Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Team Members

Baton (Captain)
🍞KarenH

Starters
🥨Emeli
🥨Jill
🥨JL
🥨Christina T
🥨Geri

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. Baton (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, 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 3 October

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, particularly when the request is more than a day old. Its difficult to find older posts when going backwards in the threads.

Weekly Themes

Week 1




(view spoiler)[ Week 2




Week 3




Week 4




Week 5




Week 6




Week 7




Week 8




Week 9




Week 10




Week 11 (hide spoiler)]

Selection/Completion Posts - Weeks 1-4

Week 1 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - One Summer: A Novel - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - Pumpkin Spiced Omega - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - Peace, Love, & Macarons - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - Tears Of The Renegade - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - Mack's Perfectly Ghastly Homecoming - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - Not Another Bad Date - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Week 2 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - Etiquette & Espionage - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - The Haunted Hotel - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - Muscling Through - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - Devil of Dublin - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - Mack's Rousing Ghoulish Highland Adventure - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Week 3 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - Stuck with You - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - Charmed by Rainbow - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - Under One Roof - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - We Tell Lies - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - Matteo's Mettle - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - Not in Love - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Week 4 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - My Kind of Christmas - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - Santa Baby - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - Miracle of the Bellskis - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - Holiday Bound - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - Peppermint Spiced Omega - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - A Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Selection/Completion Posts - Weeks 5-8

Week 5 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - Curtsies & Conspiracies - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - Seti's Heart - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - An Unlikely Alliance - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - The Passion of Darius: A Gothic Tale of Love and Seduction - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - Marrying Mr. Majestic - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Week 6 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - The Beloved - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - The Billionaire's Assistant - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - Bundle of Trouble - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - Bad Boy Brody - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - A Beginner’s Guide to Revenge, Chaos, and Other Absurd Escapades - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - Whiskey Chaser - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Week 7 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - Lost in Amber - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - Daddy in Blue - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - The Phone Call - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - Her Irish Wolves - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - Holiday Heart Strings - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - Wolf Gone Wild - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Week 8 - Complete
(view spoiler)[✔KarenH - Taken in Death - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - The Alpha's Two Angels - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - The Darling - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - Big Puck Energy - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - Dead Speak - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - Puck and Prejudice - Selection Post / Completion Post (hide spoiler)]

Selection/Completion Posts - Weeks 9-11

Week 9 - Complete
✔KarenH - Kindred - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Emeli - The Sweetest Thing - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Jill - The Bluest Eye - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔JL - Free Me - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Christina T - The Necromancer's Dance - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - Hot as Sin - Selection Post / Completion Post

Week 10
✔KarenH - Payback in Death - Selection Post / Completion Post
Emeli -
✔Jill - Nailed - Selection Post / Completion Post
JL - This Is Not a Holiday Romance - Selection Post /
✔Christina T - Prophesy - Selection Post / Completion Post
✔Geri - How to End a Love Story - Selection Post / Completion Post

Week 11
KarenH -
Emeli -
Jill -
JL -
Christina T -
Geri -

Team Name Suggestions

The Rolling Pins
Baking Beats
The Path of Yeast Resistance
The Daring Dough Kneaders
Knead for Speed
The Yeast Masters
Dough Divas
Bread Winners
Dough Nation
The Proof is in the Dough

Team's 'Read' shelves for Option 2:

Hi all! Sorry for the delay...I'll be back with more information in a bit!

Hi everyone!

I see names that I'm familiar with (some more than others), but none that I feel like I know really well, so I'm looking forward to getting to knowing you all a bit better! I've sent friend requests to those of you that I'm not already friends with.

Just a bit of relevant information about me...I live in NW Washington state, so I'm in the Pacific timezone. I read mostly romance, with a little non-romance mystery/suspense thrown in. Within the romance genre I'll read just about anything, so hopefully my shelves will be varied enough to help anyone out who chooses to use Option 2.

Our first order of business is to come up with a team name. I'm horrible at coming up with names (or anything the least bit creative), so hopefully some of you are better at it than me. If you have any ideas, even if you don't like them or think they're silly, go ahead and share...maybe it will spark an idea for something great! Our theme for this round is Sourdough, so something that is somehow related to that would be great!

If you could all take a few minutes to introduce yourselves and tell us what part of the world you're from and a bit about your reading habits (and anything else you'd like to share), that would be great! Also, don't forget to include any team names that you can think of!

