Congrats to SueM, who won Knight Errant by K.D. Sarge! Knight Errant is available for $0.99 through July 31 at Smashwords.
Congrats to Susmita, who won Ranger’s Folly (Lost Shifters #12) by Stephani Hecht! Ranger’s Folly is being released by eXtasy Books today.
Congrats to Renee, who won Dark Sun by M.J. O’Shea!
Congrats to Julie, who won In the Shadow of a Hero by Anna Mayle!
Congrats to Amy, who won the Tea and Crumpet anthology, donated by Clare London!
Contests
- Jodi’s giving a $25 Fandango gift card to see the movie Larry Crowne, plus a Larry Crowne t-shirt and notebook. Comment through today (July 15) for your chance to win.
- Leontine’s giving away a $30 gift certificate to an online store of your choice. This is part of Blogfest, so it might just be open today (July 15).
- Tracy’s giving away a copy of The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin. Contest closes 7 pm PDT, July 21. US & Canada.
- Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Pillow Talk by Freya North. Contest runs through July 21. US & Canada.
- Book Lovers Inc is giving away a copy of Liam’s Perfect Woman and a copy of The Hometown Hero Returns, both by Beth Kery. Contest closes July 23.
- Book Lovers Inc is also giving away His Darkest Hunger and His Darkest Embrace by Julianna Stone. Contest closes July 23.
- Joder’s giving away a signed paperback copy of Embraced by Blood by Laurie London. Comment by 11:59 pm, July 23. US only.
- Patti’s giving away an ARC of Maggie Stiefvater’s Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3). Contest closes July 31.
- L.A. Witt/Lauren Gallagher is having a contest to celebrate having released 30 books. Winners will receive their choice of her backlist, and the number of winners will be determined by the number of commenters! Contest closes midnight EDT, August 5.
Bookity
- New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Book Lovers Inc (romance etc), All About Romance (romance audiobooks), and Katiebabs (various types of romance).
- Strunk & White humor from xkcd. (Make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for additional text!)
Ebookity
- Kim Dare’s posted a free short m/m story based on a photo I took in San Francisco last fall. 🙂
- Read the reviews carefully before you even think about purchasing the new Google Books ereader.
Do, Make, Learn, Think
- See what’s connected to your wireless network with this portable Windows app. (Perhaps this article will inspire you to get the app…)
- Although it looks like the Minnesota state government shutdown is over, it might’ve resulted in beer shortages!
Potterity
- Harry Potter fans hack a road sign. (Thanks, Jenre!)
Cookity
Crafty
Cool
- Yoda toddler hat! (via The Mary Sue)
- The guide to shirtlessness in superhero movies… *ahem* (via The Mary Sue)
Cool or Wha…?
- Weird state foods. (via The Kitchn)
- TARDIS soap. (via The Mary Sue)
Wha…?
- So… you know how we get annoyed when people in romance novels stop to have sex at inopportune times, like when their lives are in danger? Apparently it happens in real life, too…
LOL
- Pick your battles carefully. (Thanks, Bron!)
- Kitten vs. apples… (Thanks, Jase!)
Teh Cute
- Bear napping with fish. (Thanks, Bron!)
- Kittens! Lion and cub! Lion cub! Lioness and cubs! Cat and kitten! Koala! Eleanor (and the source video)! Hedgie! Kittens! Panda! Baby panda! Kittens! Tiger cubs! Tigers! Kittens! Fox and kits! Kitten! Baby cheetah! Kitten and baby otter!
Reading Update
Masochism 101 by Kim Dare. free ebook short, although you’ll need to be a member of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group to read it. The prompt for this excellent kinky short m/m romance was a guy photographed midway through falling in the bathtub…
Trust Me (Cover Me #2) by LA Witt. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a cop who’s ready to break up with his boyfriend because he suspects his boyfriend has been cheating on him, but what’s really been going on is a helluva lot more complicated. You also get to see how things are going with the guys from Cover Me.
