth]

Task 49. It sounds like February 2021 isn’t good. Looking at anticipation lists March, April and November of 2020 all have books on my TBR list. Do any of those work for everyone?

[Chan]

Elizabeth wrote: "Task 49. It sounds like February 2021 isn’t good. Looking at anticipation lists March, April and November of 2020 all have books on my TBR list. Do any of those work for everyone?"

yep, either of those work for me.

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

I'm good with any of those, too.

[Courtney]

Chan wrote: "I feel like Karen.
I go to sleep and wake up and you ladies have been working."

It's the time change! 🤣🤣

[Courtney]

Task 29: I'm ok with military if it's good for Liz, too!
Task 33: Contemporary - OK, looks good for everyone
Task 47: NYC - ditto
Task 49: OK, I'll look at the March, April and November of 2020 and pick the longest one
Task 52: White - 👍
Task 55: UK -👍
Task 79: Friends to Lovers -👍
Task 88: Motorcycle- 👍
Task 92: Past - I prefer past because I feel like a lot of my sci-fi actually takes place "now", but in an alternate reality, so past is easier to make sure it's just past
Task 96: Sun -👍

So, Chan did you want to pick an author or a series? If Karen does Pamela Clare, then you could pick a series. Or if you have another author, we could choose a Pamela Clare series. I put Mackenzies for 82.

[Courtney]

OK 33 and 70 are to pick a sub-genre, so I have contemporary for 33, any preference for 70? I think the two main ones not covered already on a task are Sci-fi and Music/Musician. Or we could double up on something. For 70, it needs to all be different authors, while 33 it doesn't matter, so we could do Contemporary for 70 as there are way more authors covered there and pick something more specific for 33. Or just contemporary for both?

[Courtney]

OK, I put November 2020 for the same month one, and then for 90 we needed for sequential months, and I put January, February, March, April 2020. So that should cover all of them.

[Chan]

Courtney wrote: "Task 29: I'm ok with military if it's good for Liz, too!
Task 33: Contemporary - OK, looks good for everyone
Task 47: NYC - ditto
Task 49: OK, I'll look at the March, April and November of 2020 an..."

Okay. I'll look for a series

[Elizabeth]

I'm good with military too.

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Courtney wrote: "Task 29: I'm ok with military if it's good for Liz, too!
Task 33: Contemporary - OK, looks good for everyone
Task 47: NYC - ditto
Task 49: OK, I'll look at the March, April and November of 2020 an..."

Pamela Clare is always a go-to for me, but I think she's much a much better fit for an author slot than a series since she has several shorter series in multiple sub-genres. People can choose whatever they're in the mood for if/when the task is picked.

[Courtney]

Ok. So Chan, you can pretty much pick any series because for number 9 we can read the same book in the series if we want. So no worries if more than one of us needs to read the first one.

[Courtney]

What do you think for 80?

80. Read 4 books initially published in different decades.
Does that mean we need to do exact years, like 2020, 2010, 2000, 1990. Or is it one between 2020-2021, one between 2010-2019, one between 2000-2009, and one between 1990-1999?

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Courtney wrote: "What do you think for 80?

80. Read 4 books initially published in different decades.
Does that mean we need to do exact years, like 2020, 2010, 2000, 1990. Or is it one between 2020-2021, one betw..."

The 2nd option...anything written in the entire decade, not just the one year. Potential question for Kat though...when does each decade start and end? is it 2000-2009 or 2001-2010?

[Courtney]

Ah good point! Maybe we just stay away from the 00s and 10s 🤣

So 2021, 2019-2011, 2009-2001, 1999-1991 🤣🤣

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

I just asked in the Q&A thread, so we'll find out soon.

[Courtney]

OK!

And can I start in with if I haven't read the I-Team series? Or will I be totally confused?

What about if I skip into the I-team at ? The first four don't sound as exciting as this one.

[Chan]

I'll pick Fox and O'Hare series by Janet Evanovich

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Courtney wrote: "OK!

And can I start in with if I haven't read the I-Team series? Or will I be totally confused?"

I think you'll be fine. If I remember correctly there's little to no reference back to the I-Team book(s) that some of the characters in this one appeared in. And actually, I'd forgotten until I just read a review, but you might even be a little better off because the H in this book was something of a jerk in the I-Team book he was in. Since you haven't read that one, you can go into it with no preconceived ideas about him!

[Courtney]

Chan wrote:"I'll pick Fox and O'Hare series by Janet Evanovich



Cool, I think we're pretty much good to go.

[Courtney]

~KarenH~ wrote: "I think you'll be fine. If I remember correctly there's little to no reference back to the I-Team book(s) that some of the characters in this one appeared in. And actually, I'd forgotten until I just read a review, but you might even be a little better off because the H in this book was something of a jerk in the I-Team book he was in. Since you haven't read that one, you can go into it with no preconceived ideas about him!"

Ok, great! I always get nervous with spin-offs. Sometimes there's too many references to characters in the original, and I get confused.

[Chan]

Courtney wrote: "Chan wrote:"I'll pick Fox and O'Hare series by Janet Evanovich



Cool, I think we're pretty much good to go."

LOL he is chewing so hard 🤣

[Chan]

Ugh I'm getting frustrated with the Audible selections. they are running a 2 for 1 sale and the romance offers are minimal :-(

[~KarenH~, Moderator]

Courtney wrote: "Ok, great! I always get nervous with spin-offs. Sometimes there's too many references to characters in the original, and I get confused."

I know, I'm the same way and I hope I'm not leading you astray. There's quite a bit of that kind of thing in the Colorado High Country series, but I really don't remember much at all in this one. I think it helps that the home base for the company that is the center of the series is in DC and they travel all over the world, so not coming in contact with the characters in the previous series, set in Colorado.