The Challenge Factory discussion

Team 7 Members
Captain: ❀~Amy~❀
megan ••book slayer••
Linda C
Talia
BarbaraAnn

Helpful Links:

Dice Roll (2 dice on Fridays US Central Time)
Post Your Spot
Discussion Thread

ALTERNATE LIST:
Each number corresponds with the spot on the board.
For colors: The cover has to be at least 50%
For locations: As long as the book takes part at all in the given location
For Shelves: Any book on the given shelf
For Publication Years: I'll be using how GR has it's publication date listed.
For Authors Names: The first, middle, or last name of the author is ok.
For Cover Items: Must have the given item on the cover
For Titles: Only the first word of the title. A, An, And, and The do not count.
So if the letter is B: The Best Day would be ok. Dear Betty would not be ok.

**5 links where gotten from RRRC's Let's Partner Up! challenge which I am currently enjoying**

1. Title D
2. Cover: Black
3. Goodreads Choice Awards 2015
4. England
5. I Saw the Movie & Read the Book
6. Cover Item Vehicle
7. Author M
8. The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance
9. California
10. Cover Purple
11. 2001
12. Title L
13. Author J
14. Cover Item Weapon
15. Goodreads Choice Awards 2014
16. Texas
17. New Release in 2016
18. Cover: Gray/Silver
19. Geek/Nerd/Genuis Romance
20. Cover Item Food/Drink
21. Title W
22. Best Book Boyfriends
23. Author H
24. Tattoos
25. Released the month you rolled (year doesn't matter)
26. Science Fiction
27. Cover: Orange
28. Athletes or Sports. This link might help Athletes, Sport stars etc
29. Title T
30. Cover Item Water
31. Author L
32. Mental Illness
33. On Teammate's shelf
34. Cover: Red
35. Law Enforcement/Military
36. Audiobooks
37. Title B
38. Cover Item Building(s)
39. Amazon 2016 Bestsellers
40. Artist/Dancer/Musician
41. Enemies to lovers (must state how book qualifies i.e. listopia or precis)
42. Friendship
43. Road trip
44. Sequel in a series you've already started. Must have read a book in that series already.
45. Freebies
46. New to me Author
47. Humor
48. New York
49. Author I
50. Fairy Tale Retellings
51. Man Protagonist
52. Favorite Author
53. Title R
54. Cover Item: 2 or more People
55. Tagged DNF
56. Second chance love (must state how book qualifies i.e. listopia or precis)
57. Florida
58. White
59. Goodreads Choice Awards 2012
60. Title S
61. Cover Item An Animal
62. Author Z
63. Best Book Ever
64. Title E
65. College
66. Mexico
67. Beautiful covers
68. Cover: Green
69. Priority Reads
70. Cowboy (girl) take me Away (western)
71. Historical (fiction, nonfiction, romance etc)
72. Author S
73. suspense thriller
74. Multi-Colored (3 or More Colors)
75. 2009
76. Has at least one child
77. Title C
78. Cover Item No People
79. Author A
80. Standalones
81. Europe
82. Cover: Yellow/Gold
83. LGBT
84. I Don't Understand All That Fuss
85. Title M
86. Cover Item Moon
87. Author F
88. Amnesia/Memory loss (temporary, real, faked)
89. Reader's choice
90. Cover: Blue
91. 2013
92. Author E
93. Title G
94. Cover Item Weapon(s)
95. Detective
96. Non-caucasian author
97. Illinois
98. Cover: Purple
99. Character has a pet
100. Amazing
(view spoiler)[ [101. Cover: Brown
102. Author M
103. Multicultural
104. Seasonal Theme (i.e Christmas, Halloween, Valentine etc)
105. Wisconsin
106: 2008
107. 3 Star
108. Canada
109. Cover: Pink
110. Book read by anyone (regardless of team) in this challenge this round (hide spoiler)]

Hi team,
Just ran across this post and excited to play.

I cannot be captain as I will be on vacation for a couple of the weeks. I will have limited internet access during that time, so can't commit to the kind of updating needed.

I WILL be able to check-in and will be keeping up to date with reading mostly from my kindle. I'll try to pre select books ahead of time to match possible numbers that could be drawn for those weeks.

Hello everyone. I can captain if you guys want...or not if someone else is dying to do it. Lol! Looking forward to this challenge starting!

