Congrats to Laura/Adara, who won Cup Check (Blue Line Hockey #3) by Stephani Hecht! Cup Check will be released by eXtasy Books on May 1.
Contests
- Juni and Jase are giving away an ebook copy of KZ Snow’s Visible Friend. Answer Juni’s question in the comments by 6 pm EDT today (April 29) for your chance to win.
- Tracy’s giving away two copies of Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney. Comment by 7 pm PDT, April 29 (today), for your chance to win.
- Patti’s giving away two Georgette Heyer titles. Comment by April 30 for your chance to win. US & Canada only.
- LA Witt is giving ebook copies of her two-book m/m romance series, Getting Off the Ground and Infinity Pools. If there are at least 15 entries in the contest, she’ll also give away a signed paperback! Contest closes May 5.
- Patti’s giving away a Chloe Neill Cadogan House prize pack. Comment by May 6 for your chance to win.
- Fiction Vixen is giving away two sets of three recent romance/UF/PNR paperbacks. Comment by May 6 to enter.
Bookity
- New releases: Tor.com (YA paranormal, UF/PNR, fantasy, science fiction), Book Lovers Inc (romance/UF/PNR), KB (romance/UF/PNR), and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR news, etc).
- A Pennsylvania tv station was apparently trying to stir the crazy sauce by revealing the pen name under which a local English teacher writes erotic novels. *sigh* Great video from one of her former students. (Thanks, Bron!)
- Interesting post at Dear Author on the lawsuit between Ellora’s Cave and Samhain’s Chris Brashear. What I found most startling was the possibility that EC would pay part of the settlement in authors. Who knew authors could be used as a form of payment?!
Ebookity
- An American Editor has two posts on what books are worth.
- VacuousMinx on how she transitioned away from reading Agency-published books without really noticing. (I was a little more conscious of the process, but ditto.)
- How ebook readers can be a good choice for thrifty readers (and it doesn’t even mention getting ebooks from the library).
Make, Do, Think, Learn
- It’s worth thinking about the bully-victim cycle and how it plays out around us. (Thanks, CursingMama!)
- Fascinating infographic about checking account fee schedules, which “are generally twice as long as Romeo and Juliet“!
- Have you heard of Netflix Streaming Syndrome? (The comments are funny as sufferers enable each other.)
Cookity
- Red velvet cakeballs inside of chocolate chip cookies… via a post at The Kitchn about making frosted yellow cupcakes with chocolate chip cookies inside.
- Cupcake fondue?! (via The Kitchn)
- Penguin icebox cookies – so very cute. ๐ (via The Kitchn)
Crafty
Cool
Cool or Wha…?
Wha…?
- Soda tab prom dress. Or would you prefer an anatomy dress instead? Or… whatever this is? Or a dress made from Peeps? Or you could wear a castle on your shoulder!
- Windows 8 is going to change the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to a Black Screen of Death. Um, at least they get to keep the same acronym…
LOL
- Unintentionally sexual church signs. (Thanks, Bron!)
- Do you deserve a cookie? (Thanks, Juni!)
- Search term bingo. (NSFW!!!) (Thanks, Bron!)
- *sigh* I’ve been here before, particularly with Chaos, who specializes at getting underfoot. (rest of site is NSFW)
Teh Cute
- Kitten! Otter and baby! Kitten! Zebra and baby! Kitten tongue! Polar bear cubs! Existential kitten! Alvin! More Alvin! Ferret! Kitten! Penguins! Kitten! Penguins! Kitten! Japanese dwarf flying squirrel! Kitten! Tiger cub! Kittens!
Reading Update
Carbon and Ash by Chris Owen. ebook short. reread. This was a short but sweet m/m romance about slowing sliding into something other than friendship without being fully aware. And it’s one of my comfort rereads.
The Morning Star (Shadow of the Templar #1) by M. Chandler. ebook. reread. Ok, yeah, so I just read this the first time last month and I already reread it. I’m ok with that.
Lovers Destined by HM Broussard. free ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance fanfic that finally brings together Qhuinn and Blaylock from the Black Dagger Brotherhood!
Hell Cop by Astrid Amara, Ginn Hale, & Nicole Kimberling. ebook collection. Very good m/m urban fantasy/romance collection featuring three related stories revolving around the hell cops – the bad ass sorcerers who try to keep order in demon-infested Parmas City.
Hell Cop 2 by Astrid Amara, Ginn Hale, & Nicole Kimberling. ebook collection. Very good m/m urban fantasy/romance collection about the hell cops (and their guys) introduced in the first book.
Flesh & Blood (In the Flesh #2) by Ethan Stone. ebook. Ok m/m continuing the story of Reno police detective Cristian Flesh as he works on a case that shakes free all of the demons from his past. While I really loved In the Flesh, this sequel felt flat and lacking in both mystery and romance.
Hellbourne 2: Bound & Determined by Amber Kell. ebook short. So-so short paranormal m/m romance, during which I realized I didn’t particularly care about any of the rather shallow characters.
