Tag Archives: JL Merrow

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Linkity loves flying saucer sandwiches!

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Congrats to choccygrl, who won Going With My Heart by Stephani Hecht and My Subby Valentine by Amber Kell!

Congrats to Paul B, who won First Impressions by Josephine Myles!

Congrats to Nette, who won The Only Easy Day (Sanctuary #2) by RJ Scott! The Only Easy Day will be released by Silver Publishing on February 18.

Congrats to Melissa, who won The Pirate’s Gamble by Eden Winters! The Pirate’s Gamble will be released by JMS Books on February 19.

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  • Toas-Tites are back! Or, as we called them when I was growing up, flying saucer sandwich makers! 🙂 They work well with a gas stove, too.

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Reading Update
Midnight in Berlin by JL Merrow. ebook. arc. Excellent paranormal m/m romance about an American who’s been drifting around Europe for a while. One rainy drunken night, he accepts a ride from a devilishly handsome man in a Porsche… and his life (and his reality) will never be the same again.
Lesson Learned by Lillian Francis. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about two teachers at a Welsh secondary school who become close friends, although one finds the friendship increasingly challenging, due to the attraction he feels for his oblivious, obviously attracted to women friend.
The Only Easy Day (Sanctuary #2) by RJ Scott. ebook. arc. Very good m/m romantic suspense picking up where the first book left off. As the Sanctuary guys work to build a case against the mobsters responsible for the murder Morgan witnessed, things are complicated by the murder victim’s Navy SEAL stepbrother showing up on a mission of vengeance.
The Hanged Man’s Ghost by Missouri Dalton. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a Chicago police detective with a drinking problem and a crush on his straight best friend. When he realizes he can see ghosts, his life spirals quickly out of control. Sloppy proofing and a storyline that needed to be reined in just a bit kept this from being a five-star read. (But! There is knitting!)
Fiends in Low Places by Missouri Dalton. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who works for the MC from The Hanged Man’s Ghost and who’s trying to get back together with an FBI agent. Apparently the rest of this story (much alluded to throughout this one) is still being written.
Getting It Right (Life Lessons #1.8) by Kaje Harper. free ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about both Mac and Tony agonizing over what to get the other for Valentine’s Day.
I Dare You, Back (Dare #3) by Tam Ames. free ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a college senior who’s been sleeping around for two years, ever since his boyfriend dumped him and left for grad school. Now his ex is back in town…
The Swimming Swan (Cob Brothers #2) by Amber Kell & Stephani Hecht. ebook. Fluffy m/m paranormal romance about a merman come to land to meet his mate, who he doesn’t know is a swan prince.
Taking the Dare (Truth or Dare #4) by Lee Brazil. ebook. Ok m/m romance about the last unattached Blake brother, who habitually manipulates people and just can’t seem to stop. I didn’t particularly care for him or for his love interest.
Reluctant Mate by Eden Cole. ebook short. So-so short paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter who’s pissed off that his father has arranged for him to mate a man instead of a woman.
Awakenings by Tara Larson. ebook. DNF. I only made it to 8% – this looks to be another unedited book from Dreamspinner Press. It featured random and constant POV shifts, non-stop infodumping, and passive voice. Ugh.

*scratch scratch scratch* -Mayhem

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Ebook Giveaway: Midnight in Berlin by JL Merrow [CONTEST CLOSED]

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Congrats to Carole, who won A Ring and a Promise by Devon Rhodes! A Ring and a Promise was released yesterday by Total-E-Bound.

Congrats to Penumbra, who won A Private Gentleman by Heidi Cullinan! A Private Gentleman is being released today by Samhain Publishing.

Many thanks to JL Merrow for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming paranormal m/m romance, Midnight in Berlin, for a lucky commenter to win! Midnight in Berlin will be released by Samhain Publishing on February 21.

The hookup from hell…or the ride of his life?

Leon’s drifter lifestyle gives him the freedom to attend as many music festivals as his heart desires. Even the ones that leave him covered in feathers. Wet feathers, thanks to the rain as he hitchhikes back to his hostel. When he’s offered a ride by a good-looking man in a Porsche, Leon thinks it’s his lucky night. Until he discovers his savior from the storm hides a dark secret: he’s a werewolf.

At first glance, Christoph thinks the shaggy stranger walking Berlin’s streets is a rogue werewolf. By the time he realizes his mistake, it’s too late for both of them. Forced to turn Leon into a monster to save his life, Christoph still has to suffer his pack leader’s brutal punishment for endangering them all.

