Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19 Finished

Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19 hosted by Crazy Challenge Connection on Goodreads.

I had hoped I would read at least 3 books this week and I more than reached that goal. All in all I have read 7 books which I am quite pleased about.

List of books:

1. Safe Haven  by Nicholas Sparks
2. A Cowboy For Christmas by Kristen James 
3. The Santa Shop by Tim Greaton
4. An Unlikely Witch by Debora Geary
5. A Little Christmas Magic by Sylvie Kurtz
6. Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews  
7. Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews 

Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Plagued by a war between magic and technology, Atlanta has never been so deadly. Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job.
Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she’s still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be—now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate’s mate.
So when Atlanta’s premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it—fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price .  From Goodreads.




I guess it is no secret, I really like this series. I finished Magic Bleeds earlier today and just wanted to read the first chapter of this one. 6 hours later I had finished it in one sitting. It is a good thing I am waiting for #6 from the library so I can't start reading it right away. I might even get som household chores done.

This book qualifies for: 
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Women Challenge
Shifter Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious  (A)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014
Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren't for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose.
Kate Daniels works for the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle - especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshifting community. When she's called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar on the border between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers that there's a new player in town. One who's been around for thousands of years - and who rode to war at the side of Kate's father. This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curren, the Beast Lord, to handle. Because this time Kate will be taking on family. From Goodreads.



This series just gets more and more interesting. We have known about Kate's father but this new character that turns up in the story is not making things any easier. I am just not able to put these books down when I get started!

This book qualifies for: 
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (paranormal)
2014 Women Challenge
Shifter Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious  (I)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014
Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

A Little Christmas Magic by Sylvie Kurtz

The only way Beth Lannigen can get through the holidays is by staying too busy to cry. So she adds her new surly neighbor to her long to-do list. For Christmas, she'll make Logan Ward smile.
But Logan Ward is punishing himself. Guilt ridden over the loss of his young daughter, the ex-cop wants the cold isolation of his new dilapidated house. Hard work and sweat will see him through Christmas.
Until the brightest woman he's ever seen shows up at his door, her small son and an abandoned dog in tow.
Around mother and child, Logan discovers the hero he'd once been hailed. But Beth is wrong: life can't simply go on after losing a dear one.
Beth isn't prepared for Logan to become more than a project. She'd loved her husband with her whole heart. There's no room for another man.
Then disaster strikes, giving Beth a chance to expand her heart and Logan a few short hours to honor his daughter's memory by convincing Beth's small son that Santa hasn't forgotten him. From Goodreads.

This was a sweet and sad but happy-ending story with a lot of Christmas spirit. Just what is needed in a Christmas story. I enjoyed it and might look at more books from Sylvia Kurtz.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Quick fix Challenge(256 pages)
Meet the Protagonist Reading Challenge 2014 (mother)
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (romance)
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (free)
2014 What An Animal Reading Challenge VII (dog on cover and part of story)
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge (bought on Amazon.co.uk 9th of January 2013)
2014 Women Challenge
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge (free on Amazon.co.uk 9th of January 2013)
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious  (L)
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
CCC-Read your age (published 2001)
Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2013
Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

An Unlikely Witch by Debora Geary

A toddler and a snowman.
Everyone in Witch Central knows about Jamie Sullivan's precog vision. The one he saw when he first laid eyes on the woman who would one day be his wife.
Now Nat and Jamie have it all. A fiery, adorable daughter, the kind of marriage that lasts to forever and beyond, and deep roots in the love, antics, and magic of Witch Central's leading family.
Those parts of the vision have all come true. All that is missing is one small boy with dancing eyes.
And all the magic in the universe can't seem to make him real.
An Imperfect Witch is book two of the Witch Central series, set in the bestselling, well-loved world of A Modern Witch. From Goodreads.





The first book of the year and it is great. Okay I am a huge fan of Debora Geary and her Witch books and this one was very good. It has everything I have come to expect from her books. I cried, I giggled, I felt sad for the characters and I felt happy for them. I am already looking forward to the next book in this series.

