Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
Pass The Parcel (Team Challenge)
>
PtP R24 - The Book Affair (6)
Week 2 Completion Post
Book: On the Edge
Rating: ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Review: I can't believe I waited this long to start this series (hence the dark circles under my eyes now since I stayed up way to late finishing the book). I loved every minute of it and could not put the book down. Great world building, great characters and the expected humor of Ilona Andrews. These two can do no wrong for me.
Grace wrote: "Week 2 Completion PostBook: On the Edge
Rating: ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Review: I can't believe I waited this long to start this series (hence the dark circles under m..."
These are so much fun! I read the first two ~10 years ago now. I don't think I ever read the last book though. I tend to jump around based on mood and what's available at the library, which is why i tend to have a ton of unfinished series on my TBR.
Christina wrote: "Grace wrote: "Week 2 Completion PostBook: On the Edge
Rating: ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Review: I can't believe I waited this long to start this series (hence the dark c..."
I am the same way and am always jumping around series. I'm trying to do better but I always seem to get distracted by new series I find. 🤣
Grace wrote: "Christina wrote: "Grace wrote: "Week 2 Completion PostBook: On the Edge
Rating: ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Review: I can't believe I waited this long to start this series..."
All this talk about the Edge series must mean it's time to go back for a reread!!
Week 2Completion Post
Practical Magic
Rating: 3 stars
Review: I had gotten about 30% of the way through this before I remembered that there was a movie made from this even though the only thing I remembered was the dead husband and the moon with the rings around it. However, here are my thoughts for the book.
This book was written in a way that is kind of like looking through a window that's covered in fog. We basically run through the lives of Gillian and Sally from the time they are 8 until the time they are mid-forties with a lot of info, but no real specifics. You get broad strokes about what their lives were like and a few examples of their craziness and that's it. I think that was the goal of the author a little bit. To just give us snippets and then move on. Then give us a little information about other strange events. I think for me the writing was a bit too dreamy and glossed-over, but I can see how others would love it. It left me feeling that the book was missing a lot of information. Also, I don't believe in love at first sight, and that happened more than once in this book with lasting relationships.
Week 3Option 1
8. Marriage is a legal contract
Read a book with a main character who is a lawyer.
This can be shown via the precis, lists or tags. Please note if the qualification is in the precis or link to the list or shelf/tag.
If you aren't sure how to insert links in your posts, please read these instructions in the Q&A thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Option 2
Key date: 1 November 2024
Team mate read on or after this date and rated at least 3 stars
Option 3
Pass
A selection post must be made for whichever option you choose - INCLUDING A PASS
Refer msg 3 in your team thread for formatting of all 3 options.
Selection Post - Week 3Option 1 - 8. Marriage is a legal contract
Read a book with a main character who is a lawyer.
Suddenly One Summer - Julie James
Pages: 291
How It Fits: Precis - "Divorce lawyer Victoria Slade has seen enough unhappy endings to swear off marriage forever. "
Week 3 Selection Post
Book Truly, Madly, Deeply
Page #: 336 pages (paperback)
Qualification: Precis states "Sparks fly when a lovelorn romance novelist and a divorce lawyer who has sworn off relationships agree to cohost a podcast series offering dating advice to viewers..."
✅Completion Post - Week #2A Dawn of Onyx
Rating (4.5) ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
Review: LOVED it. I was really impressed with the first book and can’t wait to keep reading the series. Kane is just enough of morally grey mixed with sweetness, my new book boyfriend for sure. This has dragons/shifters but it is not the main premise of the story. I would recommend this to anyone who needs an ACOTAR/Fourth Wing hangover cure.
I’m away until Monday afternoon, will post my selection then. Will have 2 of my books finished by the next call
Louise wrote: "I’m away until Monday afternoon, will post my selection then. Will have 2 of my books finished by the next call":-)
Week 3 Selection Post
Option 1
Pages: 292
How it qualifies: The main character is a lawyer.
From the books info page: Whether dueling with new forensics or the local old boys' network, irreverent defense attorney Andy Carpenter always leaves them awed with his biting wit and winning fourth-quarter game plan.
📅Week 3 - Selection PostOption 1
🔖Task 8. Marriage is a legal contract. Read a book with a main character who is a lawyer.
