Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Team Members

Captain: Pam
Jane
Teresa in Ohio Stacey
Nikk
Louise
Ladybug

1. Introduce yourself to your team. Let your team members know where you are from. This is a 'nice to know' when categories are announced and when team-mates can expect other members to post their book choices.

2. Team Captain - reserve a couple of posts in this thread tracking your team's book selection and completion. (Alternatively they could convert a chat comment to the tracking post/s.)

3. Name your team. Using this round's theme of CANDY LAND, come up with a fun name. Given we are an open/public group with no age limit, so please make sure any chosen name is smart, not smutty ;)

Please PM your name to Jane(PS) by 6 September.

4. If you have a private profile, please 'friend' your team-mates. This is really important, because without this, your team-mates can't see your shelves to select a books under option 2.

5. Please post your book selections/completions in the format provided below. (This format is also posted in both the Q&A and Sign-Up threads.) We need to know the week that each book corresponds to, the page numbers, and how the book qualifies including links to lists/shelves (where applicable), etc. I can't stress this enough. When in doubt - link it*!

* don't link to your review in your completion post - reviews in your completion posts should be included in full in that post.

You don't want to start reading a book and then find it doesn't meet the requirements because some information (eg page count or theme link) was missing from your original post.

I will be monitoring this and your book will not be considered complete until I am satisfied that your selection and completion posts comply with the format rules of the challenge.

Remember - you can ONLY change your book selection in the week that the theme is called.

6. You MUST check in with your team each week, ideally once the theme is announced. Please let your team know if you expect to have spotty communication or are on holidays or having an operation.

7. When you post the completion of your book, you must post a review; enough for us to know you have actually read the book. Please don't link to a review. You must post the review in this thread.

8. Re-reads are allowed but you can't read the same book twice within this challenge.

9. There is no prize for the winning team - bragging rights only :)

10. Each week, the theme will be announced in the Q&A Annoucement thread. The full list of themes announced during this round will be maintained in msg 1 of that thread.


The Rule on the Pass Option
* Each team can only have ONE member using their pass each week.
* Each member can only use that pass once each 5 weeks.
* This means that one or two team members (dependent upon the size of your team) will miss using a pass in each 5 week block.
* No-one can use the pass option in the last week of the challenge.
* In the final week Option 2 has altered and I will be allocating each team another team from which their book selection must be chosen :)

Key selection and completion post information. You must have ALL elements in your book posts.


For the initial selection post Option 1 I need:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Page numbers
How the book qualifies - please insert a link to the qualifying bookshelf/list.
If the theme is based off the bookcover or a letter in the title etc, please just repeat the theme.

For the initial selection post Option 2 I need:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Page numbers
Name of the team-member, their star rating, the date they read the book.


For the completion post I need:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Rating (1-5)
Review


Please DO NOT CHAT in these selction/completion posts. It needs to be super clear.

If you 'waffle' about your decided book - please REPOST your selection once you decide. DO NOT go back and edit your waffling post.

I'll be tracking each team's progress separately, using the Captain's summary in each team's thread to check for accuracy.

Theme Choice
Week 11

Option 1
8. Gloppy - what a great name.
Read a humorous book from one of the following lists:
Humorous Romance Books
Humorous Paranormal Books
The Best Humourous Gay Romances
Quirky Southern Fiction
Best Humorous Historical Romances

These are compulsory lists. Your selected book MUST come from one of these lists. You must link to the list and note which page/which number it is on that list. Link to Jane's live links

Option 2
Key date: 19 May 2017

If you use this option, this week you must select your book from the team shelves immediately below your team in this list. The last team picks from the first team.

5 Lord Licorices Ladies
4 Gramma Nutts
12 Candy Strippers
6 Suckers for Romance
10 SweeTEN Sassy
11 Lemon Drop Ladies
13 Gumdrop Mountain Maidens
3 Rainbow Reading Queens
1 Eyre Heads
8 Lollipop Lickers
7 Team of Smarties
2 2 Sweet Gumdrop Dolls
9 King Kandy Krusaders

Eg. Team 5 picks from team 4's members bookshelves. Team 9 picks from team 5's members bookshelves.

