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Archive - Pass The Parcel
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PtP - Read 'Em and Sleep (3)
Selection Post - Week 9: Book: Dare to Desire - 230pgs/GR
How Fits: MPG: Sports
[*bookcover:Dare to Desire|43257042]
Completion Post - Option 1Week #9
Only One Kiss[*book:Only One Kiss|53413978]
Rating: 5 ★★★★★
Review: Oh my, why on earth did I wait so long to read this series?!?!?!??! I think it was because I was waiting for the whole series to be done, but that was just silly, lol. I absolutely loved this book!
Ralph and Candace were just perfect. We saw Candace in Evan and Zara's book, and I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of her. She was just awful to Zara, but she did redeem herself towards the end of the book.
But in this book?? I LOVED Candace. She was so good with Zoey, and oh my, she was great with Ari. I also loved Ralph. You could just see his alpha male starting to kick in with her, and it had me laughing. If there is one thing Natasha Madison is great at writing, it's her alpha male characters!!!
Can't wait to read Layla and Miller's story!
Week 9 - Completion PostDare to Desire by Carly Phillips
Read: (6/1)
Rating: ★★★½
I'm rounding up on this one to 4 stars on GR rather than 3 as there isn't really anything about it that wasn't good or that I didn't like, it just didn't sing for me either. Alex and Madison are really sweet together as Alex works to win back Madison's trust, determined to prove he's a changed man. He was the playboy NFL quarterback, but his injury changed him and he knows he was wrong with how he ended things between them. His brother's job offer and the opportunity to work with Madison are too important to pass up.
Madison has her own trust issues to work through and they were compounded by the way Alex handled things when he was injured. But, it was very clear that he was determined to work hard to earn her trust again. I liked that it wasn't easy, but he stuck to his guns and really didn't waver in his commitment to her even when they weren't sure exactly what the future was going to look like.
I read the first book in this series so long ago I barely remember it. But this was enjoyable and does have me wondering about re-reading the first and continuing on with the series.
🍭Outstanding
- LaurLa week 7
- Kate week 9
Not bad team! Awesome work.One of things I love about this challenge is how chill it is from weeks 1-10, then week 11, it's a rush to win! LOL
Sassafrass wrote: "Not bad team! Awesome work.One of things I love about this challenge is how chill it is from weeks 1-10, then week 11, it's a rush to win! LOL"
Agree 💯
WEEK 10 CallLink to Jane's message in Q&A/Announcement thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Option 1
6. Every animal species sleeps - some for up to 22 hours each day
Read a book featuring an animal from one of the following lists:
Favourite Romances with Pets
Pawsitively Love
Cats: Wonderful Pets in Romance
Dogs: Great Pets in Romance
MM Small Shifters
Gay Romances With Pets
Include the list used in your qualification
Option 2
Key date: 2 December 2022
*Team mate read on or after this date and rated at least 3 stars
Series rule applies:
If the book is in a series but does not match where you are up to, you may read another book from that same series.
Option 3
*Pass
A selection post must be made for whichever option you choose - INCLUDING A PASS
Refer msg 3 for formatting of all 3 options. This format is also in msg 3 of your team threads.
Selection Post🔹Week 10Option 1
Call🔹6. Every animal species sleeps - some for up to 22 hours each day
Task🔹Read a book featuring an animal from one of the following lists
Book🔹Romancing the Duke
Pages🔹417 pp (GR kindle, linked edition)
How it fits🔹#17 on Pawsitively Love
[*book:Romancing the Duke|18711342]
Week 10: SelectionOption 1
I Think I Might Love You
[*book:I Think I Might Love You|45310776]
Pages: 144/GR
How it fits: #53 on the Cats: Wonderful Pets in RomanceList
Week 10: CompletionOption 1
I Think I Might Love You
[*book:I Think I Might Love You|45310776]
Pages: 144/GR
How it fits: #53 on the Cats: Wonderful Pets in Romance List
Date Completed: 6/2/23
Rating: *4 STARS*
Another cute one by Christina C. Jones. Jaclyn was a straight up mess but she was trying to get herself together. And of course you knew she was going to keep Ms. Thang. No way she was going to be able to resist her. Kayden was perfect for her in that he was calm to her storm and he wasn't trying to change what fundamentally made Jaclyn, Jaclyn.
