Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
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TART Challenge - Round 3 - Fast like Molasses (11)
Here is your next task!Task 6 - 47. Read 6 books set in a major city.
The books you select can be in the same or different cities, but they need to be major cities like London, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. The qualification can come from the book details, title, series, precis, tags or list. Remember to let me know how you know the book qualifies with links or other information as necessary.
I'm going to read Devil in Winter. It's tagged London on page 3I have to read this one, so it'll take longer
I can easily read 2 for this one...the next 2 books up for me in the PsyCop series are both above the minimum page count (one just barely), but are only a little over 400 pages combined. Set in Chicago.
Thanks, Karen. After I finish this one, I'll check in to see if anybody else planned to read 2 books. I don't mind picking up another, i'll just make sure the 2nd one is audio.
Chan wrote: "Courtney, sorry you didn't enjoy it more. The story is a bit crazy and sarcastic. I've tried her Stephanie Plum series and really do not like it. I forced myself to get through book 1 because i w..."
Ah interesting! I didn't know there was one used for a movie. I saw that she wrote for Monk, which is one of my all time favorite shows, so she can definitely write things I like. I'm not sure if this one was a case of expecting something different than it was or getting stuck on the similarities to things I've seen before. The actual writing wasn't bad or anything, but the gem stealing reminded me of the guy in Despicable Me 3 and then the big con reminded me of Ocean's 11, and I think I just couldn't stop making these comparisons.
I loved Jake though. I kind of wish it had been more about her and her dad 🤣
So I figured one of my sports romances would work best since all the teams would need to be in big cities, but hardly any of them are tagged with the city they're in 🤣🤣🤣. Figures.I was thinking about just going with
because at least it has the city in the series name, but is Seattle considered a major city? I know everyone knows Seattle, but the population isn't that big compared to other big cities, so I'm not sure 🤣Otherwise, I've got
, which might be a safer bet since it's Chicago.
I totally forgot
took place in Chicago, and it was one of my favs last year.
is luckily tagged Chicago even though it's not in the precis, so I'll start with that, and then if necessary I can do one of my hockey ones 👍
Courtney wrote: "So I figured one of my sports romances would work best since all the teams would need to be in big cities, but hardly any of them are tagged with the city they're in 🤣🤣🤣. Figures.I was thinking a..."
I just answered in the other thread...I'm sure Seattle works. It may not be as big as New York, Chicago or LA, but it's in the top 20 in the US. Additionally, when talking major cities I personally would take other factors into account, and any city that is home to the headquarters of both Amazon and Microsoft has to qualify!
~KarenH~ wrote: "I just answered in the other thread...I'm sure Seattle works. It may not be as big as New York, Chicago or LA, but it's in the top 20 in the US. Additionally, when talking major cities I personally would take other factors into account, and any city that is home to the headquarters of both Amazon and Microsoft has to qualify!"Thanks! My first thought was that it was fine, but I started second guessing it. My husband thought it was hilarious that I asked because he said he's from New Zealand and knows where Seattle is, so it must be a major city 🤣
So, I'll start with Winger first, and then do Ruthless if we need more.
Hey. I switched my book to storm and silence. It fits this task and PtP.
Courtney wrote: "Thanks! My first thought was that it was fine, but I started second guessing it. My husband thought it was hilarious that I asked because he said he's from New Zealand and knows where Seattle is, so it must be a major city 🤣"Yeah, I think it's a matter of remembering that other things count. Seattle's decent sized, with a population of over 750,000, but if that was the only thing that counted and if Seattle wasn't considered major, then that would mean Washington DC wouldn't qualify either (smaller population than Seattle), and I don't think anyone would ever say it's not a major city!
So i finally got the beta page. I have to say that it has a sleeker look. And the lists at the bottom are very helpful. This feels more up to date, But what will drive me bananas WHERE THE HECK ARE THE SHELVES? I started itching. seriously LOL. do they plan to delete them? Like...where are they....for real, where did they put them.
I found a section that reads "shelved by" and it lists a couple of my gr friends who have shelved the book, but where are the frickin shelves?
Chan wrote: "So i finally got the beta page. I have to say that it has a sleeker look. And the lists at the bottom are very helpful. This feels more up to date, But what will drive me bananas WHERE THE HECK ARE THE SHELVES?"I KNOW!!! It makes me crazy. I don't care if they change the layout, but they shouldn't mess with functionality. If they really wanted to improve it, put a search box on the first page of shelves so I don't need to go through 38 pages of tags to find what I need 🤦🏽♀️
I still haven't seen them, other than the screen shots that Courtney posted. Chan would you mind posting a link to a beta book page here? Not sure if I will get to the beta site if I click it, but I'd like to give it a try!
Courtney wrote: "Chan wrote: "So i finally got the beta page. I have to say that it has a sleeker look. And the lists at the bottom are very helpful. This feels more up to date, But what will drive me bananas WHERE..."That is a fantastic idea, Courtney. who do we need to talk to for this to be tested in this beta page.
