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Congrats to Sammy2006, Yvette, and Heather K, who won Simple Gifts (Cornwall Novellas #2) by LB Gregg!

Congrats to Morgana, who won My True Love Gave to Me by Ava March, which is now available from by Carina Press. It’s also available in the Men Under the Mistletoe anthology.

Congrats to Dianna, who won Winter Warmers by Josephine Myles, JL Merrow, Clare London, Chrissy Munder, and Lou Harper!

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Contests

• Kim Dare’s celebrating five years of being published by giving away one of her series to a lucky commenter.

• Jenre’s giving away an ebook from LA Witt’s backlist. Comment by 11 pm GMT, December 10, for your chance to win.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away two copies of The Virtuoso by Grace Burrowes. Closes December 11. US & Canada.

• Bronwyn Green’s celebrating her 500th post by giving away print books and swag. Contest closes 7 pm EST, December 12.

• Joyfully Jay is giving away an ebook from Kari Gregg’s backlist. Comment by 11:59 pm EST, December 12, for your chance to win.

• Rarely Dusty Books is giving away an ebook copy of Sloan Parker’s forthcoming Take Me Home. Comment before December 13 for your chance to win.

• Bronwyn Green is also giving away an ebook copy of Anna Mayle Dreams for a Stolen Child (Stolen Child #3). Contest closes 7 pm EST, December 13.

• Mary Lou is giving away a copy of Craft Activism. Comment by December 17 for your chance to win.

• Romancing the Word’s having a 12 Days of Christmas Extravaganza, with prizes, trivia, short stories, and more!

• K-lee Klein’s giving away an ebook copy of Amy Lane’s The Winter Rituals of Fur-bearing Critters or her forthcoming Puppy, Car and Snow. Not sure when this ends.

Bookity

• Elisa Rolle has posted the winners of the Rainbow Awards.

• Writing and book linkity from Becky Black.

• The return of the book sculptor/library phantom. (Thanks, Mary Lou!)

• Bookshelf Christmas tree. (Thanks, Juni!)

• Tent shaped like a book.

Ebookity

• Along with the European Union, the US Justice Department is investigating whether Apple colluded with six major publishers to fix the price of ebooks.

• Dear Author addresses the disconnect of publishers from readers.

• A checklist to help you buy an ereader.

• Kindle Fire owners are reporting wifi issues.

• How to remove the ads from the Kindle Special Offers without paying Amazon.

• The Swiss government found that “copyright-infringing” downloading leads to sales.

Think, Make, Do, Learn

• What’s your worldview? (Thanks, Stephani!)

• Lifehacker’s most popular top tens of 2011.

• Watch out for these five commonly counterfeited items.

• Use your friendship bracelet skills to make your earbud cords tangle-free.

• A clever comic about gender in media, specifically in comic books.

• Did you know that movie star Hedy Lamarr invented some of the principles on which wifi is based?

• Ugh – there are kids’ cereals that contain more sugar than a Twinkie.

• Some Iams and Cargill dog foods have been recalled because of mold.

• “Bullying gay and lesbian kids: How a school district became a suicide contagion area“… This left me feeling sick to my stomach, especially since this is just 20 miles from me. 🙁

Holidity

• Nativity scenes, from zombies to rubber ducks to bacon… (Thanks, Jase!)

• Not your typical Nativity scene, either.

• Fire breathing Godzilla Christmas tree.

• Life-sized gingerbread creations.

• Santa’s elves and light sabers!

• Steampunk ornaments.

• Crochet some Christmas lights.

• Use junk mail to make colorful paper snowflakes.

• “Tweeted Tips for Staying Warm as Sung by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.”

• Woe the kitty in a house with a Christmas tree!

• 13 non-angel Christmas tree toppers. (possibly NSFW)

• 13 inappropriate Christmas decorations. (NSFW)

• 17 disturbing snowpersons. (possibly NSFW)

• 15 fudge recipes

• 10 festive punch recipes

• 10 tasty homemade gifts

• 5 classic Christmas desserts

• Gift Idea: Lady scientist Christmas tree ornaments!

• Gift Guide: Food (including adorable rainbow cake earrings, which are sold out)

• Gift Guide: For people who hate mornings

• Gift Guide: From the Mary Sue

• Gift Guide: Crafty bookworms

• Gift Guide: Stressed students

• Gift Guide: Under $20

Cookity

• Snickerdoodle cake with brown sugar cinnamon buttercream (via CuringMama)

• French coconut pie. (via The Kitchn)

• Irish chocolate whiskey ice candy (via The Kitchn)

• Horse heart cupcakes for you Game of Thrones fans. (via The Mary Sue)

• Chocolate fudge s’mores thumbprint cookies. (via CRAFT)

• Peppermint cream-filled cookies

• 10 spice cookie recipes

• 10 chocolate cookie recipes

• 8 braises

• 5 easy pizzas

• Tips for organizing your recipes.