I really loved them together. I wasn't there for Kayden's auntie though. what an upitty heifer. Jaclyn's parents were a trip.
It was also nice to see the Wright family as well. I have to get back to that series.
Selection Post - Option 1Week #10
Task: Read a book featuring an animal from one of the following lists: Gay Romances with Pets
Dog Days of Summer130pgs
How the book qualifies: #147 on Gay Romances with Pets list
[*book:Dog Days of Summer|44797069]
COMPLETION POSTWeek #:9
Bookcover/link: I Pucking Love You by Pippa Grant
Pages: 387
How it Fits: mpg sports
Date Finished: 1/6/23
Rating (1-5): ★★
Review:
Generally I love sports romances. And this one ticked the boxes of many reasons why. Hero at the peak of his professional and physical life. Sassy leading lady. Many of the romance tropes I either love or love to hate. This book has it all. But somehow it fell a little short for me. And I think it was because of how childish Muffy (oh my I truly hate that name) and Tyler acted. I get that much of the humour was based upon their pranks or childish antics but it felt immature and as a result I didn’t feel the romance vibes as strongly as I was hoping to. But it is a fun book and puts a spin on many tropes I’ve read and loved before. I’ve been on Ms. Grant’s mailing list for a long time but this is my first book I’ve read by her. I will be trying another because I do like her style but in this particular case I couldn’t get swept up with the characters on their romantic journey.
Selection Post - Week: 10 Book: Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
Pages: 384
How it Fits: #4 on the Favourite Romances with Pets List
Selection/Completion Post🔹Week 7Option 1
Call🔹14. In the absence of sunlight (days/nights) humans continue to maintain the circadian rhythm of roughly 15 hours awake and 9 hours asleep.
Task🔹Read a book with the numbers 15 and 9 in the publication date and/or the page numbers
Book🔹The Girls of Mischief Bay
Pages🔹409 pp (GR kindle, linked edition)
How it fits🔹published in February 24th 2015; 409 pp
Date Read🔹06.04. ★★★★
Review🔹
This was super emotional book about 3 women going through difficult stages in their lives and how they help each other through them, how they learn their own true strengths and come out even stronger. There were some very emotional parts and some fun, lighter part. It had an unfinished feeling at the end, especially for Nicole, and soon realized her story will finish in the next book. Not really a cliff-hanger but as I said, just that her story ended on a sad note so I was happy to see that it does continue. Overall, very good book!
WOOHOO - we are all caught up now with our previous weeks.Heading into the final week, it's a race to the finish once Jane posts the call. If we are able and willing, we can try for the win by posting our selections quickly and reading as fast as possible. I usually try to find the shortest possible book so I can get it finished on Saturday after the call, at the latest.
I've seen rounds where the winning team finishes within a couple of hours (that is commitment!!) and I've seen rounds where the winning team finishes early on Sunday - but usually sometime on Saturday is when the winning team finishes.
We just need to decide as a team if we want to go for it.
Also, we'll need to make sure week 10 books are complete as of the call on Friday.
I'm good with that. I'll have my week 10 book done today.
I'll try hard not to be the weakest link!
Completion Post - Option 1Week #10
Task: Read a book featuring an animal from one of the following lists: Gay Romances with Pets
Dog Days of Summer130pgs
How the book qualifies: #147 on Gay Romances with Pets list
[*book:Dog Days of Summer|44797069]
Rating: 2 ★★
Review: I struggled with this one. I had a hard time finding the connection between these two. Not to mention, I really struggled with Beau not having ever met his brother's best friend, Patrick, ever in 7 years. Not once. I mean, maybe he wouldn't have seen him before, but he didn't know his full name? I'm having a hard time buying that.
I'm not sure that I'm going to continue with the series.
I can definitely be in it to win it, Laurla!