I did find the MPGs, it's located directly under the synopsis, but there isn't a link to take you to the rest of the shelves. IT'S NUTS!
~KarenH~ wrote: "Courtney wrote: "Thanks! My first thought was that it was fine, but I started second guessing it. My husband thought it was hilarious that I asked because he said he's from New Zealand and knows wh..."OK, I seriously had no idea D.C. had a population below 750,000 🤯. I thought it was a few million at least. I think maybe my population estimates are skewed because Taipei has like 8 million people, and when we go on vacations, we visit cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo which are about that size, so that's what I think of whenever I think "big city" 🤣.
You can click on the Beta megaphone on the bottom and send them an email. I've sent two begging them not to change it, but I don't know if they care because it still looks the same as it did before. I'll try sending the shelf search box idea, though. They also still don't have the lists on there either 🤬
I have to laugh at myself. I'm seriously getting worked up over some missing shelves 🤣 i started to feel hot and I already showered, i don't wanna sweat.
Chan wrote: "See if this works - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."Thanks Chan, but it didn't work...even after signing out and back in again I still get the old page, even from your link. I used to get all the beta stuff because I was in the Feedback group, but now that they've done away with that I don't know if there's any way to see the new stuff other than just wait for it.
I just checked the help section, and it says there's no way to get it unless you're in their "randomized" selection of people it's been rolled out to. That kind of stinks...
That does stink. i actually got it a week ago, but i had been ignoring the link LOL. I was scared
Chan wrote: "I have to laugh at myself. I'm seriously getting worked up over some missing shelves 🤣 i started to feel hot and I already showered, i don't wanna sweat."🤣 Don't worry, I'm worked up over it too! I've been ranting about it at home for days 🤣
Task 6 - 47. Read 6 books set in a major city.Book 1:
SecretsPages: 152 (Kindle version)
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 3/26/21
How the book qualifies: Set in Chicago per MP setting
Book 2:
Camp HellPages: 256 (Kindle version)
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 3/27/21
How the book qualifies: Set in Chicago per MP setting
Task 6 - 47. Read 6 books set in a major city.Book 1:
Completed: March 26, 2021
Pages: 351
Qualifies: Set in Nashville, TN per MP setting
Rating: ❤❤❤
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book 2:
Completed: March 27, 2021
Pages: 367
Qualifies: Set in London per MP Setting
Rating: ❤❤❤❤
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Elizabeth wrote: "Task 6 - 47. Read 6 books set in a major city.Book 1:
Completed: March 26, 2021
Qualifies: Set in Nashville, TN per MP setting
Rating: ❤❤❤
Review: https..."
Liz, your page count is missing from both books...can you please add it?
#6 | 47: Read 6 books set in a major city.Book: Storm and Silence
Pages: 885
Rating: 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Completed: March 27, 2021
Qualifies: MPG setting is London
Completion Post - Task 6 47. Read 6 books set in a major city.
Winger
Pages: 210
How it qualifies: Takes place in Seattle
From precis:
As the number one Winger for the Seattle Sharks and the last man standing in our bad-boy trio, the only lines I’m familiar with are red and blue.
Completed: 3/28
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
I'm rounding up just a bit with this one. It wasn't really quite a 4-star and wasn't quite as good as Grinder, but it was definitely a step back in that direction after the disappointing Enforcer installment.
I really liked both of the MCs in this one, and I liked how the author had each of them react to the surprise pregnancy. The overall story was good - having a playboy realize that he actually wanted the settled-down type of life that he always pushed away from. (And much appreciated that he didn't whore it up while they were separated for six months at the beginning of the book 👍)
The only problem I really had with the book was that I just didn't really connect to all of Jeannine's fears about whether or not Warren really wanted to be in it with her. This may be a bit because it's been a while since I read the first two books in the series, so maybe I've forgotten Warren's man-whore lifestyle, but I don't think there was enough in just this book alone to really justify how much Jeannine worried about it. Warren was obviously totally ready to make this family his the second he found out about the pregnancy, so whenever Jeannine questioned it, it just didn't come across super believable.
My favorite part of the book was how the author handled all the hormones and stress and craziness of the newborn period, though. Really well done, and might have given me a few flashbacks 🤣.
Overall, I liked it well enough. Not totally sucked in or totally in love with the couple like I was with Gage and Bailey in Grinder, but it was still a good installment to the series. And I really want to know what Bentley did to Chloe 😳. Can't wait for the next book!
Man, you guys are so speedy 🤣🤣🤣🤣.Here I thought I was super ahead because I got to read uninterrupted while I was getting my hair done yesterday 🤣
I've been doing a lot of rereads of my favorites and i get sucked in. Courtney, you like historical right? Storm and Silence is historical. The first few books in the series the romance plays second fiddle, but it's still good.
It's available on Wattpadd for free and what happens is, you tell yourself, 'just one more chapter' and before you know it, you're at the end.
This is one of my favorite historical romance stories.
