Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Team Members


Captain Salty
✓ Louise

The Peppercorns
✓ Georgia
✓ Allie
✓ Sally906
✓ R~wka
✓ Jean

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. Lead Rapper - 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 Black & White, 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 7 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. (It will also help with one of the categories in this round!)

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, etc.

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/Announcement 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 selection post Option 1 you must have:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Page numbers
How the book qualifies - please note which qualifying bookshelf/list you are using or the tags that justifies that it works.
If the theme is based off the bookcover, post the cover. If there is a letter count in the title, publication date etc, please note these details.

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

For selection post Option 3 you must have:
Week #
PASS


For the completion post you must have:
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.

IF YOU NEED TO CORRECT A POST FOR MISSING INFORMATION or because the didn't qualify etc, please REPOST this information in a NEW post. I don't want to have to keep going backwards in the thread.

Themes - Black 🖤 & White 🤍



1. Opposites attract ⚤

* Read a book from one of the following lists:
Best enemies to lovers
Best gay enemies / rivals / opposites become lovers
Hate at first sight
YA star crossed /forbidden enemy love
Enemies to lover trope in fantasy / PNR

2. Mixed race 👩👨🏾

Read an interracial romance from one of the following lists:
Best interracial reads
Best interracial PNR
Best interracial and multicultural MM romances
Non-causasian protagonists in scifi, fantary, horror or PNR
Interracial romance ebooks / print

3. Zebra, Border Collie, Holstein Cow, Panda 🦓🐩🐮🐼

* Read a book with an animal on the cover.

4. Night sky 🌃

* Read a book with the night sky on the cover

5. Monochrome 📷

* Read a book with that is predominantly black, grey, white on the cover. Additional colours must tone in and not dominate.

6. Chessboard ♟️🏁

* Read a book with a smart MC:
Brainy Romantic Heroes
Nergasms
Gay Bookish, Nerdy, Geeky Characters
Nerdy Geeky Heroines of Romance

7. Soccer ball ⚽

* Read a book from one of the following Sports romance lists:
Love on the Pitch - English Football / Soccer
Sports Romances
Romance with hero/heroine that is a an athlete
Best Gay Athletes
Best books about being in love with a pro-athlete

8. Birds - Penguin, Magpie, Peewee, Jabiru (Black Necked Stork), Pelican, Stilts, Seagulls etc 🐧
Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs (source: Wikipedia).

* Read a book with a mythical/extinct creature, eg dinosaur, elf, fae, vampire. Shifters that change into a modern creature (eg lion) will not count, nor will witches/warlocks.

9. Black tie suit (formal wear) 🤵‍♂️

*Read a book with a cover model in a suit or formal wear.

10. Taxis and Pedestrian crossing 🛣

* Read a book where one or both MCs travel. To be stated in the precis - moved towns, states, countries etc.

11. Yin and Yang ☯

* Read a book written by two authors. May be separately listed, or a duo who write under one name.
Eg Romance Duo Authors

12. Grey hair - silver fox 🧓

* Read a book with an age difference between the MCs from one of the following lists.
Favorite MM romances with an age difference between partners
Younger woman / older man
Mentor / Apprentice and/or age differences
MM books with a big age difference between partners
Forbidden love - age gap

13. Clear cut ©

* Read a stand alone book.

14. Text print abc

* Read a book available in paperback.

15. Police car (USA) 🚓

* Read a book with an MC in law enforcement.

16. Piano keys - the piano was invented around 1700. 🎹

* Read a book with page numbers ending in '00'. Eg 100, 200, 300 pages etc...

Week 1 - Zebra, Border Collie, Holstein Cow, Panda

Louise - The Man Who Died Twice - Selection - Completion
Georgia -
Allie - Part of Your World - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - Outfoxed - Selection - Completion
R~wka - An Awful Cat-titude - Selection - Completion
Jean - Forgiven by the Hero - Selection - Completion

Week 2 - Mixed Race

Louise - Dimitri - Selection - Completion
Georgia -
Allie - Perfect Chemistry - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - Beast Behaving Badly - Selection - Completion
R~wka - Delaney's Desert Sheikh - Selection - Completion
Jean - Mind Game - Selection - Completion