Week 10
Option 1 #6. Players need to find King Kandy, the lost King of Candy Land. Read a book with Royalty or Nobility in the storyline.
Royalty in Romance
Gay Romance Featuring Royalty Nobility
Gay Characters Who Belong to a Royal Family
Princess in Disguise
Modern Royal Romances

These are compulsory lists. Your selected book MUST come from one of these lists. You must link to the list and note which page/which number it is on that list.
Link to live compulsory lists for Week 10

Week 9
Option 1
14. Time to work together to get to King Kandy first!
The team needs to spell out 'Candy Land' as much as they can by reading a book whose title starts with one of those letters. You cannot use the same letter. However for the letters that are found twice (A, N and D), two members may use the same letter.
(Obviously some letters won't be used since there are a total of nine letters and only 5/6 team members.)
Captains, please set out this week's post with the letters in the order of their spelling for each of the books read.

Option 2
Key date: 5 May 2017
Week 8
Option 1
13. The Molasses Swamp - sounds pretty dark?
Read a book with a dark cover - black, brown, grey. No more than 30% of the cover should have white or a pale colour.
Option 2 Key date: 28 April 2017

Week 7
Option 1
2. Candy Land is a children's board game invented by Eleanor Abbott.
Read a book written by a female author. If there is more than one author, they must both/all be female.
Option 2 Key date: 21 April 2017

Week 6
Option 1 #4 A number of organisations have produced the Candy Land game since its inception: Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Hasbro and Landmark Entertainment Group.
Read a book released by a Publisher starting with one of the following letters: M, B, P, H or L
(eg Penguin, MIRA, LUNA, Harlequin etc)

Option 2 Key date: 14 April 2017

Theme Choice
Week 5
Option 1 #9. Lord Licorice is the baddie in this game.
Read a book where the author's name or the title of the book is written in black on the cover. Must be a solid black type, not just the outline of the letters.(It doesn't matter the thickness of the type ~ just that it is black.)

Option 2 Key date: 7 April 2017

Week 4
Option 1 Compulsory lists
#15. Gingerbread men are used as the tokens/markets to move around the board.
Read a book from one of the following lists:
Ginger Women: Redheaded Heroine in Romance
Redheaded Romance Heroes
MM Redheads and Gingers
Historical Romance Red Headed Heroine or Hero
Redheaded Heroines in Contemporary Romance
Week 4 Compulsory lists

Option 2 Key date: 31 March 2017

Week 3
Option 1 Compulsory lists
#3. Eleanor Abbott created the game whilst recouperating in hospital from polio.
Read a book from one of the following lists:
Best Gay Couple in Health and In Sickness
In Sickness and in Health: Romance Novels that deal with Illness
Nurse Themed Romance Novels
OMG You Almost DIED: MM with hospital scenes
OMG You Almost Died: Straight Edition
Climatic or Romantic Suspense: Villain Stalker, Fight to the Death, Hero/Heroine is attacked, almost killed, fight scene or almost die
Week 3 Compulsory lists

Option 2 Key date: 24 March 2017

Week 2
Option 1
#11. One of the locations that players pass through is the Ice Cream Seas.
Read a book from one of the following lists:
Gay Romance That Takes Place on an Island
Romance Erotica Desert Island List
Beach Reads - Mysteries & Thrillers
Gay Beach - Summery Reads
What To Read in Summer

These are compulsory lists. Your selected book MUST come from one of these lists. You must link to the list and note which page/which number it is on that list. Here is the link to Jane's post so you can click on the link Week 2 Compulsory lists

Option 2
Key date: 17 March 2017

Week 1
Option 1
#1Candy Land, a children's game, is our theme for this round.
Read a book with a title starting with the letter 'C'.

