Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
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TART Challenge - Round 5 - Fast Like Molasses (7)
Do you guys go by the last one to finish posts asking for a new task?
Hey. I think you are asking who posts completion???Typically, whoever is the last to post their completion, they will post in the main thread that we finished our task. We usually use Courtney's completion message and then adding the individual completion messages if her message does not contain everybody's completion post.
Wow, so much for this being an easy-going, relaxed team! 🤣🤣🤣 I should finish my book sometime in the early afternoon (my time).
Thanks Chan, that's exactly what I meant.And it wasn't gory at all :D
Karen, mine was a reread so those are always quicker for me than a new read and I literally sat on my fat arse all day 🤣
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "Thanks Chan, that's exactly what I meant.And it wasn't gory at all :D
Karen, mine was a reread so those are always quicker for me than a new read and I literally sat on my fat arse all day 🤣"
Yeah, it just kind of cracked me up a bit that after we'd talked about the team being relaxed and winning not being our goal, I wake up this morning and by the time I get a few things done and get to the computer, all three of you have posted your completions. 😁
Well...i had anticipated mine being completed this evening. My book started off weird. I didn't get it and I wasn't liking it. But as soon as i sat in the bed, i understood what the author was doing. I think it would have made more sense sooner if i was actually reading and not listening. Anyways, the book started getting really good and then I couldn't stop listening. I was up to the wee hours of the morning. And as soon as i woke up, i started it right up again. Even as i was brushing my teeth.
This is likely the only time I'll be so fast. The stars were all kinds of in alignment for this one 🤣.
Chan wrote: "And as soon as i woke up, i started it right up again. Even as i was brushing my teeth."I know how that goes! In fact, I have a set of waterproof earbuds and may or may not have, on occasion, even listened in the shower. 😂 I only do that if I'm REALLY sucked in though...the earbuds may be waterproof and not damaged by the water, but they're glitchy...things like the shower spray hitting them and raising or lowering the volume...
Your book sounds really good, Chan! I have it in mind for either the "new to me" author task or the stand-alone, since I don't have any of either of those on my M&G list.
haha...yes. I am a shower listener. My goodness. your buds are really sensitive if the water can raise or lower the volume.Karen, i think my confusion may have been that I have never watched the bachelor. Not even one episode. I vaguely know what it's about through Kat's challenge.
Also, i think the setup of the story probably makes more sense when it's read. Sometimes reading a book with blogs, text messages, emails, random dialogue, etc, is easier to understand those quick pivots and what is going on when you see it rather than listening to it.
Chan wrote: "haha...yes. I am a shower listener. My goodness. your buds are really sensitive if the water can raise or lower the volume.Karen, i think my confusion may have been that I have never watched the ..."
Yeah, the earbuds are annoying...they're not the ones I use most of the time because the "buttons" (touch pads) are way too sensitive, and since I generally only use one at a time, once the volume goes up (or down) I can't fix it. Not generally much of a problem in regular use, mostly just in the shower. Next time I try using them there I'm going to use both - at least that way if it changes on me I can fix it!
Courtney, I read the first book in the series at Christmas and loved it, seeing your review has put me back in the mood for it again. Was book 2 as good?Chan, did the main characters size come up much throughout the story? I can't stand when authors feel the need to bring up the heroine being 'bigger' all the time. If it isn't I'm going to give it a go
Task #1 - 0. Read a book with either blue or yellow on the cover, teams decide whichTeam chose blue
Book:
Bite Me If You CanPages: 310
Qualifies: See cover above (over 80% blue per TinEye)
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: April 13, 2022
Ok, first task completed and posted in the Q&A thread 😃
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "Courtney, I read the first book in the series at Christmas and loved it, seeing your review has put me back in the mood for it again. Was book 2 as good?Chan, did the main characters size come up..."
The second was my least favorite of the three. It was still good, but it was a little dry compared to the others. Maybe because the mcs hide their relationship for so long. I felt like the heroine was a bit too much of a doormat.
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "Chan, did the main characters size come up much throughout the story? I can't stand when authors feel the need to bring up the heroine being 'bigger' all the time. If it isn't I'm going to give it a go"I don't like books like that either. Whether it be plus size, or an MC who is supposed to look average, etc. I read a book where the MC was supposed to be bad at sex and the author really drove that one into the ground. Gosh we get it...she is bad at sex. give it a break already.
Big Girl Panties is about a plus sized woman and the author really wanted to make sure her readers knew the MC was plus sized.
