The Consortium, the Quorum, the alien interface, depicted in 'romantic' fiction - what the heck?!

More like, getting through the darkness to find the light at the end was rewarding, but while in the middle of the book, one had a sense of anxiety. Due to the way the story is written and the aspects of humanity that are explored.
This is interesting,I’m going think about this.
I am afraid to expose myself to some material because I feel like it can play in my head like a nightmare. However it does seem like I would benefit from learning to be clinical and to observe the information about the darkness that is manifested in reality.
Then of course transmute that energy and conquer it somehow, so that it has no power what so ever. It’s like next level, black belt “psycho-competency”.
Who knows how that may effect the ‘war of the worlds’ going on out there (i.e.not within my strategically enclosed existence).
 
Thank you @A Jay for the input.
Just to clarify because I was confused for a minute based on the titles given, "You Don't Own Me: The Russian Don" as you've marked it is called You Don't Own Me 1+2 or You Don't Own Me: Box Set to denote the combination of the first book of The Russian Don series You Don't Own Me and its sequel You Don't Own Me 2. It's not exactly clear from the Amazon book page but the title page of the two books lists the names as 'You Don't Own Me (Book 1)' and 'You Don't Own Me (Book 2)' with 'The Russian Don' under both names in both books designating the series.
I agree that this is confusing title.

For most of the books ( 90% of the cases), book title, series name, book number tend to be consistent across the sources I check( Author website, Amazon, library sites(overdrive, hoopla), google books, good reads etc). What i observed before is, goodreads tend to deviate lot more than others sites. Some of the Mary Balogh's books that were published as as 2-in-1 later tend to have different series names and book numbers among the sources. Here is a post on that. Under those circumstances, I tend to give high preference to Author's website or Amazon ( as people get from there more often) or create a appropriate series name and put book numbers to represent the order of the books to be read. Until, now order of read is based on book number in series or Series name that contains "-Extras" worked well.

In this case, author website is bare minimum with little information with links to Amazon and Amazon specifically mentioned it as the "Standalone" in the book descriptions. Also, this is the first time we have as situation where many books from standalone or other series has order of dependencies . So I went with "The Billionaire Banker- Extras" to represent the order of read, even though goodreads put it under "The Russian Don".
Based on what Laura has said and based on the above, I think Blackmailed by the Beast should be in the Billionaire Bankers - Extras series (as number one according to Laura's original designation),
Yes, Laura mentioned it in the post, but I didn't realize that she mentioned "other related books" it in that order. Since she didn't mentioned in the latest post where she mentioned the order, I got confused. Thank you for clarifying it.
You Don't Own Me 1+2 and You Don't Know Me should be in The Russian Don series,
I bought these books to understand what series they mention as different sites saying differently. As per the book, You Don't Own Me 1+2 , doesn't mention the series as Russian Don Series , instead it says as "You Don't Own Me" as series with the first book name and the second book name as "Russian Don" . " You Don't Know Me" book ha no mention of being part of the "Russian Don" series. so it looks to me, google reads put it as Russian Don series.
and Redemption should be at the end as a standalone.
If put it as 'standalone', it may give a impression that people can read it independently. That's why we may want to put it part of "The Billionaire Banker- Extras"

This may not be perfect and probably this representation will work for the project? There are other ways to represent the order of read, that needs some work.
BookIDAuthorSeriesBook NbrBook Name
285Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker1Owned
286Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker2Forty 2 Days
287Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker3Besotted
288Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker4Seduce Me
289Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker5Love's Sacrifice
290Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker- Extras1Blackmailed by the Beast
291Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker- Extras2The Russian Billionaire
292Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker- Extras3The Other Side of Midnight
293Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker- Extras4You Don't Own Me 1+2
294Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker- Extras5You Don't Know Me
295Georgia Le CarreThe Billionaire Banker- Extras6Redemption
Any way, reading in order is important.
 
