Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

RRRC’s Cornhole Team Challenge
Hole in One!
February 7, 2026 through April 11, 2026

Team 16 Members:

✓ Captain - Julie

Sunflower Reads
✓ Janeylou
✓ Trio

RRRC’s Cornhole Team Challenge
Hole in One!
February 7, 2026 through April 11, 2026

Welcome to RRRC’s version of Cornhole! This is the reading version of the classic lawn game where instead of tossing beanbags, you will be attempting to get your book in the hole.

Challenge Dates:
Signups open until Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 6 PM US ET.
Teams Allocated January 31st after signups close, please allow several hours.
First Inning Begins on Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 6 PM US ET.
Last Inning Ends on Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 6 PM US ET, completions will not be accepted after this time.

RRRC’s Cornhole Team Challenge is a 9 week team challenge. Each week you and your team will be playing an inning of Cornhole. Innings will run from Saturday to Saturday at 6 PM US ET. Each player will need to read one book per week. Each inning 3 prompts will be given. Prompts will build in detail. Prompts must be compiled in order - the book has to fit the first prompt before you can add the second and must fit the first and second before adding the third. Second and third prompts can’t be done separately. Books must be completed within each inning, there is no carryover. Points will be tallied at the end of each inning. The teams with the most points at the end of the 9 innings wins.

Scoring for each inning:
On the Ground: Your selected book meets the first prompt - 1 Point.
On the Board: Your selected book meets the first and second prompts - 3 Points.
In the Hole: Your selected book meets the first, second and third prompts - 5 Points.

RRRC’s Cornhole Team Challenge
Hole in One!
February 7, 2026 through April 11, 2026

Information required when posting your selection:

Inning Number and Task.
Book/cover link, please include the author.
First Edition Kindle page count.
How book qualified for first prompt, with links or cover as necessary.
How book qualified for second prompt, as above if necessary.
How book qualified for second prompt, as above if necessary.


Information required when posting your completion:

Inning Number and Task.
Book/cover link, please include the author.
First Edition Kindle page count.
How book qualified for first prompt, with links or cover as necessary.
How book qualified for second prompt, as above if necessary.
How book qualified for second prompt, as above if necessary.
Date Completed.
Rating.
Review.


**Remember to use the first edition Kindle page count only! If your page count comes from a Kindle edition published on the initial publication date on the editions page, it will count. If your page count comes from a Kindle edition labeled '1st edition', it will count. If your page count comes from the earliest dated English language Kindle edition, it will count. I am looking for one of those three things when confirming your books! As long the page count you list is correct, I will accept any link to the book. Ebook page count will be acceptable if no Kindle page count available. The acceptability of other page counts will be made on an individual basis.**

RRRC’s Cornhole Team Challenge
Hole in One!
February 7, 2026 through April 11, 2026

I will be tracking each team's completions and using the captains' tracking to confirm before tallying points at the end of each inning.

Captains, anything you can do to help is appreciated! Simply listing the completions with message number is great - links are not required, but always appreciated. 😊

RRRC’s Cornhole Team Challenge
Hole in One!
February 7, 2026 through April 11, 2026

Captains, please reserve a few spaces for tracking.

Introduce yourselves to your teammates. Let then know where you are from, what your interests are in life and in books! Consider friending each other, that makes it easier to follow the goings on.

Your first task as a team is to come up with a team name. The theme is Hole in One and your team name should relate to that. Captains, please post your team name in the Q&A thread when you have decided.

Inning Prompts:

1st Inning:
First Prompt -MPG Historical Romance.
Second Prompt - Set in the US.
Third Prompt - Has a non-English language edition.

2nd Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Fantasy.
Second Prompt - 300+ pages
Third Prompt - Has a child in the story

3rd Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Small Town Romance.
Second Prompt -
Third Prompt -

4th Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Suspense.
Second Prompt -
Third Prompt -

5th Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Shifter.
Second Prompt -
Third Prompt -

6th Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Sports Romance.
Second Prompt -
Third Prompt -

7th Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Urban Fantasy.
Second Prompt -
Third Prompt -

8th Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Paranormal.
Second Prompt -
Third Prompt -

9th Inning:
First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Contemporary Romance.
Second Prompt -
Third Prompt -

1st Inning: 15 Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #40
Janeylou: Message #45
Trio: Message #--
Sunflower Reads: Message #51

