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R15: SS Team 2 - Touch My Shelf

Alternate 2 word title
Christina - Excused
Denise -Perfect Stranger ]★★★★Review
Krissy - System Overload ★★★★ Review
Jamie - Zero Chill★★★★Review
Danielle Gypsy Soul -Heart of Ice ★★★★Review
Mandy -A Vexing Valentine -★★★★★ Review
Used our pass

Danielle Gypsy Soul already posted here

Danielle Gypsy Soul already posted here"
Thanks i was trying to rush out the door and did a quick glance my brain was all over haha I didn't even check the 2nd page lol
Looks like Denise missed the deadline. Mandy, your message trying to reach out to her landed in my inbox by mistake, so might be best to try again to get hold of her.
You do have the free pass, which you can use to cover the missing review, so you still have the option to roll for this week.
You do have the free pass, which you can use to cover the missing review, so you still have the option to roll for this week.


Perfect Stranger
Lindsey Powell
How it fits two word title
226 pages
Read 3/28/24
4 stars
This was a reread for me. I thought that I might I would give it another shot to see if I wanted to read the whole series again. I ended up not liking it much more than I did the first time. I won't be reading the whole series again.

Made it back from vacation yesterday. Took the fam to Washington DC. Tons to see, but a very busy week with lots of walking. 21k steps one day 😅

Used the Pass
Rolled a 5+2 = 7
Old spot 35
New spot 42
Alter
42. Cover Item: Hands/Arms/Feet/Legs (no other body parts visible)
I'll be more proactive before the timer. Just fighting a head cold the last couple of days and my brain went on vacation

I think I’m going to read Be with Me by J. Lynn (Jennifer Armentrout). #2 in series.


Just Three Words by Melissa Brayden
Pages: 271
How it fits: Book #2 in the 'Soho Loft' series

Thanks my sweet teenager thought she would share with me....She brings everything home from school lol. I'll be fine just a little spacy the last couple of days.


Just Three Words by Melissa Brayden
Date Read: 3/31/24
How It Fits: Book #2 in the 'Soho Loft' series
Pages: 271
Rating: ★★★★★
Review: A fantastic friends to lovers romance. Melissa Brayden just doesn’t miss for me. I’ve loved everything that I’ve read from her so far and I’ve read quite a few of her books. Her writing is fantastic and her characters are so endearing and all of that was definitely the case here.
Samantha and Hunter are long time best friends and they also work together with two of their other best friends. Hunter moves in with Samantha as her roommate and Samantha just broke up with her girlfriend. Neither woman is really looking for anything even though there is such great tension between them. I loved their friendship, their banter was fun and felt natural. I loved when they finally gave in to that tension and started a friends with benefits relationship. They both had it so bad for each other but were scared of ruining their friendship. So. good. I loved watching them both fall in love. Hunter tends to pretend that things don’t get to her and she runs whereas Samantha would rather talk things out so the third act drama felt completely real for them. I usually hate third act drama like that but Brayden always handles them well. The ending was wonderful and I cannot wait to get to book three as it’s Mallory’s story and she’s the last friend in the group to get her romance.

Alternate - feet only on cover
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach
Read 4/3
303 pages
4 stars
This was a reread for me. I found it fascinating that a person's body is so useful after death. A lot of it was gory and creepy, but it was definitely worth a read, and a reread. There is a lot to learn from cadavers.

Week 7, Spot 42

My Choice: You Can Count On Me by Fae Quin
Pages: 405
How it Fits: Christmas Daddies #2
Date Read: 4/04
Rating: ★★★★★
Review: This was so ooey gooey good. I just fell in love with Rooster ♥️. The first date broke my heart. But I do prefer the MCs getting to know each other first before falling into a relationship. This was definitely a slow burn but it was totally perfect. I can't wait until this comes out in audio format.


Heart of Stone by Lisa Edmonds
Pages: 426
How it Fits: #4 in Alice Worth
Date Read" 4/4
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: So there were parts of this book that really frustrated me (I.E. the hex part) but I had to remind myself that it all took place within 24 hours so even though it was a huge chunk of the book it wasn't very long in the character's lives. Alice is still a kickass character and I love Sean. Charles - well he's getting on my last nerve and I hope Alice sees through his crap soon. Lots of action, near death and exciting stuff. Looking forward to more

Sweet Berries
Pages 229
How it fits: 2nd in the series
Date Read 3/31/24
Rating: 5 stars
Review:
Sweet Berries is the 2nd in the Cambric Creek series featuring monster/human couples. Grace is adorable I loved her right from the start and found her easy to connect with. She's an interesting and paired with Merrick who's the nicest mothman. They just have this sweet chemistry that works so well. I loved every moment of Sweet Berries it's another steamy installment in the series.

