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Congrats to Kathleen, who won The Locker Room by Amy Lane! The Locker Room is being released by Dreamspinner Press today.

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Contests

• Tracy’s celebrating her third blogiversary by giving away three $10 All Romance eBooks gift cards. She’s also giving away three copies of Inseparable by Brenda Jackson. To enter, comment on each post by 7 pm CDT today (April 22).

• LB Gregg’s giving away two ebook copies of her m/m romance Men of Smithfield: In and Out. Answer her question in the comments by midnight EDT, April 24 for your chance to win.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away your choice of an ebook or print copy of The UnTied Kingdom by Kate Johnson. Comment by April 28 to enter.

• Amy Lane’s giving away a signed paperback copy of her freshly released m/m romance, The Locker Room. Comment by 7 pm PDT, April 29, for your chance to win.

• Book Lovers Inc is giving away winner’s choice of the first two books in Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicle, Hounded or Hexed, plus a signed bookplate. Leave a meaningful comment on the interview by April 30 for your chance to win.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR) and Book Lovers Inc (UF/PNR/other romance).

• Kassa’s organizing the author fan letter blog crawl again this year and is looking for participants.

• Lurv a la Mode on book bloggers and free review copies.

• Will publishers’ no-compete clauses be used against authors whose contracts predate ebooks and who put out their own ebooks?

• The latest book from Lora Leigh, Navarro’s Promise, appears to be fraught with errors in both the print and ebook versions.

• Kassa contemplates the distinctive author voice.

• Tam shares her favorite m/m romance series that have ongoing characters.

• More than forty free tools for authors.

• Cool Harry Potter charm bracelet.

• Aw, the team at Harlequin seems to have a new pair of mascots! (Thanks, Val!)

• Cake Wrecks featured non-wrecky book-related cakes.

• Some Dune cover humor.

• Don’t keep your library books out too long…

• Paperback Writer on the earliest known author swag!

• The Onion covers an author promo event… (via Wyrdsmiths)

Ebookity

• Library lending is coming to the Kindle.

• Contrary to what Gizmodo reported, you don’t lose your back issues if you cancel your Kindle magazine subscription… but the whole thing seems rather tricky.

• Looks like J.L. Langley’s been plagiarized. 🙁

• One author shares five lessons she’s learned in epublishing.

• How authors might be able to sign ebooks.

• Cory Doctorow on how to get people to pay for digital content.

• Is fighting piracy “the dumbest thing you can do”?

• Copyright troll Righthaven’s legal cases may not be based on valid copyright assignments.

• February was an excellent month for ebook sales.

• Sew a case for your ebook reader.

Do, Make, Think, Learn

• Whoops – your iPhone is secretly tracking you and it’s easy to access the data. Senator Franken asks Apple why. Gizmodo suggests a possible why.

• Some hotel towels now have RFID chips in them.

• “Sitting can literally kill you.”

• How self-control works.

• Alas, no AT-AT for America, nor Star Trek PADD app for your iPhone.

• If you don’t want to sew conductive thread into your gloves for touch-screen use, this might be a good alternative.

• Will you be able to see the International Space Station in the sky this week from where you are? (It’s been very cloudy here, so no.)

• Some interesting ways to control bathroom cord clutter.

• Living in Minnesota seems very similar to living in Michigan – we had some snow this week, too.

• Ten ways to get your creativity going.

• Why some people get more done in coffee shops.

Cookity

• Olive/cream cheese/carrot penguins!

• Chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs. (via The Kitchn)

• Bake chocolate cupcakes with Cadbury Eggs inside.

• Cadbury Egg brownies. (via The Kitchn)

Crafty

• Knit squeetastic wee bunnies!

• Embroider on eggshells.

• Tie dye eggs… well, ok, you don’t actually tie them.

• Fold an origami bunny box.

• Crochet a slice of rainbow cake!

• knittyBlog’s linkity includes a knitted Royal Wedding cake.

• Cross-stitched British Vogue covers.

Cool

• Mind boggling carved egg! (Thanks, Bron!)

• Craft, food, and kitty linkity from MrsPao.

• Craft, food, and photo linkity from Kristi.

• Too bad these cat-themed wedge shoes would break my feet.

• Film roll usb sticks.

• Twenty-two foot model of the USS Intrepid made from 250,000 LEGOs! (Thanks, Bron!)

• Mentos and soda make a rainbow fountain!

Cool or Wha…?

• Skull carved from $11,000 worth of dollar bills. (Thanks, Bron!)

• You can download a free tribute album… a tribute to the “Macarena”.

• Peeps topiary.

• Mini crossbow that looks shockingly accurate.

• Star Wars scroll dress.

• A cat scratcher shaped like a human (life sized), with kitty grass hair, just seems like it would teach your kitty some bad habits…

Wha…?

• A camera that can see through clothes will only set you back $140…

• Rocking purple hot dog sculpture…

• Guillotine ring.

• Easter bunny camera case?

• Buttered toast wallet?

• Scariest coin purse ever.

• True Blood nesting dolls?!