As always at the beginning of the year my first books will fit a lot of different challenges, even without trying.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads 2014 Reading Challenge
2014 Ebook challenge
Quick fix Challenge 2014(243 pages)
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (published 2013)
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
CCC-Read your age (published 2013)
2014 Women Challenge
Author Alphabet Reading Challenge
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious  (U)
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19 Update

Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19 hosted by Crazy Challenge Connection on Goodreads.

My goal was to read 3 books in total and I have already reached this goal.

1. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks - finished 30th of December 2013
2. A Cowboy For Christmas by Kristen James - finished 30th of December 2013
3. The Santa Shop by Tim Greaton finished 31st of December 2013

I hope to read a few more books for this challenge in the first days of 2014.

The Santa Shop by Tim Greaton

Skip Ralstat is a man so steeped in grief and despair that life seems no longer possible. After the death of his wife and child, Skip blames himself. He has given up his friends, his job, and even his home. Now, homeless, he survives on the mean streets of Albany. He knows it can't go on, that life must end. But will it?
Come join him on his most unusual road to redemption. The salvation of one life...lies along this road.
Let the healing from "The Santa Shop" begin. From Goodreads.

I enjoyed this more than I expected. Yes it is sad but it is full of the Christmas Spirit of helping each other.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge
Serious Readers 2013
CCC Winter Spell 2013-14
2013 Ebook Challenge
2013 Why Buy the Cow? Reading Challenge (free on Amazon.com 8th of October 2013)
Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2013
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

A Cowboy For Christmas by Kristen James

When her estranged brother passes, Missy is suddenly an unwanted co-owner to Ocean View Stables by Florence, Oregon. Missy wants to start over somewhere new after her old boss burned her. She's jobless and has a wrongly ruined reputation, so this works out perfectly . . . until she meets the cowboy running the place. Brent built his dream with determination and his two hands; he's responsible for everything that happens there. Secretly, he feels responsible that his former partner died. He also doesn't hide his belief that Missy won't stick around. Women tend to take off on him so why would she be any different? They both have a past that can ruin their future. Can he trust her to stay? Can she trust him with her heart? From Goodreads.

This was an okay romance. Apart from taking part around Christmas there is no Christmas theme in it.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge
Serious Readers 2013
CCC Winter Spell 2013-14
2013 Ebook Challenge
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2013
2013 Why Buy the Cow? Reading Challenge (free on Amazon.uk 27th of December 2011)
Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.
But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven. From Goodreads

This was better than the last two Nicholas Sparks books I read, but still not as good as The Notebook. It touches the scary life in an abusive relationship and how difficult it can be to get out. I didn't find any surprises in the book, it all turned out as I expected.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge
Serious Readers 2013
CCC Winter Spell 2013-14
2013 Nicholas Sparks Reading Challenge
2013 Ebook Challenge
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19

Crazy Challenge Connection RaT #19 hosted by Crazy Challenge Connection on Goodreads.

'Tis that time again :) Our next Read-a-thon will begin at 12:01am Sunday, December 29, and continue until midnight on Saturday, January 4, a total of seven days. (Use your local time for start/end times.) We're hoping that this will help you finish your December reading lists/challenges and get a head start on next month's reading!

Note: Yes, we know that this is a crazy busy time of year for everyone, but we also know that a lot of us have challenges that end on December 31, and might need a boost to get them finished on time.

Again, our goals for this RaT will be to:
(1) complete any challenges ending in December that you haven't finished yet and start on January's challenges (when appropriate) and/or
(2) work on that pile of library books -- or those new books you got as gifts from family/friends! -- that's waiting for your attention and/or
(3) read anything you want to read, just because!

If none of these goals fit your reading plan, then create your own goal and let us know what you plan to accomplish :) As you read, be sure to check in here and let us know what you've read, how it fits your goals, how you rate the book, and anything else you want to tell us about it!

So ... who's in? :D  

I am going to take part in this challenge and hope to read at least 3 books. 2 to complete my 2013 challenges and 1 to start the 2014 challenges.

For Nicholas Sparks 2013:
Safe Haven

Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2013:
A Cowboy For Christmas by Kristen James
The Santa Shop by Tim Greaton
A Little Christmas Magic by Sylvie Kurtz


For different 2014 challenges:
An Unlikely Witch by Debora Geary or/and
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews