Congrats to Orannia, who won the copy of Freeze Frame (Faerily Imperfect, Book3) by Mia!
Many thanks to Kris, as I was one of the winners in the Kris’n’Good Books m/m rut challenge!
Contests
- Lea’s giving away a copy of Juliana Stone’s new paranormal romantic suspense, His Darkest Hunger. Comment by 6:30 pm EDT, April 1 (really hurry!) for your chance to win. Hmm. There’s a black jaguar shapeshifter in this one. Do you think that would satisfy Mayhem? 😉
- Tracy’s giving away a copy of this year’s Harlequin More Than Words collection, which contains stories from five best-selling authors inspired by real-life heroines. Contest closes at 11:59 pm PDT, April 1 (so hurry!).
- LesleyW’s curious about what sorts of extraneous details in books get on your nerves – food? Clothes? Something else? Leave a comment letting her know by April 2 and you’ll have a chance to win a copy of Stobie Piel’s Lord of the Dark Sun.
- For a chance to win a signed copy of Carolyn Crane’s new urban fantasy, Mind Games, leave a comment with your superhero names over at Angieville by midnight, April 2.
- Largehearted Boy’s giving away volumes 1-5 of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim comic, plus assorted books and cds. Leave a comment by midnight CDT, April 2, for your chance to win.
- Nalini Singh’s celebrating her PEARL Awards by giving away a copy of each winning book (Branded by Fire, Angel’s Blood, Blaze of Memory, Must Love Hellhounds). Leave a comment answering her question by 4 pm New Zealand Time, April 4, for your chance to win.
- Blodeuedd’s giving away an ebook copy of Michele Hauf’s new paranormal romance, Her Vampire Husband, to someone who comments by April 5.
- SciFiGuy’s giving away a signed copy of Jessica Andersen’s new urban fantasy, Demonkeepers (The Final Prophecy, Book 4). Contest closes midnight EDT, April 6.
- Sidhe Vicious is giving away an ebook copy of Brigit Zahara’s new steamy paranormal romance, The Turning. Contest closes 11:59 pm, April 8.
- A Journey of Books is giving away five copies of Jennifer Haymore’s historical romance, A Touch of Scandal. Fill out the form by midnight EDT, April 8, for your chance to win.
- Donna Fantasy Dreamer’s giving away a copy of Melissa Marr’s forthcoming YA paranormal romance, Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely #4). For your chance to win, answer her question in the comments by 8 am CDT, April 9.
- Author Laurie R. King wants to know what your fantasy library would be like. If you let her know by April 9 and she falls in love with your library, you’ll win two pieces of literary art, plus she’ll send a box of her books to the public library of your choosing.
- Leave a comment for author Julia Rachel Barrett in which you pitch a romance novel in 500 words or less. (Please note that this contest does not commit you to actually writing said romance novel!) Ten winners will receive a signed copy of The Cougar Book steamy short story collection, two winners will receive ebooks of Beauty and the Feast, two winners will receive ebooks of My Everything, and one winner will receive a raincheck for Daughters of Persephone (Books 1-4). Contest runs through April 21.
Reading and Beyond
- Looking for book news, contests, and new release info? Check out Donna Fantasy Dreamer’s weekly update (horror, paranormal, steampunk, urban fantasy, YA), All Romance (audiobooks), SciFiGuy (urban fantasy, paranormal romance), Literary Escapism (urban fantasy, paranormal romance), All Things Urban Fantasy (self-explanatory!), Lily’s I Love Books (m/m romance), and Elisa (LGBT).
- Renee’s looking for people interested in receiving copy of Ask Yourself Questions and Change Your Life: Stop Wishing Your Life Were Different and Make It Happen by Arlene Harder, MFT, and posting a review of the book on Amazon.
- All Romance eBooks is giving away the first ebook of series every day from April 1 through April 21. TeddyPig’s got the full list of ebooks that will be given away.
- Alas, the Fictionwise Buywise Club has been discontinued! Members will continue to get Buywise Club prices until memberships expire, but will not be able to renew. (The Amber Quill Press Daily Deals also ended yesterday.)
- “Hey, Chris, how come you aren’t posting all about that exciting new iPad gizmo?!” Well, two main reasons. First, I’m not an Apple fangirl. Yup, they’ve come up with some cool new stuff, but anything that’s going to force me to use iTunes (which I hate with a hatey sort of hate) isn’t going to appeal to me. Second, I think this we’re at a point of big change for ereaders. Maybe the iPad will change everything. Maybe it won’t. But as Gizmodo notes, there are more contenders out there than just the iPad.
- If, even after all the rambling in the previous item, you’re still thinking about getting an ereader now and not waiting until things shake out a bit, TeleRead found a handy buyer’s guide, as well as an overview article.
