Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
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TART Challenge - Round 4 - Fast like Molasses (4)
~KarenH~ wrote: "Well, I said MAYBE my favorite...depending on the day I go back and forth between that one and Daniel's book. But both were solid 5 star reads for me!"okay. good to know
Courtney wrote: "It's my favorite of the series, Chan! Definitely. My book is such a snooze-fest! OMG. I thought it might be interesting because the hero is a felon, kind of a different backstory, but it's sooooo..."
oooh that's a hard NO!
Maybe it'll get better soon.
#16 | 69. Read 6 books that have won/been nominated for an awardBook: Boyfriend Material
Pages: 432
Rating: 🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞
Completed: October 23, 2021
Qualifies: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2020)
I was finally able to check your books - All appeared good. 😊
Task #16 - 69. Read 6 books that have won/been nominated for an award.Book 1:
Book:
North of NeedPage Count: 236
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: Oct 22, 2021
Qualification: MP Literary Awards - PRISM Award by Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Special Interest Chapter of RWA for Best Light Paranormal of (2012)
Book 2:
Book:
The WitnessPages: 492
Rating: 5 stars
Completed: Oct 23, 2021
Qualification: MP Literary Awards - All About Romance (AAR) Annual Reader Poll for Best Romantic Suspense (2013), Audie Award for Romance (2013), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2012)
I'll finish up my completion post when I finish the 2nd book...still a few hours to go...
# 16 | 69. Read 6 books that have won/been nominated for an awardBook 1:
Pages: 405
Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Completed: October 22, 2021
Qualifies: RITA Award by Romance Writers of America for Best Regency Historical Romance (2012), Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award (RT Award) for Best Historical Love & Laughter (
Book 2:
Pages: 320
Rating: ❤️❤️❤️
Completed: October 23, 2021
Qualifies: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2017)
2nd book finished and completion post updated. 😀
Completion Post - Task #1669. Read 6 books that have won/been nominated for an award.
A Cowboy's Redemption
Pages: 224
Completed: 10/24
How it Qualifies: Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award (RT Award) for Harlequin American (2015)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Review:
I was interested in trying this one because I liked the backstory of the hero getting out of prison and trying to make a life for himself. But this was just so boring. There's very little that happens in the plot, and there are lots of scenes that just feel "extra". They don't help move the plot or show us anything new about the characters, so it just feels like filler. I just couldn't connect with any of the characters at all. Despite the tragic things that happened to them in the past, there's just no emotion in here. Everything felt like it needed more.
There's really no relationship building between the characters either. It's pretty much insta-love/lust, and for most of the book they just convince themselves why they shouldn't be together. There were a lot of loose ends, too, like Cruz's meeting with Victor or the guy with the gun in Albuquerque. Just random things with no purpose or tie in with anything else.
And, I'm sorry, but Sarah leaving her five-year-old home alone with some drifter guy that she knows nothing about and just hired two days ago without any kind of background check?
It was just ludicrous. Not to mention how she spends the entire book complaining about how her dead husband hadn't spent much time with their daughter because he had been so busy working, and then she does the exact same thing as soon as they return to Albuquerque and Cruz leaves.
Just didn't work for me all around.
Here is your next task!Task 17 - 88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.
As a team select which vehicle you are looking for on the covers and then read 6 books with that item on the cover. You can use any edition's cover to qualify for this task. Please include the selected item and the qualifying cover in your completion posts.
Hiya team. This is what we have: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.
Motorcycle
Off to search MnG shelves. I'm a little nervous. My last book was AMAZING. I really enjoyed it. One line that keeps playing over and over in my head is I wasn't ready for the truth of youWHEW! that got to me. In real life, we idealize people, but when they are open and honest with us, we blame them for our own idealizations.
Okay, i'm going to stop now, but i really liked Boyfriend Material and I'm afraid my next book is going to flop because i'm currently on a book high.
Ugh...MC romances aren't among my favorites so don't have a ton at my fingertips. And of course the one that I do have doesn't have a motorcycle on the cover - go figure! I went hunting and found something totally random - new to me author, but good ratings, available in audio from the library, and fairly short (less than 8 hours at regular speed).
Pretty sure I can get through 2 books...if I like this one I can do the 2nd book in the series, and if not I can do a reread of one of Laura Kaye's Raven Riders series.