📚Book: Legal Affairs
✍️By: Sawyer Bennett
📃Page Numbers: 446
🗝️How the book qualifies: Both the MMC and MFC are lawyers. This is a workplace romance book between two attorneys. I have read the companion book, Confessions of a Litigation God, so this is the same story but told from the MFC POV.
Week 2 Completion Post
The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty GreenwoodPages: 384
Rating: 5
How the book qualifies: Magical Realism is in the tags
Review: Thus is my first book by this author but it won’t be my last. The romance, the dilemmas, the humour the serious elements it was all there the loveable and hate able characters were also there. The secondary characters were fab too and now I’d love a book about one of them.
Week 3Option 1
Selection Post
Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez
Pages:384
How it qualifies: Secondary character is a lawyer said in blurb
Week 2 - Completion PostOption 1
5. The ceremony follows well established rituals
Read a book with the MPG 'Magic'.
The Rise of Magicks - Nora Roberts
Pages: 467
How It Fits: MPG Magic
Rating: 2 stars
Review: For me this series went downhill. Year One was great dystopian plotting. The Doom and its aftermath; struggle survival and establishing a new life, a keeper. Of Blood and Bone is the growth and development of Fallon, but a continuation of the adult struggle with less time spent on the original players. Rise of the Magicks feels like we’ve switched to a YA series. Thought and action have become more simplistic and very little adult relationship is anywhere. They get to agree with Fallon, have a little adult girl time to relieve stress, oh me, oh my about their kids and carry on the grunt work, DUH! The level of speech has blurred, so that the characters all sound alike. And we whip through the conflicts with a lot of time on prep, short battle, and a list of casualties, while keeping the love interest in separate states for most of the book. Slogged my way through. Very disappointed.
Week 3Completion Post:
Rating: 4 stars
Review: This was a fun little mystery. The main character, Andy, is a defense attorney who is extremely sarcastic. Always fun in a book. He takes an appeal case for a man on death row for murder. His father, who was DA at the time as well as the original prosecutor of the case, talks him into taking this case. This is a mostly light-hearted book even though we are talking about the trial of a murderer. It had some genuinely funny moments. I also found out this is the first book in a very long series and I'll likely be continuing it.
Selection Post - Week 3Option 1
The Southern Lawyer by Peter O'Mahoney
Pages: 334
How It Fits: Lawyer in title & precis.. “ After more than twenty years away from the law, Joe Hennessy is forced back into the courtroom…
Trying to save his vineyard after years of drought, Hennessy returns to practice in the city he walked away from after the murder of his ten-year-old son—Charleston, South Carolina.
When one of South Carolina’s most powerful men is charged with possessing stolen artwork, Hennessy steps forward to defend him. But as Hennessy digs into the evidence, as he navigates the truth, he finds that the criminal charges are only the start of their problems…
Despite his full workload, Hennessy takes on the defense of a young woman charged with stabbing her ex-boyfriend in a violent rage. As he prepares for the trial, Hennessy discovers there’s more to the case than is presented by the prosecution…”
Week 3 - Completion Post Option 1 - 8. Marriage is a legal contract
Read a book with a main character who is a lawyer.
Suddenly One Summer - Julie James
Pages: 291
How It Fits: Precis - "Divorce lawyer Victoria Slade has seen enough unhappy endings to swear off marriage forever. "
Rating: 5 stars
Read: 5/8/25
Review: After a break-in that triggers a panic attack divorce lawyer Victoria Slade sells her home and buys a condo in a high-rise. But it won’t be available for 3 months, so she rents a loft condo for the summer. Investigative journalist Ford Dixon lives next door. They meet amidst misunderstandings and noisy neighbor issues. Then Ford’s sister, Nicole and her baby Zoe become a case for Victoria and the two are thrown together to work on the case. Both have old issues and new issues as well as commitment phobias.
One of the things I particularly liked about the strong female lawyer MC is that it is shown in the way she handles her cases, the way she deals with clients and opposition with integrity and honesty, and the way she faces her problems. The panic attacks come as a result of her having buried some issues she survived as a child under all those layers of outward strength. Making the 911 call for the break-in brings it all to the surface. To truly be as strong as she projects she must face those issues.