Just popping in to say 👋. I have to leave for work in a few minutes so I'll pay something more substantial tomorrow. I'm ChristinaT from southwest Iowa. I've been primarily reading MM romances for the past couple of years and I love them. There are a few MF books on my Read shelf in the last 6 months but not many. I'm hoping there are few MM choices on my teammate's read shelves.

Christina T wrote: "Just popping in to say 👋. I have to leave for work in a few minutes so I'll pay something more substantial tomorrow. I'm ChristinaT from southwest Iowa. I've been primarily reading MM romances for ..."

Dang - I didn't connect that you were reading mainly MM! Good thing Karen reads a fair bit of it :). Emeli and Jill do as well, although not sure how much Jill has read lately.

Hi everyone im Emeli im a half Latina half Swedish from Sweden i live with my boyfriend and work in a laundry i read mm romance

Suggestions for team name
The Rolling Pins
Baking Beats
The Path of Yeast Resistance
The Daring Dough Kneaders

Hello everyone, I'm Jill and live in NYC with my 17 year old daughter (who's applying to college and driving me to drink) and our 11 year old cat Mr. Darcy. 99.9 percent of what I read is romance MM, MF, FF and any other combination lol. Books on my shelves are so eclectic that I'm sure there's something for anyone who chooses option 2. From purely smutastic to Shakespeare. For team names I like The Path of Yeast Resistance from Emeli.
My suggestions:
•Knead for Speed
•The Yeast Masters
•Dough Divas
•Bread Winners
•Dough Nation
•The Proof is in the Dough

No worries Jane. I'm sure I'll have plenty of books to choose from!

Hi again everyone! It's nice to see some new to me names and some familiar "faces" as well. As I mentioned last night I'm ChristinaT from Iowa in Cental Time zone. I work the overnight shift so you'll see me online sometimes in the morning sometimes in the afternoon (if sleep is alluding me) and sometimes in the middle of the night on my days off. I'm 51 years old not married and have no kids. My fur baby died last year and it'll be a long while before I get another for sure. Saying goodbye is too hard.

It's been forever since I played PtP so I'm excited to begin. Most of my Challenges are ending soon (other than Turf Wars and a clown thing oh and I'm still catching Titans but those last two are super laid back and barely count) so the start of PtP is coming at exactly the right time!

I'm terrible at coming up with team names but I like the suggestions. I think The Path of Yeast Resistance is my favorite. But I also like Dough Divas because I'm partial to alliterations.

As I mentioned last night I'm primarily an MM reader but will read any romance genre. I'll also read mysteries and some horror. I haven't got into much fantasy other than crossover Urban Fantasies and paranormal romance type. I also don't read a lot of Sci-fi. When it comes to MF romances, Paranormal is my favorite followed closely by Romantic Suspense but really don't like NA. I just can't connect with that age and mind frame. For MM I've found I like it all. I have rated books 5 starts from basic contemporary romance to paranormal to specific sub-sub-genres like age play, mpreg, dark, etc.

Hi Team! I recognize a few of you. Nice to meet hose I haven’t been on a team with before.

I’m in central U.S. time zone. And I read pretty much any genre, except non fiction. For romance, I mainly read MF or reverse harem, contemporary, historical, paranormal and Romantasy.

I really enjoy this challenge. And look forward to starting!

I like The Path of Yeast Resistance. But Jill’s Bread Winners and The Proof is in the Dough are really good too. Hard to choose!

Wow, great name suggestions Emeli and Jill! I'd be happy with any of them, but I agree with what seems to be the prevailing opinion - The Path of Yeast Resistance is my favorite, roo.

Hey there team! My name is Jillian, but you can just call me JL since we have another Jill in the group. Nice to meet everyone.
I'm from Midwest Michigan, I have 2 sons (21 & 23) who are both still at home, but I'm A-okay with that, 2 puppers and my own mini library.
I read mostly romance and like most sub-genres. I sometimes like a good thriller, murder/mystery, or paranormal.
All suggestions for name are great but I think my fave is The Path of Yeast Resistance.

Yay, we're all here! And it looks like it's pretty much official, so I'll let Jane know our name will be The Path of Yeast Resistance.

JL wrote: "Hey there team! My name is Jillian, but you can just call me JL since we have another Jill in the group. Nice to meet everyone.
I'm from Midwest Michigan, I have 2 sons (21 & 23) who are both stil..."

My name is Jillian too 🥰

Selection Post

Week #1

[*book:Not Another Bad Date|8266534]
Page numbers: 385
How the book qualifies: #90 on Prodigal Returns List

Selection Post
Week #1


Book: Mack's Perfectly Ghastly Homecoming by A.J. Sherwood
Page numbers: 226
How the book qualifies #26 Romance Novels with Home in the Title

I'm busy packing right now. Hoping to get a huge dent while on my weekend. In the last 4 months my family (mom, dad, sister, niece, nephew, and myself) have embarked on an epic adventure to sell both family homes and move into one to help, financially and physically, my elderly parents. Dad's 80 now and mom isn't that far behind so this is a really good thing for them. We've sold one house already but this one is killing me. Dad's a hoarder and he's...resistant on downsizing. We're hoping to get this house on the market next week so my one day a week to help hasn't made a much of a dent as I'd like. We already have a new house so it's just a matter of getting this massive house packed. (It's a 120+year old, 3 floors of living space, plus an attic monstrosity.) (Oh and a packed garage compliments of Dad.)

Anyway, when I settle in to bed tonight I'll post my shelves of 3-5 Star reads to make it easier for everyone to find. I saw Karen already had a spot for them.

Christina T wrote: "I'm busy packing right now. Hoping to get a huge dent while on my weekend. In the last 4 months my family (mom, dad, sister, niece, nephew, and myself) have embarked on an epic adventure to sell bo..."

Good luck Christina! Sounds like a seriously major task if you want to list in a week 🙏

Reading is my safe place 😊. I'm looking forward to my chosen book. I wish I had access to the audio. Jon's series was so fun too listen to and I loved the crossover book but at least reading the Kindle edition will allow me to highlight my favorite passages.

Selection post week 1
Option 2

Pumpkin Spiced Omega
Susi Hawke
134 pages read by Christina
6th August rated 4 stars

Here are my shelves....
3 Stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
3.5 Stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
4 Stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
4.5 Stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
5 Stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Sorry for not leaving cute links but it's so hard on my phone.

Week 1

Option 1
15. Home cooking at its best
* Read a book from one of the following lists:
Romances With Home in the Title
Best Return Home Books
Coming Home to Roost
Prodigal Returns
MM Romance based in Australia ('cos that's my home ;)

Books must be selected from one of the lists above. Please state the list in your selection post.


Option 2
Key date: 5. April 2024
Team mate read on or after this date and rated at least 3 stars


Option 3
Pass

A selection post must be made for whichever option you choose - INCLUDING A PASS
Refer msg 3 in your team thread for formatting of all 3 options.


To insert links in your posts, please read these instructions in the Q&A thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hey everyone! Apologies for being so absent! The change in GR's notifications is really messing with me, and having it happen right at the beginning of this challenge isn't helping the situation. I'll do better from now on though (or at least I'll try my best), I promise!

I FINALLY posted the first week's theme above, I'll update it to include the links in a bit. For future reference though, I'm often at work on Friday afternoons (my time) when the new task is announced, so if anyone else wants to post it here when you see it, feel free to do so!

No worries, Karen! The no email notifications has been a major change for me too. I usually see the new theme announced fairly quickly. I’ll post it here, if no one else has done it. 🙂

I sent a complaint about the no email notifications. And they still claim it was done to simplify things. Simplify what? Must be a man in charge!

Selection Post
Week #1

by Linda Howard
256 pgs (Audio 8h 40m)
How the book qualifies #25 on the Coming Home to Roost List

Jill wrote: "I sent a complaint about the no email notifications. And they still claim it was done to simplify things. Simplify what? Must be a man in charge!"

Too true!

Completion Post

Week #1

[*book:Not Another Bad Date|8266534]
Read: 10/7/24
Rating: ✶✶✶✶
Review:
Like the other books in this series, I really enjoyed this book. Adele is back in her small hometown to take care of her sister and her niece. That’s when she gets a second chance at love with Zach. The MCs were good together. Zach was sexy as heck. The romance was a little slow burn. But there was plenty of heat between the two when they finally did get together. I have to admit, though, that the third act conflict was too contrived. But that’s my only complaint. Still, this was a 4 star read.

Completion Post
Week #1


Book: Mack's Perfectly Ghastly Homecoming by A.J. Sherwood
Page numbers: 226
How the book qualifies #26 Romance Novels with Home in the Title
Finished: 10/7/24
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: I love reading this author so much. A lot of her humor is OTT for sure but Mack and Brandon's books and for that matter Jon and Donovan's books aren't OTT with silly humor. I love the dynamics between Brandon and Mack. The secondary characters Eli, Quinn, and Booker were amazing and I'm super excited to start on the next book because they'll be in it! I did think B and M's anchor bonding "ceremony" wasn't as WOW as I expected. It was basically nothing. Brandon felt nothing. Mack said it worked so that's it. It was done. Other than that the exorcism of the big bad ghost was exciting as was the other case Mack and Brandon worked on earlier in the book.

Week 1 - Selection Post
Option 1

One Summer: A Novel by Karen Robards
Page count: 402
How the book qualifies: #23 on Best Return Home Books

🍒
Just Jill's selection outstanding :)

Selection Post - Option 1 - Home cooking at its best
Week #1 Edited
Book: Peace, Love, & Macarons
Pages: 142
How the book qualifies: #51 on Best Return Home Books list.

Completion Post
Week #1
Book: Peace, Love, & Macarons
Read:10/10/24
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Review: I loved this sweet, delicious concoction of a book. Despite life giving Maddie a bunch of sour lemons she turned them into scrumptious macarons and other delightful treats. Her and Brant made a dynamite couple. This was a low angst read and quite enjoyable.

Jill wrote: "Selection Post - Option 1 - Home cooking at its best
Week #1
Book: Peace, Love, & Macarons
Pages: 142
How the book qualifies: #51 on Best Return Home Books list."

Jill, will you please change your edition to the one that matches your page count ([*book:Peace, Love, & Macarons|34026617])? Thanks!

Week 1 - Completion Post
Option 1

One Summer: A Novel by Karen Robards
Rating: 3 stars
Review: I enjoyed this story/plot, and the narration by Kate Fleming/Anna Fields was superb as all of her narrations are, but it was published over 20 years ago and it really showed. Some aspects of it were extremely dated, both in terms of fashion/technology/etc. but also in attitudes expressed. I can generally just roll with that, but for some reason in this case it was enough to throw me out of the story on occasion. Understandable, but I would have enjoyed it much more if it had been more current.

Week 1 - Completion Post
Option 1
by Linda Howard
256 pgs. (Audio 8h 40m)
How the book qualifies #25 on the Coming Home to Roost List
Rating: 2 Stars
Cord Blackstone, the H, is probably the only character I liked in this book, and he was a jerk. Susan was fighting for a family that literally asks her to be their whore to win the feud between them and Cord and she still fought for them. In the end there was an HEA but the road there was kind of slow, kind of annoying, and repetitive.

Week 2

Option 1
1. Sourdough originated in Egypt and spread through Europe
* Read a book set in Africa or Europe.

Books set in the UK, Ireland, Greenland and other similar islands work. Egypt has a foot in both Africa and Asia therefore books set in Egypt will also qualify.


If you aren't sure how to insert links in your posts, please read these instructions in the Q&A thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


Option 2
Key date: 12 April 2024
Team mate read on or after this date and rated at least 3 stars


Option 3
Pass

A selection post must be made for whichever option you choose - INCLUDING A PASS
Refer msg 3 in your team thread for formatting of all 3 options.

Week 2 Selection Post
Option 1

by B.B. Easton
365 pgs
How it qualifies: Tagged Ireland by 20 people on page 1 of tags.

Selection Post

Week #2
Option 1
Read a book set in Africa or Europe

[*book:The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year|210344710]
Page numbers: 302
How the book qualifies: From book page: “But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.”

JL wrote: "Week 2 Selection Post
Option 1

by B.B. Easton
365 pgs
How it qualifies: Takes place in Glenshire Ireland."

JL, Your qualification needs more explanation...you need to tell Jane where/how to find the location info on the book page. Fortunately yours is easy - it's MPG Ireland, so if you could change your qualifcation to that, all will be well. You could also quote portions of the precis, but the MPG would be easier. Thanks!

Selection Post
Week 2
Option 1


Book: Mack's Rousing Ghoulish Highland Adventure by A.J. Sherwood
Pages: 230
How the Book Qualifies: from precis..."he and Brandon arrive to help Eli and husbands at an old inn situated in the Scottish Highlands."

Completion post week 1
Option 2

Pumpkin Spiced Omega
Susi Hawke
134 pages read by Christina
6th August rated 4 stars
Finished 12/10
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Loved this it was warm and cozy and a perfect book to read because it made me warm and fuzzy and i got to laugh

Selection post week 2
Option 1

The Haunted Hotel
Vawn Cassidy
277 pages
Set in England
."But when a suspicious death and rather public scandal at his childhood home forces Morgan to return to England for the first time in years".