Week 3 - Piano keys
Louise - The Miniaturist - Selection - Completion
Allie - Book Lovers - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - Capturing the Pirate's Heart - Selection - Completion
R~wka - Ordeal by Innocence - Selection - Completion
Jean - Lily's Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live - Selection - Completion

Week 4

Louise - Northern Lights - Selection - Completion
Allie - The Cruel Prince - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - An Informal Christmas - Selection - Completion
R~wka - A Thousand Boy Kisses - Selection - Completion
Jean - Second Chance Spring: A Novel - Selection - Completion

Week 5

Louise - Three Fates - Selection - Completion
Allie - Love on the Brain - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - Tempt Me at Twilight - Selection - Completion
R~wka - The Viscount Who Loved Me - Selection - Completion
Jean - It Happened One Autumn - Selection - Completion

Week 6

Louise - Hollywood Bride: What happens when an ordinary girl marries the biggest film-star in the world? - Selection - Completion
Allie - The Do-Over - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - James - Selection - Completion
R~wka - An Offer From a Gentleman - Selection - Completion
Jean - Beyond the Desert Sands - Selection - Completion

Week 7

Louise - The Sweetest Oblivion - Selection - Completion
Allie - RoomHate - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - Walk of Shame - Selection - Completion
R~wka - The ​Crown of Gilded Bones - Selection - Completion
Jean - Natural Born Charmer - Selection - Completion

Week 8

Louise - Diaries of an Urban Panther - Selection - Completion
Allie - Pass
Sally906 - Wish You Were Mine - Selection - Completion
R~wka - Romancing Mister Bridgerton - Selection - Completion
Jean - Burned - Selection - Completion

Week 9

Louise - The Spooky Life - Selection - Completion
Allie - Until November - Selection - Completion
Sally906 - Provocative - Selection - Completion
R~wka - The Virgin Romance Novelist - Selection - Completion
Jean - All Your Perfects - Selection - Completion

Week 10

Louise - The Cartographers - Selection
Allie - On Rotation - Selection
Sally906 - On Thin Ice - Selection - Completion
R~wka - A Christmas Witch - Selection - Completion
Jean - The Marriage Portrait - Selection - Completion

Week 11

Louise
Allie
Sally906 - Lure of the Bear - Selection
R~wka
Jean - The Sheriff's Mail Order Rescue - Selection

Hi everyone, I’m Jean and because my account is set to private I have sent friend requests to everyone so that you can see my books for option 2. I am a fast reader and read a lot across all genres, but my favorites are romantic suspense, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers. I just finished the Bachelor Challenge so I have many speciality romances in my recent reads. I’m from North Carolina, so eastern time zone. I’m looking forward to being able to get outside again as the weather cools down into fall.

Hi all

Sally reporting in from Australia.

Bar Louise all of you are new to me - so I’ve sent out friend requests as you will need to access my bookshelf as part of the challenge.

Welcome to the newbies - this challenge is not really scary as it looks 😀

Team name suggestions:
Milk and chocolate chip cookies
Yins & Yans
Ebony and Ivory
Perfect Penguins
Black hats, white suits.

Have accepted your friend request Jean 😀

I am a retired grandmother from Queensland in Australia. Hubby and I relocated here 3 years ago when we retired.

I am an eclectic reader but do enjoy romances - if it can be a paranormal romance so much the better!

I am also obsessively organised and actually have already assigned books to each of the potential tasks.

Sally906 wrote: "Have accepted your friend request Jean 😀

I am a retired grandmother from Queensland in Australia. Hubby and I relocated here 3 years ago when we retired. ..."

I was in your neck of the woods last weekend! Went to a bull sale there 🤓🐮

Jane (PS) wrote: "I was in your neck of the woods last weekend! Went to a bull sale there ..."

How exciting - neighbour of mine is a caller at the cattle sales in the area.

The Carnival of Flowers started this week but wet weather has kept me away from the spring flower displays so far.

Sally906 wrote: "Jane (PS) wrote: "I was in your neck of the woods last weekend! Went to a bull sale there ..."

How exciting - neighbour of mine is a caller at the cattle sales in the area.

The Carnival of Flowe..."

