Welcome to the Snatching Party for May 2024!
A few words before we start.
FMM2310 has still to complete their reviews and are therefore excluded from the Snatching party. Their stories however are still up for grabs.
IMPORTANT — To be eligible for the June 2024 Snatching Party, you must have finished your commenting and reviewing and informed us with comments on both your assigned stories in Announcement before the party begins at 22:00 UTC on 27 May. Note the new time. You still have until the end of each month to finish your assignment, but by being a bit late, you lose the right to early snatches.
Guidelines - Please, make sure you read our guidelines. We ask for a minimum of three inline comments and one final comment in both chapters of both stories. Those comments shouldn't be vague. Always add the what and the why. Do you think something could be improved? Again, tell the author what and why. Writers appreciate being told what works and what does not. Amazing reviews - last but not least, we would like to thank all of you who took the reviewing a little further and helped your fellow book club mates. Now let's move on to the PARTY.
Rules recap: The rules are simple: First grabs = First keeps
Below, you'll find the list of available stories for the next month with a short description. To let us know which stories would you like to review, all you have to do is make an in-line comment next to the title of the story you wish to claim. Comments in the blurb do not count as a pick. We don't care what the comment is. You can make a + sign, you can yell ME ME ME, you can politely say I'd like to review this story — whichever way you prefer. Keep in mind:
>> You may choose only two stories, but you must choose two.
>> If a story has already been chosen by two members, that story is claimed for this month, and you have to select from those which remain unchosen.
>> Once you have chosen the two stories, be sure to visit the authors' dedicated chapters to see what they wish you to look out for while reviewing their work.
>> This chapter will be up for only five days. Be sure to comment on stories you want to review during this time.
>> We will choose for everybody who hadn't made their choice by the last day of the month.
>> If you've reviewed a story you particularly enjoyed, you can use this opportunity to snatch it for yourself again when we reopen this chapter for the following round. Most importantly, have fun!
CLAIMERS' LIST
The Craving – Marooned by RainerSalt
After a plane crash, Megan is marooned with a group of survivors on an uninhabited island in the Pacific. They find a dead man's body, and the next day it's gone. And then someone of their group disappears, too. They realize that there's something with them. Something that might be lethal.
----
Not having much to head home for, Megan doesn't care when her plane takes off with a delay of several hours. She is bored, and the strange, dark man at her side isn't much of a talker--yet their conversation gets interesting once the plane's engines stop working.
They crash. Many die, but a small group of survivors makes it to the shore of a deserted, volcanic island in the middle of nowhere. They feel lucky to be alive as they wait for the rescue teams. But they're not.
----
A thriller/adventure story, with elements of mystery, and some surprises.
Mature: NO
~*~
Noble Intentions by ZonderZorg
Held captive in the aftermath of a devastating attack and facing being sold as slaves, two strangers comfort each other, and as affinity grows, they conspire to overpower their guards and regain freedom.
Jarvis is the son of a seaman and Gillian is of noble birth, but ignoring class differences, their mutual respect becomes love.
This is a story of intense emotions and brilliant ingenuity set aboard a trading ship bound from the Caribbean to London early in the reign of King George.
Mature: YES
~*~
The Shady Adventures of Fabian by Wuckster
Fabian is a legendary hero and adventurer... in his own mind. People should have heard of his brave and noble exploits far and wide, except of course for the fact that they haven't. He is a pretty skilled thief though, even if he does have delusions of grandeur. Those dreams of being a hero are about to be put to the test in a major way as Fabian embarks on his biggest and most epic quest yet: finding some rich broad's missing cat. Dungeons will be explored. Fantastical creatures will be encountered. Monsters will be battled if they seem like they're weak enough to actually be defeated. And Fabian will attempt to lie, cheat, and steal from virtually everyone he meets. After all, that's what a thief does.
Mature: NO
~*~
Ten Years by FMM2310
Edward and Leïla, two twenty-somethings from different continents meet on a long-haul flight. They laugh and flirt and share their hopes and dreams persuaded they'd never meet again. Upon arrival, they part ways wishing they didn't have to.