Chan wrote: "Off to search MnG shelves. I'm a little nervous. My last book was AMAZING. I really enjoyed it. One line that keeps playing over and over in my head is I wasn't ready for the truth of youWHEW! th..."
Chan, I added this one to my wishlist earlier...now after this I guess I'm going to have to bump it up higher!
~KarenH~ wrote: "Ugh...MC romances aren't among my favorites so don't have a ton at my fingertips. And of course the one that I do have doesn't have a motorcycle on the cover - go figure! I went hunting and found s..."I'm in a similar struggle. Although it's not like i don't enjoy mc stories, but for some reason i don't really read them. Same with historicals. It's not like i don't like hr, but i don't have a lot on my shelf.
~KarenH~ wrote: "Chan wrote: "Off to search MnG shelves. I'm a little nervous. My last book was AMAZING. I really enjoyed it. One line that keeps playing over and over in my head is I wasn't ready for the truth of ..."I hope you like it karen. I've noticed that i enjoy books that tend to make me think.
I like fluff too and dirty romances, but there needs to be substance for me. I didn't realize that until recently.
Next time, let's try boat for this task.I'm doing a reread. I'll check in when I'm finished. I can reread a second if need be.
Do you want to change? I'm ok with boat if you want. I just woke up, so haven't looked for anything yet.
that's okay. i'm already reading and i'm sure Karen has probably started too.
Chan's right, I'm about 2/3 of the way through my book, so definitely don't want to change at this point. And even though MC romance isn't something I read a lot of, as I said before I don't dislike them. I think motorcycles are easier to find on covers than either of the others too, so I'm good with it.
Ok cool. I'm going to do
then. It was surprisingly hard to find an MC book with a motorcycle on the cover. Go figure 🤣
Courtney wrote: "It was surprisingly hard to find an MC book with a motorcycle on the cover. Go figure 🤣"I had the same problem!
me too. i gave up and grabbed a reread. i was lazy 😁
Completion Post - Task #1788. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.
Team chose motorcycle
Book 1
Inferno
Pages: 201
Completed: 10/25
How it Qualifies: Motorcycle on cover
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Review:
This is one of those books that I liked the ideas more than the execution. Tessa is a single mom who recently moved to town, and she meets one of her students' dads, Bishop, who's the president of the local motorcycle club. I usually really like this opposites attract troupe in MC romances, but there just wasn't enough oomph here. I think the problem is that the Devil Chaser's are really MC-lite. The author includes all the things that should be gritty and dirty about a MC, but it's all surface, with no depth. Like, the club has Fallen girls, but they don't ever do anything on page. You're just told what their purpose is. So why include them at all? It kind of felt like the author had an MC checklist she was going through sometimes.
The writing is also very abrupt and awkward. Lots of the dialogue doesn't feel natural, and the things they talk about aren't things people would say in real life. It just feels kind of amateurish.
There were also continuity issues, like when Bishop lies to the doctor and says he's Tessa's husband so that he'll tell him about her health status, and then when the doctor says she can go home if someone can take care of her, Bishop says she's going to move in with him.....Uh...Pretty sure if you were "married", you would already be living together. Why would the doctor ask that question, and why wouldn't he find the response odd if he did?
And the big climax was too weird and out of left field. Absolutely no build up or good reason for it, and not enough depth in the story to make it have any impact.
Just couldn't get into this.
Book 2
Storm
Pages: 166
Completed: 10/27
How it Qualifies: Motorcycle on cover
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
The writing is fine, and it has lots of elements you'd expect in an MC romance, but it just doesn't work. So much of the story happens off page that it ends up feeling that you're missing half of the story. The other issue is that the climax hinted from the beginning of the book happens in the middle of the story, and it's resolved quite easily. So then there are chapters and chapters of the MCs just rehashing the same stuff and saying they'll talk more about it later, and then at the very end the author adds in another baddie never mentioned earlier in the story and a weird side plot with the heroine's parents. It just ends up feeling messy and incomplete.
I was stuck at the birth center doing my glucose test today, so actually had two hours straight of reading time 🤣
I'm not sure who was going to do a second, but I'm going to start
. It works for PTP. But if you guys finish second books before me, that's cool too.
