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R14: *** WINNING TEAM *** SSS Team 2 - 2 for the Show

Week 7, Roll 6, Spot 51

My Choice: Soul Eater by Lily Mayne
Pages: 329
How it Fits: Monstrous #1
Date Read: 3/10
Rating: ★★★★★
Review: I loved everything about this book! I wasn't even half done before I bought book 2. I hope the rest of the books come out in audio format soon. I really liked the monster aspect of the story. Michael Lesley did a phenomenal job with the narration. Just an amazing book.
[*book:Soul Eater|58114709]

Week 7, Roll 1, Spot 51

Book: Trial by Sorcery
Author: Richard Fierce
Pages: 168
How it fits: Dragon Riders of Osnen #1
Date: 3/11/23
Rating: 2 stars
Review: This was a disappointment. From the description and ratings I thought this might be a fun book about a young man who wants to be a dragon rider. To get into the training program he has to pass three tests. The reality of the book is that it seemed very poorly written to me. Short, choppy sentences and a audiobook narrator that was horrible. Did not enjoy this at all and will not continue the series.
[*book:Trial by Sorcery|50492676]

Power Plays & Straight A's by Eden Finley and Saxon James
316 pages
Date read: 3/11/2023
Ratings: 5 stars
Review: Foster, was asked to do a favor for his twin. "Can you keep an eye out for my best friend." Little did he know how life would be changed. Zach is a SAN, socially awkward nerd, that Foster always thought was cute. Of course they fall in love and make it work.
How it fits: #1 in CU Hockey
[*book:Power Plays & Straight A's|54282036]

Week 7, Roll 1, Spot 51
Jackie: Trial by Sorcery by Richard Fierce - 3/11/23 - 2 stars - Review
Krissy: Soul Eater by Lily Mayne - 3/10/23 - 5 stars - Review
Roger: Power Plays & Straight A's by Eden Finley - 3/11/23 - 5 stars - Review
Kirsten: Poz by C. Koehler - 3/10/23 - 2.5 stars - Review

Current Spot: 51
Die Roll: 3 Timestamp: 2023-03-12 07:53:22 UTC
New Spot: 54
What fits: #4, #5, #54, alternate set in South America

Week 7, Roll 2, Spot 54
Rex v. Regina by Harry F. Rey
Pages: 148
Completion Date:
Rating:
How it fits: 4th in series

Grounding Griffin by Lucy Lennox
284 pages
How it fits: #4 in Made Marian series
[*book:Grounding Griffin|48728640]

Week 7, Roll 2, Spot 54

Book: Moonlight and Magic
Author: Darynda Jones
Pages: 182
How it fits: Betwixt & Between #4
[*book:Moonlight and Magic|57151642]

Week 7, Roll 2, Spot 54
Rex v. Regina by Harry F. Rey
Pages: 148
Completion Date: 13 March
Rating: 4 stars
How it fits: 4th in series
Changes coming down.
James makes claims; his sisters make
moves; Andrew makes up.
I love this series!!! The only problem is that I thought the 5th book was the final installment, but there's one more and it's not out.
It's a crazy ride, and it's not a romance ( for those of you who have that expectation), but it's impossible to put down.

Grounding Griffin by Lucy Lennox
284 pages
How it fits: #4 in Made Marian series
Date read: 3/15/2023
Ratings: 5 stars
Review: It starts with a bad restaurant review, Sam, the head chef, gets fired then start bartending at a gay bar. Griffin a freelance journalist is writing an article about using pet names to pickup dates. Sam witness it and accused Griffin of being a hustler. After an. Encounter With Griffin's mother, Sam realizes the truth. They start a quasi-relationship because Griffin is gun shy about commitment. He definitely has reason to be, his past was far from idyllic. Yet Griffin end up being the one to propose!
[*book:Grounding Griffin|48728640]

Week 7, Roll 2, Spot 54

Book: Moonlight and Magic
Author: Darynda Jones
Pages: 182
How it fits: Betwixt & Between #4
Date read: 3/14/23
Rating: 4 stars
Review: This book centered around the MC Defiance's best friend, Annette. Both have just found out that they are charmlings of which there are only three in the world. Being very powerful witches and learning to use their powers makes for some very interesting situations. Annette goes to see her mother to learn who her birth father is because she knows she couldn't have gotten her powers from her dad. In so doing she comes across a warlock who seems to be following her, a little girl who has apparently just been killed, her evil cousin, and her mother's new boyfriend who seems to be pretty evil as well. Fun story with a great cast of characters.
[*book:Moonlight and Magic|57151642]

