Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
The Amazing Race Archive
>
TART Challenge - Round 5 - Fast Like Molasses (7)
Phew...done! 😁 I'm kind of torn about this author. Taken individually I enjoyed the books I read, but reading them one after the other I noticed several issues that showed up in all three of them. It's the kind of things that are good plot points in a single book, but when the same things appear multiple times (and even in multiple series), it gets old. I liked her characters and will probably continue both series I started, but I'll need to remember not to read more than one at a time in the future!
#11 | 73. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide authorTeam chose Naima Simone
Book: Ruthless Pride
Pages: 160
Qualifies: Author is Naima Simone
Rating: 😐😐😐
Completed: May 3, 2022
I didn't really care for this one. not giving up on her, i'll try something else by her. Maybe one of the books Karen read.
Completion Post - Task #10Task 11 - 73. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide author.
Team chose Naima Simone
Scoring the Player's Baby
Pages: 219
Completed: 5/4
How it Qualifies: Written by Naima Simone
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
I normally really enjoy Naima Simone's books, but this one didn't work for me. From the beginning, the couple just felt a bit off. Ronin tried too hard, and Kim was too closed off. It never really felt like she was interested in him, and his claims that he didn't want a relationship either didn't ring true with how hard he was working for it. And the whole dead wife/girlfriend troupe is super hard to pull off, and it wasn't successful here. (Surprising because she did so well with it in Sin and Ink). Ronin seemed so hung up on his ex and had been so in love with her, so to move past that for a woman he only really knew through sex and who never gave any indication that she was actually interested in him just rang really hollow. This didn't end up feeling like much of a relationship.
Aw sorry guys. looks like this was a dud for everyone. I did really like the second book in the Bachelor Auction series, if you decide to continue someday, Karen. And thanks for reading so much! You really flew through those!
I wouldn't say it's she's a dud for me, I'm pretty sure I will continue both series at some point...just need to be sure not to read any back to back in the future.
~KarenH~ wrote: "Task 11 - 73. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide author. Team chose Naima Simone
Book 1
Book:
"Please correct (the completion for the book shown) to the first edition Kindle page count (232) and repost. Thanks.
Well, you all blew through that task! I'll be back in the morning with your next task.
REPOSTTask 11 - 73. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide author.
Team chose Naima Simone
Book 1
Book:
Beauty and the BachelorPages: 232
Qualifies: Written by Naima Simone
Rating: 3.5 stars
Completed: May 2, 2022
It's really not nice of the publishers to release 2 Kindle versions with different page counts on the same day in different years... 🤣🤣🤣
~KarenH~ wrote: "I wouldn't say it's she's a dud for me, I'm pretty sure I will continue both series at some point...just need to be sure not to read any back to back in the future."Oh good. I really like her because I feel like she's a good character writer. Like, she writes them to feel more real with lots of feels. I don't usually get the "no real person would ever react this way" thing with her.
Here is your next task!Task 12 - 31. Read 6 books rated over 4.0.
Books selected for this task need to have an average rating of 4.0 or higher on GR. If the rating for your book might drop below 4.0 during the task, i.e. it has very few ratings or it is exactly 4.0, a screenshot might be advisable and you might wish to withhold your rating if you are rating it less than 4 stars. Please include the average rating in your completion posts.
Ok, this one is easy! I can do 2 or 3, depending on everyone else's reading time (1 from my M&G list and 2 SHORT rereads that I found).
I may be able to do 2 as well, I'll see how I get on.
Sounds good. One of my rereads is less than 2 hours in audio by the time I speed it up, so I'll just leave that one and tack it on tomorrow evening if needed.
I want to take a moment and tell you all thank you so much for picking up the slack. I am overwhelmed at the moment with work. But it all ends on Monday, May 9th. so after a day or two of sleep, I'll pull my weight again.