Cold and wet out here, so not surprised!! (Elders ran the auction ;)

Hey guys! I'm Allie, I'm 26 and a veterinarian from Chicago! I read almost exclusively romance, although will occasionally branch out to thrillers. From the romance genre, I particularly enjoy contemporary romance and fantasy romance and typically stay away from historical romances. This is my first pass the parcel challenge and I'm looking forward to it :)

Hi All, I’m Louise from a slightly damp South Wales where I live with my 6 year old Daschund x Spaniel. I’m an Accounts Payables clerk for Local publishing where I’ve been able to adopt hybrid working of only 2 days needed in the office with the remaining 3 working from home.
I’m a certified challenge addict and normally have 2 or 3 team challenges on the go, at one point I was participating in 6 team challenges. I read a variety of genres, tend to steer clear of Horror and Space Opera and generally have 2 or 3 books on the go at any one time. Since lockdown I have discovered audiobooks and tend to read them whilst working.

Bar Sally everyone is new to me, I’ve sent friend requests out to you all, Jean I’ve accepted your friend request.

First task of the day is to choose a team name. Loving Sally’s suggestions. My fav’s are
Ebony and Ivory
Perfect Penguins

Hi all,

I'm Raluca, I'm from Romania so English is a second language for me (I'm sorry in advance if I make tipos in my reviews). I am a cat lover 😺
For my book I prefer Romances with a happy end (contemporary, historical, Paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy...) but not love triangle, square, or Harem 😅.

I remember playing this team chalanges time ago.

@hi Jean, I've also come from the Bachelor Team challenge 😊

@hi Sally906 I've thinked I'm the only one that a just do extra organizațional to my books, and I also heve shelves for the 16 tasks 😆.

@hi Allie, I'm sure you will like this challenge 😊

@hi Louise, I also listen to audiobook while working chores 😁.

About the name suggestion I like
Milk🥛 and chocolate chip cookies🍪
and
Perfect Penguin🐧
😊

I like the Perfect Penguins too.

Y’all that have already started book planning make me feel like a slacker. I WAS planning to take each week as it came until we got close to the end and then look for short, quick reads for the remaining themes that I had ready to go. Now I’ll have to rethink this strategy. . . . .

Jean wrote: "I like the Perfect Penguins too.

Y’all that have already started book planning make me feel like a slacker. I WAS planning to take each week as it came until we got close to the end and then look..."

LOL - don't worry Jean. Your approach would be MY strategy 🥸😂 but if there's time, I can do the pre-planning. It just depends on what's happening in life 😎

Hey Louise - Shall we be Perfect Penguins?

Sally906 wrote: "Hey Louise - Shall we be Perfect Penguins?"

Yep we seem to have majority rule, I’ll let Jane know

Hi everyone!!

My name is Georgia and I am 23 years old living in Washington DC. A little over a year ago I read the first bridgerton book and I haven’t been able to stop reading since. My current read right now is every summer after and I am really excited for pass the parcel ❤️

Hi Georgia, so funny that both my daughters are living in the DC area. One in Columbia Heights and the other in Alexandria Va. I kept telling my girls that the one thing I most looked forward to in graduating from college was the time and freedom to read whatever I wanted instead of what was required for a class.

The first theme It was announced.

Week 1
Option 1
3. Zebra, Border Collie, Holstein Cow, Panda 🦓🐩🐮🐼
* Read a book with an animal on the cover.
All animals other than humans will count, including mythical creatures.

Option 2
Key date: 11 March 2022
Team mate read on or after this date and rated at least 3 stars

Selection post

Week # 1 - Option 1, animal on cover
Book: Flying Solo
Page numbers: 320
How the book qualifies - ducks on cover

Week 1 (Option 1) - selection post

3. Zebra, Border Collie, Holstein Cow, Panda
Task: Read a book with an animal on the cover
Book: Outfoxed by Melinda Metz
Pages: 256
How it qualifies: Fox on cover

Jean wrote: "Selection post

Week # 1 - Option 1, animal on cover
Book: Flying Solo
Page numbers: 320
How the book qualifies - ducks on cover "

Ducks are classified under birds (separate theme)

Definition of Animal: “… 1. COUNTABLE NOUN A1
An animal is a living creature such as a dog, lion, or rabbit, rather than a bird, fish, insect, or human being.”

