Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
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TART Challenge - Round 3 - Fast like Molasses (11)
This is what we had. Did anyone have a preference?January, February, March, April 2020
January 2020
January 2020 Historical
February 2020
February 2020 Historical
March 2020
March 2020 Historical
April 2020
April 2020 Historical
I'm ok with any of them, but February is the only one not on my M&G list so would prefer not that one if possible.
I definitely have ones for January and February already, but I'm looking for March and April, too.
Ok, I'm good for January, February, or March!
I have January and April, but I'll start on April.
Months available:January 2020
February 2020
March 2020
I'm reading
the audio is available at my public library. Feels good when it's free :o)
Karen, do you have a preference for January or March? I can wait for Liz and do whatever is left.
Sorry it’s my daughters birthday so I haven’t been checking today. I’m good with April. I’ll start reading tonight.
Oh sorry just reread that. I’ll take March.
Happy birthday to her! Hope you guys are having fun!So, we're doing :
January 2020 - Karen
February 2020 - Courtney
March 2020 - Liz
April 2020 - Chan
I'm going to do
. It's a bit out there for me, but it sounds interesting, so we'll see!
Hey everyone, sorry to be so absent - I've had company since last night and they just left. Glad everything worked out without much input from me...I'll be listening to The Last Sister, and starting it right away.
#12 | Task 90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months - Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr 2020Book: To Have and to Hoax
Pages: 367
Rating: 😷😷😷
Completed: April 9, 2021
Qualifies: Originally published April 7, 2020
Man, I'm flying through mine! I should finish up tonight no problem. I've never read the author before, but she writes really well. I feel so bad for this big, tough guy coast guard guy. Heart attack at 38, yowza.
yikes! that's young.My book was really good in the beginning, but then the author decided to drag out Violet's prank/hoax. When I say drag it out...Violet's prank lasted for half of the book. It was ridiculous.
Elizabeth wrote: "Sorry it’s my daughters birthday so I haven’t been checking today. I’m good with April. I’ll start reading tonight."Happy Birthday Liz's daughter! I hope you were able to do something fun.
#12 | Task 90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months - Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr 2020Book: Eight Perfect Murders
Pages: 271
Rating: 🕵️♀️🕵️♀️🕵️♀️
Completed: April 9, 2021
Qualifies: Originally published March 3, 2020
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chan wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Sorry it’s my daughters birthday so I haven’t been checking today. I’m good with April. I’ll start reading tonight."Happy Birthday Liz's daughter! I hope you were able to do som..."
Aww thanks. We went to build a bear. She had so much fun. ❤
Completion - Task 12 - 90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.Team chose Jan, Feb, Mar, April 2020
The Last SisterPages: 328 (Kindle version)
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 4/9/21
How the book qualifies: Original publication date is Jan 14, 2020.
Completion Post - Task 1290. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.
Team picked January, February, March, April 2020
Knot a Chance
Pages: 210 (Kindle version)
Completed: 4/10
How the book qualifies: Original publication date, February 16th 2020
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
I'll preface this by saying that I don't read a whole lot of BDSM books, so some of my dissatisfaction with the book may be a bit more of a case of "It's not you; It's me."
I picked this up because I really liked the premise in the precis. The heroine falling in love with the hero, but knowing that he's not interested in a relationship, so she walks. Then the big, tough alpha male being laid low and needing her care. The first half of the book that covers all of this was really great - how Stefan has the heart attack, his surprise and anger over it because he's healthy and should be in the prime of his life, Cassie's worry over him, his need to get right back to what he used to do, his despair over losing his job because of it. All that was really fantastic and spot on.
But where this failed for me was the actual relationship between Cassie and Stefan. They're barely together in this story, and they don't ever show any genuine feelings for each other. Cassie claims she loves Stefan, but she really knows nothing about him. She knows one restaurant that he likes to eat at, and that's about it. Stefan even admits that he knows less than 10 things about her, and all of those things are what any other member of the club would know. They're both really just surface with each other. They don't even have sex until the last chapter of the book, and it's stated that it's the first time they've ever done it outside of the bondage play they usually do.