- Gizmodo noted that if you’re looking for a cheapish eInk reader, the Kobo might be just the thing.
- Interesting article on TeleRead on why publishers fear price. Dear Author goes into more detail about the possible upcoming ebook price battle.
- Do ebook readers mean the death of the dust jacket and its associated free advertising?
- The Book Smugglers have a great post about cliched covers in fantasy.
- Smart Bitches had some very amusing links yesterday – don’t miss the one for the 15th Century Peasant Romance Comics!
- Wow – the world’s smallest library is in a phone booth.
- And yet more monster’n’classic mashups… Plus mashup aficionado trek shares her review of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.
- CursingMama found a wonderfully thoughtful and eloquent post on simply blogging for blogging’s sake.
Learn and Make Stuff
- Not sure that anyone should be surprised that the effect fatty foods have on your brain is similar to that of drugs…
- Sometimes toys lead to major scientific breakthroughs.
- Gizmodo’s got a great post on the 40 most important phones in history.
- Here’s clever way to turn a milk/juice/soymilk carton into a cd mailer.
- Lily found a cool infographic filled with fun kitty facts!
- IKEA Hacker’s got a really nice hidden litterbox idea.
Things That Amused Me (or Made Me Go “Huh?”)
- You knew it was coming – the Periodic Table of All the Periodic Tables on the Internet.
- Fantasy league, in the truest sense of the word…
- Turn your food into gold! (Because, hey, that worked so well for King Midas.)
- The story of May’s life.
- Similar scenes have been enacted here.
Teh Cute
- Check out the kitty pictures in the Consumerist Flickr pool.
Reading Update
Duty and Devotion by Tere Michaels. ebook. Very good m/m romance primarily about the guys from Faith and Fidelity and how their relationship and lives develop. Recommended, but you must read both Faith and Fidelity and Love and Loyalty first. That shouldn’t be a hardship. 🙂
Downtime by Tamara Allen. ebook. Excellent time travel m/m romantic suspense about an FBI agent from the present who ends up back in 1888 London. I don’t want to say anything more about it (besides my getting rather tearful at one point), except that, yes, it was rather historical. And I don’t read historicals. I guess I’m mellowing!
Freeze Frame (Faerily Imperfect, Book 3) by Mia Watts. ebook. Fun’n’steamy paranormal m/m romance about a half-faery PI whose unpredictable ability to freeze time might be more hindrance than help as he becomes involved with a guy he’s supposed to be following. Hijinks ensue. 🙂
Can’t Hurry Love by M. Jules Aedin. ebook. Another fun paranormal m/m romance, this time about a guy who, as his probation from the Easter Bunny Department, is assigned to help a guy in the Cupid Department who isn’t meeting his quotas or completing his paperwork.
Windows in Time by M. Jules Aedin. ebook. Very well done m/m romantic suspense/ghost story about a writer, convalescing in his apartment after breaking his leg, who sees a guy in the apartment across from his do a striptease… and then dissipate.
All the Things You Are by M. Jules Aedin. ebook. Sweet (but not too sweet!) m/m romance about a guy who’s just finished college and moved to San Francisco from Alabama. He’d been hoping to play pro football, but a knee injury ended that possibility; instead, he plans to explore life uncloseted, which he wouldn’t have been able to do as pro football player.
Simple Men by Eric Arvin. ebook. Decent m/m romance about a straight college football coach who finds himself inexplicably attracted to the new college chaplain. There’s another storyline about two of the football players who are best friends and roommates.
Drawing Closer by Jane Davitt. ebook. Good m/m romance about a professor who tries to resist a slightly younger painter because he doesn’t believe the painter could be attracted to a D/s lifestyle. (I find this cover very disturbing, because it looks like the guy lying down is missing the lower half of his body.)
Pineapples & Chocolate by E.M. Lynley. free ebook short. Nicely done m/m short story (and free!) about a guy out grocery shopping, hoping to score.
Last Chance by Viki Lyn. ebook. This m/m paranormal romance really drew me in and I’m glad I didn’t start reading it right before bed, because I might have stayed up too late. A sexy science major is desperately trying to find a cure for his encroaching vampirism, so he certainly doesn’t need the distraction of a straight football player as his time runs out… or does he?