Chan, remember it's also supposed to be fun, so no worries and Karen has been showing us all up I think 🤣
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "Chan, remember it's also supposed to be fun, so no worries and Karen has been showing us all up I think 🤣"What Tink said, Chan! Nobody needs to add stress from a challenge when RL is kicking their tail...that's when it stops being fun and starts being an obligation. And I'm just glad I'm in a stretch right now that allows me to do extra...others have done it for me in the past and it's nice to be on the flip side of the coin now. 😁
Easy peasy. I just got Ruby Dixon's new one, so I'll go with that.
. 4.18
I'm listening to this one. I should have this one done before bed. it's pretty short. less than 5 hours. 
Thank you Tink and Karen for the kind words. BTW, Karen what did you think of The Fall by May Archer?
Completion Post - Task #12Task 12 - 31. Read 6 books rated over 4.0.
The Half-Orc's Maiden Bride
Pages: 190
Completed: 5/5
How it Qualifies: Rated 4.18
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
This was ok, but nothing really special. It was light, and a bit overly sweet and cheesy. There isn't much drama, so there's a lot of focus on how innocent the heroine is...which just gets old fast for me. Just so many times you can read about the hero "preparing" her or asking if what he's doing is ok. Just kind of boring 🤷♀️. The highlights for me were actually the hero's nutty orc father showing up and demanding orc wedding traditions, and the heroine's old, crude, and drunk maid.
Having It All
Pages: 152
Completed: 5/5
How it Qualifies: Rated 4.00
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review:
So glad I came back and tried this one. I wasn't a fan of Taking It All, and I was thinking of giving up on the series, but this one felt like it fit with the first book so much better than the second book did. For such a short book, there's a good amount of action and steam. You can really fly right though this.
Task 12 - 31. Read 6 books rated over 4.0Book: Beasts and Baubles
Pages: 185
Qualifies: Rated 4.19
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 5th May
Book: Lawless Kingdom
Pages: 168
Qualifies: Rated 4.00
Rating: 3.5 stars
Completed: 5th May
I have one more that's 152 pages and right at 4.0. I'll get started on it tonight, but if you guys finish up before me, no worries.
Okay. so...i passed out last night lol i was so tired. I'm finishing up right now.
#12 | 31. Read 6 books rated over 4.0.Book: On a Tuesday
Pages: 224
Qualifies: overall rating is 4.01
Rating: 🙂🙂🙂
Completed: May 5, 2022
Well, my second one was a super easy read, so just flew through it before bed 👍
I've just finished my second as well
Wow, you all were fast!!! I finished my first book last night but didn't get around to posting it, so now I'm the last one. 😁
Task 12 - 31. Read 6 books rated over 4.0.Book:
Hard to HoldPages: 308
Qualifies: Average Rating is 4.37
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: May 4, 2022
No worries! I'm so glad I could read two this time. I feel bad about always only getting through one while you guys do so many.
You are set to get your next task in the morning. 😊
Here is your next task!Task 13 - 94. Read 6 books published in sequential years, teams decide years.
Books for this task need to be initially published in sequential years, for example 2010-2011-2012-2013-2014-2015. Teams decide which years to use. Please include the selected years in your completion posts along with which year your book was published. Remember to use the initial publication date. If there is a date listed 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.
This year or last year would be easiest for me if that's fits for you guys?
Tink, I would say go ahead and find something and just let us know what year you're reading so we don't double up, since you're ahead of the rest of us time-wise. It'll be a couple of hours before I'm actually at the computer to do some searching, but I'm sure I can easily find something from any of the years we picked (2017-2022), as long as I know what year(s) not to pick!
I'll say 2022 then, thanks 😁
I can do 2021. I've got this one on my ereader already
. I can change though if necessary. I won't really get started until tomorrow morning
Chan wrote: "Hey. may i take a pass please?"You've got it, Chan!
Ok, I took a little trip through my shelves and found short books for 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Total page count for all 4 combined is just over 650, so I can get through all of them pretty easily if needed.I'm starting with 2017 -
I'll try for a second book, do you have a preference out of the other years Karen?
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "I'll try for a second book, do you have a preference out of the other years Karen?"Not a huge preference, but I do have a 2019 book on my M&G list that I might be able to fit in if I'm only doing 3, so that would probably be my first choice.