I just didn't feel like they really knew each other outside of their club relationship (and besides Cassie calling Stefan "sir" or "master" and one bondage demonstration flashback, there's not really even much to that part of their relationship in here anyway), so I had trouble believing this was much of a couple.
Chan wrote: "yikes! that's young.My book was really good in the beginning, but then the author decided to drag out Violet's prank/hoax. When I say drag it out...Violet's prank lasted for half of the book. It ..."
Yeah, mine started strong and then totally petered out. Oh well...
Elizabeth wrote: "Aww thanks. We went to build a bear. She had so much fun. ❤"Build a Bear is the best! Bet it was a great time!
Elizabeth wrote: "Chan wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Sorry it’s my daughters birthday so I haven’t been checking today. I’m good with April. I’ll start reading tonight."Happy Birthday Liz's daughter! I hope you were a..."
I haven't been to Build a Bear in sooo long. My niece outgrew it, but I still want to go :o)
Courtney wrote: "Completion Post - Task 1290. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.
Team picked Ja..."
The beginning of this book sounds good. The nonrelationship part sucks because the beginning sounds like the makings of a really good read.
I've never been to Build a Bear, but I've heard it's just a blast. Glad your daughter had a great birthday, Liz!
Yeah, I was so disappointed 😢. I feel like the whole heart attack was wasted! Cassie should have nursed him back to health and he realized how she was so much more than some sub he tied up at the club. But no....😭
Chan wrote: "I haven't been to Build a Bear in sooo long. My niece outgrew it, but I still want to go :o)"My son made a Curious George doll last time we went. He got a little Hawaiian shirt for him to wear, too 😍
~KarenH~ wrote: "I've never been to Build a Bear, but I've heard it's just a blast. Glad your daughter had a great birthday, Liz!"Karen you have to find a kid and go...well, that might be considered kidnapping, maybe borrow a child.
It's so much fun! i took a group of kids one time and got to experience it over and over LOL.
Here is your next task!Task 13 - 97. Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name.
Books selected for this task need to be written by authors with at least 11 letters in their first and last names combined. Please include the total number of letters in the author's name in your completion post.
~KarenH~ wrote: "Chan wrote: "In Death is a good gauge. I'm good with suspense, but i really cannot handle a lot of gore description. A book illustrating someone was shot is okay, but going into details of carving ..."Hey Karen. I finally had to time to look at their catalogue and their books are right up my alley. How have I not read a book by them before? This reminds me of the time we were in another challenge together and you were shocked that I had never read an In Death book. I had heard of the series and read other books by Nora Roberts, but the "In Death" title scared me off.
So for Kendra Elliot, I'm taking your suggestion and starting with book 1 of Bone Secrets. For Melinda Leigh, I searched through her books and landed on Hour of Need. I'm excited about this one, the synopsis sounds like I'll be up to 3am trying to finish this book.
Thank you!
Ok, I'm going to start with
. I've been meaning to start this series forever, and it fits PTP, too!
I finally found something that fit this challenge and PtP. I'm starting with
#13 | Task 97: Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name | Book 1Book: Rock Chick Regret
Pages: 504
Rating: 🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️
Completed: April 11, 2021
Qualifies: The authors name has 13 letters - Kristen Ashley
#13 | Task 97: Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their nameBook: Killing November
Pages: 416
Rating: 4 Stars
Completed: April 10, 2021
Qualifies: The authors name has 13 letters - Adriana Mather
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Oooh, I've been meaning to get to the Neighbor from Hell series forever, too! Do you need to read the series in order, or are they pretty independent?
You could read them out of order, but then you might get lost in how they are related. The family is pretty big and they show up in each book.I think the author has a family tree on her website that I look at when it's been too long between books.
Oh my! Maybe starting at the beginning would be better 🤣
Completion Post - Task 1397. Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name.
