Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Buddy Read Challenge

One of the best things about this group is having other romance readers to chat with about books, since often few (or even none) of our RL friends read the genre...if they read much at all. So, we decided it's time to get some action going in our Buddy Reads folder! The premise is simple...everyone who signs up will be paired with someone with some similar reading preferences. Together you will choose a book that you would like to read and discuss. You will then have a month to read your book and chat about it in a dedicated thread in the Buddy Reads folder. There are no hard rules about how the discussion should progress...you can read at the same pace and discuss as you go or wait until you both finish the book before chatting about it - or some combination of the two.

For those of you who are interested, here are the details:

Sign up in this thread by telling us your first and second favorite romance genres (contemporary/historical/paranormal), and also whether you read exclusively (or almost exclusively) m/m, m/f, or some of both.

Signups close Friday, March 23 at 3 PM EST. Matchups will be posted as soon as possible after signups close - hopefully within an hour or less. If you have not connected with your buddy by March 27, please let me know...either by posting in this thread or by PM. Anyone who hasn't heard from their buddy by then will either be added to one of the other pairs (the more the merrier, right?) or if there are 2 people without buddies who have similar enough interests, they will be paired up.

Plan on reading a Romance novel for this challenge. In order to match people with similar interests, we need to limit this to romance only. The one exception to this is if AFTER you are matched up, you and your partner discover a non-romance title that you both really want to read, that is acceptable. This should be an exception though, rather than a common practice, and you should go into the challenge expecting to read romance.

Connect with your buddy and choose your book. Once the pairings have been posted, find your discussion thread in the Buddy Reads folder. When you have decided on a book, please post your choice here so the name of your thread can be changed to include the title of the book.

You will have the entire month of March to read and discuss your book. When you're all done reading and discussing, please come back here and let us know how it went!

Happy Reading and Chatting!

Tips/FAQ

Since this is a new challenge, there will probably be questions that we haven't thought of. As they come up and are answered, I'll copy them below.


Tips for choosing your book:

♥ Check out your buddy's "short list". If your buddy has a shelf designated for the PIFM or M&G challenges, look there to see if you can find something you're interested in reading. Or, if either of you doesn't already have a short list, create one! Give your buddy a list of 10 or so books that you're hoping to read soon to see if they have are interested in any of them.
♥ Consider trying something new and different. If you can quickly find something that you've both really been looking forward to reading, that's great! But if you can't, think about looking for something you've been hearing some buzz about but haven't gotten around to reading, or an author or sub-genre that your buddy enjoys but you've rarely or never read before.
♥ Check Amazon for freebies If you can't find something that you both already have (or that one or both of you are fine with buying), check Amazon for freebies. They generally have quite a selection, a combination of new/indie authors and frequently you can find the first book in a series by an established author.
♥ Consider book length when making your selection This challenge is only one book, but since so many of our members tend to participate in multiple challenges and read a lot of books in a month, you might want to discuss whether or not you want/need to try to find a shorter book to read.
♥ Above all, BE WILLING TO COMPROMISE! You've given a general idea of what you like to read, but within that there is still a wide range of options, so please be flexible. I wouldn't expect someone to read something that is completely outside their comfort zone (like asking someone who doesn't read m/m to read it for this challenge), but conversely, you must be willing to consider books that may not be right at the top of your short list.


FAQ:

Buddy Read Pairings

Pairings are listed below, and your discussion threads can be found in the Buddy Reads folder.

Lisa
Monique


HeatherMarie
Marcy


Jane(PS)
Andra


MountainKat
Fran


Ezinwanyi
Nicole P


Ana
Anna


Chan
Hanne


Michaele
Samantha


Chiara
KarenH



Christina

Kate

**

Me please. MM exclusive reader. Dont mind the genre

I'm in!

Contemporary please, if unavailable either paranormal or historical will do. Usually m/f, but m/m is fine too.

I'm in!!!
I mainly read contemporary. My second choice goes to historical.
I read both m/f and m/m :)

I'm in. m/f paranormal & historical

I'm in!
Mainly contemporary.....m/f and m/m

I'm in again. My favourite genre is contemporary and these days paranormal. I read both m/f and m/m.

I want another buddy.
Mainly f/m.
Action, suspense, contemporary, humor. No scary stories

I'd love to be a part of this. I don't have a shelf at the moment yet, I'd have to look for some books.

I like regular romance, rom-com, paranormal romance, teen romance.

Me! I read a mix of MF/MM and lately it has been mostly CR, next would probably be PNR but I read HR too.

I'm in :) MM reader. Any combo this time :)

I pretty much read everything - mostly historicals and contemporary but PNR too. MF, MM, MMF everything is ok :D

I’ve had a great experience with this challenge. So I’m back for more
My favorite genre is contemporary~angst preferred and my second choice is PNR. I read both m/f and m/m.

Me, me, me! :) I'm new here so that should be fun
I read mostly MF. I don't care if it's CR, PNR, HR, Teen or whatever, though I want something funny. Not in the mood for drama this month ;)

I'm in m\m has been my main reading choice lately but I love contemporary

I'm also an audio book fan that's how I read my books so audio books please

First challenge ever! :)

Historical, contemporary

No paranormal or scary
Love comedy

Exclusively M/F (Male Female -guessing that’s what that meant)

I do some audio if my library has it (hoopla).

I'm in :)
I prefer contemporary, then paranormal
I read almost exclusively m/f, but I also read m/m sometimes

I think I will join.

I read exclusively mf and contemporary or historical is good.

I’m in!

I read mostly contemporary romance or romantic comedies. F/M and M/M

Wow, it's great to see so many newbies...welcome!!! Signups close in about 90 minutes, then pairings will be up (hopefully) soon after that.

I'm in! I need a reading buddy. I like steamy contemporary romance books or sports romance

Signups are closed! Pairings will be up shortly.

Pairings are listed in message #3, and also in the Buddy Reads folder. Happy reading and discussing, everyone!

J.C. wrote: "Darn it, I missed it again! Just seen this😞.. not ment to be😔"

J.C. what kind of books do you like to read? I'd be happy to do a second buddy read - they've been a lot of fun!

~KarenH~ wrote: "Pairings are listed in message #3, and also in the Buddy Reads folder. Happy reading and discussing, everyone!"

Hey Karen- Samantha and I are going to read Reasonable Doubt by Whitney G

Michaele wrote: "J.C. wrote: "Darn it, I missed it again! Just seen this😞.. not ment to be😔"

J.C. what kind of books do you like to read? I'd be happy to do a second buddy read - they've been a lot of fun!"

Michaele - Thanks for making the offer!

J.C. - You're welcome to set something up with Michaele (of course), and you also have the option of jumping into one of the other pairs and making it a trio! If you want to wait until more of the groups have their books picked, you can see if anything looks good to you. Sorry you missed the signup deadline! =)

Michaele wrote: "~KarenH~ wrote: "Pairings are listed in message #3, and also in the Buddy Reads folder. Happy reading and discussing, everyone!"

Hey Karen- Samantha and I are going to read Reasonable Doubt by Whi..."

Wow, you guys are quick!

Anna and I are reading Sex, Lies and Online Dating by Rachel Gibson

J.C. what kind of books do you like to read? I'd be happy to do a second buddy read - ..."

J.C. I'm still happy to pick a book with you if nothing else appeals. :)

Lisa and I are going to read Forget me not by Brooke Blaine

Ezinwanyi and I will be reading The British Knight by Louise Bay.

Hi Karen - Andra and I will read Lost & Found by Lucy Lennox :). Can add the hyperlink when I’m back on my laptop.

***edit***
Auto-correct is killing me - Andra, not Nedra!

Jane (PS) wrote: "Hi Karen - Nedra and I will read Lost & Found by Lucy Lennox :). Can add the hyperlink when I’m back on my laptop."

No worries Jane...I just searched it! =)

~KarenH~ wrote: "Jane (PS) wrote: "Hi Karen - Nedra and I will read Lost & Found by Lucy Lennox :). Can add the hyperlink when I’m back on my laptop."

No worries Jane...I just searched it! =)"

Thanks :)

J.C. wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. what kind of books do you like to read? I'd be happy to do a second buddy read - ..."

J.C. I'm still happy to pick a book with you if nothing else appeals. :)"

Would you be ..."

How about Wrangled? It's available as an audiobook which makes it easier for me, if that's cool with you?

J.C. wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. what kind of books do you like to read? I'd be happy to do a second buddy read - ..."

J.C. I'm still happy to pick a book with you if nothing el..."

That works for me! I'll PM you to set up a day to start!

Michaele wrote: "J.C. wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. what kind of books do you like to read? I'd be happy to do a second buddy read - ..."

J.C. I'm still happy to pick a book with you ..."

J.C. wrote: "Sounds perfect, again thank you!"

Remember, you can open a thread in the Buddy Reads folder for your discussion, even though it's not officially part of this challenge. That folder is available for anyone to use for any buddy reads, whether it's something set up by the group or just on your own. I hope you enjoy your books, and thanks Michaele for offering to step in so J.C. has a buddy!

~KarenH~ wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. wrote: "Michaele wrote: "J.C. what kind of books do you like to read? I'd be happy to do a second buddy read - ..."

J.C. I'm still happy to pick..."

Thanks Karen!

I guess my buddy is a no-show. Karen, are any others waiting too? I'm pretty flexible. =)

MountainKat wrote: "I guess my buddy is a no-show. Karen, are any others waiting too? I'm pretty flexible. =)"

Actually, Fran's buddy is a no-show too, so how about you two just pair up?

~KarenH~ wrote: "MountainKat wrote: "I guess my buddy is a no-show. Karen, are any others waiting too? I'm pretty flexible. =)"

Actually, Fran's buddy is a no-show too, so how about you two just pair up?"

Works for me! =)

Chan and I will read Complicate Me by M. Robinson

Andra and I have finished our BR of Lost and Found. Both of us really enjoyed it. We both rated it 4 stars and plan to read line up book 2 (together or separately) :D

Chan and I finished Complicate Me last week. It wasn't a great book, but we agreed on everything.
We'll do another buddy read with Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino soon :)