Leon awakens, horrified by what he’s become – but it’s his lover’s fate that spurs him to action. Freeing Christoph is easy, but the aftermath complicates everything as they go on the run, desperate to uncover the secrets their pack leader is hiding. Secrets the pack will kill to protect…

Product Warnings
Take a trip to Europe. Soak up the local culture, meet a creature from your worst nightmares. Contains werewolves behaving badly, clothed and unclothed. Author is not responsible for unexpected, uncontrollable urges to consume massive amounts of, um, bacon.

Excerpt (scroll down and select tab)

JL’s post about Midnight in Berlin and Camwolf

Other Books

About JL

JL Merrow is that rare beast: an English person who refuses to drink tea.  Having grown up by the seaside, she also loathes fish and chips.  She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.  Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne. She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporaries and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. You can find out more about JL at her website, blog, Facebook, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CST, Monday, February 20.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If you have an email account with AOL or Netscape, I will not be able to send email to you.
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Oh, yeah, I can make that jump, no problem.” -Chaos

Of course, what he didn’t anticipate is that the force of his jump would tip the exercise bike toward the handlebars, leading to him falling over the seat and behind the bike. Fortunately, only his pride was hurt!

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Leave it to linkity

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Congrats to Tracy F, who won A Life Without You (Boston Boys #1) by Erica Pike!

Congrats to Elisheva CN, who won The Yearning by AJ Rose! The Yearning is being released today by MLR Press.

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Reading Update
Something Different by S.A. Reid. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about a guy in a loveless marriage who’s merely going through the motions of life. When he goes to the park in search of a prostitute because he desperately needs something different to happen in his life, he’s surprised yet strangely intrigued to be picked up by a young man. (Because this story starts with infidelity, it isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste.)
Texas Winter (Texas #2) by RJ Scott. ebook. Very good m/m romance continuing the story of Jack and Riley, in which Riley gets some life-changing news.
Academic Pursuits by Lou Harper. ebook. arc. Very good humorous m/m romance about a slutty but goodhearted college student who’s just realizing that his habit of seducing straight guys has gotten him a bit of a reputation. Maybe it’s time for a change…
Tomfoolery by Lou Harper. free ebook short. arc. Cute free short paranormal m/m romance about a computer programmer who thinks he’s going crazy because his stuff isn’t in exactly the same place when he gets home from work as when he left in the morning…
Permanently Legless by JL Merrow. ebook short. Funny yet sweet short m/m romance about a guy who came back from Afghanistan without his legs and runs into a gorgeous young man he’d screwed right before shipping out.
After Dark (After #1) by Luisa Prieto. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a guy who’s unable to mourn his brother’s death for various reasons – particularly since his brother doesn’t seem to be completely dead…
After Midnight (After #2) by Luisa Prieto. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance continuing the story of the mage and the werewolf started in After Dark. Please note that this ends with a mild cliffhanger and the next book is still in draft form. Also, Luisa is working on revised and expanded versions of this and the first book.
Choices by Penny Brandon. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who’s shown the love of his life in a magical mirror and is shocked to discover that the love of his life is a man, seeing as he isn’t gay…
Relearning the Ropes by DC Juris. ebook short. Good short kinky m/m romance about a dom who inherits a fulltime sub when his friend dies and finds he has to reevaluate how he deals with the young man. This really needed to be longer for the amount of potential story!
Deconstruction by Kit Zheng. ebook. Good kinky m/m mystery about a stripper who lives with his cop boyfriend and turns tricks on the side to help make the mortgage. But things aren’t going the greatest for them right now as secrets build up between them…
All Bets Are Off by Marguerite Labbe. ebook. Good m/m romance about a college professor who gets involved with a student before he knows the guy is a student. Will he be able to resist temptation as his department head tries to get rid of him and someone keeps rummaging through his stuff? I’m not exactly sure why, but I never got emotionally invested in this book.
Broken by Jessica Freely. ebook. Good m/m romance about a naive, closeted, yaoi-loving enforcer who works for his mobster brother. Things start to fall apart for him when he becomes entranced by a prostitute his brother has just purchased from China.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

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Linkity rings out the old year

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Congrats to Tara R, who won Take Me Home by Sloan Parker!

Congrats to Michelle L, who won FUBAR (EMS Heat #12) by Stephani Hecht! FUBAR will be released by eXtasy Books on January 1.

