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How are your books coming LaurLa and Minttu?
Week 8Spot 57: Fifth in series
Book:
Read: 05.14
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
I know lots of people have burned out on KA but fortunately for me, I came late to the KA party and so have yet to burn out. Five books in and I'm still enjoying the series. The whole insta-love and uber-alpha guy is admittedly almost over the top, but in this book I almost got the feeling KA was laughing at herself. The Rock Chicks and Hot Bunch start to joke about the way the men just 'decide' she's the one (whomever that is for the book) and that's it, end of story. The women all fight it but they all know she gives in because she's really feeling it too. Because KA has kind of incorporated this inside-jokish thing about the whole insta-love aspect of the various MCs, it makes it acceptable. We can laugh along with the gang (and KA) and say 'yeah, I can go with this' and then thoroughly enjoy the show.
So about this book in particular, it didn't disappoint as far as the expectations of the main couple is concerned - Ava's 'troubles', Luke's alpha-ness, their interactions, Rock Chick high jinx, etc. The only teen tiny piece I didn't like was near the end. KA had to tie every little thing into a pretty bow meaning the bad blood between Ava and her family had to get sorted out. I didn't really care if she sorted things out with her bitchy family and I think it would have made the story just a bit more believable if it had been left alone. And I didn't like that it was Luke's tirade that made them change their attitude - if it had to get sorted, then I would have rather it have been Ava doing the smack-down. But that's a tiny thing and didn't affect my overall enjoyment at all. Mace is up next - can't wait!!!
Sorry for being sooo late! I meant to post my review before work but forgot and I only just got home.Alternate: France
By Fiona Valpy
Read: 14.5.2015
Rating: 4 stars
Review:
Gina's father passes away, her fiancé gets caught cheating on her, she loses her job and then her belowed aunt Liz dies all of a sudden. How much more bad news can anyone handle? As Gina finds out that Liz has left her house in France to her, she decides to take some time off from everything, live in a charming old house in France and focus on her Master of Wine degree.
Arriving by car she promptly finds herself stuck in a ditch after turning too fast to avoid a collision with a handsome Frenchman.
I loved how this book brought up so much of my own memories of travelling in France. It really captured well the atmosphere and culture of rural France. It is a love story, but it's also a story of discovering secrets of your family and finding the truth. It's a story of seeing the silver lining in your horrible situation and making it work for you.
Minttu wrote: "Sorry for being sooo late! I meant to post my review before work but forgot and I only just got home.Alternate: France
By Fiona Valpy
Read: 14.5.2015
Rat..."
sounds like a really lovely story...
Week 9~Old Spot 57 Rolled 6New Spot 63
Alternative #63~Author B
Minttu~
Sandy~
ReviewLaurLa~
ReviewJulie~
ReviewAngie~
Review
Minttu wrote: "Sorry for being sooo late! I meant to post my review before work but forgot and I only just got home.Alternate: France
By Fiona Valpy
Read: 14.5.2015
Rat..."
Sounds good! This is going on my TBR.
Week 9Spot 63: Sixth in series
Book:
Week 9 Spot 63Book:
Finished:05/21/15
Rating: 4 stars
Review: I have decided I like Jayne Castle more than Jayne Ann Krentz, but not as much as I like Amanda Quick. I think this is even more fun because they are all the same person.
Week 9 - Spot 63
Finished: 5/20/15
Rating: ★★★★
Lady Emily Ashton is spending time at the estate of Lord Fortescue when the Lord is mysteriously murdered. Was the murder political or personal? Emily's friend Robert Brandon is arrested for the murder, but Emily knows he's innocent. Emily travels to Vienna where she meets with dangerous individuals who threaten her own life, and the life of her fiance, Colin Hargreaves. I really like the Lady Emily books for the historical elements and the way the author makes you feel like you are there with the characters in England or Vienna. The mysteries are intriguing and I'm usually kept guessing until the end. One thing that bugged me about this book was that Colin's old flame the Countess Kristiana will not leave him alone and keeps throwing their relationship in Emily's face. Emily is too much of a lady to reveal her true feelings, but I would have decked that woman!
