Romance Bingo - Rogue square

Too much religious preaching and repetitive preaching at that. The religious preaching showed up in inopportune or inappropriate times (such as when Jack is having a major conversation with Heinrich Himmler and all he can think about is one-liners from the Bible - dude pay attention to your surroundings). There was one point in the preaching that crossed the line into bigotry; painting all pagans as evil because some Nazis believed in the occult and/or pagan spirituality was a big turn off for me.

Aside from the constant preaching, this was a good story about two British spies: Kat (a former Russian princess and now actress in Germany) and Jack (an American naval engineer on loan to the Brits). The conflict was something different than most of the romances I read - how do to spies trust each other with their lives, their hearts,  and the missions? I thought the writing really captured how they went about trusting each other slowly while planning and completing the parts of the mission. There was an intensity to the espionage scenes that kept me engaged in the story. However, the author's note at the end (a substitute for an epilogue) felt sloppily written and as a last minute add-on to turn the HFN ending into a HEA. Personally, I would have preferred the HFN ending.

I hit the wall on reading romance this week and as a result I only finished one book this week. But I have only 6 squares to fill in for a black out card, so I am just going to put my head down and plow through as best as I can. I think March is going to almost all non-fiction, just to give myself a break.

This weekend starts birthday mayhem in the household, with my daughter turning 4 on Sunday and then my son turning 6 next Saturday. I got out-voted and so we are taking the kids to a zoo nearby on Saturday (I wanted to go to the British Library, but I guess I will wait until Spring Break now).

Here is what I am hoping to get done reading wise this weekend:

1. Dangerous Allies (WWII Book 1) by Renee Ryan

    I'm 50% done and really enjoying reading about British and Russian spies working together in Germany. However, the book is from the inspirational line at Harlequin and the author is shoe-horning in the Christian faith at weird/inappropriate times (like when hero is having a conversation with Henrich Himmler and keeps saying Psalms in his head - dude pay attention to the evil bad man in front of you).

2. A Lady Dares by Bronwyn Scott

    I am stuck at the 23% mark just because I seem to not read as fast or get easily distracted reading a print book. Not a bad story so far, and I am digging the chemistry between the hero and heroine, just need to adapt to reading print after so much ebook reading.

3. His Ring is Not Enough by Maisey Yates

    If I am able and lucky to knock out the first two, this will be my kick off book for the next week. This time it is not about a sheikh!

I got a full weekend ahead of me, so my short list of weekend reading is aspirational rather than a firm to-do. My base library is having a "Souper Bowl" dinner on Monday evening, so I am attempting to make homemade Italian Wedding soup as a donation. Monday is a down day for us, so kid is off from school and husband is home from work (shout out to the regional commanders in Germany who understand that late-night Super Bowl parties and early to rise military work don't mix well!).

What I am reading this weekend, amongst the social appointments I need to keep:

1. Key of Knowledge (Key Trilogy #2) by Nora Roberts - my number one priority, as it is a library loan that is due back on Tuesday.

2. Celtic Viking by Lexie Timms - short book featuring (I am assuming...) a man in kilt. I have a sinking feeling this may be more of an installment of a serial read.

3. Dangerous Allies (WWII Book 1) by Renee Ryan - nothing says rogue like a sexy spy teaming up with another sexy spy to save the world from the Nazis. I need this right now. 

Halfway through Romance Bingo and I am behind in my goal to black out the card. Time to prioritize romance over any other challenge until the card is complete. Luckily, some romance will satisfy other challenges, so I can kill birds with not as many stones.

1. The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (Diseases and Disasters challenge)

2. To Defy a Sheikh by Maisey Yates (Romance Bingo - Secret Billionaire)

3. Dangerous Allies by Renee Ryan (Romance Bingo - Rogue)

4. By Starlight by Dorothy Garlock (physical TBR)

5. His Ring is Not Enough by Maisey Yates (Romance Bingo - Virgin)

6. The Sweetest Thing (Just Desserts #1) by Deborah Fletcher Mello (Romance Bingo - Free Space; Pop Sugar Challenge - Author is POC)

7. Craving Temptation (Just Desserts #2) by Deborah Fletcher Mello (Romance Bingo - Eyeshadow and Bosom; Pop Sugar Challenge - MC is different ethnicity than reader)

8. Beauty and the Rake by Erica Monroe (Romance Bingo - Fairy Tale Re-telling)

9. Key of Knowledge (Key Trilogy #2) by Nora Roberts (Romance Bingo - Key to the heart; Library Love)

10. Lighting the Flames by Sarah Wendell (Romance Bingo - Guy/Girl Next Door; Pop Sugar Challenge - holiday setting other than Christmas)

11. A Lady Dares by Bronwyn Scott (Romance Bingo - Pirates)

12. Celtic Viking by Lexie Timms (Romance Bingo - Man in Kilt)

13. Courting His Countess by CJ Archer (Romance Bingo - Gothic)

I decided to do another massive Harlequin binge and extend it to December 20th. This way I have more time dedicated to the binge and I won't burn out on holiday reads before the holidays start. I probably won't get to any more non-fiction books for the rest of the year.

I have a lot on my master list (spreadsheets FTW) but these are the ten I definitely want to read and get off my NOOK:

1. Hearts in Flight by Patty Smith Hall

2. Hearts in Hiding by Patty Smith Hall

3. Hearts Rekindled by Patty Smith Hall

4. A Rose for Major Flint by Louise Allen

5. A Mistress for Major Bartlett by Annie Burrows

6. A Lady for Lord Randall by Sarah Mallory

7. Big Girls Don't Cry by Brenda Novak (currently reading and it is serious WTF crazy sauce)

8. Whispered Promises by Nora Roberts

9. Dangerous Allies by Renee Ryan

10. The Bootlegger's Daughter by Lauri Robinson