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Congrats to Pam B, who won One Small Thing by Piper Vaughn and M.J. O’Shea! One Small Thing is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to Helena and Maggie, who won Gambling Men: The Novel by Amy Lane! Gambling Men will be released by Dreamspinner Press on May 7.

Congrats to Tracy F and Beth C, who won Acrobat by Mary Calmes! Acrobat will be released by Dreamspinner Press on May 7.

Congrats to Yvette, who won Rogues (Brook Street #3) by Ava March! Rogues will be released by Carina Press on May 7.

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Contests

• Joyfully Jay is giving away an ebook copy of One Small Thing by Piper Vaughn & MJ O’Shea. Contest closes 11:59 pm EDT, May 4.

• Piper and MJ are giving away an ebook copy of Conviction (Dominion #3) by Lissa Kasey. Contest closes 9 pm CDT, May 6.

• Joder’s giving away an ebook copy of Carnal Denial (Carnality #3) by DL Jackson. Contest closes 11:59 pm CDT, May 7.

• Joyfully Jay is giving away an ebook copy of Mind Magic by Poppy Dennison. Contest closes 11:59 pm EDT, May 8.

• Kate McMurray is giving away an ebook copy of Out in the Field. Make sure you read how to enter! Contest closes midnight EDT, May 12.

• For every $1 you donate to Jackie of Literary Escapism’s Race for the Cure Walk, you’ll get a chance to win some signed PNR novels! Pledge by May 26.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Rarely Dusty Books (m/m romance), Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Tor.com (PNR), AAR (romance audiobooks), and Book Lovers Inc (romance).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• ReadReactReview and Smart Bitches on the Story Siren blog plagiarism case.

• Heidi Cullinan explains literary cohesion.

• Your kids on books.

• Bookend lamp.

• This week’s comic strips at Unshelved have been focused on censorship: part one, part two, part three, part four.

• Better book covers for Twilight and Shakespeare.

• Bad book covers.

• The Very Hungry… Cthulhupillar…

• Punctuation is important.

Ebookity

• Today is the International Day Against DRM. It’s also May the Fourth (Be With You). And No Pants Day.

• Target’s going to stop selling Kindles.

• Ten Kindle cases that look like paper books. (via TeleRead)

• Reasons to publish your ebook with a small press instead of self-publishing.

• Some publisher experiments that Dear Author would like to see.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

• May is National Celiac Awareness Month in the US.

• The history of ketchup.

• Seven ways to be a better pinner.

• What to include in an emergency photo album on your phone.

• Information on making a social media will… from the US government.

• Think you can stabilize the US National Debt? Give it a try.

• Apparently, religious websites tend to have more malware than do p0rn websites.

• Build a solar-powered lawnmower. (via Gizmodo)

• Easily clean a shower head.

• Make a storage bed frame using IKEA shelves.

• A new study found that chewing gum may impair your short-term memory.

• 30% of American workers aren’t getting enough sleep, which is particularly bad news when combined with new research that found not getting enough sleep can promote the “expression of obesity related gene[s].”

• Another new study found that homophobes are often repressed homosexuals.

• The worst and best airports in the US – the very best is MSP! 🙂

Cookity

• Gluten-free sun-dried tomato bread.

• Gluten-free chocolate strawberry cheesecake tart.

• Vanilla extract.

• Simple rhubarb jam. (via The Kitchn)

• Rhubarb cake.

• Mini-cakes baked in tin cans. (via The Kitchn)

• 8 elaborate birthday cakes.

• 15 birthday cakes and cupcakes.

• 7 savory breakfast sandwiches.

• 10 savory cookies.

• 10 homemade cracker recipes.

• Asian salmon burger. (via The Kitchn)

• Pork stir-fry with asparagus and snap peas.

• Italian chopped salad. (via The Kitchn)

Crafty

• Knit a four corners baby blanket. (via CRAFT)

• Knit a Dalek dog sweater.

• Make a needlepoint TARDIS tissue box cover. (via CRAFT)

• Weave a wee basket with crochet thread. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Black cat auditions in 1961. (Thanks, Mary Lou!)

• The Earth in a drop of water. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• The Millenium Falcon made out of cardboard. (via CRAFT)

• Batman fighting a dinosaur.

• Game of Thrones in LEGO.

• LEGO cake.

