Holly: Recently, Rowena, Casee and I were talking about our Five Books Everyone Should Read feature and books we’ve been meaning to read came up. All of us added a lot of books to our TBR piles during that feature, but we haven’t gotten to many of them. The question was posed, if we could choose five books for the others to read, which would we choose? It seems easy enough. Pick five of your favorite books, right? But it isn’t that simple. Because I’d want to pick books I know Rowena and Casee will love, not just books I myself loved. While we all enjoy some of the same things, we all have different reading tastes.

We agreed for our Summer Reading Challenge, we will each read 5 books chosen by the other two. Each of us will choose 2 books for the others to read, along with a joint pick. We’d like to invite all of you to read with us. Pick a book (or 5) from our list and read along in July and August. Or, if you’ve read all of these, check out the Master List of recommendations from your favorite authors, readers and industry professionals and choose five books from there.

For Casee

Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (Currently $2.99 for Kindle!)
Sustained by Emma Chase
Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews
The Deal by Elle Kennedy
The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years #2) by Sarina Bowen

Holly: Casee is hard to pick for. She reads mostly dark paranormals and romantic suspense. While I enjoy a good PNR, I’m allergic to RS. I’m choosing Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs, the prequel to the Alpha and Omega series and Cry Wolf (book 1). I know this is technically 2 books, but Alpha and Omega is short and it’s a companion novella. You really can’t read one without the other. I’ve been telling her for years she’ll love the series, and bonus! it’s third person. (Hint Hint: It’s a dark paranormal with suspense!). For my second choice I’m going to choose Sustained by Emma Chase. I really loved it and I know she will, too.

Rowena: Trying to figure out what books I wanted Casee to read was a lot harder for me than Holly’s list was and that’s because Casee isn’t a fan of a lot of my favorite kinds of books. She hates reading in first person and a huge chunk of the books I want her to read are in first person. I’m choosing Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews and The Deal by Elle Kennedy. Burn for Me is a given because there’s absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t have read this book already, Casee. Same with The Deal, that series is too good for you to not try.

Holly & Rowena: We chose The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen for our joint recommendation for Casee because it’s really sad that she doesn’t know and love Bridger. Be a part of our club, Casee…you know you want to. 🙂

For Holly

Raphael by D.B. Reynolds
The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
The Trouble with Love by Lauren Layne
Satisfaction by Lexi Blake

Casee: Holly is a hard one. She has always been the most difficult of the three of us. Maybe that’s why I’m having such a mother-loving hard time figuring out what to pick for her. I decided to steer completely clear of RS because she’s so finicky about it. It took me two days to think of a paranormal that she might not find fault with. I chose Raphael by D.B. Reynolds. I absolutely adore this couple and this series. I was thrilled when I discovered D.B. The next book, well, lets just say I’m glad we don’t live in the same state. I chose The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward. Not because I’m a JRW fan, but because I really liked the Bourbon Kings series. It’s super soap opera-y (except the third book). I was so pleasantly surprised and I want to see what she finds wrong with it if she might possibly like it. Yeah, probably not. Who am I kidding? She’s going to kill me. What can I say? Suck it up, Princess.

Rowena: The two books that I chose for Holly to read are The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang and The Trouble with Love by Lauren Layne. I adored both books and I really want to introduce these two authors to Holly. I think she’ll like them both if she gave them a chance.

Casee & Rowena: Rowena and I have literally five authors we mutually read, so it wasn’t easy to pick a book for Holly. We originally chose Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon because we want her to kill us in our sleep love Acheron as much as we did. Then we remembered that she actually DNFed it. DNFed Acheron. Honestly, Holly. You poor, poor soul. Rowena and I regrouped and decided to go back to basics. Lexi Blake. A while ago we tried to get her to read Ruthless, which probably wasn’t the best way to go because it’s our least favorite in the Lawless series. Rowena and I agree that the best book is Satisfaction, so Satisfaction it is. No DNFing. You’re in it to the bitter, bitter end.

For Rowena

Untamed by Pamela Clare
Beyond the Night by Colleen Gleason
Coming Undone by Lauren Dane
In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks
Midnight Rainbow by Linda Howard

Casee: Rowena is so hard to pick for because our reading tastes are so opposite. I want to pick books that I know she will like, but I want to take her out of her comfort zone as well. I’m being a total bitch because one of the books that I’m picking is smack in the middle of a trilogy. Untamed by Pamela Clare was on my Best of 2009: The Books. I still remember how much I loved that series and that book in particular. The second book I am choosing for her is Beyond the Night by Joss Ware/Colleen Gleason which is the first in a Dystopian/Post-Apocalypse series. I think you all know how much I love my Dystopians.

Holly: The problem with choosing books for Rowena is there are so many I want her to read. So many I know she’ll love if she just tries them. How am I supposed to narrow it down to 2? My life would be a lot easier if these girls just read the books I told them to, when I told them to read them. In the end, I’m choosing Coming Undone by Lauren Dane and In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks. I originally chose England’s Perfect Hero by Suzanne Enoch for her, but it’s the third book in a series and I can’t remember if you need to read the first two for it to make sense. She’s lucky I love her.

Coming Undone is the second book in the Brown Family series, but i don’t believe the first book needs to be read for this one to make sense. Brody took on the task of raising his brother and sister when his parents died, and I know Rowena is going to love him – and the rest of the family – as much as I do. I just recently re-read In Bed with a Highlander and it held up so well I knew I had to pick it for Rowena. As much as we both love old-school Garwood historicals, I know she’s going to dig this one. (I personally think Casee should have to read it as well, but I’m not going to push it. Right now.)

Casee & Holly: Casee and I went back and forth about what to pick for Rowena, but in the end we settled on an old-school Linda Howard book. This crazy girl hasn’t read many of LH’s older books, despite both Casee and I urging her to try them for years. We went with Midnight Rainbow, because it’s an excellent book and the start of the Kell Sabin series. If I remember correctly, Rowena read White Lies, the 4th book in that series. She’ll love Grant.

Have you read any of these books? Do you agree with any of the books on our lists? Are you willing to read along with us this summer? What books would you choose for us to read? Share your thoughts in the comments!