Hi team,

I'm looking forward to playing. If you're willing to be captain Amy, that's fine with me.

Hello Amy and BarbaraAnn! I'm fine with Amy as captain. Looking forward to meeting our other 2 members.

A little about me:
Retired librarian; married, one daughter, one grandson; just moved to town-home and still organizing books; looking forward to vacation in Maine; excited about this game

Good morning Linda and BarbaraAnn! I'm hoping our other two members show up soon. Everyone on this team is new to me and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting to know everyone a little. So excited to start!

Lol! I dread this but....about me.
I live in NC, work nights for the post office, am divorced and have 2 sons (18 & 20). I read mostly M/M, but will read M/F and M/M/F on occasion.

We need to get started picking a name too. Any suggestions?

I'm totally horrible at this but here are a few name ideas...

Lucky Charmers
Sexy Seven Rollers
Crazy Reading Chicks
The Book Posse
Series Searchers

Hi,

I hate talking about myself but... I live in Illinois and am a relocation counselor. No children, but lots of family. I read a bit of everything, mystery, science fiction, romance, fantasy, thriller, m/m, m/f, f/f, etc.

I'm not good with names either. Of your ideas Amy, I like Lucky Charmers or Series Searchers the best, but any name is fine.

BarbaraAnn wrote: "Hi,

I hate talking about myself but... I live in Illinois and am a relocation counselor. No children, but lots of family. I read a bit of everything, mystery, science fiction, romance, fantasy, th..."

Ooo BarbaraAnn, you read f/f. I've wanted to give reading that a try, but didn't really find much out there and was unsure of what was good. I got one book, What This Woman Wants: A Riptide Lesbian Sampler, but haven't read it yet. Any recs would be great!

I also read a little of everything. As far as couples, I read mostly m/f, but will read m/m or f/f if needed for a challenge. My one hang-up is vampires, nothing about blood-sucking appeals, no matter how they try to pretty it up. But if it is required I will read it.

I sent a message to our remaining members and asked them to come and meet us.

Linda C wrote: "I also read a little of everything. As far as couples, I read mostly m/f, but will read m/m or f/f if needed for a challenge. My one hang-up is vampires, nothing about blood-sucking appeals, no mat..."

The SS Series game earlier this year was the only round I've ever played in, but every week pretty much would work with any genre. The only thing to watch out for (and you've probably run into this already) is that if you're taking the alternative choice and it's a list, it seems like all the Twilight books pop up, whether it's a "best book ever" list or a "horrible book" list. I do like paranormal, including vampires, but I couldn't get past the first Twilight book. It's a good example (both best and worst) that the lists are made up of opinions.

❀~Amy~❀ wrote: "BarbaraAnn wrote: "Hi,

I hate talking about myself but... I live in Illinois and am a relocation counselor. No children, but lots of family. I read a bit of everything, mystery, science fiction, r..."

Hi Amy, - it's hard to give a recommendation without a base genre, so here's a couple of general ones:

Kim Baldwin - I really liked Force of Nature, and that's representative of a lot of her books. she also writes a thriller series with another author (Xenia Alexiou) and I like that as well.

Radclyffe writes several slightly different genres - all f/f and I've liked almost everything she's written. I look a quick look at your shelves and it looks like you like contemporary rather than paranormal or thrillers? I would suggest Safe Harbor, which is the first of one of her series but stands on its own.

BarbaraAnn wrote: "❀~Amy~❀ wrote: "BarbaraAnn wrote: "Hi,

I hate talking about myself but... I live in Illinois and am a relocation counselor. No children, but lots of family. I read a bit of everything, mystery, sc..."

I read pretty much everything except horror. Thanks for the help. I'll definitely check those out.

megan ••book slayer•• wrote: "I've been on teams with Talia before and have seen Amy and BarbaraAnn around SFRC and other groups. Not familiar with Linda.

But looking forward to playing with y'all and getting to know y'all bet..."

This should be a lot of fun and only 2 days away!

I can go along with Lucky Charmers, but mainly for the Lucky Charm (as in being lucky), not for the cereal. Really do not like that cereal, especially those marshmallow things, eh!

Lol. The marshmallows are the only part I really like, can take or leave the cereal.

Alright, I'm going to submit our name as Lucky Charmers since I'm not sure when Talia is going to show up and that seems to be the one you guys like.