• Molten chocolate candle cake. (It’s here because there’s no recipe, so…)

• A lid that turns a canning jar into a travel mug. (via Gizmodo)

• Chemistry tea set.

• Watch as your Google search results are consumed! Play a labyrinth game in Google Maps!

• Best photos of the shuttle flying over New York City.

Cool or Wha…?

• The Teatanic.

• Model roller coaster for your desk.

Wha…?

• A Ukrainian woman has turned herself into a real-life Barbie doll… (Thanks, Bron!)

• Did you buy tampons… or cocaine?

• Interesting placement of that sign…

• Butt putt.

• Meat glue.

• Ice cubes shaped like Sir Richard Branson.

• Batman goatee guy. (via The Mary Sue)

• Pooping bird chandelier.

• Gators in Minnesota?!

• ATM menus in Latin.

• Those wacky Tennessee legislators are at it again… (via The Mary Sue)

LOL

• Silly complaints about movies received by the British Board of Film Classification.

• A little Pinterest humor…

• If you’ve ever wondered who clicks banner ads…

• Too true – really, any working from home situation.

• Why are you wearing headphones right now?

• Walking a cat vs walking a dog.

• “Is this a food?”

• Eeep!

Teh Cute

• Baby cheetahs! Tiger and baby! Tiger and baby! Lioness and baby! Violet-backed starling! Tiger! Black jaguar! Black jaguar! Tiger! Black kitten! Baby clouded leopards! Baby whatsit (possibly an African civet)! Baby foxes! Kitten! Baby caracals! Kittens! Baby Duiker! Kitten! Baby fennecs! Polar bear and baby! Cat and kitten! Cat and kitten!

Reading Update
King Perry by Edmond Manning. ebook. Excellent gay fiction about taking chances, forgiving, and finding the self you lost along the way. I started reading feeling a bit resistant, because, well, it sounded kinda hokey to me from the blurb. Oh, how very wrong I was – and how very glad that I read this story. While it has romantic moments and is filled with love, it is not a romance per se, so you need to let go of your expectations about how the story will end. But rest assured that this is not like some of the other stories I’ve read in Dreamspinner’s BitterSweet line, which left me heartsick or upset about even having read the book. Highly recommended.
Out in the Field by Kate McMurray. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about a closeted baseball player nearing the end of his career who’s uncomfortably attracted to the new rookie star on the team… an attraction that turns out to be mutual.
Good Bones by Kim Fielding. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about an architect who hides his unwilling werewolfism from everyone except his brother and sister-in-law. Eventually he moves to the woods, figuring it will be safer than hoping he’s able to lock himself up in time every month… but he didn’t factor in his sexy next door neighbor.
Thank My Lucky Scars by Tia Fielding. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about an injured bike messenger who starts to follow his favorite porn star on Twitter… and then they actually get to meet.
Manhandled by SA Reid & Rosemary O’Malley. ebook. Steamy short m/m romance about a cop who meets a young doctor in a most unusual way, giving a whole new meaning to “closeted”. Be aware that there’s dubious consent in this one.
Mind Magic by Poppy Dennison. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a mage who violates the rules of his people to save some werewolf cubs being imprisoned and slowly killed by a demon. Doing so changes his life more than he could ever have imagined… I suspect there’s a sequel planned, so I won’t complain about the things left open at the end of the story. However, I did have some niggles as I read, as there were several points where things were just too convenient or inconsistent with previously provided information.
Don’t Judge a Book… by Scarlet Blackwell. ebook short. Good m/m romance about a library assistant who’s quite put out over having to deal with an unfortunately attractive guy doing community service work at the library.
Amuse Bouche (Russell Quant #1) by Anthony Bidulka. Ok gay mystery about a PI who’s hired by a jilted groom to find his missing boyfriend. Pretty sure this is the only book I’ve read that was set in Saskatoon.
Chasing Shadows by Jez Morrow. ebook. Ok paranormal m/m romance that could’ve been a five-star read if it hadn’t jumped all over the place – to the point that I’m not convinced there’s not part of a chapter missing.
Loving Arms by Marie Medina. ebook short. Meh short m/m romance about two guys who are after the same evil woman, but turn to each other instead. Choppy, repetitive writing and all tell, no show made this a painful read.

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“Hmph. That bird wouldn’t be so sassy if it was on this side of the window!” -Mayhem