Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Team members

Train Conductor:
★ Lauren

Travellers:
★ Plethora
★ Crystal
★ Mariana
★ Ezinwanyi
★ Shan

1. Introduce yourself to your team. Let your team members know where you are from. This is a great to know when themes 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 Around The World in 80 Days, come up with a fun name. 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 early Wednesday 6 March.

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 names 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 within 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 if Option 2 is used, members must select their book from another team. This will be advised in the week 11 announcement.

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


The format for selection posts Option 1:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Page numbers
How the book qualifies - please link or name the qualifying bookshelf/list where applicable (link if possible).
If the theme is based off the bookcover or a letter in the title etc, please just repeat the theme.

The format for selection posts Option 2:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Page numbers
Name of the team-member, their star rating, the date they read the book.


Format for completion posts:
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.

🚂 WEEKLY THEMES

Week 1: Called March 6, 2019
Option 1
1. Read a book where:
a) the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name starting with the same letter OR
b) the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name phonetically sound as if they start with the same letter.

Option 2
Key date: September 7, 2018

Week 2: Called March 16
Option 1: 3. Read a book with a number:
* in the title or
* in the series title (not the number that the book is in the series) or
* in the precis (summary of the book on the main GR page).
Eg : Two for the Show - TWO
Stardust (Celebrate! ..2014 Advent Calendar) - 2014
Safe and Sound ..."that one night is just that." - ONE

Please show HOW this fits in the selection post given there are three options in this category.

Option 2:
Book chosen from a team member's shelf that was read on the date below or more recently and rated at least 3 stars.
Key Date: September 14, 2018

Week 3: Called March 22

Option 1-
12. Read a book with editions available in more than one language.

Option 2
Book chosen from a team member's shelf that was read on the date below or more recently and rated at least 3 stars.
Key Date: September 21, 2018

🚂 Weeks 1 - 3: Selection Post | Completion Post🚂

Week 1
Plethora: Selection | Completion
Crystal: Selection | Completion
Mariana: Selection | Completion
Ezinwanyi: Selection | Completion
Shan: Selection | Completion
Lauren: Selection | Completion

Week 2
Plethora: Selection | Completion
Crystal: Selection | Completion
Mariana: Selection | Completion
Ezinwanyi: Selection | Completion
Shan: Selection | Completion
Lauren: Selection | Completion

Week 3
Plethora: Selection | Completion
Crystal: Selection
Mariana: Selection | Completion
Ezinwanyi: Selection | Completion
Shan: Selection | Completion
Lauren: Selection

🚂 Weeks 4 - 7: Selection Post | Completion Post🚂

Week 4
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

Week 5
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

Week 6
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

Week 7
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

🚂 Weeks 8 - 11: Selection Post | Completion Post🚂

Week 8
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

Week 9
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

Week 10
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

Week 11
Plethora:
Crystal:
Mariana:
Ezinwanyi:
Shan:
Lauren:

🚂 Team's Read Shelves🚂

Plethora: Plethora's Read Shelf
Crystal: Crystal's Read Shelf
Mariana: Mariana's Read Shelf
Ezinwanyi: Ezinwanyi's Read Shelf
Shan: Shan's Read Shelf
Lauren: Lauren's Read Shelf

Hi everyone, I'm Lauren! I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area and I'm the mom of two kids. I read pretty much anything in the romance genre and beyond, though it seems like I've been reading a lot of contemporaries lately. This is my third time taking part in the challenge but my first as captain!

Any suggestions for a team name? My brain's a bit wobbly today but I'm hoping to brainstorm over the weekend!

Hi Teammates. I live in Louisiana and I am a wife (almost 18 years), and have 4 kids (23, 18, 17, 13). All except the 17 year old will be a year older this year.

My favorite genre since I started reading something besides Dr. Seuss, has been love stories (rather familial or romantic). So basically I have been in love with the romance genre forever. My first "real romance was a Harlequin that I got from a neighbor who was best friends with my aunt.

I do every once in a while intersperse that genre with others. Just not often enough.

Possible Team Name (Playing on 6)
HexaReaders
SexReaders Club

Hexa is classical Greek for "six".
Sex- is a Latin prefix meaning "six"

They are so horrible, sorry :(

Hi. My name is Mariana, I'm 28 years old and I'm from a very beautiful city, Brasov from Romania. I'm in my last year of internal medicine residency. I love reading and I started reading romance novels since high school. I borrowed my first Sandra Brown book and the rest is history.
I still love reading contemporary romance and it's my favorite genre, but I will read everything, from MM to thrillers.
PTP is one of my favorite challenge, I love the fact that I can meet so many people from all over the world and chat about books. I am not very chatty because I am insecure about my English but I am very excited to be part of this team.

Hi Everyone , My name is Crystal and I am from Springfield, Massachusetts. I am very much looking forward to this challenge and meeting everyone of you .
I started reading when in junior high school. I started romance in my 20s. I read all romance books to be honest.
I am a mother of daughter in college. I recently lost my mother for who I took care of for several years . So now I have more free time I am back to reading and losing my self in a good book.