Option 2 Key date: 10 March 2017

INITIAL POSTS
Week 11
Jane The Succubus in a Red Dress
Nikk Magic Rises
Pam The Law of Attraction

Week 10
Jane Option 2 Cry Wolf
Stacey Option 2 Obsession in Death
Nikk Serpent's Kiss
Louise Heir Untamed
LadybugThe American Heiress
Pam Heir Untamed

Week 9
C-Chasing Christmas Eve. Pam
A-About Last Night Ladybug
N-Night Shift Nikk
L-La Belle Sauvage Jane
A-After the Game
N-NYPD Red 3 Louise

Week 8
Jane
Stacey
Nikk
Louise
Ladybug
Pam
Week 7
Jane Dragon Bones
Stacey Bound by Night
Nikk This Side of the Grave
Louise Birthday Cake and Bodies
Ladybug Sweet Little Lies
Pam Enigma

Week 6
Jane The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well
Stacey Silver Silence
Nikk Summer Knight
Louise A Bone to Pick
Ladybug Allegiance of Honor
Pam The Ultimatum

Initial Posts
Week 5
Jane Poor Little Witch Girl
Stacey Option 2 Ink and Bone
Nikk I See You
Louise Death Comes eCalling
Ladybug Mail Order Madness
Pam Option 2 The Hunt

Week 4
Jane The Goddess of Fried Okra
Stacey Option 2 Angels' Blood
Nikk Lover at Last
Louise Lover at Last
Ladybug Wait for You
Pam The League for the Suppression of Celery

Week 3
Jane A Rather Unusual Romance
Nikk Angels' Blood
Louise Marked
Ladybug Defying the Odds
Pam Just This Once

Week 2
Jane The Trouble with St. John
Teresa in Ohio Option 2 Third Grave Dead Ahead(using series rule)
Nikk Across the Universe
Louise Divergent
Ladybug Splendor
Pam Playing Games

Week 1
Jane Option 2 Wildfire
Teresa in Ohio Catching Jordan
Nikk Cinderella, Necromancer
Louise Child of the Mist
Ladybug The Convenient Mail Order Bride
Pam The Courtship

COMPLETION POSTS
Week 11
Jane The Succubus in a Red Dress***
Pam The Law of Attraction** 1/2

Week 10
Jane Cry Wolf*****
Pam Heir Untamed****
Ladybug The American Heiress****
Nikk Serpent's Kiss****
Stacey Obsession in Death***

Week 9
Nikk Night Shift*****
Jane La Belle Sauvage*****
Ladybug After the Game****
Stacey About Last Night****
Louise NYPD Red 3****
Pam Chasing Christmas Eve****

Week 8
Louise Ivan***
Jane Raven's Shadow*****
Ladybug For Your Sake*****
Nikk Mine to Possess*****
StaceyEvermore**
Pam Twice Bitten*** 1/2

Week 7
Jane Dragon Bones*****
LouiseBirthday Cake and Bodies***
Ladybug Sweet Little Lies****
Nikk This Side of the Grave****
Pam Enigma***
Stacey Bound by Night

Week 6
Jane The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well**
Ladybug Allegiance of Honor ****
Stacey Silver Silence****
Nikk Summer Knight****
Pam The Ultimatum****
Louise A Bone to Pick***

COMPLETION POSTS
Week 5
Ladybug Mail Order Madness **
Jane Poor Little Witch Girl***
Nikk I See You*** 3/4
Stacey Ink and Bone****
Louise Death Comes eCalling***
Pam The Hunt***

Week 4
Ladybug Wait for You****
Stacey Angels' Blood***
Nikk Lover at Last****
JaneThe Goddess of Fried Okra****
Louise Lover at Last****
Pam The League for the Suppression of Celery** 1/2

Week 3
Jane A Rather Unusual Romance***
Nikk Angels' Blood****
Ladybug Defying the Odds***
Louise Marked****
Pam Just This Once****

Week 2
Pam Playing Games***
Ladybug Splendor**
Nikk Across the Universe****
Louise Divergent****
Teresa from Ohio Third Grave Dead Ahead****
Jane The Trouble with St. John**

Week 1
Ladybug The Convenient Mail Order Bride***
Jane Wildfire *****
Pam The Courtship****
Teresa in Ohio Catching Jordan*
Louise Child of the Mist****
Nikk Cinderella, Necromancer ****