Week 7, Roll 3, Spot 54

My Choice: A Shattered Silver Crown by Kai Butler
Pages: 491
How it Fits: San Amaro Investigations #4

Week 7, Roll 3, Spot 54

My Choice: A Shattered Silver Crown by Kai Butler
Pages: 491
How it Fits: San Amaro Investigations #4
Date Read: 3/15
Rating: ★★★★
Review: Easily my least favorite of the series so far. I found the scenes with Parker's "dad" boring thru most of the book. Plus I found I just wasn't as invested in the mystery aspect as I have been in the previous books. But since the series is so very well written and the audio is so very well narrated I have to give it 4 stars. Hopefully the next book will get me right back into it

Current spot 54
Die roll: 5 Timestamp: 2023-03-16 08:27:16 UTC
New spot: 59
What fits: #5, #9, #59, alternate Author E

Week 7, Roll 2, Spot 54
Jackie: Moonlight and Magic by Darynda Jones - 3/14/23 - 4 stars - Review
Krissy: A Shattered Silver Crown by Kai Butler - 3/15/23 - 4 stars - Review
Roger: Grounding Griffin by Lucy Lennox - 3/15/23 - 5 stars- Review
Kirsten: Rex v. Regina by Harry F. Rey - 3/13/23 - 4 stars - Review

Week 8, Roll 1, Spot 59

Book: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Pages: 211
How it fits: Mrs. Pollifax #9
[*book:Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish|149345]

Week 8, Roll 1, Spot 59
Coach's Challenge by Avon Gale
Pages: 200
Completion Date:
Rating:
How it fits: 5th in series
Great roll, Roger! I wanted to stay in the 50s for one more, but am also glad you moved us so far forward!
BTW, I'm planning to go for "no alternate" bonus.

Moving Maverick by Lucy Lennox
288 pages Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06...
How it fits: #5 in Made Marian series
[*book:Moving Maverick|48728959]

Week 8, Roll 5, Spot 59

My Choice: The Enforcer and His Heart by Kiki Clark
Pages: 300
How it Fits: Kincaid Pack #5
[*book:The Enforcer and His Heart|58984346]

Week 8, Roll 1, Spot 59
Coach's Challenge by Avon Gale
Pages: 200
Completion Date: 17 March
Rating: 2.5 stars
How it fits: 5th in series
Less depth than others,
but solid story of growth,
change, feelings, hot sex.
Honestly, I was disappointed. Avon Gale is an undervalued MM hockey author, imo (and yes, Jackie, I can imagine you rolling your eyes), but this book wasn't as deep as some of her others--the stakes of playing ECHL hockey as well as the MC's emotional lives seems much less urgent than in previous books in this series or the Hat Trick books. But I was ready for something light and easy to read whilst working out, and this fit the bill.

Moving Maverick by Lucy Lennox
288 pages
How it fits: #5 in Made Marian series
Date read: 3/17/2023
Rating: 5 stars
Review: Maverick finds out his biological grandmother died on Christmas and he is the heir of the Majority of her estate. Beau has been her and her properties caretaker. Beau grew up in Charleston SC, and spent alot of his summers growing up with his Grandmother, as did Maverick with his Grandmother, on Rabbit Island. They were best Friends until Maverick's parents died and he was in foster care. Maverick ran away from that and headed to California. Where he eventually met the Marians who adopted him, he joined his mother and sister in the family's vetenarian practice. Beau and Maverick become lovers and help rebuild the Island after a hurricane hits it.
[*book:Moving Maverick|48728959]

Would I do that? Lol"
Totally said with love!

Week 8, Roll 1, Spot 59

Book: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Pages: 211
How it fits: Mrs. Pollifax #9
Date read: 3/17/23
Rating: 4 stars
Review: This is a favorite series of mine. The MC is Emily Pollifax, a sixty-something widow who feels she has nothing to live for. She always wanted to be a spy so she thinks why not and goes to the CIA to see if she could become one of their operatives. Long story short, she is picked to do an assignment because she looks like a harmless tourist. That begins her career with the CIA. Each book is a "simple" assignment that turns out not to be so simple and leads her into dangerous and deadly situations. This is book #9 taking her to Morocco to see if she and another agent can identity which of the CIA's informants in the country has been compromised. And of course the assignment goes south almost from the beginning. I love Mrs. Pollifax and the characters she meets along the way. Altogether just a fun series with great characters.
[*book:Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish|149345]

Week 8, Roll 1, Spot 59

Book: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish
Author: Dorothy Gilman
P..."
This is a lovely review!