Selection Post - Week 1 - Zebra, Border Collie, Holstein Cow, Panda
Option 1

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
Pgs: 422
How It Fits: fox on cover

Louise wrote: "Selection Post - Week 1 - Zebra, Border Collie, Holstein Cow, Panda
Option 1

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
Pg 422
How It Fits: fox on cover ..."

Woo hoo - foxes rule!

Louise wrote: "Jean wrote: "Selection post

Week # 1 - Option 1, animal on cover
Book: Flying Solo
Page numbers: 320
How the book qualifies - ducks on cover "

Duc..."

Well darn my bad for not looking at the other themes otherwise I would have been willing to argue this one. I’ll pick a different book and repost.

“Biologically, an animal is a living thing that is not a human being or plant. A bird is classified in kingdom animalia meaning it is also an animal. Despite the fact that birds are animals, they have unique anatomic and physiological characteristics that distinguish them from the rest of the animals.”

(Although, now that I look at the other theme it is for mythology beings not birds per se)

Selection post

Week # 1 - Option 1, animal on cover
Book: Forgiven by the Hero
Page numbers: 164 no page count in goodreads here is the link to Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
How the book qualifies - dog on cover

Completion post

Week # 1 - Option 1, animal on cover
Book: Forgiven by the Hero
Page numbers: 164 no page count in goodreads here is the link to Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
How the book qualifies - dog on cover
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review: A short and sweet story about an author who is keeping secrets and a SAR K9 trainer who detests being lied to. A predictable trope with nothing to elevate it above average.

Week 1 - Completion Post

3. Zebra, Border Collie, Holstein Cow, Panda
Task: Read a book with an animal on the cover
Book: Outfoxed by Melinda Metz
Pages: 256
How it qualifies: Fox on cover
Read: 08/09/22
Rating: 3★s
Review: This is an ARC of a book that comes out in November. There were a huge cast of characters squeezed into the first few chapters which was very overwhelming, but in the end I worked out the main cast and enjoyed the romances. If you see the fox you’ll marry who you see it with - so enemies become lovers, siblings of each of the MCs get it together, and will mum and dad go ahead with their divorce? Can the fox do the impossible?

Selection post ~ Option 1
Week 1

Book: An Awful Cat-titude
Pages: 186
How the book qualifies: cat on cover

Sorry Jean & Louise for not making it clearer up front. I was fine with birds being animals. I only wanted to exclude humans for this category... (The issues when I have to travel and can't check threads on the road 🙄)

Fortunately you sorted it out regardless.

Jane (PS) wrote: "Sorry Jean & Louise for not making it clearer up front. I was fine with birds being animals. I only wanted to exclude humans for this category... (The issues when I have to travel and can't check t..."

No problem, that was just going to be my next audiobook, I’m still listening to it and had plenty of other books to pick from.

Week 1 - Selection Post

Option 1 - animal on cover
Book - Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Page numbers - 400 pages
How the book qualifies - Goat on cover

Completion post
Week 1

Book: An Awful Cat-titude
Rating: 3.5⭐
Review:
First book in Meow for Murder series. I like the start. Stella is from a mob family. Circumstances make her change her name to Bowie. New place, new job and...a murder takes place there and to protect her identity she has to solve it.
I don't know why but from the middle it didn't capture my attention... I've read only to get to the end. Or maybe the time I read wasn't for this book. I will give another chance to book 2.

If helps someone for piking a book for option 2, I make a shelve with my books (last 6 month and plus 3 stars)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Week 1 - Completion Post

Option 1 - Animal on cover
Book - Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Page numbers - 400 pages
How the book qualifies - Goat on cover
Rating - 4.5 ⭐️
Review - I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was my 4th Abby Jimenez novel that I've read and it was one of her better ones. I loved the main character, Alexis. Her character had so much depth, through the relationship with her family to her experience with domestic abuse. This book had the perfect amount of heavy issues, written in a very tasteful way, but also had those heartwarming rom-com moments that gives you the warm and fuzzy feeling. Would recommend!

R~wka wrote: "If helps someone for piking a book for option 2, I make a shelve with my books (last 6 month and plus 3 stars)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list..."

Thank you for this.