I'm from that other part of the west coast (Oregon/Washington) that seems to get overlooked from California being the west coast.

Even though i keep coming back and participating in ptp romance is not one of my favorite genres and i only typical seek it out for this challenge. I'm more of a history type of person, non-fiction being my Preferred, but those don't lend themselves well to all the book Challenge tasks for any group really.

Oddly enough though the start of this year ended up with a handful of romance novels because they fit easily with another Challenge i was working and since i have the audible romance package they were easy to get hands on. So in short you may not find too many books of interest on my shelf for the option 2.

Hi team.
I’m Ezinwanyi from Dallas, TX. I’ve played this game before so I’m a veteran player. I’m a mom of 3 and a wife. I’m an audiobook fiend.
I’m a big romance reader. I’m impressed with Mariana whose doing internal medicine residency which my husband did.
Reading is a good release and my husband started reading Sci-Fi books too.

Ok on the name: I like names with numbers in them like Lucky 7, Heavenly 7 or Scandalous 7, Rebellious 7 or 7 Rebels

Yay, that's everyone checked in! Alright, let's get a name locked down. I like what Ezinwanyi suggested with using the group number 7 or "lucky."

Around the World in 7 Books? Lucky Readers?

My suggestions for names:
Read, go, see
Lucky globetrotter readers
Never Ending Footsteps
Reading Nomads
Books for the road
Binge Travelers

what about just Lucky Globetrotters?

Why not just Lucky 7? I prefer the team numbers to the word Lucky

How about a vote? Lucky 7 or Luck Globetrotters?

Lucky 7

I can't say I really have any preference that will bother me, so Lucky 7 is fine.

Lucky 7

Lucky 7

Lucky 7

Week 1 Call

Option 1
1. Read a book where:
* the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name starting with the same letter OR
* the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name phoenetically sound as if they start with the same letter. Eg Phileas Fogg sounds as if his first and last name starts with an F.

Please show HOW this fits in the selection post given there are two options in this category.

Option 2
Book chosen from a team member's shelf that was read on the date below or more recently and rated at least 3 stars.
Key Date: September 7, 2018

Selection Post
Week #1
Option 1 ~ Read a book where:
the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name starting with the same letter
Bookcover/link: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Page numbers: 336
How the book qualifies: The author's first and last name start with the same letter

Thanks, Plethora - my husband and kids have been sick since Wednesday so I'm just catching up. Good luck, everyone!

Week 1: Selection Post: Option 1


Book: Love On Location - Cassidy Carter
Pages: 296
How it fits: author's first and last names start with C

Week 1 Option 1
Something about you
By Julie James
Pages 307

The author first and last name begin with J

SELECTION POST
Week #1: Option 1 ~ Read a book where:
the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name starting with the same letter

Book: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
Page numbers: 336
Qualification: The author's first and last name start with the same letter “R”

Week 1

Book: Diamond in the Rough by Charlie Cochet
Page numbers: 292 per GR
How the book qualifies: Author's first and last names start with C

Week 1

Book: Diamond in the Rough by Charlie Cochet
Rating : 4 stars
Review:
This is a good series about a group of ex solders who started their own security firm after their departure from military. In this one we meet Leo, who is the son of one of the generals that was part of their past and Ward is the other main character. This was a fun story, I am very fond of socially awkward nerds in real life and especially in fiction and Leo was very cute and smart. I didn't care for the top-secret project and the very anticlimactic ending, but I liked the relationship between the two main characters, the friendship and the strong sense of family between all the guys.

Selection Post
Week 1: Option 1

Book: The Good Luck Charm
Author: Helena Hunting
Pages: 384
MPG: Romance
Fits: Author first and last name start with 'H'

Hey Crystal, could you please edit your selection post to include a link to the book? Thank you!

Lauren wrote: "Hey Crystal, could you please edit your selection post to include a link to the book? Thank you!"

Sorry about that. I edited my post

Week 1 Option 1
Book: Something about You By Julie James
Rating: 4 stars
Review: This is a series about the FBI/ US Assistant Attorney that are sworn enemies . Cameron Lynde is an Assistant Us Attorney who overheard a murder. Jack Palas who blames Cameron for a botched case three years prior is assigned to her case
The first chapter was a nail biter, Then sizzled for a few chapter then picked me right back up , I was hooked .

Completion Post
Week #1
Option 1 ~ Read a book where:
the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name starting with the same letter
Bookcover/link: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Page numbers: 336
How the book qualifies: The author's first and last name start with the same letter
Finished: 03/10
Rating: 4 stars
Review:
I wholeheartedly enjoyed this story.

Stella is a woman after my own heart. After too many comments about marriage and babies from her mother, and a coworker making stupid remarks, she decides to take her issues with the opposite sex into her own hands.