This is interesting,I’m going think about this.
I am afraid to expose myself to some material because I feel like it can play in my head like a nightmare. However it does seem like I would benefit from learning to be clinical and to observe the information about the darkness that is manifested in reality.
Then of course transmute that energy and conquer it somehow, so that it has no power what so ever. It’s like next level, black belt “psycho-competency”.
Who knows how that may effect the ‘war of the worlds’ going on out there (i.e.not within my strategically enclosed existence).
One of the best lessons I ever learned about nightmares is: if you can pick apart the themes and symbols into personally relatable chunks, then they don’t reoccur.
A nightmare is generally a message that requires urgent attention.
But I’m a nerd for dream interpretation 😄
 
I purchased all of these books on Kindle, although I prefer a paper book to read because I wanted to get started as soon as I can (daily work is taking up most of my time), and the one book I couldn't find was the "The Russian Don". They are ready to be read, but the conversation on this thread is suggesting it may be mistitled.

When I searched Amazon with the title I didn't get find anything matching it. I just don't want the books to be out of sequence and miss a "pearl" in there somewhere.

It is fascinating that the romance genre has such an effect. Until I started reading these romance books, I never realized the simple, human, and emotional information in them. It reminds me of how sometimes the most quiet people can say something profound. That's everyday life. They are "pearls" everywhere when we really listen. Is that the human spirit or the individual?

I dare say I'm ready to read how the darkness in our world is expressed by these books, and how a human element may change, through love, the expression of the darkness. From dark to light, but that may be too hopeful ( the cart before the horse and all). Individual characters dig at our own psychological understanding of where we are, past and present, but can inspire. Where that leads, I'm ready to see. Facing the monster only makes us stronger. And in a way we are stronger than the monster, or villain. If we don't understand the villain how can we defeat them?

It's uncanny how it ties into the current covid nonsense, and the plans of the elite. I will read these books, and report back later, these are just my first expressions.
 
This is interesting,I’m going think about this.
I am afraid to expose myself to some material because I feel like it can play in my head like a nightmare. However it does seem like I would benefit from learning to be clinical and to observe the information about the darkness that is manifested in reality.
Then of course transmute that energy and conquer it somehow, so that it has no power what so ever. It’s like next level, black belt “psycho-competency”.
Who knows how that may effect the ‘war of the worlds’ going on out there (i.e.not within my strategically enclosed existence).
I understand, and that's why I was thinking it might be a good idea to read more intense literature in between more kind and gentle one, to keep somewhat of a rhythm. I posted some of my thoughts on Crime and Punishment here if you're interested.
 
Okay, I’ve now read the first three novels in ‘The Billionaire Banker’ series. Bought it as a bundle to my Kindle.

First, the overall impression I got was that this author is nowhere near the quality and elegance of writing and using English vocabulary as e.g. Balogh, but since, as I understood, this was not the reason to read these in the first place, I didn’t let it disturb me too much. That said, the author is quite okayish in building up suspension and describing characters and surroundings - it’s like a ‘dumbed down’ version of great story telling. Second, the sex scenes are very ‘graphic’ and I’d classify then as pure porn. I’m not sure why the author chose to include them so frequently (almost at every turn!) and make them ‘porn’, maybe it was to get the sales up. Or, just maybe, it was to create a better cover for the inserts of the interesting stuff, the revelations of the ‘quorum’. In any case, towards the end I started speed reading and largely skipping the sex/porn scenes, since they didn’t offer anything new to the story. If anything, reading Balogh’s sex scenes after this will surely feel as small potatoes!

As to the ‘revelations’, the most interesting stuff in this first three parts bundle starts around 70% (Kindle). But also, along the way from the start some small glimpses are offered of the lifestyle and things these beyond-rich people do. The things the author present are nothing completely new that we didn’t suspect already that ‘they’ are doing, but taken all the bits together they start to form a more comprehensive understanding of ‘their world’.

These three first parts of the series are clearly just a prelude of what is to be learned about the ‘quorum’ people (or Sons of El as they are called in the series), as can also be seen in Laura’s original post. I think I’m going to read at least a couple of more parts to see which way the author will take it. Already in the last of the three (first) parts I could see that there was less porn and more interesting information compared to the first two parts. As a plus, the author is a good enough story teller to make the reading entertaining and fast (especially if you skip the sex scenes).

