Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

July Buddy Read

Hi, Ezinwanyi.

Just looking at our "to read" lists, we have 81 books in common. Of course, some of them are farther in the series than I've read, but that's not even taking in to account some of my other exclusive shelves.

Here are a few that pop out at me, but I'm game for anything:

Desperately Seeking Epic
A Princess in Theory
WILD
Texas Fall
Lifers
Fortune's Pawn
By Fairy Means or Foul
Cabin Fever
Laird of the Mist

Hi Unusual Child.
I have to go with an audiobook so let me check in those books and your shelf first

Here are some audiobooks that we have in common
The Last Black Unicorn
Kill Game
Behind the Bars
Now That You Mention It

I don't actually have "The Last Black Unicorn", but any of the other three will be fine. I'm more inclined to Kill Game and Behind the Bars.

UnusualChild{beppy} wrote: "I don't actually have "The Last Black Unicorn", but any of the other three will be fine. I'm more inclined to Kill Game and Behind the Bars."

We can read both if that’s okay with you. Can we start with
1st: Behind the Bars and then 2nd: Kill Game

Sure, that sounds good.

How do you want to do this? Read a few chapters at a time and then discuss? Read whatever and then discuss? Read the full book and then discuss? And do you want to start on a specific day?

Sorry, I've only done this once before.

UnusualChild{beppy} wrote: "Sure, that sounds good.

How do you want to do this? Read a few chapters at a time and then discuss? Read whatever and then discuss? Read the full book and then discuss? And do you want to start o..."

I like to discuss every few chapters. But I’m flexible.
I’m excited to listen to these books. Brittainy Cherry writes seeet romances so I went ahead and bought this one

I'm good with reading 3 chapters at a time. Whenever you want to start, let me know.

UnusualChild{beppy} wrote: "I'm good with reading 3 chapters at a time. Whenever you want to start, let me know."

Just signed us up for a thread!

Hi, Ezi.

Have you started? Do you want me to start without you? Do you read a couple of chapters a day, or just post about every 3 chapters and read it in one go?

Hey,
I’m on vacation in Turks & Caicos but yes i started it. Please join me

1. Behind the Bars ~ New Orleans (Elliott Adams - Jasmine Green)
2. Jasmine Green loved Ray like her dad, he’s not her Bio
3. Elliott, caramel skin, glass, stutter (Todd bullied Elliott). Called H bony bones
4. Jasmine is popular, Elliott is not
5. Elliott narrator doesn’t sound like he’s from New Orleans
6. Jazz didn’t see a newspaper. What about that other friend? The bathroom girl
7. Jasmine’s mom left Ray for Trevor. What a witch. Career matters more than her loved ones
8. July 30...why that day?
9. You can’t will Love away. It stays as long as it pleases.
10. What’s your truth? I love that quite

TJ’s stroke was a game changer. That’s what really brought Elliot out of his own prison, bars of guilt. The whole New Orleans marching band thing was so sweet

I love how Ray welcomed his daughter back and was truly there for her when she felt unwanted by her mother.
This book reminds me a lot that family is the ones we choose not just blood. TJ with Lara and Elliott; Ray with Jasmine; Jason moving back because his best friend needed him even though he hated his mom. Jason and his fiancée. The group of them together just shine an example of love and acceptance

Chapters 1-8:

Love Ray, dislike Jasmine's mother, like the fact that Jasmine and Elliott are kindred spirits.

Chapters 9-18:

Agggh! Devastation! On the one hand, tears rolling down my face, on the other, getting a little annoyed with the repetition going on in Elliott's head. Also, why does Jasmine want her mother's approval when she knows her mother doesn't treat her like a parent should?

Chapters 19-28:

I have such an issue with people thinking that just because whatever happened to them isn't as dire as something that happened to someone else, they don't have the right to feel their own pain. Someone losing a friendship can't compare with someone else losing a child, but it still hurts. There is still grief. Jasmine being all "what happened to me can't compare with what happened to Elliott" ticks me off. It's real because it's hers, and it shouldn't be belittled.
Also, the fact that no one seems to be willing to call Elliott on his "my pain is the deepest, darkest pain to ever exist in this world" crap could be part of the reason that he is so insular. I like that Jason (mostly) doesn't take no for an answer from him. I'm not sure about Elliott's mother and TJ, because they don't seem to be fighting as hard for him as Jason is. They have their own grief to deal with, and everyone deals with it in their own way, but isn't respecting Elliott's wishes to not talk about anything and to leave him alone just reinforcing to him how alone and culpable he is?
I think I missed something with regards to TJ, too, because I could have sworn that I read that he was 27 in one of Elliott's earlier chapters, and then six years later he was in his 80s. I'm assuming it was 77, and I just misread it. It gave me a little jolt when I read it, though.

Chapters 29-38:

I'm glad to see Jasmine living her life in spite of the fact that Elliott wants nothing to do with her. Also, that Elliott is one smart cookie, since he basically said what I did in the above post. Best H ever!

UnusualChild{beppy} wrote: "Chapters 9-18:

Agggh! Devastation! On the one hand, tears rolling down my face, on the other, getting a little annoyed with the repetition going on in Elliott's head. Also, why does Jasmine want h..."

I think there is something in everyone that wants that approval. However we all have different breaking points when the parent continues to reject you.

Her mother is so angry at her own self for not being a singing sensation that she hates everyone she blames for being a “nobody”. To her, Jasmine becoming big is a do-over for her.
What I don’t understand is why she can’t try now? She has Trevor and Jazz left, so she is alone enough to try the recording life

Ezinwanyi wrote: "UnusualChild{beppy} wrote: "Chapters 9-18:

Agggh! Devastation! On the one hand, tears rolling down my face, on the other, getting a little annoyed with the repetition going on in Elliott's head. A..."

Yes, I didn't get that either. Maybe she didn't really believe in herself. I mean, because Trevor was "going places", she was basically cowed by him.

I've always liked the idea that everyone has two families: the one you're born with and the one you make. If you're lucky, both will be awesome.

I think that Jasmine coming back reminded Elliott that he had a heart, when he thought he had lost it after his sister died. And then TJ's stroke reminded him that he still had people in his life that he cared about, and could lose.

I liked the definition of "acceptance" in the stages of grief. That you might not have the same kind of happy that you had before, but that you can still find moments of happiness.

I didn't realize how invested I was in the book until I started arguing with the characters (in my head; out loud would be loco). They were all very distinct characters.

I did get tired with the writing, though. It gets to a point where I feel as though the author is stuffing the pages when things are said five different ways (and 5 same ways) in the space of a few chapters.

I also felt as though we didn't get to see a lot of Jasmine and Elliott time on page once they grew up. They had the important conversations on page, but the little ones, like the ones they had as teenagers, seemed to happen somewhere else. Or maybe they didn't have the little conversations at all, just the big ones. I hope not, because just having the big conversations and nothing else would be exhausting.