Completions:
Julie: Message #41 - 5 Points
Janetlou: Message #49 - 5 Points
Trio: Message #--
Sunflower Reads: Message #55 - 5 Points

2nd Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #67
Janeylou: Message #64
Trio: Message #65
Sunflower Reads: Message #73

Completions:
Julie: Message #70 - 5 Points
Janetlou: Message #74 - Points
Trio: Message #76 - 5 Points
Sunflower Reads: Message #77 - 5 Points

3rd Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #
Janeylou: Message #
Trio: Message #
Sunflower Reads: Message #

Completions:
Julie: Message # - Points
Janetlou: Message # - Points
Trio: Message # - Points
Sunflower Reads: Message # - Points

4th Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #
Janeylou: Message #
Trio: Message #
Sunflower Reads: Message #

Completions:
Julie: Message # - Points
Janetlou: Message # - Points
Trio: Message # - Points
Sunflower Reads: Message # - Points

5th Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #
Janeylou: Message #
Trio: Message #
Sunflower Reads: Message #

Completions:
Julie: Message # - Points
Janetlou: Message # - Points
Trio: Message # - Points
Sunflower Reads: Message # - Points

6th Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #
Janeylou: Message #
Trio: Message #
Sunflower Reads: Message #

Completions:
Julie: Message # - Points
Janetlou: Message # - Points
Trio: Message # - Points
Sunflower Reads: Message # - Points

7th Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #
Janeylou: Message #
Trio: Message #
Sunflower Reads: Message #

Completions:
Julie: Message # - Points
Janetlou: Message # - Points
Trio: Message # - Points
Sunflower Reads: Message # - Points

8th Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #
Janeylou: Message #
Trio: Message #
Sunflower Reads: Message #

Completions:
Julie: Message # - Points
Janetlou: Message # - Points
Trio: Message # - Points
Sunflower Reads: Message # - Points

9th Inning: XX Total Points
Selections:
Julie - Message #
Janeylou: Message #
Trio: Message #
Sunflower Reads: Message #

Completions:
Julie: Message # - Points
Janetlou: Message # - Points
Trio: Message # - Points
Sunflower Reads: Message # - Points

**

Hi team. I'm looking forward to participating in RRRC's first ever CTC with you all!

I live on the sunny east coast of Australia with my husband, 3 teens, and my lazy Red Heeler who is desperate to be friends with my fluffy pudding of an indifferent cat.

I read every day to keep me same in a house full of gamers. I love romance books - fantasy, sci-fi, mystery/suspense and all sorts of contemporary are my favourites genres.

Tell us about yourselves and if you have any "Hole In One" themed names for our team, post them & we'll take a vote. 😊

Hi all 👋👋
Im Janine from England , i work part time in a coffee shop, and around that i foster animals for the RSPCA, bird watching, music & read ....lots of reading 😄
I read main MM romance and im in a few library crime reading groups ..and im challenge mad , i have way too many on the go 😳😳
Will have a think of some names

Team name ideas...

In the Bag
Baggin & Braggin
Cornhole Clan

Hi everyone - I wish I was playing cornhole for real right now and there wasn't over 10" of old snow on my ground lol.

Looking forward to playing and I sent friend requests to Julie and Sunflower.

I love "IN THE BAG" Janeylou, but your other names are great too.

Trio, wende has your beat..shes got 20 inches 😄😄

Janeylou wrote: "Trio, wende has your beat..shes got 20 inches 😄😄"

It's crazy right? We're just not set up for that kind of snow here - like all the schools were closed and there was no garbage pick up and the roads are crazy with snow.
The mayor of New York City actually rented "snow melting trucks" - which look like huge dump trucks and they tip the snow in and the melted snow comes pouring out the bottom into the sewer drains. It is crazy.

But I'll take 11 inches over 20 any day!

Hi Janeylou & Trio. I will take your snow any day as we are having multiple days over 100F here in Australia! I have never been so grateful for the invention of air con!!

I've found a few more ideas for our name:
Toss And Turn
Reading The Play
Lit And Miss
Bean There, Read That
The Hole Tale

I like
Bean There, Read That
Lit and Miss

...in that order

lol - I like them both too
cute names

Yes, I'd rather be cold than hot too. My daughter and I went to South Carolina in September and it was over 100 degrees - it was brutal. At least when you're cold you can warm up, when you're too hot there is no relief.

I'm fine with either Bean There, Read That or Lit and Miss too. Just waiting for Sunflower Reads to post & weigh in on names.