Completion Post🔹Week 10Option 1
Call🔹6. Every animal species sleeps - some for up to 22 hours each day
Task🔹Read a book featuring an animal from one of the following lists
Book🔹Romancing the Duke
Pages🔹417 pp (GR kindle, linked edition)
How it fits🔹#17 on Pawsitively Love
Date Read🔹 06.05 ★★★★
Review🔹
Oh this was way more fun than my last read! Don't get me wrong, my last read was a great book but highly emotional. This was just fun! Izzy and Ransom had great banter and chemistry and I enjoyed them tremendously. Of course, I always enjoy Tessa Dare... Looking forward to the next one.
Selection Post - Week 10: Book: Still the One - 311pgs/GR
How Fits: #30 on Dogs Great Pets in Romance
[*bookcover:Still the One|22668746]
Week 10 - Completion PostStill the One by Jill Shalvis
Read: (6/6)
Rating: ★★★★★
Man Darcy is prickly. For justifiable reasons, but getting close to her is a minefield. She's not going to trust easy and after her accident she's dealing with daily pain as it is. All the work AJ put in helping her to walk again kept her going. But somehow he always ends up rubbing her the wrong way, their one time kiss was a fluke and she's not about to let him hurt her again. Of course, that doesn't mean that she can help how attractive she finds him. For his part AJ has hidden his true feelings from Darcy for a long while. He's not going to open himself up again no matter how attracted to her he is. It's better if he just pretends the feelings don't exist.
These two are prickly in all the right ways. There's a strong connection between them and their friendship is real even when both are trying to pretend the other drives them nuts. I appreciated everything Darcy's been through and how strong she truly is. She was really the only one though who was oblivious to how AJ really felt. Of course, neither of them are great about talking about what they're feeling or asking for help.
This story got me in the feels a few times. I really enjoyed it. There's great emotion in this one and I liked both characters a lot. They're a good fit.
COMPLETION POSTWeek #:10
Bookcover/link: Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
Pages: 384
How it Fits: #4 on the Favourite Romances with Pets List
Rating (1-5): ★★★
Review:
I rather enjoyed Wallbanger. It’s a little silly at times, steamy at others and has an underlying sense of humour throughout it all. Much like last week’s book the story was a times almost juvenile in the characters’ antics but I felt like Wallbanger just managed to keep me onside throughout it all. I love a good enemies to friends to lovers type story. Caroline was an entertaining character to follow throughout. I also found it amazing how quickly a book can date. This one is only 2012 but it felt very much of that era just regarding some of the language used and whatnot. Not a bad things just thought it was interesting. Easy to read and a quick story to finish. I liked it enough to keep reading the series and had fun watching Caroline and Simon fall in love.
AWESOME TEAM!!! We are caught up and ready for the last week - maybe we can win if we rush to read our final book! See below for post in Q&A thread from Jane about the last call.https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I'm going to call the final task for this round of Pass The Parcel at 4pm US EST or just after. That is 6am for me ;)
For this last week, players who wish to use Option 2 will need to pick from a team that I post with the final task. That is, if you select option 2 it cannot come from your own teammates' shelves, but from a different team's players' shelves that I will specify in the final task call.
Option 3 (Pass) is not available in the last week.
WEEK 11 -- FINAL CALLLink to Jane's message in Q&A/Announcement thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Option 1
1. Author: Matthew Walker
Read a book with the letters M & W in the book title and/or author's name
Option 2
Key date: 9 December 2022
*Read a book from a member of the specified team below your team on the following list. The book must have been read on or after this date and rated at least 3 stars.
4 Bookish Knights
6 If You Snooze, You Lose
7 Seven Silver Selkies
11 The Daydreamers
1 Dreaming for Book Boyfriends
2 BookwormZzz
9 Cloud 9 Readers
3 Read 'Em and Sleep
8 Sleepwalking Readers
5 Sleepreaders
10 No Rest While Reading
So for this last week, team 4 choses a book from team 6, team 6 from team 7 etc with team 10 chosing from team 4
Series rule applies:
That is, if the book is in a series but does not match where you are up to, you may read another book from that same series
Option 3
Not available in the final week.
Selection🔹Week 11Option 1
Call🔹1. Author: Matthew Walker
Task🔹Read a book with the letters M & W in the book title and/or author's name
Book🔹Safe With Him
Pages🔹153 pp (GR kindle, linked edition)
How it fits🔹both M & W in title
[*book:Safe With Him|18945015]
I’ve got my book and will post when I’m home on the computer. Good luck team.