Great dynamics and dialogue. Some funny situations and quirky characters and a good bit of angst make this a great read. I have really liked everything in this series.
I'm still working on my book and should be finished by tomorrow.
Week 4 Theme Call Option 1
3. There is a public declaration by an official (Minister, celebrant etc.)
Read a book with punctuation in the title and/or series name.
These are: full stop (aka period), question mark, exclamation mark, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, brackets, braces, parentheses, apostrophe, quotation mark and ellipsis.
A combined 'title: series' name will work. The proof can be on the main page of GR or on the bookcover. Please link to the page or include the bookcover.
It must be limited to the actual title and/or actual series name. Tangential sentences to the title or series will not work.
Option 2
Key date: 8 November 2024
Team mate read on or after this date and rated at least 3 stars
Option 3
Pass
A selection post must be made for whichever option you choose - INCLUDING A PASS
Refer msg 3 in your team thread for formatting of all 3 options.
Grace wrote: "I'm still working on my book and should be finished by tomorrow."No worries!
Linda C wrote: "Week 3 - Completion Post Option 1 - 8. Marriage is a legal contract
Read a book with a main character who is a lawyer.
Suddenly One Summer..."
I've read a lot of her books and loved them all. I'm glad you enjoyed it!!
Week 4Selection Post
Option 1
I'll Have What She's Having
Pages: 320
How it fits: There are 2 apostrophes in the title.
Christina wrote: "Linda C wrote: "Week 3 - Completion Post Option 1 - 8. Marriage is a legal contract
Read a book with a main character who is a lawyer.
[book:Suddenly One ..."
Me too, I only have one left to read in this series.
Selection Post - Week 4Option 1 - 3. Read a book with punctuation in the title and/or series name.
Buster Midnight's Cafe - Sandra Dallas
Pages: 277
How It Fits: Apostrophe in the title
Selection Post Week 4
Option 1 Read a book with punctuation in the title
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Pages:
How it fits: Apostrophe in title
✅Completion Post - Week #3Legal Affairs
Rating (2) ⭐⭐
Review: I preferred Matt's POV in this more than Mac's. While this is spicy it is predictable including the "third act breakup" trope, which is one of my absolute least favorite things.
📅Week 4 - Selection PostOption 1
🔖Task 3. There is a public declaration by an official (Minister, celebrant etc.)Read a book with punctuation in the title and/or series.
📚Book: Scythe & Sparrow
✍️By: Brynne Weaver
📃Page Numbers: 416
🗝️How the book qualifies: I cleared it with Jane in the main Q&A page, but the ampersand "&" in the title is considered punctuation.
Week 3 Completion Post
Book: Truly, Madly, Deeply
Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Review: This was a new to me author and I really enjoyed this read even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting. From the precis it seemed to be more of a grumpy/sunshine, but I would not really define it that way. Colin was a self described realist, but in reality he was more like a puppy dog character who was perfect, maybe a little too perfect. He fell head over heals for Truly and I loved every interaction the two had. Truly was a little too naive and mary sue like (especially with the Parent Trapping of her parents), but together they worked. I do say the resolution between Truly's parents did seem rushed and thrown in, but over all a delightful read.
Week 4 Selection Post
Book Once Written, Twice Shy
Page #: 284 (Kindle Edition)
Qualification: Comma in Title
Not sure what happened but my post didn’t appear to save so trying again 🤞Completion Post - Week 3
Option 1
The Southern Lawyer by Peter O'Mahoney
Pages: 334
How It Fits: Lawyer in title & precis.. “ After more than twenty years away from the law, Joe Hennessy is forced back into the courtroom…
(view spoiler)
Date Read: 5/8
Rating: 4*
Review
This was a corker of a start to a new series, which is a mix of James Patterson and Michael Connelly. Hennessy is forced to return to law to save his vineyard. While defending a woman accused of stabbing her boyfriend he, he is approached by a face from the past to defend him against charges of theft. Whilst on the surface it looks like both cases are separate it soon becomes apparent that they are more closely connected than originally thought. As lies are uncovered, Hennessy’s morals are put to the test as he is defending a man guilty of far worse crimes than the one he is being framed for. Can’t wait to get my hands on the second in the series.