I love the fact that although she was uncomfortable in these type of situations she was willing to go out of her comfort zone to "better" herself.

Michael is doing a job he doesn't like to take care of his family, but this job leads him straight to Stella.

These two together were so sweet, and super sexy. The story had some misunderstandings that stemmed from lack of communication, which is the only reason this book is getting 4 stars instead of 5 from me.

I highly recommend reading this book to anyone who loves romance that is mixed with sweet, funny, and super steamy.

Completion Post
Week 1: Option 1

Book: The Good Luck Charm
Author: Helena Hunting
Pages: 384
MPG: Romance
Fits: Author first and last name start with 'H'
Read: 03/12/19
Rating: 3.5
Review: One of those sweet second-chance at romance books. You can see as a Lifetime or Hallmark Channel movie. Lilah has issues from her past that make her fear allowing unconditional love, always afraid, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Ethan crushed the teenage Lilah's heart, eight years later, back in town can she let him back into her fragile heart?

Week 1: Completion Post


Book: Love On Location - Cassidy Carter
Rating: 4
Review:
This was a super cute best-friends-to-lovers romance, with a dash of found family and reality TV added in. I loved how Delaney, single mom to a tween, was incredibly resourceful and how much Wyatt respected her for that. The slow build of their relationship turning from friends to lovers was so much fun. Though I'm not a big fan of reality TV, I liked how it was incorporated into the story - the cast and crew weren't cardboard evil characters from the big city set to ruin the small town campground. Overall, a quick and heartwarming read!

COMPLETION POST
Week #1: Option 1 ~ Read a book where:
the author or one of the MCs have their first and last name starting with the same letter

Book: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
Page numbers: 336
Qualification: The author's first and last name start with the same letter “R”
Read: 3/11
Rating & Review: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This story just gave me all wonderful feelings in my heart that I love in angst filled books.
Two players are vying to the number pick in the NHL draft: A Canadian hockey player named Shane Hollander and a Russian player named Ilya Romanov. Their rivalry in this book would reach epic proportions but all along both players struggled with their public personas and their private persona. The hockey world has their expectations and it clearly didn’t include two rivals being gay and in a relationship together. Shane and Ilya were so different but they just fit. I’m surprised that they were able to sneak around for so long.
What a brutal world where people have to go to such lengths to be with their person they truly want to be with. It was satisfying to get to the end and LOVE a little more publicly.

What I loved about this story was that it was very “man”. The ability to compartmentalize and not truly communicate about feelings for years. They don’t discuss anything. But actions spoke louder than words between them. Society puts sports players in a box. And they kept themselves in the closet. I am glad they managed to take a chance with each other.

Crystal wrote: "Something about you
By Julie James
Pages 307

The author first and last name begin with J"

Hi Crystal - I need you to add the week number to this post and preferrably show it is the 'selection post'. Thanks :)

**edit**
The same for your completion post.

Thanks!

Jane (PS) wrote: "Crystal wrote: "Something about you
By Julie James
Pages 307

The author first and last name begin with J"

Hi Crystal - I need you to add the week number..."
I edited them. Sorry I am new at this

No worries, Crystal! The first week is always a little rough as everyone figures out what to do. The good part is that now you can just copy, paste, and edit your selection and completion posts... or at least that's what I do!

It looks like everybody enjoyed their books! I hope the same is true for this week!

Week 2
Option 1: 3. Read a book with a number:
* in the title or
* in the series title (not the number that the book is in the series) or
* in the precis (summary of the book on the main GR page).
Eg : Two for the Show - TWO
Stardust (Celebrate! ..2014 Advent Calendar) - 2014
Safe and Sound ..."that one night is just that." - ONE

Please show HOW this fits in the selection post given there are three options in this category.

Option 2:
Book chosen from a team member's shelf that was read on the date below or more recently and rated at least 3 stars.
Key Date: September 14, 2018

💫*Please ensure you follow the format shown in msg 3 of your team threads. when you post your selection and completion posts.

Week 2: Selection Post: Option 1


Book: Getting Hot with the Scot - Melonie Johnson
Pages: 368
How it fits: from blurb "Cassie decides that taking one night off from work"

Lauren wrote: "No worries, Crystal! The first week is always a little rough as everyone figures out what to do. The good part is that now you can just copy, paste, and edit your selection and completion posts... ..."

Exactly - and good advice :D

Selection Post: Week 2, Option 1

Book: Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan
Pages: 384 per GR
How it fits - number in the precis "challenges herself to do one thing a day in December"

Week 1 Option 1


Pages 256

How it fits: When Parker Blanton meets Ben Olsen during her freshmen year of college , the connection is immediate and platonic. Six years later, they're still best friends

Selection Post
Week #2
Option 1
Bookcover/link: Weekend Surrender
Page numbers: 174
How the book qualifies: number in precis ~ Raised on their family ranch the four Brooks brothers have always shared everything.