Hearts Afire: January by Bonnie Dee & T. A. Chase. ebook collection. I enjoyed Bonnie Dee’s paranormal m/m romance about a guy who inadvertently starts fires when he gets stressed, excited, etc. Will the sexy firefighter he meets believe him, or think he’s an arsonist? T. A. Chase’s m/m romance about a firefighter, an architect scarred by fire, and an arsonist stalker was ok… but, oh, am I ever sick of stalker stories…
Hearts Afire: April by Emery Sanborne & Jamie Craig. ebook collection. I thought that both of the m/m romances in this collection were very good. In Emery Sanborne’s, two firefighters in the same station don’t fight their mutual attraction very much, but things are complicated by them being just about the worst communicators ever. (Possibly worse than me! Impressive, that.) In the Jamie Craig story, a guy who was blinded in a car wreck looks up the firefighter who talked him through the rescue…
The Messenger by Adrianna Dane. ebook. Ok m/m holiday romance with some slightly squicky voyeurism and another darn stalker! Ack! Please. No more stalkers! (Also, I’d figured out what the big reveal was going to be by the time I’d read half of the story…)
Timeless by Patric Michael. ebook reread. Good m/m romance about two guys, one straight, one gay, who become friends in high school and stay friends, helping each other through the ups and downs of their lives and loves.
Reckless by Rick R. Reed. ebook short. Good, albeit disconcerting, short m/m story about a guy accused of passing HIV on to a one-night stand.
Moving Day by Jaime Samms. ebook. Nicely done m/m romance about a guy afraid to take a chance on love, and his best friend, who has loved over and over and watched too many of those loves die.
Apron Strings by Jaime Samms. ebook short. Well done m/m romance short about two guys in a relationship that’s gone a little stale over time.
The Best Man by Jenna Jones. ebook short. Hmm. Another well done m/m romance short about two guys in a long-term relationship that’s gone a little stale over time.
Wild Lickins by Amber Skyze. ebook. Between the title and the author name, I should’ve been warned, eh? Meh m/m romance about a guy who goes to a gay resort in an attempt to get over his attraction to his business partner, with whom he owns the ice cream shop Wild Lickins. It wasn’t too bad at first, but after some rather twisted duplicity was revealed, I was over the story. And it got worse as the dialogue deteriorated.
*sigh* “Always with the ear cleaning, big kitty…” -Mayhem
Come to the Apple Side. Give into iTunes.
It’s not that bad and you can organize far better than that silly Calibre. Come over Chris bite the Apple.
.-= Teddypig´s last blog ..Together =-.
Wha’…?? Eating fatty foods can make you…huh? Oh right. Dude! Whoa…
.-= Brigitte´s last blog ..The Insanity! =-.
TP: Heh. Why am I not surprised that the Apple comment flushed you out? 😉 Give me MediaMonkey over iTunes any day!
May must have mushrooms growing in her ears…geez.
.-= Melanie´s last blog ..I Still Exist =-.
I’m in a rush today and had to scroll down miles just to see a blurry kitty picture. Jeeezzz. I’ll came back later and read the links. 😉
.-= margene´s last blog ..If You Believe… =-.
Ha! Looking at those cliche covers one of the categories was “Completely dark cover of meaninglessness”. Too funny.
Wow I seem to have read most of those books this week and agree with you on the whole, although I still like me a good stalker. You just need to take a break, you’ve got stalker overdose. I do have D&D but I’m kind of postponing it because I think it’s going to be angsty and I’m not sure I’m in the mood for angsty. I must get the time travel one though, really. I keep forgetting until someone mentions it. Oh and Freeze Frame. Sigh.
I found the voyeurism thing in The Messenger kind of creepy too.
.-= Tam´s last blog ..Quick Update =-.
Do your linkity posts get longer and longer or is it me? 😉 I’m impressed that you’ve read 19 books this time!! There’s a couple I want to read too and are already on my ereader and a few others are added to my to-buy list.
.-= ErotRomReader Janna´s last blog ..Review of The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter for the DIK Book Reading Challenge =-.
Chris- April Fool’s- the joke was to make us read all those links?
.-= Lorraine´s last blog ..Marching On =-.
Janna: Um… This one got a bit more out of hand than they usually do. Whoops?
Lorraine: :p
Okay that’s it. I’m not entering any more damn contests because clearly I do not have the psychic talent of “winning stuff” that other people have. I do, however, have the psychic talent of having my visa number memorized.
Gotta go – need my next fix of bacon.
P.S. Apple rocks!
.-= wren ´s last blog ..Psychic Abilites – What are your favorites? =-.
So many informative linkies. I got stuck on the history of telephones and fast forwarded through the kitty pics.
.-= Karen B.´s last blog ..She’s a funny one. =-.
Thanks for the mention oh Queen of all things linkity
.-= blodeuedd´s last blog ..Guest blog with Michele Hauf + giveaway "Her vampire husband" =-.
okay… coming back for more… later… like seconds, thirds and fourths probably!
Awesome linkty links honey!
Hope all is well today!
Aaawww, Chris, you not going to go all iPhangrrly with me? =( *sniff*
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Does Stash Enhancement Count? =-.