IMO, One to Watch isn't like that. While the MC's size is important b/c it's a first for the show, the MC is working through other things which helps take the sole focus of the story off of her size. And the author made Bea sound beautiful inside and out, but also a real person (so not perfect). if that makes sense lol
I'll be back in the morning with your next task. 😊
To me it defeats the whole point of a character being slightly different looks or size-wise if the author rubs it in my face throughout the book. I can't stand it when names are overused either, I have a shelf, especially for books that do that. Drives me up the wall.I'm going to add it to my list :)
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "Chan, did the main characters size come up much throughout the story? I can't stand when authors feel the need to bring up the heroine being 'bigger' all the time. If it isn't I'm going to give it a go"This gets on my nerves too. I had one once that just went on and on and on about it... and at one point the heroine talked about how a skinny woman couldn't appreciate a nice kitchen because all she ever ate was salads 🙄
YES Courtney! that is the other issue. The book that kept mentioning the female lead was bad at sex began speaking negatively about women - talking about their clothes, calling them sluts, etc. I wish i could remember the name of that one.
Here is your next task!10. Read 4 books by authors who write under more than one name (Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb).
Books selected for this task need to be written by authors who write under more than one name. Authors such as Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb or Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle would work for this task. Please include a link to the author’s profile or website showing both names in your completion posts.
woohoo! great task. Getting started now.
Yep, it's an easy one for me, and I'm not even reading an In Death book! 😁I'm reading
I've started mine. I'm half way through and loving it so should be done by lunch time tomorrow just before my brother turns up for a visit. I might be slower on the next book til he leaves
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "I've started mine. I'm half way through and loving it so should be done by lunch time tomorrow just before my brother turns up for a visit. I might be slower on the next book til he leaves"No worries...enjoy your visit with your brother!
My book is pretty short, so might actually finish tonight if I don't have too many distractions.
No need to rush! 😄 I just woke up, so I won't have mine done for a while. Unfortunately calls usually come right after I go to bed. Hazard of living in the opposite time zone 🤣.
Ugh, this one is always the hardest for me. But it looks like Elle Kennedy has another pen name, so at least an author I'm familiar with. Unfortunately I have nothing by her already on my eReader, and I'm stuck in bed next to the baby. If I move, he'll wake up 🤣. So as soon as he's up, I'll grab something from my computer. I'm going to do
. It's just over 150.
They come around 10pm for me but then I get the day to catch up while most people are sleeping :DHow old is your baby?
A little over two months! And he actually slept for five hours in a row last night. It was glorious 😂 Looks like I have to change my book, though. I've tried three times, but every time I put it on my ereader, I can read two pages, and then it flashes and says I've finished with it. The first time froze my device twice. Something must be wrong with the file. So I'm going with
instead. It's a bit longer, so might take me until tomorrow.
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "I've started mine. I'm half way through and loving it so should be done by lunch time tomorrow just before my brother turns up for a visit. I might be slower on the next book til he leaves"have fun Tink! Family time is important.
I'm doing an in death book. I thought i would knock it out tonight, but i'm getting sleepy. I'll probably have about 2 to 3 hours left for tomorrow to get through.
That's right, Courtney! Last time we played TART, you were pregnant. Congrats on the little one. Any interesting delivery stories?I'm happy you got 5 straight hours last night. That seems uncommon for babies at that age.
Task #2 - 10. Read 4 books by authors who write under more than one name (Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb).Book:
Three to RidePages: 202
Qualifies: Author listed as Lexi Blake writing as Sophie Oak, on this cover:
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: April 14, 2022
Chan wrote: "That's right, Courtney! Last time we played TART, you were pregnant. Congrats on the little one. Any interesting delivery stories?I'm happy you got 5 straight hours last night. That seems uncommo..."
Thanks!
Delivery was about as much fun as you'd expect, haha. Funniest part was that I went into labor over Lunar New Year, and in Taiwan, everything is pretty much closed. They had to call in the anaesthesiologist for the epidural, and the nurses told my husband that he had to tip her for coming in on the holiday lol.
Ugh, so my stupid book said 208 pages on the GR landing page, but it's actually 308 pages, which would just take too long. I had the hardest time finding an author with a pen name, but I finally found another.
. Looks like a better book anyway, so win-win.
Oh shoot, darn it. I don't think it'll work. I have the second edition of the book, and that's 161 pages. But the first edition Kindle edition is listed as 132. Boo!
I don't know if this will help, it's a list of romance authors that write under more than one namehttps://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I'm nearly done with
Yeah, I saw the list, but a lot of the authors I didn't recognize. I ended up finding something else by Cara McKenna. I just read something by her a month ago, so at least I know I like her. Glad I checked the page count before I started the other one of hers I found, though!