Hi Team! Sorry, totally missed that teams were posted, so thank you, Linda, for the message! I like Lucky Charmers too, so I'm glad that's our name! Looking forward to getting started!

So glad you're here Talia! =D

❀~Amy~❀ wrote: "So glad you're here Talia! =D"

Thanks! :D

megan ••book slayer•• wrote: "Hi, Talia!!"

Megan, we meet again! The funny thing is it took me a while after I was posting with you in Stress Free Challenges to realize that you were the same megan with me in Fear the Walking Deatheaters! Lol

Me too!!

We just had our first roll on the Super Speedy side. Can't wait to see what we get over here. =D

We rolled a 3. I was surprised how few books I have that are #3 in a series, given how many series I am in the middle of.

megan ••book slayer•• wrote: "What'd y'all get on SS?"

You mean SSS?

megan ••book slayer•• wrote: "I'm really excited for this challenge to start!!"

Same here!!! :D

I just thought about the fact that #1 in the alternatives list is never used (since we throw 2 die). It should get an automatic spot higher up the list in the next round.

Linda C wrote: "I just thought about the fact that #1 in the alternatives list is never used (since we throw 2 die). It should get an automatic spot higher up the list in the next round."

Glad you pointed that out. Next round, the numbers will begin from #2.

megan ••book slayer•• wrote: "❀~Amy~❀ wrote: "We rolled a 3. I was surprised how few books I have that are #3 in a series, given how many series I am in the middle of."

I usually don't choose the series option, because I rarel..."

And I only like the alternative options that don't have lists attached. I rarely find anything on them I'm interested in reading.

I'll always have lists. But if you want to suggest a list, I'll take the suggestion as the lists tend to be topics that catch my eye. I could use other list topics

Week 1

Rolled: 8
Spot: 8
Can read a #8 or from the alternate list The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance

Amy - Review
Megan - Review
Linda - Review
Talia - Review
BarbaraAnn - Review

Darn, we should have talked about who could roll for us! I'm on Pacific time, so I'm awake and can roll. I'll roll this time and just post here, and Amy can post the results in Post Your Spot later today.

Sorry I'm a bit late with the roll. I'm at work and of course my boss chose 12:55 to come and have a conversation. =/

ThatEzi wrote: "I'll always have lists. But if you want to suggest a list, I'll take the suggestion as the lists tend to be topics that catch my eye. I could use other list topics"

I like the series option best most of the time. My biggest issue with lists is the I mainly read m/m and there's not much of it on most of those lists. I like the ones you have this time like the Geek/nerd list that actually links to a set of lists. I was happy to see a m/m list in there

I did roll Talia, just a bit late. Thanks though. ;)

❀~Amy~❀ wrote: "Sorry I'm a bit late with the roll. I'm at work and of course my boss chose 12:55 to come and have a conversation. =/"

Oh good, I was thinking I was the only one awake! I shall leave the rolling to you :).

Unfortunately I'm usually at work at this time. Good to know you're available to roll for us if I can't get to it. :-)

Week 1 ~ Spot 8 ~ Alternate: The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance


No Limits by Lori Foster
Pages: 432
Qualification: # 197 on The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance
Date Read: 7/21/16
Rating: 2 stars
Review:
I had the hardest time getting through this book. It was as well written as any of the previous books by this author that I have read, but I was bored out of my mind for most of it. I remember really liking Cannon's character when he showed up in the last series, so I was sad that I didn't enjoy this more. Cannon was fine and Yvette was fine. As a couple they were fine, but the plot just felt like it never went anywhere. The ending seemed kind of anti-climactic to me.
I am putting this book firmly in the "it was me....not the book" category. Since I already own the other three books in this series, I'm sure I will get around to reading them at some point. Hopefully I'll be in a better frame of mind for them.

The alternate list for #8 is a list about fighters, but it is only about 300 titles. I just completed Causing Havoc #1 in the SBC Fighters series about MMA fighters. That is the only one in that series on the list. I was planning on reading #2 in the series, Simon Says next and it would work for this challenge topic but it's not on the list. It is on another list of Popular Fighter Books, see https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Do we have to read strictly from the specified list?