No Misadventure on Monday, which is another holiday for me!

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Reading Update
Among the Living (PsyCop #1) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. reread. Excellent m/m paranormal romantic suspense about a PsyCop, who can see ghosts even though he really would prefer not to. (This is one of my comfort rereads… you might’ve guessed, as it’s the second time I’ve read the book this year!)
Criss Cross (PsyCop #2) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. reread. Very good m/m paranormal romantic suspense that takes place a few weeks after Among the Living. Jacob’s staying with Vic while looking for a new condo, and Vic has a creepily eager-to-please new partner at work. (Second time I’ve read this book this year, too.)
Body and Soul (PsyCop #3) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. reread. Very good m/m paranormal romantic suspense in which Vic gets another new partner at work and Jacob continues hunting for an unhaunted place to live. (Second time this year, third time overall – as with the others.)
Secrets (PsyCop #4) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. reread. Very good paranormal m/m romantic suspense in which Vic and Jacob’s living situation changes dramatically and Vic stumbles upon an epic conspiracy. Do I need to repeat myself again?! 🙂
Jesse’s Christmas by RJ Scoot. ebook. Very good holiday m/m romance about a photographer who hates Christmas because his lover left him the previous Christmas, emptying his bank account and breaking his heart. Will he be able to get into the Christmas spirit for his assignment taking daily photos in “Christmasville”?? Bonus points to RJ for including a scene that matches the cover!
Home Ice by Kate Sherwood. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a closeted hockey coach trying to deal with working with his ex after not seeing him for ten years.
A Calling for Pleasure (Lars & Rael #1) (2nd edition) by JL Merrow. ebook (available 1/15/2012). Very good short paranormal m/m romance about two detectives for the Paranormal Enforcement Agency trying to track down a succubus who’s leaving a trail of dead guys behind her. The male detective (non-romantic detective pairing, not to worry!) becomes fascinated by a male succubus who’s picked up during the investigation… This was a fun start to a (currently) three-book series that I’m hoping JL adds to. 🙂
A Silence Kept by Theo Fenraven. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who rents a place a bit off the beaten path for his summer weekend getaway after he catches his boyfriend cheating on him. He doesn’t really believe the place is haunted… at first.
Take Me Home by Sloan Parker. ebook. Good m/m romantic suspense about an author and a screenwriter who’ve been best friends since high school, even after a night together years ago left one brokenhearted and the other moving from guy to guy to avoid intimacy. As they take the train back to Ohio from Los Angeles for Christmas, they try to sort out the decades old mystery they’ve fallen into while figuring out whether they can trust each other if their relationship changes…
Puppy, Car, and Snow (Ryan & Scott #3) by Amy Lane. ebook. Good holiday m/m romance about two guys snowed in at a cabin for the holidays with one guy’s family, trying to deal with with his mom’s ongoing nasty comments to his boyfriend. I think enough background is provided in the book for those who haven’t read the previous two short stories.
Free to Fly by Belinda McBride. free ebook short. Good short kinky m/m romance about a guy who comes home from work planning to move out while his lawyer boyfriend is out of town for the weekend. But his boyfriend is still there, and their confrontation changes the course of their relationship.
Ten Things to Hate About Being a Werewolf by Vic Winter. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who was recently turned into a werewolf and hates everything about it.
Winning in a Landslide (Change #1.5) by JM Cartwright. ebook. Good holiday m/m romance that follows up on the sheriff, the rock star, and their two young adopted kids right after an extremely trying election. Something that once I noticed, I couldn’t un-notice – the two main characters just seemed to use each other’s names way too much.
Southern Winterland (By Degrees #1) by Taylor V. Donovan. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about a gay guy who’s been distancing himself from his straight best friend after a drunken almost-kiss under the mistletoe the previous Christmas. This needed to be a bit longer!
The Gift of the Maggie by Belinda McBride. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about a divorced rancher who has his very first boyfriend and is nervous about coming out to his kids.
A Picture Perfect Holiday by ZA Maxfield. ebook short. Good holiday m/m romance about a high school senior, president of the photography club, who has a crush on a straight football player.
Chance of Snow by Brynn Paulin. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about two coworkers who share a steamy night together when their chartered bus can’t make it home during a big snowstorm.
A Summit City Christmas (Sno Ho #2.5) by Ethan Day. ebook short. Pretty good short m/m holiday romance about Wade and Boone’s first Christmas together. This really needed to be fleshed out more to be a coherent or satisfying narrative.
Nice: Christmas Mistletoe by M. Durango. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about a guy who moved home to live with his parents and work at their Christmas tree lot after he was laid off. He runs into an old high school track buddy one night while he’s working at the tree lot… This felt a bit disjointed to me.
Blue River by Theo Fenraven. ebook short. Good short m/m holiday time travel romance about a photographer who walks through some mist and ends up in 1863, where he stays with an innocent young farmer and his sister. The thing I liked best about this book was that it didn’t gloss over historical details like people not bathing very often. I do have my doubts that greens stored in a root cellar would be lovely and fresh by December…
More Than Enough (More #2) by Shawn Lane. ebook short. Pretty good m/m romance about a guy in college who lives at home to run interference between his abusive alcoholic father and his younger sister. When a handsome jock asks him out, he’s sure it’s as a joke.
The Question by Sean Michael. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about two guys who’ve been best friends for years, but not romantically or sexually involved since their single disastrous attempt many years ago. This would’ve been more satisfying had it not been so very short.

*blank* -Mayhem

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Linkity of the Doomed

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Congrats to Fehu, who won Crescendo (Song of the Fallen #2) by Rachel Haimowitz!

Congrats to SueM, who won Men Under the Mistletoe by Ava March, Josh Lanyon, Harper Fox, and KA Mitchell! Men Under the Mistletoe will be released on December 5 by Carina Press. (The stories will also be released separately.)

Congrats to Tracey D, who won While Under the Influence (Perfect Timing #8) by Kim Dare! While Under the Influence will be released by Total-E-Bound on December 5.

Not enough linkity for you today? You could check out last week’s poor neglected linkity… 😉

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  • Toilet paper personality types. (Hmm. I have to keep the toilet paper in the cabinet under the sink, protected by a childproof lock, or Chaos turns it into confetti.)

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Reading Update
Men Under the Mistletoe by Ava March, Harper Fox, Josh Lanyon, & KA Mitchell. ebook collection. Another exceptional collection of holiday-themed m/m romance from Carina Press. Ava March’s historical was very good. (Poor Sasha! Then… poor Thomas!) Harper Fox’s story drew me in slowly, then seduced me utterly. So good! Its excellent epilogue should serve as the standard to which all other epilogues should strive. Josh Lanyon’s story was a pretty good read, but left me with too many unanswered questions to be truly satisfying. Finally, KA Mitchell’s story kept me wondering how things were going to turn out until the absolute end.
Winter Warmers by Clare London, Chrissy Munder, Lou Harper, Josephine Myles, & JL Merrow. ebook collection. This m/m romance holiday collection is perfectly titled – these are heartwarming, cozy tales that will help you find your holiday spirit as you curl up on your couch with your ebook reader. (Yes, they are also sexy tales. I know you were wondering!) 😉
Simple Gifts (Cornwall Novellas #2) by LB Gregg. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about an emotionally closed off bar owner who’s dragged to a holiday party, where he runs into the guy who loved and left him for the military without a word ten years ago.
Dudleytown (Cornwall Novellas #1) by LB Gregg. ebook short. reread. Very good Halloween-themed m/m romance about some college students taking a “shortcut” on their drive home for the weekend. Things go a bit more spectacularly awry than is usual for such shortcuts… Plenty of trademark L.B. humor and insight make for an entertainingly suspenseful read.
Trompe L’oeil by KC Burn. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a history professor who’s been a bit of a hermit since he dumped his cheating boyfriend six months ago. When he moves into a new apartment, his sister gives him a mysteriously compelling nude portrait of a Depression-era artist…
“A Calling for Pleasure” (Lars & Rael #1) by JL Merrow (from The Care and Feeding of Demons). short from ebook collection. I just read “A Calling for Pleasure” because it’s the first story in an m/m paranormal romance series by J.L. Merrow about two detectives for the Paranormal Enforcement Agency. In this short, the detectives are after a succubus who’s leaving a trail of dead guys behind her. The male detective (non-romantic detective pairing, not to worry) becomes fascinated by a male succubus (why didn’t they just call him an incubus?!) who’s picked up during the investigation…
A Blast from the Past (Lars & Rael #2) by JL Merrow. ebook. Good short paranormal m/m romance in which the detectives are trying to catch a demonic firestarter.
A Wish Too Far (Lars & Rael #3) by JL Merrow. ebook. In this one, our detectives are after a mysterious person who’s making and pushing pills that grant wishes… slightly twisted.
Broken Memories (In the Shadow of the Wolf #2) by Diane Adams & RJ Scott. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about the wolf shifter rescued at the end of the last book, who’s terrified of shifting and can’t remember much from before his rescue. I don’t think this book was long enough for the amount of story being told. At times, things seemed to jump ahead inexplicably, as if parts were missing.
Someone Special by TC Blue. ebook. Good holiday m/m romance about a photographer working as a Santaland elf who gets involved with a somewhat prickly, time-crunched guy also working as an elf. This started out much stronger than it finished – the last 1/4 of the book got painfully sugary and repetitive.
Tribe (Todd Mills #2) by RD Zimmerman. Pretty good gay mystery in which an old friend of Todd’s reveals secrets kept since their college days as some creepy fundamentalists with nefarious intent close in. I didn’t like this as much as I liked the first book – way too much time spent with the creepy fundamentalists.
Working It Out by Sara York. ebook. Meh m/m romance about a gym owner whose partner died six months ago. He’s surprised to find himself with feelings for a handsome closeted doctor. Such a frustrating read! The main characters’ intentions and emotions seemed to flip flop on every page. There were not one but two psycho women intent on seducing the gay main characters. The writing was choppy and simplistic. *sigh*

“What a long week! I’m exhausted!” -Mayhem

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Ebook Giveaway: Winter Warmers by by Josephine Myles, JL Merrow, Clare London, Chrissy Munder, & Lou Harper [CONTEST CLOSED]

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Congrats to Hissy, who won Coffin Dodger (Night Wardens #2) by Stephani Hecht! Coffin Dodger is being released today by eXtasy Books.

Many thanks to Josephine Myles, JL Merrow, Clare London, Chrissy Munder, and Lou Harper for donating an ebook copy of their freshly released m/m seasonal anthology, Winter Warmers, for a lucky commenter to win!

Mulled wine. Butterscotch kisses. Hideous sweaters. Candy at the beach, or a trip to a sex shop in Amsterdam. And the man of your dreams, wrapped around you…

Winter warmers come in many shapes and sizes, from the tongue-in-cheek to the hot-as-hell. Enjoy a quintet of heart-warming tales of men loving men that are guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face.

One thing’s for sure – it’s going to be a red-hot Christmas!

Lucky Dip by Clare London
Andy Jackson always knew that class 2C’s help in preparing for the annual Christmas Fair would be a mixed blessing. Then he’s paired up on the Lucky Dip with Greg, the man who dumped him but now can’t keep away, the pupils are either lecturing him on his lovelife or losing bladder control, and no one’s fixed the broken handle on the storage room. It may all be one whoopee cushion too far for him.

Butterscotch Kisses by Chrissy Munder
Matthew Morrison is determined to conquer his fear of heights and achieve a winning outcome. At least, that’s what the best-selling, self-help book he’s listening to promises. Being stuck on a three-story tower in the middle of a snowstorm wasn’t part of the plan. With no St. Bernard in sight, it’s Cute Ticket Guy Adam to the rescue, and an outcome Matthew never anticipated.

Wintertide by Lou Harper
May meets December when Jem and Oscar chance on each other at the Santa Monica Pier, only weeks before Christmas. The two men are separated by age, social status, and their taste in candy, yet if they are both naughty and nice, they might just find holiday cheer together.

When in Amsterdam… by Josephine Myles
Brandon is on his first visit to new boyfriend Jos’s home country, just in time for their Sinterklaas celebrations. But an unexpected detour into a sex shop leads Brandon to new discoveries about himself, and a whole new dynamic to their relationship. The weather may be cold and damp, but Brandon and Jos soon heat things up!

A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips, and Thou by JL Merrow
What’s the best gift a young man could get for Christmas? Mohawked saxophonist Liam wouldn’t have picked the hideous collection of knitwear he’s presented with by his mum and his aunties. He’d rather have the gorgeous older man he sees every day while busking at King’s Cross. But with a little Christmas magic in the air, maybe those garish garments are just the thing for attracting a silver fox…

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CST, Friday, December 9.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Hey!!!! Dinner is 0.2 seconds late, dammit! The service in this place sucks.” -Chaos

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Linkity: The post-birthday, pre-Thanksgiving edition

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Don’t forget to enter the contest for Media Naranja (Other Half) (Petit Morts #16) by Clare London & Jordan Castillo Price! Contest closes 7 pm CST, November 28.

Go enter the contest for Boats in the Night by Josephine Myles! Contest closes 7 pm CST, November 28.

Definitely enter the contest for Private Eye (Liaisons #1) by SE Culpepper! Contest closes 7 pm CST, November 28.

Congrats to Cori and Lilli, who each won copies of Honored Vow (Change of Heart #3) by Mary Calmes! Honored Vow will be released by Dreamspinner Press on November 21.

Congrats to Kelly, who won Texas Winter (The Heart of Texas #2) by RJ Scott! Texas Winter will be released by Silver Publishing on November 19.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes yesterday! 🙂 I took yesterday and today off from work and did absolutely nothing. Tonight, Jeanne and I are going to see The Mountain Goats play at the Fitzgerald Theater – Neil Gaiman is part the event, too.

Contests

  • Cecile’s giving away backlist ebooks from Rachel Haimowitz, Aleksandr Voinov, LA Witt, Brita Addams, or Cat Grant. Read the contest directions carefully! Contests close November 18 at midnight, EST.

Bookity

  • So last week’s AJ Llewellyn drama led to a larger discussion of transphobia and transgender issues. For me, this post by Aleksandr Voinov tied everything together.

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Reading Update
Stay the Night by Scarlett Parrish. ebook. Very good m/m romance about Kit, an awkward and antisocial computer programmer who is extremely attracted to his new housemate, but manages to push him away at every turn. Kit reminded me all too much of myself…
Boats in the Night by Josephine Myles. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who’s not really doing so well since his boyfriend left him a month ago. He’s dealing with a hangover when he hears a bunch of noise at the base of his garden and discovers a broken-down narrowboat, with a most fascinating owner…
True Colors by Clare London. ebook. reread. (Totally reusing my original reviewette here!) This turned out to be a very good and intense m/m romance after a sort of shaky start – I almost put the book away because there were so many different people introduced in the first few pages and I couldn’t figure out who was important and who was peripheral. But in the end? Totally redeemed, because Clare London deftly tied in those seemingly extraneous introductory bits.
Where You Least Expect It by M. Durango. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a straight guy whose unlikely friendship with a cyclist he almost ran over has him very confused about his sexuality.
Closet (Todd Mills #1) by RD Zimmerman. ebook. Very good m/m mystery about a prominent and closeted tv reporter whose boyfriend is murdered… and he’s being set up to take the fall. As a bonus, it’s set in Minneapolis in 1995. 🙂
Reclamation (Dominion #2) by Lissa Kasey. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romance in which Sei’s seeing a Dominion-ordered psychiatrist to help him work through the events of the last book, but he seems to be getting worse instead of better. I would definitely have enjoyed this book more if I hadn’t read the prologue – it made me too anxious to really settle into the story.
Consequences (Dominion #2.1) by Lissa Kasey. free ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance about Gabe messing with Sei a bit after Sei gets caught out while shifted.
Touching Wood by Kim Dare. ebook short. Steamy kinky short m/m scene about a dominant and submissive reconnecting with each other in their playroom.
Wight Mischief by JL Merrow. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who goes to the Isle of Wight to research ghosts with the self-absorbed journalist friend he’s fancied himself in love with for years… a fancy he reevaluates as he keeps running into a sexy and reclusive author with a creepy, domineering guardian.
Drive Safe by Sean Kennedy. free ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about a guy driving home through the outback who stops to help a drag queen whose car has broken down.
Congratulations Lucky Winner by LB Gregg. free ebook short. Madcap short m/m story about a hotel manager charged with storing two very unusual awards that are to be given out at conventions in the hotel.
Speed Dating the Slow Way by Chris Owen. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance about two guys who become briefly reacquainted during a charity speed dating event, then reconnect some time later.
Pulled Long (Long Shots #3) by Christine d’Abo. ebook arc. Pretty good m/m romance about Ian, a coffee shop owner who’s been fascinated by and flirting with a handsome customer for months… until he found out the customer was in the process of getting divorced. As he didn’t want to be some straight guy’s rebound, he backed off. I was annoyed by the whole martyr thing that Ian had going on – that’s a trait that drives me nuts. If that doesn’t bother you as much as it does me, you might enjoy this more than did I.
Between You and Me by Willa Okati. ebook. So-so m/m romance about two guys who’ve been best friends since college and now, in their mid-thirties, are starting to realize why neither of them have found “the one”. This just never came together for me – the language was convoluted and the whole beach in the rain scenario… *shakes head*
Stroke the Demon by Eden Cole. ebook. Meh kinky m/m paranormal menage about an orphaned 18-year old who discovers that the mysterious benefactors who’ve been paying for his school and living expenses are demons, and that he was basically bred to be their sex toy. This was one of those stories that had way too much sex for the tiny amount of plot.
Love Revisited: Nash & Paul (Nash & Paul #2) by HC Brown. ebook short. I read this out of sick fascination to see if it was as bad as the first book. It was. Maybe worse. It’s hard to quantify levels of badness at this level.
Saving Tate by Will Banks. ebook short. This m/m short was just bad, from using the phrase “gay lifestyle” to the clumsy writing to the excess of poorly executed plot crammed into too-few pages. Not recommended at all.

A classic picture of Chaos from early 2004! How would you caption it? 🙂

Contests, Reading

Ebook Giveaway: Wight Mischief by JL Merrow [CONTEST CLOSED]

80 Comments

Many thanks to JL Merrow for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming paranormal m/m romance, Wight Mischief, for a lucky commenter to win! Wight Mischief will be released by Samhain Publishing on November 8.

A stranger could light up his world…or drive him deeper into darkness.

Will Golding needs a break from his usual routine, and he’s been looking forward to a holiday helping Baz, his friend-with-benefits, research a book about Isle of Wight ghosts. When an evening beach walk turns into a startling encounter with Marcus Devereux, Will can’t get his mind off the notoriously reclusive writer’s pale, perfect, naked body. And any interest in ghostly legends takes a back seat to the haunting secrets lying in Marcus’s past.

Marcus, painfully aware of his appearance, is accustomed to keeping to himself. But the memory of tall, athletic Will standing on the beach draws him out from behind defenses he’s maintained since age fourteen, when his parents were murdered. While his heart is hungry for human contact, though, his longtime guardian warns him that talking to anyone – particularly a journalist like Baz – is as dangerous as a day in the sun.

As Baz gets closer to the truth, the only thing adding up is the sizzling attraction between Will and Marcus. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that someone wants to let sleeping secrets lie…or Will and Baz could end up added to the island’s ghostly population.

Product Warnings
Contains perilous cliffs, elusive might-be ghosts, a secret tunnel, and skinny-dipping by moonlight.

Excerpt (scroll down and select tab)

Other Books

About JL

JL Merrow is that rare beast: an English person who refuses to drink tea.  Having grown up by the seaside, she also loathes fish and chips.  She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.  Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne. She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporaries and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. You can find out more about JL at her website, blog, Facebook, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Monday, November 7.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only luck and counterintuitive espionage will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winner will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Do you have any more bubble wrap? It makes this box extra cushy!” -Mayhem

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Linkity from tropical Minnesota

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Learn, Make, Do, Think

  • Some eloquent thoughts from Naomi Clark and Jennifer Armintrout on Laurell K. Hamilton‘s recent tweet that seems to trivialize mental illness and getting treated for such. (Thanks to Nicole for the initial link to Naomi Clark’s post!)

Potterity

Cookity

Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

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Teh Cute

Reading Update
Zero Hour by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. Very good m/m cyberpunk/dystopian scifi with a dash of romance. I think, with the very best scifi, you can see how things got from here to there without much trouble… and that is definitely the case with this story. Ernest is 30 and his one-month long retirement has started, at the end of which he’ll be demagnetized and reclaimed. His very first stop is an actual coffee house (nearly unimaginable in a world where nutrients are provided intravenously via permanent shunt), where he meets Will, who is very unlike anyone else…
Lines in the Sand by Lyn Gala. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a driver for the mob who turned informant. He removed himself from witness protection and is back in his home town, working, when the former mob enforcer (and former friend) shows up…
Moving Miss Probert by Kim Dare. free ebook short. Cute free short m/m romance (inspired by a photo I took in San Francisco) about two guys with a moving van.
Muscling Through by J.L. Merrow. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a big, muscular, tattooed guy who’s very sweet, if not very bright, and how he met his boyfriend, who’s the complete opposite. It shouldn’t work…
Red Velvet by Angelia Sparrow. free ebook short. Very fun free short scifi m/m story about an amnesiac alien leading an anger management retreat.
Ranger’s Folly (Lost Shifters #12) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a Wolf shifter who can’t stop thinking about the elusive long lost Eagle shifter twin after meeting him for only a few minutes.
Sockeye Love by Sarah Black. ebook. Good m/m romance about a photographer who usually avoids attachments, but becomes involved with young law student he met while photographing salmon in Alaska. This is told as a series of scenes several months apart and, as a result, felt choppy, making it hard for me to connect with the characters.
For One Night Only by Anne Brooke. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m story that consists of a flashback, then a single bdsm scene. Things are left very open at the end. While this was very well written, I felt distanced from the characters and story.
The 51st Thursday by Mercy Celeste. ebook. Good m/m romance about a bartender/bar owner who’s been watching a guy come in every Thursday evening for the past 50 weeks. On the 51st Thursday, when the guy shows up late, he gets stranded at the bar with the bar owner because of a hurricane… My major complaint with this book was pronoun confusion.
Jaynell’s Wolf (A Wizard’s Touch #1) by Amber Kell. ebook. Ok m/m paranormal romance about a wizard arriving at wizard college after the death of his father and meeting a very forceful werewolf… This definitely drew a lot of inspiration from Harry Potter.
Kevin’s Alpha (A Wizard’s Touch #2) by Amber Kell. ebook. Ok m/m paranormal romance about a student wizard, terrified of commitment, who finds himself strangely drawn to the alpha werewolf.
Dylan’s Dilemma (Kindred Spirits #5) by Jude Mason & Jenna Byrnes. ebook. Ok m/m paranormal romance about Cade’s brother, Dylan, who’s taking care of the inn while Cade and Ethan are on their honeymoon. Dylan doesn’t believe in ghosts, but he’d sure like to figure out where that little girl in the nightgown lives so he can talk to her parents about her showing up at the inn in the middle of the night, causing a disturbance…
The Surveillance Detail by Derek Adams. ebook short. Ok short gay fiction about a cop who’s sent undercover to get close to a crime lord’s younger brother, even though the younger brother has no ties to the crime lord. This was basically just stroke fiction.
Witches (The Written Word #1) by Jamieson Wolf. ebook. So-so m/m paranormal romance about a man who can see beings that no one else can see. Because of this, he must protect those beings from an evil man. This didn’t draw me in at all… and every time I hit a pronoun tangle, I amused myself by picturing things happening exactly as they were being described. O.O

Thanks to Eyre for pointing out the stats function on Goodreads (it’s in the “My Books” dropdown)! I’ve read 415 books in 2011, and here’s how they’re distributed (click to embiggen):

“Is it time for dinner yet? No? How about now? No? How about now?” -Chaos

Contests, Reading

Ebook Giveaway: Muscling Through by JL Merrow [CONTEST CLOSED]

86 Comments

Many thanks to JL Merrow for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m romance, Muscling Through, for a lucky commenter to win! Muscling Through will be released by Samhain Publishing on July 19.

The bigger they come, the harder they fall… in love.

Cambridge art professor Larry Morton takes one, alcohol-glazed look at the huge, tattooed man looming in a dark alley, and assumes he’s done for. Moments later he finds himself disarmed – literally and figuratively. And, the next morning, he can’t rest until he offers an apology to the man who turned out to be more gentle than giant.

Larry’s intrigued to find there’s more to Al Fletcher than meets the eye; he possesses a natural artistic talent that shines through untutored technique. Unfortunately, no one else seems to see the sensitive soul beneath Al’s imposing, scarred, undeniably sexy exterior. Least of all Larry’s class-conscious family, who would like nothing better than to split up this mismatched pair.

Is it physical? Oh, yes, it’s deliciously physical, and so much more – which makes Larry’s next task so daunting. Not just convincing his colleagues, friends and family that their relationship is more than skin deep. It’s convincing Al.

Product Warnings: Contains comic misunderstandings, misuse of art materials, and unexpected poignancy.

Excerpt (scroll down and click)

Other Books

About JL

JL Merrow is that rare beast: an English person who refuses to drink tea.  Having grown up by the seaside, she also loathes fish and chips.  She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.  Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne. She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporaries and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. You can find out more about JL at her website, blog, Facebook, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CDT, Monday, July 18.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only luck and counterintuitive espionage will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winner will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

Ack! I think I caught Mayhem partway through transforming into a vampire kitteh! O.O