Spot 42
A Light in the Flame
How it fits: Second in series.
Pages: 654 - BONUS POINT! for page number
Rating: 5 stars
Review: I absolutely loved this book although I wish the author wouldn't have ended this one on a cliff-hanger. This might be my favorite book of hers so far. I'll definitely have to re-read this one again. As the second book in the Flesh and Fire series, Nyktos and Sera throw off quite a few sparks, and I love how these characters seem to be growing and changing over time.


Christina - A Light in the Flame ★★★★★ Review
Denise - Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers★★★★Review
Krissy - You Can Count On Me ★★★★★Review
Jamie - Just Three Words★★★★★Review
Danielle Gypsy Soul - Heart of Stone ★★★★Review
Mandy - Sweet Berries★★★★★ Review


I love JLA she's one of my auto buy and favorite authors. I personally prefer Poppy but Sera is pretty awesome too.


Perilous Passages: The Wellington Mysteries, Vol. 2 by Edale Lane
Pages: 403
How it fits: Title starts with P


Echoed Defiance by K.N. Banet
Pages: 384
How it Fits: #4 in Jacky Leon

I love ..."
So far I'm loving both series. I started her books in late December and working through them in a reading order I found. 6 of the books I've read this year have been hers. Next up, Soul of Blood and Ash.
For this group, I'm either going to read


I started Piranesi yesterday, but I'm not sure how I'm liking it so far. We shall see..


Perilous Passages: The Wellington Mysteries, Vol. 2 by Edale Lane
Date Read: 4/6/24
How It Fits: Title starts with P
Pages: 403
Rating: ★★★★
Review: I’m not sure why its taken me two years to get to this book but I’m glad I finally did. It felt great to be back solving crimes with Stetson and her lady love Evelyn. I adore both characters and the development of their relationship in this one was fantastic. They have such a healthy and loving relationship.
The crimes were all intriguing and kept me hooked throughout. This series is just so much fun and has a real cozy feel to it which I love. The ending was great and I loved the surprise Stetson had for Evelyn. That was nice. I’m looking forward to getting to the third book soon because I want to see what other adventures these characters get into.

Pool House
Melissa Lozada-Oliva
read 4/9/24
100 pages
2 stars
I really didn't like this book. It sounded like it would be interesting, based on its description. I was horribly disappointed. I really don't recommend it. None of the characters appealed to me. The ending was confusing. I can't really find anything redeeming about it.


Echoed Defiance by K.N. Banet
Pages: 384
How it Fits: #4 in Jacky Leon
Read: 4/8
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: Jacky is growing on me although at times her decisions still baffle me. I love Heath though and he appears to be getting stronger as an Alpha Werewolf. I also really love the relationships that Jacky is establishing with her werecat siblings. Gwen - yeah didn't care for her and I really disliked her parents but it was nice for her to see that Hasan was a much better father to her. It was an interesting plot and I really liked the slow progress of the romance. So I'm sticking with this series even though I wasn't sold on it in the first couple of books.

completion post
Book: Piranesi
How it fits: Alternate title "P"
Pages: 272
Rating: 3 stars
Review: May contain slight spoilers: It was unique, but I think my main problem with this is that I was left with a lot of questions and no real answers. For example, how do you leave? There are a lot of other things that either weren't thought-out or were not explained well. But the thing that bugged me the most, was the author capitalizing every Noun in the Book. Statues. Vestibules. To me, this was overly distracting from the story.