An English Bride In Scotland
Pages: 389 (Kindle version)
Completed: 4/11
How the book qualifies: Author's name has 11 letters - Lynsay Sands
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
If you've ever read a Scottish historical romance before, this one will feel pretty familiar. You're not going to get a whole heck of a lot of new stuff here. The whole "about to be a nun, but instead gets married off to a big-bad Scot to save the family, but he turns out to be a nice guy" plot has been done countless times before, and Annabel is that same overly-sweet, overly-self-conscious, overly-innocent - and somehow still a closet sex goddess - heroine that always stars in these things. With that said, I did like her a bit more than I normally like this type of character. While she spends waaaaaay too much time harping on about how she's bigger, and therefore less attractive, than other women, I appreciated that the author didn't have her hold on to stupid secrets until the end of the book (which seems to be the common drama in these types of stories) and that she was tough enough to rescue her husband and not just be the one rescued throughout the story.
As for Ross, he's really more of a prop than anything else in the story. A very nice prop, but a prop nonetheless. There's not really much to his character, and the story definitely revolves around Annabel and her new life outside the monastery and her issues with her family more than their relationship.
Despite the ho-hum romance, what made the story enjoyable for me was the mystery of who was trying to kidnap Annabel - and the author did have me guessing almost to the end, so I think that part was really well done.
This was a sweet little read. Nothing very new or exciting, but a nice way to pass the time if you're in the mood for a Scottish historical romance. Not my favorite one, but I liked it well enough that I would read more in the series.
I'm off to bed, but I'll look for my second book tomorrow!
Completion - Task 13 - 97. Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name.Book 1:
Tempt The BossPages: 230 (Kindle version)
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 4/10/21
How the book qualifies: Author's name has 14 letters (Natasha Madison)
Completion - Task 13 - 97. Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name.Book 2:
Cross Her HeartPages: 327 (Kindle version)
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 4/11/21
How the book qualifies: Author's name has 12 letters (Melinda Leigh)
#13 | Task 97: Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name | Book 2Book: Truce
Pages: 284
Rating: 🍲🍲🍲🍲
Completed: April 11, 2021
Qualifies: The authors name has 11 letters - R.L. Mathewson
I started my second book. I had it on standby for the last call if I got January 🤣. It's under 200 pages, so hopefully won't take too long.
#13 | Task 97: Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name | Book 2Book: Say No to the Duke
Pages: 384
Rating:😍😍😍😍
Completed: April 11, 2021
Qualifies: The authors name has 11 letters - Eloisa James
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
~KarenH~ wrote: "Completion - Task 13 - 97. Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name.Book 1:
Tempt The BossPages: 230 (Kindle version)
R..."
Wasn't this book hilarious?! i think this was one of the funniest office romance books i've ever read.
Completion Post - Task 1397. Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name.
A Lion's Pride
Pages: 184 (Kindle version)
Completed: 4/12
How the book qualifies: Author's name has 12 letters - Susan A. Bliler
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
This was an OK read. I liked the idea of it - gruff alpha shifter falling in love with the adopted human sister of a rival clan - and I liked the characters, especially the brothers in the Concolor pride, but there just wasn't enough story here for me. The romance was just kind of lackluster because not much actually happened between the MCs. Carter was extremely wishy-washy, and he spends most of the book walking away in a huff over something. Maia and Carter don't really spend much time together until the big shifter festival, which doesn't occur until over halfway through the book, and there isn't much more relationship building after that either. And the extra drama the author threw in with the other shifter woman kissing Carter and Maia having been hit or something by an ex in college both seemed totally unnecessary.
I just didn't feel any chemistry in here, and for a book with very little plot outside the relationship, there needs to be a much stronger relationship to hold it together. And the steam level was disappointingly low for a book with little plot outside the couple getting together.
It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't super fantastic either.
Here is your next task!Task 14 - 71. Pick another team and each member reads one book that was read by a member for this challenge. No pass for this task.
As a team, select another team in this challenge and then everyone reads a book that was read by a member of the selected team for this challenge. Series rule applies. Please include a link to the other team members completion post in your completion post.
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Task 12 - 90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.
Books selected for this task need to be published in sequential months. The months can cross over from the end of one year to the beginning of the next. You will be using the initial publication date for this task. If there is a date at the top of the editions page, use it. Otherwise I will be looking for the earliest dated English language edition regardless of format for the qualification. Please include the selected dates in your completion posts.