Week 8, Roll 5, Spot 59

My Choice: The Enforcer and His Heart by Kiki Clark
Pages: 300
How it Fits: Kincaid Pack #5
Date Read: 3/18
Rating: ★★★★
Review: Not nearly as good as the first 4 books. The MCs spent a lot of time apart in this story. The reason for that seemed forced. I didn't feel the fear and desperation that we were supposed to feel for Keegan. I just didn't understand why he just didn't go to his sister or go to Nico. We were supposed to believe his mother would destroy all to get him back and that just didn't happen. The evil mother angle just withered and died. Very anticlimactic. So because of that it made the forced separation in the first half seem pointless. I still love this series and can't wait for the next book to come out.
[*book:The Enforcer and His Heart|58984346]

Current spot: 59
Die roll: 3 Timestamp: 2023-03-19 05:05:21 UTC
New spot: 62
What fits: #2, #6, #62, Alternate title D

Delivering Dante by Lucy Lennox
274 Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
How it fits: #6 Made Marian series and Alterrnate Title D
[*book:Delivering Dante|48728620]

Week 8, Roll 1, Spot 59
Jackie: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman - 3/17/23 - 4 stars - Review
Krissy: The Enforcer and His Heart by Kiki Clark - 3/18/23 - 4 stars - Review
Roger: Moving Maverick by Lucy Lennox - 3/17/23 - 5 stars - Review
Kirsten: Coach's Challenge by Avon Gale - 3/17/23 - 2.5 stars - Review

Week 8, Roll 2, Spot 62

Book: Academ's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher
Pages: 702
How it fits: Codex Alera #2
[*book:Academ's Fury|133664]

Week 8, Roll 2, Spot 62

Book: Academ's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher
Pages: 702
How it fits: Codex Alera #2
[*book:Academ's..."
Love this series.

Week 8, Roll 2, Spot 62
Bad Boy by Charli Meadows
Pages: 348
Completion Date:
Rating:
How it fits: 2nd in series
I think it's going to get tricky (for me) to find these higher numbers. Roger, good luck (rolling what I need)!

Week 8, Roll 2, Spot 62

Book: Academ's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher
Pages: 702
How it fits: Codex Alera #2
..."
I really liked the first one.

Week 8, Roll 2, Spot 62
Bad Boy by Charli Meadows
Pages: 348
Completion Date: 20 March
Rating: 2.5 stars
How it fits: 2nd in series
This was absolutely ridiculous. At 83%, it was nothing but "I'm lonely; let's bang; (secret past pain); I love you." And then: gun fights, coming out, evil parents, thieving corporations, 2nd chance true love, easy explanations, freedom and autonomy (and riches beyond their wildest dreams) for our two hapless and horny MCs all resoved in the final 15% followed by a needless epilogue. I kinda loved it, but it could have just as easily been a DNF if I hadn't been in the mood for pure escapism and porn.

Week 8, Roll 3, Spot 62

My Choice: Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye
Pages: 336
How it Fits: Alt - D title
[*book:Date Me, Bryson Keller|52739801]

Week 8, Roll 3, Spot 62

My Choice: Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye
Pages: 336
How it Fits: Alt - D title
Date Read: 3/21
Rating: ★★★
Review: It was cute. I even teared up a bit towards the end. Kai's mother disappointed me. Yes she came around by the end but I didn't think she should have had the initial reaction she did in the first place. Bryson was just perfect. So was his family. He and Kai were just so sweet together ❤️
[*book:Date Me, Bryson Keller|52739801]

Delivering Dante by Lucy Lennox
274 Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
How it fits: #6 Made Marian series and Alterrnate Title D
Date read: 3/22/2023
Ratings: 5 stars
Review: Not an easy read, but a great one. Pay attention to the trigger warnings. Both the abuse and conversion therapy appear in the prologue and Dante's biological father Is running for the US house of Representatives on a platform that supports conversion therapy. Dante is Newly Executive Director of Marian House.I a homeless shelter and activity center for LGBTQIA+ teens. He was rescued from the church basement by AJ, but due to his battered condition couldn't really see what AJ looked like so when Dante met him at 23 didn't realize that AJ was his rescuer. Dante's reaction when he finds out the truth was understandable but a little over the top. Yes there was a Lie of omission but would Dante really want the reminder of the abuse he went through.
[*book:Delivering Dante|48728620]
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Power Plays & Straight A's by Eden Finley and Saxon James
316 pages
How it fits: #1 in CU Hockey
[*book:Power Plays & Straight A's|54282036]