Crafty

• Cheryl helps you get started using Japanese knitting pattern.

Cool

• A camera that lets you re-focus photos after taking them. (Thanks, Cheryl!)

• A smartphone macro lens on a rubber band, so it will fit any phone and be easy to keep with you.

• Sat Chair cleverly hides your satellite dish – by being your satellite dish.

• Superhero gingerbread people. (via The Mary Sue)

• Star Wars/Inception/The Great Dictator mashup.

Cool or Wha…?

• The Kilt Beach Towel. (via Smart Bitches)

• Brain sculptures made from food. (via CRAFT)

• A special plate just for pancakes?

• Typewriter that uses paint.

Wha…?

• That fashion thing again…

• “Viagra in a condom“…

• iPhone case with a traditional phone handset attached…

• How to get drunk off of gummi bears.

• The Mythbusters inadvertently shot a cannonball through someone’s house and minivan. Whoops.

LOL

• 15 funniest autocorrects from November.

• Very amusing Breaking Dawn review.

• On working to your potential in school… (hover your mouse pointer over the comic for additional text)

• Truth (as someone who works from home three days a week…).

• Hairball truth.

• Party truth.

• How to stay warm this winter.

• Very important diagram.

Teh Cute

• Kittens! Baby tigers! Kitten! Baby anteater! Kitten! Tiger and tiny tigers! Kitten! Baby lynx! Kitten! Cheetah and cubs! Kitten! Baby Tasmanian devils! Lamb! Hedgie!

Reading Update
Bad Boyfriend (Bad in Baltimore #2) by KA Mitchell. ebook. Excellent kinky m/m romance about a teacher who’s dumped by his closeted boyfriend of ten years, then picks up a hot younger guy at a bar to take along to the baptism of his ex’s baby.
While Under the Influence (Perfect Timing #8) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s in denial about being gay. He foolishly mentions it to his cousin when he’s drunk, thus setting in motion her plan for him to find out definitively whether he is or isn’t.
Paper Planes by M. Jules Aedin. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a photographer whose partner died in a plane crash a year ago and who isn’t really moving past that until after he becomes friend with an older pilot. I particularly liked that this book didn’t go in for quick fixes – recovering from a significant loss takes time – and that one of the main characters had a disability. Perfect main characters get boring!
Search Me (Cover Me #3) by LA Witt. ebook short. Good short m/m romance following up on Andrew and Nick from Cover Me, who we saw were having problems in Trust Me. I got a little sniffly when things didn’t look too promising for the guys…
The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters by Amy lane. ebook. Very cute holiday m/m romance about a grumbly Colorado alpaca rancher who takes a liking to the cute younger guy who moves in next door.
Let It Snow by Devon Rhodes. ebook short. Good short kinky holiday m/m romance about a professional house sitter who’s feeling lonely and a little sorry for himself on Christmas Eve as he falls asleep making a wish…
What Can Be by Mary Calmes. ebook. Good holiday m/m romance about a guy who hasn’t seen his father or brothers for 13 years, since his mom took him and left. Since then, he’s avoided getting close to people… except he has and now he’s running away from that.
Happiness for Beginners by Zahra Owens. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about two guys, one gay and one presumably straight, who used to play a gay couple on a tv show but haven’t seen each other for ten years. And then the straight one shows up at the other guy’s front door out of the blue…
Winter Rescue by Dawn Kimberly Johnson. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about a guy trying to make it home for the holidays after not seeing his family for a few years, but he ends up in the ditch during a bitterly cold and snowy night and almost doesn’t make it home…
A Walk in the Dark by Kate McMurray. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about a guy with a crush on his roommate’s boyfriend. This needed to be just a bit longer to be a satisfying read.
Prey Time by Sue Brown. ebook short. Steamy m/m/m encounter between a guy in a bar and a couple he picks up… or do they pick him up?
Cherry Pie by Samantha Kane. ebook. Pretty good m/m romance about a wealthy guy who recently moved to a small town in North Carolina from San Diego. One morning, he discovers the son of his house’s former (deceased) owner sitting outside. Alas, I never got fully invested in the main characters as a couple.
No One Should Be Alone by Tinnean. ebook. Ok holiday m/m romance about two operatives in a top-secret government agency who hook up. This one just didn’t work for me – not only could I simply not get into the story, it was told in alternating first-person with insufficiently distinct voices, so I kept getting confused.
Feels Like Home by Rowan McAllister. ebook. Sweet m/m holiday romance about two guys who end up spending a couple of days together because of a snowstorm. Editing inconsistencies kept annoying me and pulling me out of the story. (Really, that spare tire that got run over by a Hummer H2 at the beginning of the story? You’re not going to be putting it on and driving on it later in the story…)
Bringing Home the Ice Prince by Jana Downs. ebook short. Meh short m/m holiday romance written in the sort of flowery, over-the-top style that annoys me no end.

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“Can’t… quite… hit… the… itchy… spot…” – Mayhem