The Challenge Factory discussion

Ora and LaurLa will be reading

I'm anxious to start this one but need to read a few others first (for Bingo)... could we look at this one late next week? Then move on to Luke: Complete Series the week after?

That sounds good. I have two books this weekend I'm doing for another buddy read and can start anytime after Tuesday.

Laurla, will you be ready to start Thursday? I have a book that I am starting tonight and should finish it by tomorrow evening.

Sounds good - I need to finish up Bingo today/this evening (maybe I'll win!) and then can start this one - probably tomorrow night though - stupid work!

Good luck. I'll plan on starting after I finish up the book I'm reading right now

Well, I actually got started last night and am about 47% through, according to my Kindle.

It took me a couple of chapters to warm up to things - I think because of Lindsay. As I started the prologue, I got a sinking feeling that she was going to be a bit too much like Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) from the Shopoholics books. I liked those books well enough but well, you can only take so much Becky Bloomwood and I didn't want her showing up in this book. That and the book blurb kind of led me to believe this book would be emotional and sensual. That was just the vibe I got. So starting out with a bit of a flighty heroine made me a bit anxious.

Now that I'm into it, my fears were ungrounded. She's NOT Becky, thank goodness, but she is a bit on the flighty side but it balances out Rob who is dark, irritable, closed off and starts out as a major jerk. He's also hot and has some mysterious emotional pain in his past. Which of course makes him irristible! Did I say he was hot?

I'm to the point where they get together (physically), then un-together. But I still don't know how these secret letters come into play. So I'm anxious to get home tonight to see what happens!

I';m getting ready to start this book. I was hoping to have started this morning, but it just didn't work out. I will catch up tonight.

So I've started reading. I knew Moose Falls sounded familiar. After Millie was mentioned I remembered reading their short story .
Since there isn't anything I watch on tv tonight, I will be spending the rest of the evening reading and hopefully finish up in the morning.

Well, I've finished and I guess I needn't have worried about the emotion and sensuality, huh?

I'm sure there were flaws in the book, but I can't think of any right now because it was such a perfect ending and I'm a little book hungover. Okay, maybe it was all a little predictable, but it was really well done, so that doesn't bother me. I'm left feeling really good - maybe because it DID deliver on what I expected it to and wanted it to. Like opening a Hershey's dark chocolate kiss. You know exactly what it's going to taste like and yet once you pop it in your mouth, you still close your eyes in ecstasy because, hello, it's CHOCOLATE!!!

Anyway, I need to sleep, so I'll check back in the morning to see what you thought. Hopefully you enjoyed it too :-D

I will be finishing a little later than I thought I would today. I will still finish today though.

So I'm 2/3 of the way through the book. It was a little slow at first to me, I think it was more because Lindsey kind of irritated me. I'm just glad she isn't such a Ms Prissy and a little too self absorbed.
I'm not sure if I am on the right track with WillTell1, however I'm kind of guessing he's Billy and may play a role later in the book. I feel really bad for what Rob went through as a kid. I dont' think Lindsey will let it slip about him being an ex-con, however I think his secret will be exposed.
As long as I get my husband to let me have a couple of hours this evening to read in peace, I will be finish up early and write out my thoughts.

Ora wrote: "So I'm 2/3 of the way through the book. It was a little slow at first to me, I think it was more because Lindsey kind of irritated me. I'm just glad she isn't such a Ms Prissy and a little too se..."

I agree about WillTell1 - I had a feeling he would play an important part of the book. and yeah, it stands to reason that his secret will be exposed. it gets interesting...

So yeah it was predictable, but I was okay with that. It’s like you said about chocolate. As the book progressed I like Lindsey better. It seemed like her life in Chicago made her really uptight. Once she started letting down her hair, she was so much easier to like and root for.
It was heartbreaking with the life Rob had to deal with after getting out of prison and definitely making him gun shy with wanting any type of relationship. I guess once you get use to not being around others you don’t realize what you are missing. Lindsey brought Rob back to life. Even though he was no longer in prison, he was just going through the motions and not really living life and enjoying it.
I think Rob was dumbfounded when he realized the people he got to know didn’t turn their backs on him. I think Millie endorsement of him did more than he even realized. Even though he lived in Moose Falls for a year, he didn’t take the time to really open up to anyone except Millie.

I totally agree. I liked that the author acknowledged through the characters that if they didn't know Rob (themselves or trust Millie's judgement), they would have had trouble accepting his past.

I was really mad when he let Lindsey walk away. I mean, I knew they'd get back together (it's a romance, duh) but at the time I was angry that he couldn't see that she'd stand by him. I thought her parting shot was awesome. And I'm really glad he came to his senses, rather dramatically too!

Nothing earth shattering here, but I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it. I really like Toni Blake. I'm finishing up her Destiny series this month. It's a small town series the town doesn't really play into it and it's has a bit more bite that some of them out there.

Yeah, Rob was an idiot. I like Toni Blake the more I read her and will defintely read more of her books.