Task: #2 - 10. Read 4 books by authors who write under more than one nameBook: Demon Escape
Page numbers: 250
How book qualified: MJ Haag also writes as Melissa Haag Melissa Haag
Date Completed: 15th April
Rating: 4.5 stars
#2 | 10. Read 4 books by authors who write under more than one nameBook: Reunion in Death
Pages: 378
Qualifies: JD Robb is Nora Roberts' pen name
Rating: 🎂🎂🎂🎂
Completed: April 15, 2022
Courtney wrote: "Chan wrote: "That's right, Courtney! Last time we played TART, you were pregnant. Congrats on the little one. Any interesting delivery stories?I'm happy you got 5 straight hours last night. That ..."
lol you cut the hospital staff's celebration short. Congrats again. It seems like you had a straightforward delivery except for everybody wanting to celebrate the New Year.
Courtney wrote: "Ugh, so my stupid book said 208 pages on the GR landing page, but it's actually 308 pages, which would just take too long. I had the hardest time finding an author with a pen name, but I finally fo..."This one was okay to me, but you probably would've liked it. It was too short for me. Too much going on and not enough pages for my liking.
Completion Post - Task #110. Read 4 books by authors who write under more than one name.
Drive It Deep
Pages: 169
Completed: 4/16
How it Qualifies: Author Cara McKenna also writes under pen name Meg Maguire
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
When a series gets a prequel, I'm never sure if I should start with that or read things in publication order. I started with this one, but I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed the characters more if I had read book 1 first.
Miah and Raina have been friends since childhood, and while Raina has always had a secret crush on Miah, he only really started noticing her that way over the past year. They become lovers, but Miah doesn't do casual, and Raina has no interest in marriage or having children one day. So, not really a match made in heaven here.
What I appreciate about this book is how honest it is. Raina doesn't cave or pretend that she might change her mind about the future she wants. She stands up to Miah and stands behind her convictions that motherhood isn't for her.
But, this book really isn't much of a romance. Neither character seems to feel that strongly for the other. It feels more like "why not?" for both of them rather than a real romantic connection. Near the end, they claim that they're in love, but they don't really have anything besides sex, so it certainly doesn't feel like they're in love.
The book does a pretty good job of showing the life cycle of a doomed relationship, but I probably would have felt more of Miah's heartbreak if it had actually felt like they really did love each other.
And what's with all the motorcycle covers? When I picked this up I thought it was going to have something to do with a motorcycle club, but .....nope. Miah owns a motorcycle that they ride once, but that's about it. Weird. But I guess a picture of a group of friends hanging out at a bar isn't as exciting.
Chan wrote: "This one was okay to me, but you probably would've liked it. It was too short for me. Too much going on and not enough pages for my liking."It definitely seemed up my ally. Apparently, the second edition has added scenes, so it might seem more fleshed out now. I'll probably read it at some point.
Chan wrote: "lol you cut the hospital staff's celebration short. Congrats again. It seems like you had a straightforward delivery except for everybody wanting to celebrate the New Year.
There were only 2 other ladies at the birth clinic that day! I think most due around the same time induced early so they could be home for the holiday. One of the nurses was grumbling about how her shift ended at 7pm, right when I was getting ready to push. Baby was out by 7:15, so I guess she didn't have to stay that late, lol. I did end up with the trainee nurse for the rest of the night, and she blew out my IV. But luckily I was able to convince her that I really didn't need the fluids anymore, so I didn't have to get stuck again. I think they were happy when I said I only wanted to stay overnight and go home the next afternoon. Nobody wants to work that week haha.
awww...i'm glad this wasn't your first baby. It doesn't sound like it bothered you too much, but i think that would have been awful first birth experience. However, i do understand that hospital staff are really feeling overworked right now.
I just thought it was funny. One of those things you laugh about after the fact. To be fair, she probably didn't realize I could understand her. She wasn't the nurse that was with me when we checked in. And the other nurse was so nervous. Being new and dealing with a foreigner probably made it 10x harder.But as my third go-around, I'm probably better with things being a bit kooky 🤣. They thought it was bizarre that my husband went home right after birth, too, but caring for a newborn for the third time is a lot less daunting than the first time and I wanted him to be home with our other two more. Not like there's really much dad can do that first day anyway. It's mostly sleeping and breastfeeding, and his nipples are useless! 🤣🤣🤣
🤣 you are so funny, but you know what...science needs to do something about that. The women carry and go through the agonizing labor and delivery. the least science can do for women is create something that makes men lactate. This would really help mommies out.
I really just wanted my husband to do the birthing this time 🤣🤣
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Book: Warden
Page numbers: 286
How book qualified: Has a blue cover
Date Completed: 13th April
Rating: 4.5 stars