• FDA okays robot that sews hair on to your scalp.

• Drive thru viewing at the funeral home?!

• Mail carrier poops on customer’s lawn?!?!

• USPS put the wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp…

• Are those ab implant ice or silicone??

LOL

• New Simon’s Cat!

• Definitely a sign a guy hasn’t had sex in a long time! (Thanks, CursingMama!)

• What if someone took an iPhone back in time to show Thomas Edison?

• For Tetris fans. Make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for extra text!

• The future according to Google search results. Again with the cursor hovering.

• A gallery of what logos might look like if they were realistic.

• What the backs of your favorite websites look like.

• How to fix any computer.

• The Very Big Adventure of The Simple Dog at Hyperbole and a Half.

• Why there’s a new Easter bunny…

• Ten texting food FAILs from Damn You Autocorrect.

• TARDIS mishap!

• “Visage of Ceiling Cat Appears in Iceberg.“

Teh Cute

• Some friends of mine have been fostering a pregnant cat (their very first fostering experience!). Imagine their shock when she had eight kittens! Yes, I might post some pictures of wee calico kittens at some point. 🙂

• Tickling a penguin! (via Eric Arvin)

• Kitten! Baby sugar gliders! Kittens! Cougars! Kitten! Tiger cubs! Kittens and the Bean! Tigers! Kitten! Lion cubs! Lion cub! Goat stampede! Tiger! Hedgie! Tiny tiger cub! Fennec!

Reading Update
Boots by Angel Martinez. ebook. Excellent m/m fairy tale, based on Puss in Boots, about an estranged youngest son (going through some rough times) who inherits only $300 and the family cat when his father dies…
True: Bruce & V fanfic by anonymous. ebook. If there was a fanfic this good for Blay and Qhuinn, I would be done reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series – and I would be a lot happier. Since the Warden hates on fanfiction, this ebook seems to be spreading very quietly between friends.
Rules of Engagement by L.A. Witt. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romance (that I had a hard time putting down, even rereading it) about a recently divorced guy who finds himself powerfully drawn to a guy he meets playing pool in a bar. Yes, I got sniffly, so you know there was some angst. I think my only complaint was the abruptness of the ending. I really liked this quote from one of the other characters: “If I knew how a lot of my relationships would have turned out, I never would have gotten involved in them…. And I would have missed out on some of the best times in my life.” (Of course, for me, I would also have missed out on some of the worst times in my life – you?)
Rain (Rules of Engagement #2) by L.A. Witt. ebook. Good follow-up to Rules of Engagement, which ended rather abruptly. Rain starts two years later, when Brandon and Dustin are engaged and trying to deal with some lingering family issues.
Undercover Blues by Laney Cairo. ebook. reread. Hmm. Whose bright idea was it to send the allegedly straight cop undercover to hook up with the crime lord’s brother? 🙂 Very good.
Unfinished Business (Undercover Blues #2) by Laney Cairo. ebook short. reread. Good short m/m romance that follows up with the guys from Undercover Blues a few months later, when a reporter has tracked them down.
Snapshots & Bylines (Friends to Lovers #1) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Cute m/m romance about two guys who have one awkward night together right after high school, then don’t have any contact with each other for ten years.
Handcuffs & Megabytes (Rawlings Men #7) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Very good kinky short m/m romance about a brash young computer geek who’d like to dabble in dominance with the older cop to whom he’s supposed to demonstrate a computer program.
Angel & the Assassin (Book 1) by Fyn Alexander. ebook. Very good BDSM May-December m/m romance about a cold-hearted British government assassin sent to the US to kill an international arms dealer who’s supposed to be alone in the house… Strangely, the assassin finds himself unable to kill the man’s stepson, who witnessed the hit, and instead brings him back to the UK. (Yes, that is Slave Boy!)
Resisting the Tempation by Valentina Heart. ebook. I’m finding it really hard to rate this m/m romance because I really disliked the main character… and the story is told in first person from his point of view. Obviously your mileage will vary.
Hellbourne 1: Lost and Found by Amber Kell. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance about a half-fae who was dumped for a woman by his werewolf boyfriend. This is actually one book split into three very short books, which I find annoying.
Acting Naughty (Action #1) by G.A. Hauser. ebook. Ok m/m romance about two (supposedly) straight actors playing a gay couple in a cable television series who begin to have feelings for each other. This book ends with very little resolved. (Yes, that is Candy Cane Guy!)
Playing Dirty (Action #2) by G.A. Hauser. ebook. Meh m/m romance that I only read because things were left so open-ended in the previous book. The menagey bits took me by surprise and the main characters spent way too much time crying at the slightest provocation.
The Highest Bidder by Kimberly Hunter. ebook. So-so m/m romantic suspense about a wealthy Japanese businessman who’s been working with Interpol to bring down a human trafficking and drug ring. Contrary to what the cover might suggest, there’s absolutely no kink in the book.

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“Big kitty, what are you doing?! Are you trying to sneak up here to steal my tiara?! -Mayhem

“Why would you think that, May? Hee hee hee. I’m so sneaky!” -Chaos