Hiya, checking in. 😀 Will post a proper intro when I get back to my computer later today :-)

Hi team. I'm Pam and I live in Virginia right outside Washington DC. I'm a high school special education teacher. We started school this week and I am sooooo tired right now. This is my 7th Ptp challenge and I even managed to be on a winning team once (still exercising those bragging rights)! I read romance, mysteries, some ya and other assorted fiction

Checkin in quick before my battery dies, be back later ☺

Hiya! I am Nikk. I am from Sydney Australia and work as a corporate sales co-ordinator for a gym chain here. I am also the mother of a gorgeous five year old in her first year of school so i am tired all the time LOL! This is my first Ptp challenge and I am looking forward to it. I have been getting more involved in reading challenges this year and I have found that it has really upped the number of books I have read this year. I mostly read fantasy- YA and otherwise, paranormal romance, urban fantasy and paranormal cozies though i very much a mood reader so will really read anything that catches my fantasy . Can't wait to get started! :-)

Hi. I am Jane and I'm from Denmark. My favourite genres are fantasy and paranormal. I end up reading a lot of romace and cozies as well.

HI I am Teresa from Ohio, Mom to two teenagers 15 and 18. I work day shift at Mcdonalds after being on third shift for 8 yrs.

I use to read mystery/thriller/suspense and nothing else for years so either I burned myself out on that or RL cause a 2 yr reading slump.

I decided this year I LOVE to read and make sure I do it again, so usually reading 3-4 books at a time, I have branched out to YA ( daughter has certain requirements on reading a book so i "preview" a lot and got hooked on this genre) chic lit and contermporary fiction I discovered this year and still read mysteries.

@pam glad to see you are expert on this game, I will probably have questions I get confused easily.

and it is so exciting to see other countries besides USA here, I ddint know Goodreads was global.

Hi, I'm Louise from a currently rainy ☔ Wales, where I live with my OH and 1 year Springer x dachshund. I'm a purchase ledger administrator for a nationwide local news publisher.
This is my 2nd time playing PtP. I like pretty much all genres of books and always have 2 or 3 books on the go.

when do we get our tasks,

trying to think of team names only came up with this :(

king kandy krusaders

The only things I can think of are:

Rainbow Reading Warriors
Reese's Rainbow Readers

Welcome all. We are quite the international team. The first theme will be posted Friday September 8 at 6 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Sometimes Jane gives us a break and posts the first one early but we have the same amount of time to read.

For us this means-adjusted for the shift in time zones (math is not my thing but I think this is right)
Pam and Teresa see it at 6 pm
Louise would see it at 11 pm
Jane would see it at midnight
Nikk would see it at 8 am Saturday morning
Ladybug would see it at midnight

Be sure you have checked the "Add to my update feed box/notify me when people reply" boxes on the page so you see posts.

I will post the theme at the top of the page under message 5. Usually I post it Friday evening--I'll let you know if there is going to be a problem and then you can check Jane's post. I will check that your posts conform to the theme choice or the option 2 rule.

So for the name....I like alliteration. Throw those suggestions out there. Rainbow and Gumdrops have been claimed by other teams :(

Can't wait to read with you all! I should say in the interest of full disclosure, I loathe the Candyland game because it takes so freaking long to play. When my kids were little, I would stack the deck ahead of time.

I'm looking at images of books with candy in title and thinking "Eye Candy"?

I'm absolutely hopeless with names. So I'll go with just about anything.

Hi Team - I've just given you a new player! Ladybug is about to join you team and balance out your numbers. No doubt she'll be over soon :D

Hi Team! Glad to join you!
My name is Vesna, 37 years old, I'm from Prilep, Macedonia and this is my second PtP. I may be late in responding due to time difference, but I will keep up :)
About the name I like your suggestions. I have one of my own Candy Ladies!

Welcome Ladybug

So names on the table right now :king kandy krusaders or Candy Ladies. Thoughts?

Pam wrote: "So for the name....I like alliteration. Throw those suggestions out there. Rainbow and Gumdrops have been claimed by other teams :(

Can't wait to read with you all! I should say in the interest o..."