Ooh, thanks! Yeah, I love historical romance. Still my favorite genre. I actually didn't read anything except historical fiction until a few years ago 🤣. Something about getting a little history lesson mixed in with the drama just speaks to me 🤣. I've never done anything on Wattpad, though, so I'll need to check it out. Can you download epubs off of it?
And should I do the prequel first? I always have a hard time deciding. Sometimes the prequels end up being confusing if you don't know the characters already.
NOOOOOO. skip the prequel. I read books 1 -3, then the prequel and ugh. not good. Sir Rob wasted his time writing that one.Not sure you can download on wattpad. i read directly on the platform. I think most people do because you can click to see the comments. Sometimes those are as entertaining as the stories.
Courtney wrote: "Man, you guys are so speedy 🤣🤣🤣🤣.Here I thought I was super ahead because I got to read uninterrupted while I was getting my hair done yesterday 🤣"
Yeah, it's a bummer that audiobooks don't work for you, because being able to "read" while you're doing housework, yardwork, running errands, makes a huge difference. I was even listening while cutting firewood today! Of course, living alone and not having much of a life these days helps too... 😂😂😂
Chan wrote: "NOOOOOO. skip the prequel. I read books 1 -3, then the prequel and ugh. not good. Sir Rob wasted his time writing that one.Not sure you can download on wattpad. i read directly on the platform. I..."
Ok I'll skip the prequel! 🤣 I'm going to check and see if there's an extension to move Wattpad stories directly to Calibre so I can put it on my eReader. Seems like something someone would have come up with.
~KarenH~ wrote: "Yeah, it's a bummer that audiobooks don't work for you, because being able to "read" while you're doing housework, yardwork, running errands, makes a huge difference. I was even listening while cutting firewood today! Of course, living alone and not having much of a life these days helps too... 😂😂😂."It might be the type of book too. I didn't realize Evanovich was slapstick, and slapstick is such a visual type of comedy. Since I can't visualize, it doesn't mean anything to me. I'm not getting the humor because I can't see it. I guess it would be kind of like if you could only hear the Three Stooges and not see them. This is probably why I'm so picky about dialogue in a book. It's how I get what's going on.
That big scene in The Heist with the thieves and the green screen stuff dragged on so long for me. I couldn't understand why the author was spending so much time unnecessarily describing what was happening. Like, all I needed to hear was that they were all in green and used the green covers to trick the camera and then I knew what was happening. All the extra details were pointless to me because I'm not "watching" the scene anyway. But if Evanovich is a physical comedy kind of writer, it makes sense why she would do that. I doubt I'd ever really be able to connect with her writing though.
I think something like
might work as an audio book for me because I've heard that the first half of the book is just reading letters between the main characters. I'm ok with things like podcasts because it's just people talking about things, but listening to people "act out" things just doesn't work for me. I need to see the words to connect with it I guess.
You are on my list - see you tomorrow!
Have you guys ever done anything on NetGalley? I was wondering if it was worth it or if you kind of get stuck with the bad stuff that shows up on Kindle Unlimited.
i've done netgalley. i had a couple of 4 star reads, the majority were 3 star reads. I've read a couple of historicals on netgalley and they were pretty good.
Here is your next task!Task 7 - 1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task.
As a team decide on an author and everyone reads a book by that author. Please include the selected author in your completion posts.
I think this is the third round she's been in the mix, so it's about time we finally got to her!
I'm on a deadline and have to work some today. So, i won't be able to start until later this evening.
I'm finishing up something else first, so won't be starting until later either. Fortunately her books are short, so time shouldn't be an issue. Ice Planet Barbarians is under 200 pages/6 hrs. audio...
That makes me nervous. I'm glad it's short because I can get through it quick, but I don't usually connect with short stories.
I'm soooo nervous. I hope it's not a total disaster 🤣. She was my first alien smut, so I kind of have a soft spot for her. Her books are pretty short, but most of them do a good job I think. There's a bit of insta-love, but there's usually enough to make it believable. She's pretty good about giving a good mix of world building and relationship building. I would say probably the first book in Ice Planet Barbarians runs a bit more on the world building side because it's the first in the series, but I still really ended up liking Georgie and Vektal.
I'm probably going to do
Completed Task 7 - 1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task.
Pages: 188
Completed: 3/29/21
Qualifies: Written by Ruby Dixon
Rating: 3 Stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
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I've tried her Stephanie Plum series and really do not like it. I forced myself to get through book 1 because i wanted to watch the movie with Katherine Heigl ~ One For the Money
The books I like by Evanovich, which are silly (I think Karen and Liz described them perfectly) are Fox and O'Hare, Lizzy and Diesel, and Knight and Moon.
However, the ones I like she doesn't publish any more except Fox and O'Hare, but the new publisher pulled Lee Goldberg from Co-writing it and they tried her son Peter Evanovich with book 6 and then Steve Hamilton with book 7 and it doesn't seem like the fans are liking it so I'll probably stop reading it.