Have either of you played RRRC's The Bachelor Challenge? Hopefully the the prompts will be an easier combination than the Scavenger Hunt Roses. 🤞

Ive played it ..im hoping its easier as got so many challenges on and my books for the month are pretty much sorted ..dont really want to add any more 😄😄

This 'not being able to message people'is a bit of a bind 😕

Hi everyone, I’m Sunny! 👋😊

I live in Canada, where we’ve been getting lots of snow and below-freezing temperatures lately. ☃️ Thankfully, I work from home, so I get to stay cozy while enjoying the view of fluffy white snowflakes falling and a sparkling blanket of snow covering the ground outside my window. 🙌

I have an adopted dog who’s getting up there in years 🥹, and one of my favorite things to do in my free time (and often even when I’m not free, thanks to audiobooks) is read.

This is my first time playing Cornhole, and I think this is my 4th (or maybe 3rd? 😄) reading challenge. Either way, I’m looking forward to it. Joining these challenges has really helped me read more and discover books I might not have picked up otherwise, so I’m excited to read and talk books with you all. 🤗

Re team names, I like both your final picks but I like Bean There, Read That more!

Hi Sunny , good to meet you .
..and we're all ready for Saturday 😁😁

Hi Sunny! I'm glad we are all here and ready to go.

I will let Kat know we have picked Bean There, Read That.

Do you all have any historical romances picked out for our 1st round or are we all "winging" it till we get the 2nd & 3rd prompts? (FYI: there is no wrong answer to this question, just curious on how people like to complete challenges.😉)

Im just going to wait and see the 3 prompts and then find something ..i want those 5 pts , so just hoping they are not too hard 🤞🤞

Julie wrote: "I'm fine with either Bean There, Read That or Lit and Miss too. Just waiting for Sunflower Reads to post & weigh in on names.

Have either of you played RRRC's The Bachelor Challenge? Hopefully the..."

my issue with TBC was that the books required were often tough to find and people were not always being honest about reading the books before claiming them. Like I'd stay up all night reading or listening to a book and then see someone had claimed it like 15 minutes after the category was called. Hopefully they've changed it so folks can't do that any more - it used to drive me nuts.

I've got a couple historical reads lined up!

Trio wrote: "my issue with TBC was that the books required were often tough to find and people were not always being honest about reading the books before claiming them. ..."

Yes that was annoying!! The good thing is you only have to read one book per week for this challenge and you can take all week to do it. The real race will be in the last week to finish our one book before the other teams.

My struggle with the scavenger hunt rose & BTC in general is reading as many of the same type as you can, one after the other, each call/week. I'm more of a shuffle my romance genres subcategories type for reader. (eg. I'll read a contemporary, then fantasy, then mystery, then scifi, etc.) I couldn't look at a shifter book for a while afterwards after reading 11 in a row! I was nothing on Darkness though! I don't think she sleeps during BTC! 🤪 She was inspiring in her book count!

I am waiting for all 3 prompts but may start browsing historical romance books tonight...

Once, years ago, there was a challenge called the UTC - Ultimate Team Challenge. I can't remember which group it was in, but it was a total blast. It was a year long challenge, broken up into months, and there were so many categories we never ran out. We never found out who won - and they never repeated it - because scorekeeping was a nightmare for the MOD who ran it. The best part was really getting to know the other folks on my team (not actually "winning" it).

😯 Trio, that sounds so good. I would be down for a year long challenge with no winners, especially if there are passes to allow for a week here or there throughout the year when we're just too busy to read. I'm kinda sorta new to these challenges but I started joining them to connect with other readers. It's nice to win too 😏 but a mod not being able to keep track of the score in a year long challenge with so many teams is totally understandable!

I wonder if team captains doing the majority of the tracking and the mod tallying only at the very end or periodically based on captain's numbers might help make it easier for mod to manage. 🤔

Hi team. The challenge is due to start in under 2 hours!!

Just a friendly reminder of the "musts" of the challenge before we start:

- Read 1 book each week (Saturday to Saturday US ET) based on the "innings" for the week, there is no carryover.
- Each inning 3 prompts will be given. Prompts will build in detail. Prompts must be compiled in order - the book has to fit the first prompt before you can add the second and must fit the first and second before adding the third.
- 100 minimum page count (first edition Kindle only for your selection/completion posts)
- Books do not have to be romance, but must be fiction.
- Rereads and audios allowed.
- Books may only be used once per player during the challenge.
- Players may read the same or different books than your teammates for each inning.
- Whoever sees the week's innings first in the Q&A thread, please post a copy here too. Thanks!