Hi Linda, I checked the rules, but didn't see anything. If you're set on Simons book, It may be worth posting the question in the help post to see, especially since Simon Says has a higher overall rating than Causing Havoc

Linda C wrote: "The alternate list for #8 is a list about fighters, but it is only about 300 titles. I just completed Causing Havoc #1 in the SBC Fighters series about MMA fighters. That is the only ..."

Sorry I missed your question earlier Linda. Your book does have to be on that shelf. Ezi states it here in the rules thread (5th star in the list).

What is weird is that books 1, 3, and 4 of that series are all on the alternate shelf. I wonder how book 2 got overlooked.

ETA: I guess you could add book 2 to the list. I see nothing in the rules preventing it.

Week 1: Spot 8


Book: Eighth Grave After Dark
How it fits: #8 in the Charley Davidson series
Date read: 07/18/16
Rating: 3 stars
Review: I've only read the first book in this series about Charley Davidson, the grim reaper who helps the dead cross over into Heaven. So jumping forward to book 8, now Charley is married and having a baby with Reyes, the son of Lucifer. Um, alrighty. In this book, Charley is hiding out in an old convent so that the 12 hellhounds that are after her can't get to her on sacred ground. She also solves a missing person case thanks to a quick trip to hell, and she helps the spirit of a departed nun find peace. And of course there's a showdown with her father-in-law, Lucifer himself. I faintly remember now why I wasn't planning on continuing with this series -- because I don't like when books make evil things like demons seem like some of them are really good. But this book ended on a cliffhanger, so my nosiness will probaby make me read the next one eventually.

Week 1 ~ Spot 8 ~ Alternate: The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance


by Lori Foster
Simon Says by Lori Foster
Pages: 330
Qualification: # 239 on The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance
Date Read: 7/17/16
Rating: 4 stars
Review: After learning his live-in girlfriend has been cheating on him, Simon Evans decides he needs to make some changes. Simon left the MMA circuit as a champion to take up managing and coaching the sport, now he decides to re-enter the ring. As he's training for his comeback he is approached by Dakota Dream who has been coerced into getting him to reconnect with the father who deserted him and his mother. He's not interested in the connection but is interested in Dakota. Theirs is a rocky relationship. Lots of secrets and a stalker. Because of past abuse Dakota is into self-defense and some of her sparring and training sessions with the fighters are intense. There is a great climax scene that hits all the right notes. Very well done.

Week 1 ~ Spot 8 ~ Alternate: The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance


Book: Raze by Tillie Cole
Pages: 256
Qualification: # 35 on The Ultimate List of Fighter Romance
Date Read: 7/17/16
Rating: ***
Review: Raze has been a fighter in a prison for as long as he can remember. He has been tortured and drugged to eliminate his memories until the fight is all he can remember. A breakout is managed for all the prisoners. He had written a note to himself on the floor of his cell with a name and location along with the word "revenge" so he heads that way. When he arrives, he ends up in an underground cage-fight group and meets Kisa, whose family is one of the owners.

I ended up liking this book more than I thought I would. The first category in the main page genre is dark, which is very accurate. I did feel that the darkness was supported in the story and didn't feel forced or added just for the darkness. I didn't think there was enough from Kisa's side of the story. She was afraid of Alik, and did everything she could to keep him calm and happy, but suddenly she took a risk for someone she had seen once. I didn't think that was supported enough (later in the book it was, but not initially). I did think Raze and Kisa's interractions were very sweet at times. I don't currently have any desire to read the next book in the series, but I thought this one was ok and may read another book by this author in the future.

Raze was more dark and romance at the very end. I prefer the Other series The Darkest Light of Day.
I also like the Hades Hangmen series by the same author

megan ••book slayer•• wrote: "BarbaraAnn, I just recently read Raze. I gave it three stars."

To be honest Megan, I'm not overly excited about it, but it fits the fighter list and I needed an "R" book for the scrabble game on AMMP. Who knows - I may like it better than I expect to. I recently read Causing Havoc with no expectations and, while I thought the ending was a bit silly, I liked the book a lot better than I thought I would. - Linda - I'll be interested in what you think about the second book in the series.

ThatEzi wrote: "Raze was more dark and romance at the very end. I prefer the Other series The Darkest Light of Day.
I also like the Hades Hangmen series by the same author" Thanks for the recommendation. I have the first book in the Hades Hangman series, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll have to move it up. I wasn't able to pull up the Darkest Light of Day on goodreads. Is that by the same author?