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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.

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

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Contests

• Brief Encounters Reviews is giving away an ebook copy of A Lie I Can Live With (Match Before Christmas #3) by Eden Winters. Contest closes 11 pm GMT on December 3.

• Janna’s giving away an ebook copy of Amor Prohibido by Ellis Carrington. Comment before December 4 for your chance to win.

• Joyfully Jay’s giving away an ebook from LA Witt’s backlist. Contest closes 11:59 pm EST on December 5.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away an ebook copy of Shadow Magic by Donna Grant. Contest closes December 8.

• Joder’s giving away a $20 Wild Rose Press gift certificate and a $20 Amazon gift certificate. Contest closes 11:59 pm CST on December 9.

• Kaetrin’s celebrating reaching a followers milestone by giving away a $10AUD gift certifcate to the Book Depository, plus ebook copies of Tigers and Devils and I Fell in Love with a Zombie by Sean Kennedy. Contest closes December 10 (Australia Time).

• Blodeuedd’s giving away two copies of Darn Good Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown. Contest closes December 11. US & Canada.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Tor.com (UF, SF, fantasy, genre-benders), and AAR (romance audiobooks).

• Book and publishing linkity from ReadReactReview.

• SB Sarah muses on the “mantitty” romance book cover.

• KC Burn explains why she likes headless guys on her covers.

• Mandi wants to know what you think of the “rushed declaration of love” in romance novels. (Hate it. Don’t bother.)

• Now that you’ve finished your NaNoWriMo novel, it’s time to revise and polish!

• Writing linkity from Becky Black.

• The movie Breaking Dawn might be causing seizures.

• Tor.com looks at how scifi has portrayed books.

• Watch The Simpsons episode “The Book Job” – it featured Neil Gaiman! If you’re not in the US, TunnelBear might help.

Ebookity

• KMont shares her Kindle Fire experience. (Amazon says they’ve sold lots, but don’t provide any actual numbers.)

• Dear Author reviews the Kindle Touch.

• Nook Color tips and tricks from Dear Author.

• Go vote for the next round in Kris’ Choose Your Own M/M Story!

• This post about digital versus physical goods really resonated with me.

• One reader explains how ebooks and quality (or its lack) have changed how she reads.

• Library usage in Canada is up due to ebooks.

• Finding legitimate free ebooks for your ereader.

• Some Carnegie Mellon professors researching e-piracy have discovered that the main cause… is consumers being frustrated by having to wait.

• Fahrenheit-451 is going digital.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

• The Mary Sue discusses some of the, erm, odd responses from Apple’s Siri when asked about contraception and more. NSFW.

• You might want to stop feeding your dog jerky treats.

• How to tell if a video game is being sexist.

• “Marketing science to girls by reinforcing gender stereotypes“.

• Back to the Middle Ages?! Maybe we should be using toads and snakes to predict earthquakes.

• American adults are an average of 20 pounds heavier now than in 1990.

• Earlier this week, it was reported that many smartphones have a rootkit called CarrierIQ that’s logging virtually everything you do on your smartphone.

• How to send international text messages for free.

• Per an agreement with the FTC, Facebook privacy changes are now going to be opt-in.

• If you’re unhappy with the new Yahoo Mail, here’s a trick to revert back to the previous version.

• Based on discoveries that apple and grape juice often have high levels of arsenic and lead, Consumerist has some recommendations for parents.

• Chewing gum makes you smarter, temporarily. Until I smack you for chomping loudly.

Holidity

• Crochet some snowflake ornaments.

• Put together some LEGO ornaments. (via Gizmodo)

• Bake melted snowman cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• Make really cute Christmas cards if you have (small) kids.

• Christmas linkity from MrsPao.

• LEGO Santa Yoda.

• Needle felted Star Wars ornaments.

• Gingerbread AT-AT. (via The Mary Sue)

• The eleven most white trash Christmas trees.

Gift Guidity

• Things you can make by hand in 4-40 hours.

• Power tools (for crafting and beyond).

• 10 best treats to make and gift.

• Quirky kitchenish gifts.

• For the urban farmer.

• For carnivores.

• For beer lovers.

• For design junkies.

• For people whose wrists get sore when they read. (Put it on a pillow on your lap, set this book stand on it, and you’re set!)

• For fans of Elder Gods and/or cephalopods.

Cookity

• Cranberry-walnut pumpkin toasting bread.

• Gluten-free banana nut bread.

• Ground cherry coffee cake.

• Pumpkin pie fudge brownies. (via The Kitchn)

• All sorts of snickerdoodle recipes.

• Tangled Thai salad. (via The Kitchn)

• Bacon, kale, and turkey stew.

• Stacked roasted vegetable enchiladas. (via The Kitchn)

• 5 hot drinks with booze

• 10 cranberry desserts

• 10 lighter meals

Crafty

• Fancy up your earbuds. (via CRAFT)

• Amazing knitted periodic table of the elements. (via KnittyBlog)

Cool

• LEGO recycling bins. (via The Kitchn)

• LEGO Freddie Mercury. (via The Mary Sue)

• A short scifi film made by students the University of Huddersfield.

Cool or Wha…?

• I like Nutella, but really…

• Carbonite-frozen Han Solo chocolate.

• Star Wars retold with unicorns on a t-shirt. (via The Mary Sue)

• Octopus coffee table. (via The Mary Sue)

• Tipping tea cup.

• Spokeless ferris wheel?!

Wha…?

• An insect big enough to eat a carrot?! Plenty more scary photos in the comments on that post, too.

• Mosaic made from sprinkles…

• Nuclear taco hat.

• Blood donation bags shaped like Christmas stockings.

• No clue. That fashion thing again. Oh, that poor guy.

• Batman Snuggie?!

• R2-D2 folding chair. (via The Mary Sue)

• Can’t say I’ve ever seen skunk panthers before.

LOL

• Well, I’m putting it in LOL, but… it might hit a little close to home. 😉

• Lazy craft-themed haiku from Franklin.

• Humorous wishlist to Santa from Paperback Writer.

• Instructions FAIL.

• IKEA instructions for houses, babies, and drug manufacturing…

• 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.)

• 14 Thanksgiving autocorrect fails.

• Decisions, decisions.

• The Mary Sue takes a look at stock photos of women with laptops.

• I always end up with enough fur to make another cat, too.

• This makes me even more glad that the kitties aren’t allowed in my bedroom at night.

Teh Cute

• Cat and kitten! Sugar glider! Kittens! Baby galago! Kittens! Baby capybara! Kitten! Galago! Kittens! Giraffe and baby! Kitten! Hedgie! Kittens! Baby fossas! Baby black jaguar!

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*

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