Week 8, Spot 49

My Choice: Press by Nora Phoenix
Pages: 365
How it Fits: Alt: Title P
Date Read: 4/10
Rating: ★★
Review: I hate politics. I especially hate it in my romance books. I knew going into this audiobook that it was gonna have a lot of politics. BUT I was hoping since it was over 10 hours long that there was going to be a good portion centered around the romance too. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. We didn't even get a first kiss until almost 50%. I really had to force my way through this book. There were some good parts and I always like this author's writing style so it wasn't a total loss but I am not going to continue the series.
[*book:Press|55270009]

Week 8 Spot 49
My choice [bookcover:Puck & Her Blades|141863625
Pages: 366.
How it fits: Stars with a P
Date Read 4/8/24
Rating ★★★★★
Review
I picked this one up because I'm on a omegaverse kick at the moment. This was a quick read I finished it in just a afternoon. I really liked Puck and her men as they had a epic story of trauma and survival. I enjoyed it very much and may go read the rest of the series. However, this omegaverse is rough and I'm on the fence even thought I loved this one.

Christina - Piranesi ★★★ Review
Denise - Pool House ★★ Review
Krissy - Press ★★ Review
Jamie - Perilous Passages: The Wellington Mysteries, Vol. 2 ★★★★ Review
Danielle Gypsy Soul - Echoed Defiance ★★★★ Review
Mandy -Puck & Her Blades ★★★★★ Review

Week 9
Dice Roll 5+5=10
Previous Space: 49
New space: 59
Alter
59. Originally published in a language other than English

Week 9

How it fits 5th in series
Pages 278
Subject to change as I've got to finish my current

Week 9

Book: Prince and Betrothed by Tavia Lark
Pages: 296
How it Fits: #5 in Perilous Courts

✸ One point can be earned for reading three or more books in a series.
I've read #2, #3 and #4 in the Alice Worth Series for this challenge


What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
Pages: 304
How it fits: Originally was published in Japanese
Danielle Gypsy Soul wrote: "If we haven't gotten this bonus point = then I earned it
✸ One point can be earned for reading three or more books in a series.
I've read #2, #3 and #4 in the Alice Worth Series for this challenge"
Adding it to your tally.
Please do make sure to add a note in your completion post when you earn a bonus point, so your captain and I can keep track! :)
✸ One point can be earned for reading three or more books in a series.
I've read #2, #3 and #4 in the Alice Worth Series for this challenge"
Adding it to your tally.
Please do make sure to add a note in your completion post when you earn a bonus point, so your captain and I can keep track! :)


What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
Date Read: 4/14/24
How It Fits: Originally was published in Japanese
Pages: 304
Rating: ★★★
Review: This is one I’m definitely going to have to back and reread because I went in with my expectations way too high. It was compared to the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series which I absolutely love and this didn’t deliver on that level for me unfortunately. It wasn’t bad at all. The writing was really good and it has a lot of heart to it but I wasn’t all that invested in the plot.

Week 9, Spot 59

My Choice: Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk
Pages: 256
How it Fits: Alt: Originally published in Spanish
[*book:Thirst|174156085]

Week 9, Spot 59
Inkheart
Cornelia Funke
How it fits: Originally written in German
Read 4/16/24
563 pages
This was a reread for me. I love this book and the author. I love how full all of her characters are. I have heard her speak about choosing just the right person to translate for her, based on the feel of the story and how much easier it became for her once she became bilingual. I haven't gotten to the rest of the trilogy, but I plan on it at some point.

Week 9, Spot 59

My Choice: Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk
Pages: 256
How it Fits: Alt: Originally published in Spanish
Date Read: 4/16
Rating: ★
Review: I am so mad I wasted my Spotify audiobook monthly hours on this snoozefest. When I first read the synopsis I was excited. Lesbian vampires??! Yes please. But the women don't even meet until the last portion of the book. Most of it is the Vampire's backstory. The author did very well making all the male characters complete imbeciles. I had high hopes for this one and I was totally let down.
Books mentioned in this topic
Finally Forever (other topics)An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good (other topics)
Defying Logic (other topics)
Heart of Shadows (other topics)
The Secret of Shadow Ranch (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Nadia Lee (other topics)Helene Tursten (other topics)
Lisa Edmonds (other topics)
Carolyn Keene (other topics)
Lisa Edmonds (other topics)
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Book: Heart of Ice by Lisa Edmonds
Pages: 382
How it Fits: #3 in Alice Worth Series
Date Read: 3/28
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: I'm really enjoying this series. Alice is still a little prickly but given her background it's understandable. I love Sean and it was nice to see more of his pack in this book (although not loving Alice and the Pack interactions). Charles is an interesting character but so glad he isn't the love interest! Can't wait for more.