You’ve outdone yourself with the links today, Chris. And the number of books. I bow down in reverence of your reading awesomeness :).
.-= Jenre´s last blog ..Review: More by Sloan Parker =-.
(shakes head, swoons a bit, and saves to look at linky later)
🙂
Love the kitty camo fail. Our cat when I was a kid had that belief about herself and throw pillows, until you sat on her.
Perhaps you should knit May a hat to cover her ears when Chaos gets in this mood.
.-= Brenda´s last blog ..The Hunt for Strawberry Red =-.
Good stuff up in here today, Chris. Great links!
Thanks for the heads up babe. 🙂
Wasn’t Downtime wonderful? I just loved it and yes, I got teary eyed too, dammit. lol
Need to get on my Tere Michaels reading.
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Book Giveaway =-.
How can you look at kitten pictures all the time! I’d have a house full of puppies, if I looked at puppies.
.-= Rebekah´s last blog ..Laws of Nature =-.
LOL – That ear cleaning guy doesn’t even need a Q-Tip May. 😛
Hey, thanks for the shout out and all the Linkety Chris. As always – what a great Thursday post.
Happy Easter! 🙂
Oh, and congrats to Orianna!
🙂
My 10 year old desk computer died this week so I have been looking for a new comfy place to surf my blogs – sorry to ignore!
Thanks for the promo! Anybody who wants bacon needs to check out Project Bacon!
.-= Julia Rachel Barrett´s last blog ..Two sites for free ebooks – =-.
Poor May – she looks highly unimpressed!
I *really* enjoyed Smart Bitches’ link to the creepy children’s books.
LOVED Basement cat plagued by his evil offspring!
Great links as usual and thank for the mentions.
Looks like you had a great reading week.
D&D and Freeze Frame are on my TBB. I loved Downtime, Windows in Time and Can’t Hurry Love, too.
.-= Lily´s last blog ..Reading and Challenge Updates… March =-.
No, commenting on Wren’s comment. Project Bacon is sort of a start up – two wannabe chefs – I like to support enterprising bloggers. Quid pro quo except it’s just me giving them space – but…that’s okay. Who wants to be associated with erotic romance anyway? Except you…
.-= Julia Rachel Barrett´s last blog ..Two sites for free ebooks – =-.
I’m definitely bookmarking those skins for when I get my next cellphone!
.-= Mouse´s last blog ..Five Senses Friday 3/27 =-.
Hee. Hatey sort of hate.
And Hark! A Vagrant is quite good. I’ll grant that my friend the former history major gets more of the jokes than I do, but it’s still fun. 🙂
.-= naomi´s last blog ..slight shift of focus =-.
Damn that’s a lot o’ links! Loved the kittehs 😉
Wondering if you’re not intersted in the ipad b/c it won’t fit in your P.U.R.S.E.?
Finished Faith & Fidelity this week and really liked it, will post review soon. Am reading the Chase book you recommended and so far I likey!
Congrats Orannia & Kris!!
I’m going to busy going through this post. Lots to do.
Well, I’m not going to be rushing out to buy an iPad anytime soon. Too expense for me, I’d rather buy an netbook for about $200 cheaper. Plus it would need to do more than it does for that much money.
.-= Donna-FantasyDreamer´s last blog ..Is Melissa Marr coming to a city near you? Plus a Radiant Shadows Giveaway =-.
YAH! Thank you so much Mia & Chris! And congrats Chris on being one of the winners of Kris’ challenge!
And I’m so with on the stalkers. Enough already!
.-= orannia´s last blog ..Books 2010: March Update =-.
LOL at the periodic table of periodic tables!
I enjoyed the discussion of the fantasy book covers.
No iPads for me.
.-= Sydney´s last blog ..Some Random Observations =-.
Ok, I accidentally read this “Moderncat discovered some really cute gadget skins with cats on them.”
As “Moderncat discovered some really cute gadgets with cat skins on them.”
Eeeuw.
.-= Mary Lou´s last blog ..Wool Ad =-.
Love the linky love. Now you’ve got me thinking about kittens .. ah here Sirius is ready to play again.
.-= mrspao´s last blog ..Happy Easter! =-.
Thanks so much for the mention, Chris! 🙂
.-= Renee´s last blog ..Just finished reading . . . A Local Habitation (audiobook) =-.
These linky days are getting longer and longer…
Thanks for the craft items tips. I have the hoards with me for the holidays – so some craft items are just what I needed…
Love your list of books as usual… I still need to break down and read DOWNTIME… ahhhhh – I need to..
Thanks for the heads up on the Lynley book – I do like her style…
E.H>
.-= Erotic Horizon´s last blog ..What are you reading on Monday – Catching Up & In My Mailbox =-.