Selection Post - Week 4Option 1
The Alien's Accidental Bride by C.V. Walter
Pages: 269
How It Fits: Apostrophe in title
Hi Louise, how are your books from weeks 1 and 2 coming along?
✅Completion Post - Week #4Scythe & Sparrow
Rating (4.5) ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
Review: I think this is one of the best trilogies out there. Is it dark? Yes. Is it funny? Also yes. Are the Kane brothers swoon worthy alpha males, ABSOLUTELY! Brynn Weaver does a great job connecting all the books together without you having to re-read them back to back. There is enough of the connections for me to remember, but not enough to be spoilers if you read them farther apart. Although, I do recommend going in order for sure. I'm torn between this one and Butcher and Blackbird for the best of the series. B&B was more "shock" factor, while this is a true love redemption story for both Rose and Fionn.
Completion postWeek 4
Review: This isn't my normal book, but it was at the library, and I thought, What the Hell! So many parts of this book were hilarious. There were also so many parts that talked about her personal growth, which I don't think I was expecting. For me, I was expecting a lot of sarcasm and snark, and maybe less of a self-help/personal-growth book. That doesn't mean that I hated it, but I probably would have liked it better if I had managed my expectations. All of this being said, there were some genuinely funny parts of this that I appreciated. Overall, it was worth the read.
Rating: I gave this 3 stars on goodreads, but probably 3.5 stars
🦆Louise - you need to post a completion before the next theme (week 5) is announced.
Outstanding:
Wk 1 - Louise
Wk 2 - Louise
Wk 3 - Kat
Wk 4 - all except Christina and Jessica
Week 4 Completion Post
Book: Once Written, Twice Shy
Rating: 📖📖
Review: This was book was just not for me. I never connected with the writing style. It had a lot of telling what was happening and was very disjointed. It felt like the author was just checking off plot points. It bounced from short scene to short scene, and I never connected to the characters. (view spoiler)
Completion Post - Werk 2Option 1
The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
Pages: 387
How It Fits: MPG Magic
Date Read: 5/12
Rating: 4*
Review
This is the 6th book in the Rivers of London series and is still an enjoyable read. Peter is back in London investigating a number of cases whilst still trying to find Lesley. There is a myriad of characters with a world building that keeps getting better. Can’t wait to read the next in the series where hopefully Peter will catch Lesley and the Faceless Man.
Completion Post - Week 4Option 1
The Alien's Accidental Bride by C.V. Walter
Pages: 269
How It Fits: Apostrophe in title
Date Read: 5/13
Rating: 3*
Review
This was very nearly a DNF but I persevered. There was very little by way of world building other than the med bay that Molly wakes up in. And the plot was thin at best. Mintonar’s Spaceship hits Molly’s spaceship and she gas to be taken on board the ship or die. The mintonar a dr is the only one that can be in contact with her as he is vaccinated against the alien race. There is insta attraction as she is his mate. The nanobots inside her have fixed everything including reversing her op to stop her having children. I don’t think I’ll be continuing with this series.
Jane (PS) wrote: "🦆Louise - you need to post a completion before the next theme (week 5) is announced.
Outstanding:
Wk 1 - Louise
Wk 2 - Louise
Wk 3 - Kat
Wk 4 - all except Christina and Jessica"
Wk 1 and 2 complete. Should have wk4 complete before the theme call
Louise wrote: "Wk 1 and 2 complete. Should have wk4 complete before the theme call"
Motoring! Thanks Louise :)
FYI - I have you as finishing weeks 2 & 4, with week 1 outstanding...
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Midnight Stage (other topics)Sunfire (other topics)
Run, Rose, Run (other topics)
Rockstar Valentine (other topics)
Midnight Stage (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lynne Connolly (other topics)Dolly Parton and James Patterson (other topics)
Sheridan Anne (other topics)
Jojo Moyes (other topics)
Jenny Han (other topics)
More...
Book On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
Page #: 309 pages (Mass Market Paperback Edition)
Qualification: MPG tagged "mag..."
They are my favorite author. I have never read anything by them that was not excellent!