Week 9Spot 63: Sixth in series
Book:
Read: 05.20
Rating: ★★★1/2
Review:
I enjoyed this book. I've been working on the series for a couple of years it seems like, so I was a bit hazy on how the hero, Chase, fit into the Fitzgerald family but it wasn't really necessary to know. The book stood alone just fine and the author did a good job of incorporating anything you needed to know. One thing I noticed though was that it felt like there were other series I might have missed out on and/or some series sequel bait going on. Anyway, about this book: I really liked the dynamic between the MCs. The only small problem I had was Chase's turnaround in regards to his attitude about Nikki. He was angry and a jerk to her because he was tired of his meddling family sending not-so-helpful assistants to the ranch and he assumed her to be the same. So he wasn't going to let her stay and then was going to drive her away. He didn't want to feel the lust he was feeling so that made him angier. Then all of a sudden, his attitude changed and he decided he was going to 'have her' and then he started having real feelings. I'm okay with the change from simply lusting to having feelings. That part felt like the natural building and developing of a relationship. But his attitude change was sudden - I felt like I had missed something. But other than that, the way their relationship developed was great. They had a real connection and that helped them in the end when the ex-fiance decided to out Nikki. All in all, a very enjoyable read and made me want to keep reading about this family.
Week 9~Spot 63
by Grace BurrowesFinished:5/17/15
Rating:4 Stars
Review:Ethan Grey has been estranged from his family for years on end. He's had a failed marriage and raising two small children on his own. Ethan meeting Alice Portman appears to be a godsend. Ethan is attracted to Alice but that doesn't stop him from pursuing her. Will Alice accept Ethan's advances? Find out in Ethan.
Jenne wrote: "Has anyone heard from Minttu?"No. At least not in my corner.
Well worse case scenario y'all have your pass if you'd like to use it. She still has a bit to get it in though.
I sent her a message.
I haven't heard from her. Hope she's ok!
Me too. If I don't hear from her in the next few hours I'll use our free pass.
Week 10~Old Spot 63 Rolled 9New Spot 72
Alternative #72~Text Item Midnight
Minttu~
Sandy~
ReviewJulie~
ReviewLaurLa~
ReviewAngie~
Review
Week 10Spot 72: Second in series
Book:
Week 10 spot 72Book:
Finished: 5/28/15
Rating: 4 stars
Review: These books are fun just because they are so random and I find myself surprised when at the end there was an actual plot after all the randomness.
Week 10: 72 - text item Midnight
p. 7 "The old legends recommended the church watch be kept at midnight..."
Week 10~Spot 72
by Keri ArthurFinished:5/23/15
Rating:4 Stars
Review:Risa Jones is still struggling to deal with her mother's murder. She has a reaper named Azriel that helps her with her search for the book and the keys. Lucian appears to be a good lover but with a hidden agenda that brings Risa to her knees. Risa's father is making demands that Risa step up her search for the book and the keys. Can Risa do as tasked? Find out in Darkness Rising.
Week 10: 72 - text item Midnight
p. 7 "The old legends recommended the church watch be kept at midnight..."
Finished: 5/24/15
Rating: ★★★★
Review: Blue Sargent lives with her mother and half-aunts. While her entire family is psychic, her only power is that she increases theirs. Gansey is a wealthy student at a nearby private school who is obsessed with finding ley lines and a legendary sleeping Welsh king. He and his friends Ronan, Noah and Adam, known as the Raven Boys, begin a friendship with Blue and they attempt to solve a murder mystery. This is a very well-written book with an interesting story. I am reading the next one as soon as I can get my hands on it.
Minttu and LaurLa~how are your books coming?
Week 10Spot 72: Second in series
Book:
Read: 05.28
Rating: ★★★
Review:
This book was long. Almost too long. The HEA came at about 80% or so in but there was still almost 2 hours (accourding to my Kindle) of reading left. Huh? And I had probably read almost 4 hours to that point. So there was this chunk from that point to the last 45 minutes of reading that was mostly filler. It was interesting filler and I did enjoy reading about the MCs' happiness together, but I also had to push through to the end. I knew there was to be one more set of conflicts for the happy couple to face as the book had been building up to it. The conflict in question wasn't exactly as I expected, so there was some suspense at the end that almost made that extra hour of filler worth it. No question that I liked the book and will read the author again but hopefully without the filler ;-)
Looks like Minttu is MIA(?)She hasn't posted since May 15.
Y'all go ahead and roll, as long as that's been I'm assuming something has come up.
Jenne wrote: "Y'all go ahead and roll, as long as that's been I'm assuming something has come up."Thanks, Jenne!