I can do 2018 if that's good with you, then we just need 20202022 - Tink
2021 - Courtney
2020 -
2019 - Karen
2018 - Tink
2017 - Karen
Tink Magoo is bad at reviews wrote: "I can do 2018 if that's good with you, then we just need 20202022 - Tink
2021 - Courtney
2020 -
2019 - Karen
2018 - Tink
2017 - Karen"
I've finished my first book (I'll post it shortly) and will start my 2019 book next. It's longer but not crazy long (about 8 hours at my listening speed) so I should be able to finish it tonight or tomorrow morning. I've got a 2020 book I can listen to that's only about 3 hours, so should have plenty of time to get through that after the 2019 book if needed.
Task 13 - 94. Read 6 books published in sequential years, teams decide years. Team chose 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Book 1
Book:
ImagoPages: 164
Qualifies: First published February 18th 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: May 6, 2022
Book 2
Book:
How to Be a Movie StarPages: 350
Qualifies: First published February 12th 2019
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: May 7, 2022
Oh my gosh you guys are fast 🤣. I just got up. I can definitely get through my first book today. I'm pretty sure I have a 2020 too, but if you finish one before me, that's fine too. Hopefully I can get my first done at lunch 🤞
Task 13 - 94. Read 6 books published in sequential years, teams decide years.Team chose 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Book: The Dragon's Bride
Pages: 180
Qualifies: Published March 29th 2022
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: 6th May
Book: Two Weeks Notice
Pages: 244
Qualifies: Published July 19th 2018
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 7th May
Completion Post - Task #1394. Read 6 books published in sequential years, teams decide years.
Team chose 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Book 1
I Kissed an Earl (and I Liked It)
Pages: 162
Completed: 5/7
How it Qualifies: Initial publication year is 2021
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Review:
This started out really cute, and I was looking forward to nice, light, feel-good story. But around half way through...
This thing just goes bonkers!
So Christian and Marie meet at the beach, while he's swimming nude....in the middle of the day. Kooky, but OK. They kiss, and get caught by some woman. So, of course, Marie needs to get married to avoid a scandal.
But, instead of being married off to the man that she was caught with, her brother betroths her to Christian's older brother. While on the same day, Christian is betrothed to a different woman from the village.
Of course, Christian and Marie need to come up with a plan to end their engagements, and up until this point I was really into this and thought this was going to be a fun story. Then, while they're off getting it on (view spoiler)
But it gets even stranger! You would think that at least now Christian and Marie can get married to each other. But NO!!!!!!!! Christian decides that he can't break off an engagement to a woman he doesn't care about to marry the woman he actually loves and has already banged until he knows that the other woman is already in love with someone else!
This is seriously insane. I liked the characters in the beginning, but Christian ends up being a freaking nutjob. And Marie is so self-centered she doesn't care anything about what Christian is going through and can't even bother to wear black after her fiancé died. They both end up being pretty darn unlikable.
Book 2
Confident in Chaps
Pages: 157
Completed: 5/7
How it Qualifies: Initial publication year is 2020
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
Review:
Well, I had a longer review, but GR spit out my edit 😂.
This was a sweet second chance romance. I really liked the MCs, and the drama was light and believable. I'm a big fan of Petrova's cowboy/rancher books. She always does them so sweet without being cheesy. Not sure how I feel about the apple pie scene (seems like a vaginal infection waiting to happen), but otherwise, I thought it was cute.
I just lost my mind a bit and posted our completion before I noticed that Tink's 2nd book wasn't finished yet...oops! Guess that's what I get for trying to do something before the caffeine kicks in fully! 🤣🤣🤣I deleted it...hopefully nobody noticed!
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Home for the Holidays (other topics)Morning Glory Milking Farm (other topics)
Visions of Sugar Plums (other topics)
Storming the Castle (other topics)
Big Player (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sarina Bowen (other topics)Naima Simone (other topics)
Naima Simone (other topics)
Naima Simone (other topics)
Naima Simone (other topics)
More...
Team chose Naima Simone
Book: Scoring off the Field
Pages: 232
Qualifies: Written by Naima Simone
Rating: 2 stars
Completed: 3rd May