The AAR Seventeen in 17 Reading Challenge – (Belated) May Update
Somehow, the first of May came – and went – without my posting the monthly AAR Reading Challenge update! Sorry to all who have been waiting on tenterhooks to post about the books you’ve read and are reading – but here (at last!) is the chance to keep track of your reading for the Seventeen in 17 Reading Challenge and share your thoughts on the books you read throughout May.
It’s still not too late to sign up – just head on over to the main Challenge page to have a look at the fabulously varied range of prompts that are sure to provide food for thought for everyone, and get stuck in to your TBR pile!
Now it’s over to you Challengers. How many books are you going to knock off the TBR pile this month?
I didn’t read any for the LETTER Q challenge April or May. I also didn’t read anything for the GENRE challenge in April, but I read two for May:
YA Romance: The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacy Lee – I LOVED this. It’s so cute. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1883389963
Military Romance: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole – I have to respectfully disagree with the AAR review on the site for this book. I loved this one! It’s one of my favorites of 2017 so far. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1795224679
Oh so this makes me 6/17 for the genre challenge (although note, I plan to read both a NA romance and a YA romance for the one that’s combined) and still 7/17 for the letter Q challenge.
Bouncing back to the Cocktail Challenge…
For this part of the challenge, I selected Anita Hughes’ Christmas in Paris, published in 2016.
This book is supposed to be a novel, but I seriously wasn’t sure if I was reading a novel, a travelogue, a food blog, or a high-end, brand name catalog, like Hammacher Schlemmer or the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog. It certainly felt like a Parisian infomercial in novel form.
First, the plot details: Isabel Lawson, a well-to-do American financial analyst from the Philadelphia Main Line, and Alec Braxton, a French illustrator of children’s books, meet at a luxury hotel in Paris. They are each staying in separate honeymoon suites, alone. Isabel, just days earlier, had called off her wedding to a fellow bank executive when he decided to uproot his life to take over his grandparents’ farm without conferring with her. Alec’s own wedding was called off when his beautiful, sophisticated fiancée threw him over for an Australian soccer player. Based on their mutual heartbreaks, the two begin to bond. Together, they explore the city’s many sites, they eat, they shop, and talk about their lives, while in repeated flashback, we learn of the two weddings Isabel has called off in her past and of Alec’s doomed relationship with the sophisticated Celine. On the one hand, these two are growing closer. On the other, they are also pulled apart both by Alec’s reluctance to tell Isabel everything about his family and why he may need to get married asap, and by Isabel’s sudden fierce focus on a fortune teller’s prediction that leads her into the arms of a different man.
As I hinted above, the author of this story puts a great deal of effort in documenting every tourist site and society event our characters attend, while describing their clothes, their brand name shopping, and the food they eat in minute detail. While the latter peaked the curiosity of my foodie heart, the rest of it bogged down the narrative far too much. As for the story itself, I had a somewhat difficult time appreciating the heroine. Even though Isabel is supposed to be a practical, by the numbers person who justly earned her position in life, throughout the story she appears much more flighty, impressed by appearances, and swayed by happenstance. Now, I get that 1) this story is supposed to be somewhat “magical” and 2) Isabel purposely decides to forego her usual well planned approach to life, butto me, Isabel seemed to be as driven to be open to the fates as she had been driven to plan out every move of her life. It just left me wanting to knock her over the head at what she was missing right in front of her. Frankly, Alec, the hero, saves this story and I wish he’d been in a better book. Alec is a true beta hero. He has his fears and faults, which he has no trouble admitting. He stands up against the bullies in his life, even though he’s been knocked down many times, and he has personal integrity. He comes up with a solution to his problems that makes sense and doesn’t go against his principles and while it would’ve been nice to see him get everything he deserved, monetarily, he did earn love and respect.
For Alec, I will give this book a gentleman’s C, but I do think the author has missed her calling and should think about authoring travel books for the well to do.
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The Cocktail Challenge – 6 down, 4 to go.
Alphabet Challenge – 5 down, 5 to go. (B, G, H, J, & M)
Oh gosh, I’m so sorry about Eliza. Thanks for letting us know.
Returning to the Alphabet Challenge…
I thought I would tackle the letter “M” this time by picking up the first book in Joanna Shupe’s “Knickerbocker Club” series, titled Magnate, which was published in 2016.
I actually started this book before the RT Booklovers’ Convention. But, everyone knows that no one actually reads during a book convention, so I ended up finishing it when I returned home. This is just to point out that it took me a bit longer to read this story, then it would’ve normally but it was no reflection on its quality.