Sassafrass wrote: "I’ve got my book and will post when I’m home on the computer. Good luck team."
Woot woot!!
Selection Post - Week: 11Book: Mr. Right Now by Annabeth Albert
Pages: 100
How it Fits: Contains both M and W in the title
Selection Post - Option 1Week #11
Task: Read a book with the letters M & W in the book title and/or author's name
Stroke of Midnight326pgs
How the book qualifies: Title contains 'M' and Author name contains 'W'
[*book:Stroke of Midnight|55448197]
Jamie wrote: "Selection Post - Option 1Week #10"
Jamie - can you fix your selection post to say Week 11?
Completion Post🔹Week 11Option 1
Call🔹1. Author: Matthew Walker
Task🔹Read a book with the letters M & W in the book title and/or author's name
Book🔹Safe With Him
Pages🔹153 pp (GR kindle, linked edition)
How it fits🔹both M & W in title
Date Read🔹 06.09 ★★★
Review🔹
Well, I didn't hate it. The storyline was actually pretty good but it was a short book so maybe not as developed as it could have been. There were some details I'm' not sure the author got right having to do with witness protection, if and how a protected witness actually has access to money, additional IDs, a car, etc. But putting those things aside, it was a sweet story of healing for both MCs and Christmas to boot!
Selection Post - Week 11: Book: Originally Human - 103pgs/GR
How Fits: Title - Originally HuMan Author - Eileen Wilks
[*bookcover:Originally Human|15796081]
Week 11: SelectionOption 1
A Cowboy to Remember
[*book:A Cowboy to Remember|46128399]
Pages: 357/GR
How it fits: a coWboy to reMember (M & W in title)
Week 11: CompletionOption 1
A Cowboy to Remember
[*book:A Cowboy to Remember|46128399]
Pages: 357/GR
How it fits: a coWboy to reMember (M & W in title)
Date completed: 6/9/23
Rating: *4 STARS*
This was an interesting amnesia story. It was interesting how Evie got her memory back. Never seen memories by big red but there you have it.
And while I understand the history between Evie and Zach, I felt like he had proven himself to her enough for her not to go back to hating him when she did get her memory back.
I enjoyed Evie and Zack rediscovering each other. Evie and reverse cowgirl. HA! Too funny. And Evie messing up with the text thread...BEEN THERE! I really just enjoyed the story.
I really like this family though. Miss Leona is a trip. I am glad that everything worked out. I would have like a bit more of a conclusion to their story but I guess we'll see them more in later books (let's hope).
I can't wait to see what's going to happen next. I was surprised to see it's Sam's book next. I really wanted it to be Jesse's!
LaurLa wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Selection Post - Option 1Week #10"
Jamie - can you fix your selection post to say Week 11?"
yep, sorry about that!
Completion Post - Option 1Week #11
Task: Read a book with the letters M & W in the book title and/or author's name
Stroke of Midnight326pgs
How the book qualifies: Title contains 'M' and Author name contains 'W'
[*book:Stroke of Midnight|55448197]
Rating: 5 ★★★★★
Review: ***Re-read***
I still love Winston!! It's been a while since I originally read this and I'm so glad I decided to re-read this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Holy heck what on earth did I just read?!?!?!?!?! Winston is a complete alpha-hole, but I absolutely LOVE him!! What he wants, he gets and will stop at nothing to get it. He is very taken with Ash. The words that come out of this guy's mouth...dang!
Ash, I was a little nervous about it because she's 18. I never understand why authors write these women so young because let's face it most 18-year-olds are completely immature. Thankfully, Ash is not one of those. She is struggling with how she is with Winston, but she gives it all right back to him.
The play on Cinderella is pretty good too. The evil triplet step-brothers are horrible! And for a moment I thought the stepmother, Manda, was going to be a little better than she was...nope. She's absolutely horrible as well. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
Completion Post - Week: 11Book: Mr. Right Now by Annabeth Albert
Pages: 100
How it Fits: Contains both M and W in the title
Rating: ★★★ and a half
Review:
This was such a cute story involving some of my favourite tropes. There’s a meet cute on Thanksgiving, some fake dating, friends to something more and a fun group of secondary characters.