Week 11~Old Spot 72 Rolled 9 New Spot 81
Alternative #81~Scotland
Sandy~
ReviewJulie~
ReviewLaurLa~
ReviewAngie~
Review
Week 11 Spot 81Book:
Read: 6/4/15
Rating:4 stars
Review: Really predictable, but strangely that is what I was in the mood for. I did like the romance. It was really slow getting started though. Not sure I needed to know every consignment shop the main character visited while trying to sell every item she owned.
I was looking at the spreadsheet. Looks like probably 2 more weeks. Maybe one since there's one team that could get to 100 with an 11 or 12 roll. I can't believe it's gone by so quickly!
Everyone just wanted to let you know that Minttu has had to drop out due to family issues.
Week 11 - Spot 81
1st in series
Read: 6/4/15
Rating: ★★★★
Review: I am happy to say I am now a fan of Julie Kagawa! In a futuristic society where vampires rule, Allison is a 17-year-old orphan living on the fringe of society with those who refuse to become slaves of the vampires. One night while hunting for food, Allison is killed by a "rabid" vampire. Another vamp finds her and gives her the choice of true death or becoming a vampire herself. She makes the hard choice to become a vampire, and subsequently struggles to retain her humanity while trying to live by vampire rules. She comes across a group of humans who are searching for Eden, a mythical place where vampires don't exist. She passes for human and joins them in their quest. This book is an action-packed page turner that I enjoyed immensely. I am getting the next book ASAP, and I'm also going to read this author's Iron Fey series. Highly recommended!
Week 11~Spot 81
by Michele SinclairFinished:6/4/15
Rating:4 Stars
Review:Cole McTiernay vowed to exact revenge on The English never once looking back. Years later Cole is up for the position as laird not sure if he cares one way or another at this point. Cole's brother Conor ask him to look after his wife Laurel to which Cole agrees. Laurel talks Cole into an errand that he never really could figure out how that happened. Ellenor Howell is in an unclean state when Cole lays eyes on her. Ellenor being forced to leave not knowing her destination. Can either of them admit their feelings? Find out in Desiring the Highlander.
Week 11Spot 81 - Stand Alone
Book:
Read: 06.04
Rating: ★★★
Review:
This was mostly meh. In actuality, I probably would give this less than 3 stars but I didn't not like it enough for just 2 stars. There was a pretty good story line but the author took too long to get us where she wanted to go and at the same time was so obviously leading us to where she wanted us to go that I wanted to scream at her to hurry up already. That doesn't make a lot of sense out of context of the book, but really there was just too much build up the MCs officially meeting each other. And the book is about BDSM but there really is much of it, so that might have been some of my disappointment. I will say that once the author finally brought the MCs together, I like the development of their relationship. The MCs were more about the Dom/sub part of the BDSM lifestyle and their growth with each other in learning how to give each other what the other needed in that respect was nice. Overall an okay read but not great. Probably not an author I'd pick up again on purpose.
Looks like there are a couple of teams who are past spot 100 now.
Yep...*makes sad face*
So will we roll this week or call it done? Just wondering since this is my first go round with this challenge. It's been lots of fun, and definitely challenging! Thanks for being such a great team! I'm really looking forward to the next one... Anyone here doing the Fariy Tale team challenge?
We can roll, but basically this week would just be for fun. I have tried to read the same book for this game and a bingo game in another group. What's Fairy Tale? Can we still sign up?
Sandy wrote: "We can roll, but basically this week would just be for fun. I have tried to read the same book for this game and a bingo game in another group. What's Fairy Tale? Can we still sign up?"Sorry! Totally called it the wrong thing. It's Grimm readers - but it IS fairy tale themed. Here's the link to the thread. I think sign-ups last until the 9th?
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Week 12~Old Spot 81 Rolled 12New Spot 93
Alternative #93~Title G
Sandy~
LaurLa~
Julie~
Angie~
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The Challenge Factory
Books mentioned in this topic
Gilding the Lily-pad (other topics)Boom! Listen To Your Heart (other topics)
Boom! Listen To Your Heart (other topics)
The Liar (other topics)
The Immortal Rules (other topics)
More...
Finished: 5/11/15
Rating: ★★★★
Review: In this installment, Harry is hired to find the Shroud of Turin, which has been stolen and is now on the antiques black market. He has also been challenged to a duel to the death by a high ranking member of the vampire red court. During the chaos, he tries to rekindle things with his old flame Susan. I really like how these books move quickly and each chapter ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I wish Susan would just go away so Harry can get closer to Murphy. I also wish we could learn the truth about Harry's parents instead of just getting tiny tidbits in each book. I'm still liking the series, but I think I may need a break.