Hellbourne 3: Heart & Soul by Amber Kell. ebook short. Meh short paranormal m/m romance, during which I couldn’t figure out why I kept reading.
Craven by Eden Cole. ebook. So-so m/m romance based on multiple big misunderstandings… not my favorite plot device. This is my favorite sentence from the book: “His cock, which had gone down, hardened immediately, and rushed over to his side of the car.”
Catch/Caught by Vivien Dean. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a corrupt cop and a musician who witnesses something he shouldn’t have seen.
“Maybe you should cut back on the nip, hmm?” -Mayhem
Quite a few ok/so-so reads this week then :(. I have The Morning Star on my TBR pile. Maybe I’ll save it for when I get to ‘m’ in my challenge which is currently stuck on G!
A recent post from Jenre..Review- The Seventh Veil by Heidi Cullinan
Re-reading The Morning Star one month after first reading it. That tells me I should be moving it up the pile tout suite! Sorry to hear your other books were only OK ๐ Fingers crossed next week is better ๐
Do you deserve a cookie? Well, if we are referring to cookies like Kris posts on her Tumblr then I am going to say definitely! *grin*
I so need to try this red velvet cake…
A recent post from orannia..More
A local church sign currently says “Open between Easter and Christmas”
A recent post from trek..Strings
The Gain ad made me first think it was advertising trash bags, because we all know what a good idea it is to put a trash bag on your head.
Yuck.
A recent post from Seanna Lea..10 Tuesday Being thrifty
I so want a pair of those Hogwarts Vans.
What! Its not the Royal Wedding Linkity?
Vibrating sauna pants? OMG
A recent post from margene..All That Matters
Great linkity! I love the soda tab prom dress. And those tapirs were the ultimate in cute! ๐
A recent post from Val Kovalin..Win a copy of Ink Illusions
Okay! I am so buying a pair of those Vans for may son!
Eeeeeew on the blowup doll jacket.
I’m going with the vacuum sealer for all my bathtub ereading needs!
Why yes, I do deserve a cookie.
Please send one.
Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Ginger Snaps are quite yummy.
A recent post from Cheryl S…The Easter Pie
Love the church signs!
So many great links to explore. Thanks!
May looks good psychedelic!
A recent post from Brenda..Sock Stories
LOL! The church messages gone wrong were epic
A recent post from blodeuedd..Review The Greyfriar – Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
รขโฌลHis cock, which had gone down, hardened immediately, and rushed over to his side of the car.รขโฌย
OMG, that had me laughing so hard. And literally out loud. The logistics of that kinda boggle my mind. I’m almost inspired to write a short story based on the images that conjures (and I suck at writing fiction). I may have to add that book to my TBR pile just for the laugh (and/or inspiration ๐ ). Thanks! ๐
I’m so making some of that rhubarb tea!
My head almost exploded from the cute that is the Japanese flying dwarf squirrel!!!!
A recent post from Bronwyn Green..Someone Else Damn Special
The Morning Star sounds good. I’ll have to look into that one.
And I really need to read the second Hell Cop someday. I really liked #1. ๐
A recent post from Tracy..Saturday Song & Winner
I got quite the chuckle out of the squashed guy bookmark. And the recycled, used blow-up doll jacket?!? LMAO!!! But I really don’t want to think about the ‘used’ part. *shudders*
A recent post from Ava March..Coming Soon x 2- and One Cool Cat
I love the idea of poetry billboards! And those church signs – wowza. Hope you enjoy the weekend, Chris.
Thanks for the mention! It was a wild and crazy day.
I’m not sure which is more hysterical, the vibrating sauna pants or the jackets make from blow-up sex dolls.
Don’t even get me started on women’s clothing sizes.
LOL at the church signs and the stages of catnip.
May, definitely too much ‘nip.
I see the cat has finally become addicted to the nip stuff…
Made it through in two days – Loads of industry news here, some of it is just horrid…
I have Hell Cop somewhere – However I am not so good with Anthology, but I like Astrid style,I might just drag those out..
Love the funnies
๐
Looks like your reading week was a bit below average, huh? ๐
The LOL linkities gave me the giggles. Thanks! ๐
A recent post from Janna..Wicked Weekend Sweets
Wow, re-reading Morning Star already. Great endorsement!
That blowup doll jacket is truly disturbing.
A recent post from Renee..Easter- a recipe- and a picture
Haven’t started the Flesh & Blood yet – I’d very much enjoyed the first. Disappointed to hear it’s not as good.
Great linkity!
A recent post from Juni..Mishmash
suggestion for this picture; change the color schemes a few times. I got some pics of Shelli that look extremely psychadelic:)
A recent post from Melanie..PeeWee Herman- Camping- and Things I Wish I Could Say
I haven’t been keeping up with PBW lately – Thanks for the link!
Also: I don’t want ANYTHING made from used recycled blow-up sex dolls.
A recent post from Nicole..Not What I Had Planned
The linkety!! Fondue cupcakes has got to be my fave.
A recent post from Carrie#K..At last! The Longest Ten Weeks of the Year Are Done