And To All a Good Night (Life Lessons #1.5) by Kaje Harper. free ebook short. Very good short free holiday-themed m/m mystery that takes place a few months after Life Lessons, right before Christmas, as the out teacher continues to recover from his injuries and learns to deal with dating the deeply closeted cop.
Dirty Kiss by Rhys Ford. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a former cop, now PI, investigating the apparent suicide of a prominent Korean businessman when he becomes fascinated by the businessman’s disgraced cousin. Hopefully there’s a sequel… and I’d love to get more of Bobby’s story.
Again by Mary Calmes. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who was devastated when the love of his life, a CIA agent, suddenly left him for someone else, without knowing that their surrogate was pregnant. It’s five years later when he runs into now-former CIA agent… I have to confess that I wanted to smack Dante more than once – he was such a steamroller! I wanted him to stop and actually listen. 🙂
Accidentally in Love by Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a photographer who’s definitely a player, engaging in a non-stop string of one-night stands. When he rents part of a house from a goodhearted computer geek with crappy self-esteem, he decides to help the geek finally get a guy of his own. So why is he unhappy when his plan works? As others have mentioned, the first part of this book was excellent. The last part of it got bogged down by sex and lack of direction.
Tea and Crumpet by UK MAT. ebook collection. Very good collection of United Kingdom-themed GLBTQ short stories, from contemporary to paranormal to historical. I was delighted to discover that there was a Cambridge Fellows short from Charlie Cochrane! And I absolutely love the cover. 🙂
One Night by RJ Scott. ebook. Good m/m romance about a deeply closeted guy who’s convinced that two men can’t have a loving relationship, only a sexual one, so he’s engaged to be married to a woman so his adopted daughter will have a stable home.
Finding Forgiveness (Poconos Pack #1) by Dana Marie Bell. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter who suffers from debilitating migraines and has no idea why the guy destined to be his mate avoids him at all costs.
Clay’s Challenge by Cassandra Gold. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy going through a crisis in confidence about how he looks after someone he met online isn’t interested in dating him because he’s “too fem.” So he decides to go on a wilderness adventure and prove to himself that’s not the case. (Main character Clay was actually a minor character in Quinn’s Hart.)
Bicycle Built for Two by Jeff Adams. ebook short. Good short, completely angst- and conflict-free m/m romance about two guys who meet during a charity cycling event to raise money for HIV/AIDS research.
From Pack to Pride (Supernatural Mates #1) by Amber Kell. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter whose alpha brother sends him to stay with a pride of lions in order to keep him safe from a hostile wolf who wants to kill him. (Ok, Tam, you were right – I liked it better than Hellbourne!)
A Prideful Mate (Supernatural Mates #2) by Amber Kell. ebook. Ok paranormal m/m romance about a lion shifter who sees a picture of jaguar shifter on a shifter dating website and knows the jaguar shifter is his mate. Now he just has to convince his mate to stay… and keep his mate alive.
Not in Kansas by R.G. Alexander. ebook short. Cute short m/m fantasy roughly based on the Wizard of Oz.
Salad on the Side by Karenna Colcroft. ebook. Ok paranormal m/m romance about a vegan who doesn’t realize he’s living among werewolves until he’s bitten and changed. These were probably the most long-winded werewolves ever – there needed to be a lot less talking in this book. Hopefully the obviously planned for sequel will be less chatty.
The Male Room by Carolyn Levine Topol. ebook. Ok m/m romance about two best friends, one who’s just been kicked out by his boyfriend and the other who’s just been fired, who decide to start an online GLBT dating service together. I need to remember that this author’s stories are too sugary for me…
Semi Precious Weapons by Clancy Nacht. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about two models in New York City who hook up and hit it off, but then things get messed up between them. This book definitely needed a bit more editorial care – a couple spots were so tangled that I couldn’t sort out what exactly was happening.
Joy & Pain by Celia Kyle. free ebook short. Ok kinky short m/m romance about a stripper who meets and is attracted to an older big bear of a man. This book needed better proofing: “illicit” instead of “elicit”, “spurn” instead of “spur”, etc.
“You know what would hit the spot right now? A crunchy bug. Yum!” -Mayhem