Fast forward ten years as they meet again on the top of a hill overlooking the London skyline. But is it possible for Edward and Leïla to pick up where they left?
Mature: NO
~*~
Mind the Gap by EvelynHail
Two strangers on separate trains, divided by uncaring glass.
A bond forms between them.
But will it hold when their trains are bound for different destinations?
Evan's heart has been bleeding since his little family was torn apart by divorce, and his nose runs with a cold. Trying to pick up the pieces of his life, he has changed cities, and he's about to change jobs. And he has run out of tissues.
A woman's blue hair catches his eye at a train station. And her smile, fortified by braces, catches his heart.
Sitting in her train, Iris revels in her future perfect. Her work is finally getting published and she has found Mr. Right. Nothing could go wrong now.
Gazing out of the window, she sees the stranger. He looks miserable and sneezes, but her hands want to tousle his bed hair.
A random encounter at a subway station. But both of them are caught in their tracks and when their trains pull apart, they don't expect to meet again.
Mature: NO
~*~
Section F: The Arse-Kickers by Reffster
Defenceless, its heroes all gone, the world faces a new threat from the unlikeliest of sources.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and desperate measures call for Section F. But even with their world-saving and/or carb-handling credentials, Agents Peregrine and Fields can't tackle this situation on their own. They're going to have to find new heroes. And, just maybe, give the definition of the term something of a stretch..
Mature: NO
~*~
Love at Spain's Iron Cross by williamtgeary1
A man and a woman with broken hearts & uncertain futures begin 1000 miles apart, hiking paths built by Rome's Empire, hoping to learn and heal during two months pilgrimage in Spain. International, historical & cultural topics, love scenes.
Mature: NO
~*~
Nikki's Test by NIKBENJAMIN
Confronted with the results of his daughter's DNA test, a man embarks on a journey of self-reflection and forgiveness.
Mature: YES
~*~
Crimson & Clover by sMayer11
Have you ever wondered why you're haunted by random thoughts? Maybe, just maybe they aren't random. "Why me? That is my question to whoever is up there pulling the strings...why me? " This was the question that tormented Adam Baker as he sat in his car on the side of the road contemplating the ultimate sacrifice, taking his own life. Two simple words, why me.
Adam Baker's struggles were the result of his past actions, misdeeds that his mind never let him forget. The only problem was that they weren't actions he remembered being a part of. It was as if they were someone else's memories with Adam suffering their karmic debt. Stranger still was that those memories were from a time before Adam was even born. We start back in 1968 where it all began. Crimson & Clover is Adam's story.
MATURE: NO
~*~
The Fenrir Saga by CarolineHallonback
The story follows Hild and Beonnie as they navigate through life in a werewolf setting. Both are alone but together they find family, friends and perhaps that alluring thing called love. It is, of course, not a straight road and their rocky path leads them into fighting pits, emotional trauma, abuse but also gives them butterflies, a moody Labrador and lots and lots of love - all kinds of it.
MATURE: No
~*~
Let it Snow! by SilviaKrpatova
Nora, a young woman not quite content with the direction her life had taken, decides to take a step back and restart from the beginning. Leaving her city life behind, and turning a deaf ear to the advice of her very unsupportive and never-happy-with-her family (a stepmother, and two older stepsisters), she comes to live into a small, medieval spa town, where she inherited a tiny cottage set on a castle grounds.
She only hopes to find a job, possibly as a guide in the wonderful castle she loves, to be able to make ends meet...
However, she finds much more than that, waiting for her here-- a new life, entirely different from her previous one, happy memories of her childhood and teenage years, friendship, and maybe love.
MATURE: No
~*~
Champion in Love (bxb) by DomiSotto
The former Champion of Champions gladiator seizes the chance to forge the next champion of the arena, but when his bull-headed student and would-be-lover proves to be a hardcore enemy of the Empire, he must decide what to fight for.
MATURE: Yes
~*~
Ninety Degrees Out by Uschibear
Earth has tumbled and shifted ninety degrees on it's axis. Alaska is now close to the equator. The novel explores one family's journey through the environmental disaster that follows.
Mature: YES