Magnate is set in 1887-88 in New York City. We are in the midst of the Gilded Age and our hero, Emmett Cavanaugh, is the owner of a steel empire which he took over after climbing out of poverty and lawlessness. Emmett is a tough man who skirts ethical boundaries and doesn’t allow himself much tenderness or sentiment, except when it comes to his younger siblings who he has tried to protect and uplift in a way his parents couldn’t and wouldn’t. Even though he now operates in and around New York’s high society, he is not a part of it, so Emmett is surprised when he is approached by Elizabeth Sloane who was born into an old monied family which owns railroads. However, this is not a social call. Elizabeth’s goal is to attain Emmett’s backing for a stock brokerage firm run by Elizabeth herself. Knowing she could never get the support of her elder brother, who runs the family business, or any of their friends, Elizabeth decides to take her affinity and love for the stock market directly to someone who has no regard for the social niceties or traditional roles and who might help her out. She also has concerns about how her brother is running their railroad and hopes to make money to bolster their fortune. Since Emmett has no love lost for Elizabeth’s brother or their kind, he takes on her challenge and decides to be the public face of her new business just to spite him. Before long, Emmett and Elizabeth’s business connections lead to more personal connections, which threatens to bring scandal to the family … unless their ties become formalized.
This story has many things that I enjoy in an historical: the Gilded Age period in the U.S. with its focus on the intermingling of the new American aristocracy with bold entrepreneurs, innovators, and social climbers. A heroine who has smarts and is bucking traditional roles for women and a man who is willing to help her. I enjoyed all these elements, but I felt not enough emphasis was placed on Elizabeth’s business as a business and, as such, took away from that element of the story. And, of course, both characters seem bound and determined to misunderstand each other and think the worst of their actions. The story had the promise of something more but fell back on older tropes. That being said, I enjoyed the set up and the historical events that were brought in to move the action along. I look forward to reading the next two books in the series. The second one, titled Baron, focuses on Elizabeth’s brother and, I gather, the third one, Mogul, focuses on a friend and business acquaintance. (I do wish one of the stories featured Emmett’s brother – a doctor who has an injured leg and helps the poor – but maybe that’s something for the future.)
I would give this book a B+.
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The Cocktail Challenge – 5 down, 5 to go.
Alphabet Challenge – 5 down, 5 to go. (B, G, H, J, & M)
I am so sorry to hear about Eliza. I had wondered why I hadn’t seen her comments lately. Hope she makes it through this difficult time.
Thank you, all, for your kind words and prayers. There’s been little change in Eliza’s condition; she remains in the ICU on a ventilator. The prognosis is not good, but there remains hope.
~HBO
I am so sorry to hear that. It must be terrifying for her son.
Sorry to hear about Eliza. Please send her my best wishes for a full recovery.
HBO: Please add my best wishes for Eliza’s speedy recovery to those expressed above, and let her family know that our thoughts are with her.
The Breakfast Cereal Challenge
Count Chocula/Franken Berry (1971) & Boo-Berry (1972) = Read a paranormal romance.
Lethal Lies by Rebecca Zanetti: After reading the first book in this spin-off series I had hoped this hero would be paired up with the heroine’s sister. So I was very disappointed to read of her fate. I did come to like this heroine though. Both she and the hero behaved TSTL at the start solely to move the plot along. The main villain and her cronies remained OTT proverbial mustache-twirlers. The resolution to the serial killer subplot started in the last book had a few highlights, but was mostly anti-climatic. The romance worked better. Overall a mixed read. Still I am very much looking forward to the next book as the identity of the final brother’s heroine was thankfully confirmed.
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The Breakfast Cereal Challenge: 9 down, 8 to go…
Seventeen Magazine(s)! Challenge: 7 down, 10 to go…
The Alphabet Challenge Variation: 10 down, 7 to go…
The Cocktail Challenge: 12 down, 5 to go…
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler) – Novellas: 8 down, 9 to go…
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler): 1 down, 16 to go…
The 20th Century Challenge: completed!
Sending my prayers. Please keep us informed.
Thanks library addict…I’ll pass on your comments to her family.
~~HBO~
First, let me apologise for using the AAR Reading Challenge to post some bad news, but a long time reader/poster of AAR boards and who loved the reading challenge is in hospital, fighting for her life.