I never did that, but I would let them miscount if it got them farhter LOL

Hey Everyone - how is the naming goinng? Do you just want me to pick one from your two current options ;) My suggestion is you go with King Kandy Krusaders (with or without capitals) since there are other Candy and Ladies names :D

Jane. We'll go with King Kandy Krusaders. Don't want to hold the game up

Pam wrote: "Jane. We'll go with King Kandy Krusaders. Don't want to hold the game up"

Great choice! And someone needs to find that darn King!

Jane posted first theme early. You need to choose a book and post it here as soon as you know. You can change it during the week it is called. We have until Friday, September 15.

Selection Post
Week 1
Option 2

The Convenient Mail Order Bride (Chance at Love #1)

Page number:208

Read by Jane
Date read: 06.07.2017
Rating: 3 stars

When do we start reading?

Jane wrote: "When do we start reading?"

You can start reading any time after a theme is called!

Selection Post
Option 1
Week #1
Bookcover/link:
Page numbers: 336
How the book qualifies - Title starts with C

Completion Post
Week 1

The Convenient Mail Order Bride by Ruth Ann Nordin

Date Read: 07.09.2017
Rating: 3
Review
I barely gave it 3 stars. I've read some of this author's books and I liked them much more than this one.
Phoebe answers a mail ordered ad and goes West with her mother to marry Abe. When she arrives she discovers that the ad was posted by Abe's half brother. Not being able to return back East and not wanting to work in a saloon she convinces Abe to let them stay for a month and see if they suit.
I like that Nordin introduces prejudice as a theme, but apart that I really couldn't connect with the characters. The story was slow and there wasn't any chemistry between Phoebe and Abe. It has a neat ending and that's it.
All in all a nice enough read, but not something that will make me reread it again or recommend it.

MountainKat wrote: "Jane wrote: "When do we start reading?"

You can start reading any time after a theme is called!"

Thank you.

Selection Post


Week #1: Option 1

Bookcover/link:
Carried Away by Patricia W. Fischer
Page numbers: 265
How the book qualifies: Title starts with C

Selection Post
Week 1 | Option 1

Book cover/Link: Cinderella, Necromancer by F.M. Boughan
Page number: 324
How the book qualifies: Title starts with C

selection post
week 1 option 1
page number
how the book qualifies title starts with c

how does option two work?

when does the book have to be done?

Teresa in Ohio wrote: "how does option two work?

when does the book have to be done?"

for option 2 , it is to read a book read by one of your team mates in the last 6 months that was rated 3 stars or more . The date Jane gave out with the theme announcement is the earliest the book can have been read by your team mates. This book does not have to fit the theme of the week (i.e. if you choose this option for this week's theme, the title doesn't have to start with C"

I think that's the main gist :-)

Nikk wrote: "Teresa in Ohio wrote: "how does option two work?

when does the book have to be done?"

for option 2 , it is to read a book read by one of your team mates in the last 6 months that was rated 3 star..."

oh now i get it, okay

I'm going to change my book.

Selection Post


Week #1: Option 2

Bookcover/link:
Wildfire by Ilona Andrews
Page numbers: 400
Read by: Nikk - ★★★★★ - August 5th

Completion Post


Week #1: Option 2

Bookcover/link:
Wildfire by Ilona Andrews
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
It is no secret that I love everything this author couple writes and Wildfire did not disappoint.
Nevada and Connor's relationship has developed strongly from book to book and I like that Connor is not always the strong one despite the powers he possess.
They also do a great job of Nevada's family and describing the troubles of having the kind of power they have.
I really, really hope there will be more books in this series.

Hi guys. I did not fall off the edge of the earth. I have actually been out at night both Thursday and Friday which never happens and I actually had to work this morning which also never happens. Looks like everything is proceeding her with just Teresa and myself to post and two people already finished!

Ladybug, I am going to count your book as Option 1--it begins with a C according to the rules (where little words A/the don't count if I remember correctly and if I haven't well no harm, no foul)