I loved the relationship between Russ and Esteban. Their banter was sweet and the way things developed was adorable. They cared about each other. IT’s a short story at only a hundred pages but a complete story was delivered. I liked how things developed and where the story went.
Great reading every one! Just need Shelby's completion😊I'll keep checking back, but anyone can alert Jane in the Q&A thread that we've all completed the final task. It doesn't need to be in the official tracking post for that.
Hopefully we can post soon but even if not, it's been great playing with you all this round!! Thanks for being such great teammates and making it easy to be captain.
Week 11 - Completion PostOriginally Human by Eileen Wilks
Read: (6/9)
Rating: ★★★★½
This is a fun little novella that I'm rounding up to 4 Stars for the quality of the writing. I would have really enjoyed this had it been just a little longer. I feel like we were just getting to really know Michael and Molly when things ended. Michael's amnesia and the unique nature of what he is keeps things moving as of course they're being tracked. I wonder if we'll see more of these two in later novels since the threat to them isn't really gone though they can disguise themselves easier. And well Michael truly is unique. :) They were great together and I liked both as characters. I just wanted a little more time for things to develop.
I posted in the Q&A that we're all complete. :) I don't think anyone else has checked in yet. So maybe YAY! :)
Week 11: CompletionOption 1
A Cowboy to Remember
[*book:A Cowboy to Remember|46128399]
Pages: 357/GR
How it fits: a coWboy to reMember (M & W in title)
Date completed: 6/9/23
Rating: *4 STARS*
This was an interesting amnesia story. It was interesting how Evie got her memory back. Never seen memories by big red but there you have it.
And while I understand the history between Evie and Zach, I felt like he had proven himself to her enough for her not to go back to hating him when she did get her memory back.
I enjoyed Evie and Zack rediscovering each other. Evie and reverse cowgirl. HA! Too funny. And Evie messing up with the text thread...BEEN THERE! I really just enjoyed the story.
I really like this family though. Miss Leona is a trip. I am glad that everything worked out. I would have like a bit more of a conclusion to their story but I guess we'll see them more in later books (let's hope).
I can't wait to see what's going to happen next. I was surprised to see it's Sam's book next. I really wanted it to be Jesse's!
Haha! That was quick!!Congratulations. Now the team has WON!
Sorry guys it was me! It didn’t say completion
Woot!!!! That was scary!!! I woke in to go to bathroom and checked the thread and was looking and saw I made the copy and paste error! Crazy that I’m even up since it’s 3 AM here. WAY TO GO TEAM! Awesome!!!
Yay!!! I’m so excited!! Such a great team 🥰😊Thanks for pushing through for the win!! You all rock!!!
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
A Cowboy to Remember (other topics)Originally Human (other topics)
Mr. Right Now (other topics)
Stroke of Midnight (other topics)
Originally Human (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Eileen Wilks (other topics)Jill Shalvis (other topics)
Christina C. Jones (other topics)
Carly Phillips (other topics)
Jordan L. Hawk (other topics)
More...
Option 1
Call🔹12. The likelihood of breaking an Olympic record has been tied to the time of day
Task🔹Read a book featuring an athletic MC or sport
Book🔹The Quilter and the Quarterback
Pages🔹117 pp (GR kindle, linked edition)
How it fits🔹mpg sports
Date Read🔹 05.27 ★★
Review🔹
I sometimes like a OTT insta-love romance but this one was not very well written and it took a radical turn midway into the story that could have worked if the author hadn't taken it one step too far, at least for my liking. I also didn't like the author's writing style - she said things in different ways too many times, with a lot of hyperbole - it got tedious to read. Also, the radical turn I mentioned could have been a trigger to some people for violence or abuse. To be fair, it wasn't all that intense but I didn't like the way it came about, so could see it being a trigger. There were no warnings in the blurb or beginning of the book about possible triggers, either, which I think would have been nice. Like I said, I'm all for suspended belief and insta-love but this just wasn't done well.