I know that “Eliza” has had her differences with AAR, and vice-versa, and both sides were quite vocal about those differences. I, too, have been vocal with my differences. Eliza, however, is an American, where her health care hangs in the hands of the Republicans.
I’m asking all the staff of AAR and its long-time posters to put aside petty disagreements and offer up a prayer, or whatever, for Eliza’s speedy recovery. Right now the doctors aren’t hopeful–- a 50/50 chance at best.
I’d be most grateful if AAR kept my post up, as I humbly beg for prayers for a speedy recovery for Eliza.
HBO
Sorry to read this news, HBO. Sending well wishes and healing thoughts out to her and her family.
Thanks Blackjack….your thoughts are noted and will be passed on to her son, her only remaining family.
Eliza and I started to communicate, privately, when AAR announced it was shutting down the “boards.” I gave her, and another person my private email, and over the last year or so, Eliza and I discussed many topics: US politics; romances–our love for historicals and historical westerns were so similar it was uncanny. But we also discussed books which she loved-I hated, and vice versa.. we talked on the phone–no Twitter for us, lol!
So, again, thank you for your thoughts…
~~HBO~~
Oh I am so sorry to hear that. Please let Eliza know that our hopes and thoughts are with her. And please update us on her progress. Thanks for letting us know.
The Alphabet Challenge Variation
Q = The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick: With this book the author has left Victorian England behind to focus on 1930s California. Still, the book read like a typical AQ mystery. The romance was fun, but in this case it often felt secondary to the mystery elements. There were a number of secondary characters to keep track of, which wasn’t bad thing but too many of them had POV scenes. I wanted to know more about the hero. I had a minor issue with the resolution of one of the mysteries (can’t say more without major spoilers). But overall an entertaining read filled with the author’s usual humor and found family themes.
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The Breakfast Cereal Challenge: 8 down, 9 to go…
Seventeen Magazine(s)! Challenge: 7 down, 10 to go…
The Alphabet Challenge Variation: 10 down, 7 to go…
The Cocktail Challenge: 12 down, 5 to go…
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler) – Novellas: 8 down, 9 to go…
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler): 1 down, 16 to go…
The 20th Century Challenge: completed!
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler)
Cavanaugh Standoff by Marie Ferrarella: The h/h were investigating a serial killer preying on gang members. Of course all of the victims lived in the next town as the fictional town of this series had no gangs. They were just conveniently killed in town so the h/h had jurisdiction. My major issue with the story was that the heroine resembled the hero’s dead fiancée. Well, not so much that but the fact they NEVER had a conversation about her. The heroine found out from her father without mentioning she knew to the hero. The hero thought about the fiancée a lot in the first half of the book. He even mistook the heroine for the dead fiancée after getting drunk at one point. And then…nothing. The detectives all came off as incompetent. The case never gelled because there was no focus. It just served as an excuse for the hero to be forced to spend time with the heroine. I wanted to like the story because there were moments of cute banter and a few spots where the case could have been intriguing. But in the end neither the case nor the romance came across as fully developed. Overall a disappointing read.
The Breakfast Cereal Challenge
Trix (1954) = “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids.” Read a romance in which the hero and/or heroine have children.
Love Me Again by Jaci Burton – heroine has a daughter: The romance was almost completely free from external conflict. The author did a good job of demonstrating the heroine’s internal conflicts. The hero was reluctant to become involved with the heroine again in the beginning, but once they did get together he turned into the perfect guy which the heroine took issue with at one point. I wish we’d had more scenes from his POV. Despite a few issues, I enjoyed this reunion romance. I also appreciated that the author included some “change of plan” scenes instead of always having the heroine’s daughter conveniently disappear to further the romance. The heroine’s daughter’s dog was my favorite canine of the Hope series so far. Now if only I could get my dog to behave as well as book dogs do…
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler) – novellas
The Golden Token by Veronica Scott: The set up was intriguing and I liked the hero and heroine both individually and as a couple. But the story was very short. I wish more of the limited page time had been spent on the romance and less on the suspense-ish subplot. I enjoyed what there was, but really wish the story had been longer.
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The Breakfast Cereal Challenge: 8 down, 9 to go…
Seventeen Magazine(s)! Challenge: 7 down, 10 to go…
The Alphabet Challenge Variation: 9 down, 8 to go…
The Cocktail Challenge: 12 down, 5 to go…
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler) – Novellas: 8 down, 9 to go…
Simply Seventeen Challenge (The Whittler): 1 down, 16 to go…
The 20th Century Challenge: completed!