So far I’m not too convinced that the author has any inside information, but at the very least s/he has a good nose to do some ‘guesstimating’ of what is probably going on in those circles. And, I could be wrong, but it almost seems like the ‘porn’ parts and ‘revelation’ parts are written by different authors. The ‘revelation’ parts have a more direct style.
 
After giving some more thought, I made a minor change to the sheet and incorporate 2 new columns
  • Category -column G in the sheet - "Dark Romance" for Georgia Le Carre books. If we decide to use more categories in future, we can use this column
  • Read Order (in Author List) - Column H in the sheet - this will help to represent the book orders across different series's.
1626475670956.png
Before this change, column H and G had library sites book links (Hoopla digital and overdrive) and I moved them to column O & P.

I decided to put the series for "You don't own me" book-set and "You don't know me" as "You Don't know me/Russian Don". This is not perfect, but should work for our project.

All the forms and reports are updated accordingly. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
 
After giving some more thought, I made a minor change to the sheet and incorporate 2 new columns
  • Category -column G in the sheet - "Dark Romance" for Georgia Le Carre books. If we decide to use more categories in future, we can use this column
  • Read Order (in Author List) - Column H in the sheet - this will help to represent the book orders across different series's.
View attachment 47202
Before this change, column H and G had library sites book links (Hoopla digital and overdrive) and I moved them to column O & P.

I decided to put the series for "You don't own me" book-set and "You don't know me" as "You Don't know me/Russian Don". This is not perfect, but should work for our project.

All the forms and reports are updated accordingly. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU :love: to you for the endless work you do for us. So many wishes that you implement. Even though it may be easy for you to work with tables because of your work, it is still a lot of effort and time that you invest. Thank you so much and a big hug.:hug2:
 
So, my question: How do you like your Kindle? I like paper books (prefer paperback) because my computer hurts my eyes, and I work with the computer all day so I take a break with "real" books. But, it seems like a good idea to have, especially when I have to pack my books to move (they're so heavy!). Are Kindles kind to your eyes? Can I carry one to places such as the beach, on trips, and not regret that I scratched/broke it? Thank you for your input!
If you search Kindle on the forum you will get many views from people who use it.

For most books, paper is usually my choice, however when it came to these romance novels (and there are many from the other thread), it has been a mixture due to influences; cost, availability and shipping cost and delays (big ones) of paper became factors. On the down side of Kindle, sharing is not great, screens can be problematical, reading at whim may not be easy if you don't have a specific device et cetera.

It will be each to their own experiences and needs. However, on the off chance, a CME will will not be kind to Kindle.

Ordering them now! Can’t wait to start reading billionaire banker

Ditto.

Thanks Laura for leading the way on this, and seek10 for the compiled list.
 
So, my question: How do you like your Kindle? I like paper books (prefer paperback) because my computer hurts my eyes, and I work with the computer all day so I take a break with "real" books. But, it seems like a good idea to have, especially when I have to pack my books to move (they're so heavy!). Are Kindles kind to your eyes? Can I carry one to places such as the beach, on trips, and not regret that I scratched/broke it? Thank you for your input!
I bought a Kindle, because I wanted to save costs, although I prefer traditional books. :-) But as others have said Kindle is easy on the eyes and I have found that after working at the computer I am not having any problems switching to Kindle. I have to take a break from the computer from time to time, because it is very tiring for my eyes, but so far I haven't experienced any problems with my Kindle.
 
I've finished the first two books of the box set. It's right to have this as a separate reading project. You don't get the exploration and resolution of karmic issues. What you do get is a more solidified perspective of the world we live in through a narration that's probably pretty accurate. I've been thinking about this for quite some time in terms of movies, wishing someone would show the true reality through that medium, but this does it in printed form. I think it's great! It has the effect of shaking loose any left over notions of, 'maybe it's not that bad.' We live in an extremely dark world. That is the truth and our hope because it's so far out of balance it almost has to be rectified one way or another. The C's have said that balance will be restored via the suffering of the masses. And that it's a triple bad day for these types at the top.

It also makes me feel empathy for all those who can't or won't see. What should be, and is obvious for anyone who cares to look is that none of what's being done in the real world with Covid related actions is for the benefit of the little people. It's laughable to think so, but not at all funny.

Looking forward to the third in the series, 'Besotted.'
 
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