#17 | 88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide whichBook: Own the Wind
Pages: 448
Rating: 🏍🏍🏍🏍
Completed: October 25, 2021
Qualifies: Motorcycle on cover
Besides courntey, has any one else started a second book?
i'm reading, but it's a reread and won't be offended if someone else has a 2nd book. I'll be done with it tonight.
#17 | 88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which Team decided: Motorcycle
Book:
Pages: 238
Rating: 🏍🏍🏍
Completed: October 25, 2021
Qualifies: Motorcycle on cover
I actually just finished my second book. 😁 I'll get them both posted shortly.
Task #17 - 88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.Team chose motorcycle
Book 1:
Book:
BoomtownPage Count: 302
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: Oct 24, 2021
Qualification: Motorcycle on this cover
Book 2:
Book:
Highway Don't CarePages: 361
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: Oct 25, 2021
Qualification: Motorcycle on this cover
okay. i'll stop reading mine, since Courtney said she is reading a second one.
Courtney, I've started that book three or four times, but i can't seem to get past the 2nd or 3rd chapter. There is something about it that puts me off. I'm interested to see what you think about it.
You mean
? I'm only about 3 chapters in, but I think it's OK for a MC romance so far. The heroine definitely has issues, though. I'm a bit worried she's going to end up annoying me too much. Seems like she's quick to jump to conclusions, and one of those heroines that the author wants to be "tough" but is actually just super self-centered and stubborn for no reason.
Here is your next task!Task 18 - 83. Read 8 books with a white flower/s on the cover.
You can use any edition's cover to qualify for this task. Please post the qualifying cover in your completion post. Remember to use the first edition Kindle page count though!
Ooh tricky! Let me see what I've got!
I found one that I thought has a white flower in the corner...zoomed in...and it was a white dog 🤣🤣🤣This one looks good, but I can't tell if the flowers are white or pink 🤣
I've found a few, but nothing is really screaming at me this time. Top contender right now is
This looks good, but I haven't read anything else in the series yet. 😭
But, I found
. So, I think I'll start with this.
I started with
I need to do more searching, but if I don't come up with anything else new by the time I finish my first one, I'll do a reread of an "In Death" book...at least a few of them have white flowers on the cover, and it's never a hardship for me to reread one of those!
Courtney wrote: The writing is fine, and it has lots of elements you'd expect in an MC romance, but it just doesn't work. So much of the story happens off page that it ends up feeling that you're missing half of the story. The other issue is that the"Maybe this was my issue with the book. I just felt like i couldn't get a grasp and by chapter 3 i remember feeling frustrated.
Courtney, i've read liberating lacey and I enjoyed it. I think because she does a good job of tackling some real issues of their situation and she doesn't wrap it up with a bow.
Karen, i was going to do an in death reread too, but my next in series lucky harbor book has flowers! I should be done with it before bed. 
I'll post both completions this evening.
Okay..i was too ambitious. I can't finish that book this evening. I should be done with it tomorrow late morning/early afternoon.
At the rate I'm going I'll be lucky to finish my first book tonight...it's been a crazy day after a night of very little sleep, so every time I try to just settle down and listen I fall asleep. Need to keep moving to stay awake until an at least somewhat reasonable time for bed!
Chan wrote: "Maybe this was my issue with the book. I just felt like i couldn't get a grasp and by chapter 3 i remember feeling frustrated.."Yeah, I seriously had to check Goodreads again to see if it was actually later in the series and not the first book. Way too many things talked about in a way like you should know them already. I found it really strange.
Chan wrote: "Courtney, i've read liberating lacey and I enjoyed it. I think because she does a good job of tackling some real issues of their situation and she doesn't wrap it up with a bow.
I saw you had read it before. Honestly, I'm really loving it! I'm about halfway done, but I think this author does a fantastic job. Really impressed with it. Maybe because I'm also woman "of a certain age" 🤣.
~KarenH~ wrote: "At the rate I'm going I'll be lucky to finish my first book tonight...it's been a crazy day after a night of very little sleep, so every time I try to just settle down and listen I fall asleep. Nee..."No worries, I'm only about halfway done with my first one. Son woke up with a fever this morning, so it's been one of those days over here, too.
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
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My book is such a snooze-fest! OMG. I thought it might be interesting because the hero is a felon, kind of a different backstory, but it's soooooo boring. And seriously, a woman leaves her five year old home with a strange man she hired to repair her house three days ago while she runs errands?