- THIS WEEK: the first prompt is Main Page Genre (MPG) Historical Romance - this can be listed as "Historical Romance" or separately as "Historical" and "Romance" to qualify.


Finally, You must read a book that qualifies for the first prompt to continue to play. The second & third prompts are for extra points if you are interested. I will be trying for the extra points because I like to challenge myself but if that's not you, that's totally fine. I hope we can all have fun & find some great reads.🤞

Im ready & waiting but may miss the announcement tonight ..its 10 pm here at moment

Prompt Announcements for the 1st Inning

This inning begins on February 7th at 6 PM US ET and ends on February 14th at 6 PM US ET. No posts will be accepted after this time.


First Prompt - Read a book that is MPG Historical Romance.

Books selected for this prompt need to be MPG Historical Romance. 'Historical' and 'Romance' do not need to be combined and can be combined with other words like 'MM Romance', but both must be MPG.

Second Prompt - Read a book that fits the first prompt and is set in the US.

Books selected for this prompt need to meet the qualifications for the first prompt and be set in the US. You can use the book details on the main page, title, precis, tags or lists as your qualification. Remember to let me know how you know your books qualify, I need to know where to look to confirm you books! Please include any necessary links and information in your completion posts.

Third Prompt - Read a book that fits the first and second prompts and has a non-English language edition.

Books selected for this prompt need to meet the qualifications for the first and second prompts and also be published in a language besides English. Please include a link to the non-English language edition in your completion posts.

Please remember books can't be started before the inning begins and must be finished before the inning ends! Please ensure that your selection and completion posts conform to message #3 of your team thread. There is a 100 page minimum for books (first edition Kindle). Players may read the same or different books than teammates for each inning, but each player can only read a specific book once during the challenge. Books do not have to be romance, but must be fiction.

Ive deleted mine..yours has got all the bold print & italics 😄😄

Thanks Janeyou! I appreciate you staying up late & posting. 😊

Here's a list link to some American historical romance books if anyone is still considering what to read:

American Historical Romance Books

1st Inning - Selection Post

by Vanessa Vale

Page count: 138 (1st Kindle ed.)
First prompt: MPG Historical Romance
Second prompt: Tagged American-historical x2: https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...
Third prompt: Non-English language edition - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

1st Inning - Completion Post

by Vanessa Vale

Page count: 138 (1st Kindle ed.)
First prompt: MPG Historical Romance
Second prompt: Tagged American-historical x2: https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...
Third prompt: Non-English language edition - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Date Completed Feb 8
Rating:⭐⭐⭐
Review:
This MFM, frontier novella was all about great chemistry and spice between Laurel, Brody and Mason. Simple plot and premise with two lonely guys willing to hide a runaway bride. My only issue was how they treated Laurel, given her obvious desperation and naivety, which felt manipulative at times but probably common given the time period.

I did find a book last night, but didnt make a note of it 🙄🙄, so need to go through my historical list again

Ive got a few books by Josh Lanyon that work , but i need my new Spell word tonight before i pick

😊

1st innings
Selection post

Snowball in Hell
Josh Lanyon
191 pgs
1st prompt..MPG Historical
2nd prompt..MPS California
3rd prompt ..Italian edition..Angeli all'inferno

😊

Trio wrote: "Once, years ago, there was a challenge called the UTC - Ultimate Team Challenge. I can't remember which group it was in, but it was a total blast. It was a year long challenge, broken up into month..."

I like the idea of a year long challenge that's more about having fun with your team than winning. Maybe like the monthly challenge but a bigger list for a year? 🤷🏻‍♀️

The Ultimate Team Challenge was in the MM group and was for the whole of 2018 !!!!!..cant believe it was that long ago..we had a great time

1st innings
Completion post

Snowball in Hell
Josh Lanyon
191 pgs
10 feb
4 stars
1st prompt..MPG Historical
2nd prompt..MPS California
3rd prompt ..Italian edition..Angeli all'inferno

Josh Lanyon is the master of the short historical suspense novel and this was a classic , set in the 40s with a reporter protagonist . The mystery was good as was their budding romance ..such a shame this series didnt get continued 😔

📚