This has been one of those weeks that’s sorta beaten me up and left me for dead. 🙂 I’m sure I’ll catch up on blog reading… someday!
Contests
- EH has details on how to enter to win a copy of Cat Grant’s latest m/m romance, Allegro Vivace. Contest closes at midnight, June 18 (aka today).
- Mandi’s giving away three different sets of five romance/paranormal romance books – leave a comment by June 19 for your chance to win.
- LesleyW always has such good questions, with the chance to win a book simply for answering. This week, the question is about characters who change from one book to another and the book you could win is Shadows and Lace by Teresa Medeiros. Answer before June 19 to be entered in the contest.
- Patti’s celebrating her blogiversary with a series of contests! Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (ends midnight, June 28); Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch, plus signed bookplate, signed cover flat, and magnets (ends midnight CDT, June 29); Signed copy of Magic Bleeds by Illona Andrews (ends midnight CDT, June 30); Signed copy of Crux (Southern Arcana, Book 1) by Moira Rogers (ends midnight CDT, July 1). Signed copy of Infinity (Chronicles of Nick, Book 1) by Sherrilyn Kenyon (ends midnight CDT, July 2).
- Christine’s giving away a copy of the collection Muscle Men: Rock Hard Gay Erotica and there are an assortment of ways to enter the contest, which closes June 20.
- Ralph’s giving away a copy Heidi Cullinan’s m/m urban fantasy, Miles and the Magic Flute. Contest closes midnight EDT, June 22. He’s also giving away a copy of Anne Brooks’ paranormal m/m romance, Martin and the Wolf – that one closes midnight EDT, June 25.
- Tracy’s giving away a copy of Emilie Richards’ latest, Fortunate Harbor (A Happiness Key Novel). Leave a comment by 11:59 pm PDT, June 24, for your chance to win.
- Anna’s giving away three different urban fantasy/paranormal romance two-book prize packs as part of her blogiversary celebration. Leave a comment before June 30th for your chance to win.
- Trek’s supposed to be on vacation this week. Supposed to be. Instead, she’s back at home, holding a contest looking for your best and worst vacation stories for a mysterious and unmentioned prize (sure to be fabulous, knowing Trek!). Tell her your stories by July 14 for your chance to win.
- Jessewave’s holding a humorous m/m romance writing competition – to enter, you can’t be published as of July 1. Check out this post for all the details.
- All Things Urban Fantasy had nearly 170 contests listed this week.
Bookity
- New release info: Lily (m/m romance) and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR, plus news, interviews, and contests).
- Ah, Apple – your censoring ways bite you again. As TeleRead suggests, why not just make an adult section in your store?
- BookRix is a new book community that allows anyone to promote their own works.
- Are your ebooks safely backed up offsite? Kindle Vixen explains how to use Calibre with Dropbox to help achieve this. Lifehacker has a good article on setting up a foolproof (and fireproof) backup system.
- Although it might seem that ebook prices have climbed due to the agency model, this article at TeleRead suggests that ebook prices are actually going down.
- Moleskine just came out with an official Kindle cover. If you have an iPad and want a Moleskine-style cover, you’ll have to do it yourself.
- Humor about what it’s like to own an Apple product.
Make, Do, Think, Learn
- Make a riser/laptop stand so you can watch movies in bed more comfortably.
- You can use paracord to help keep your headphones from tangling.
- Carolyn Crane ponders what the internet might be doing to our attention spans and Gizmodo links to a NYTimes blog entry on the same topic.
- Amy shows you a bit of Lanesboro, which is a cute little town in southeastern Minnesota that I haven’t visited in too long.
- Starbucks is going to offer free wifi starting July 1.
- Beware – using water instead of windshield wiper fluid might turn that reservoir into a great place for pneumonia to incubate. (Besides having your washer fluid reservoir freeze and crack should you live someplace like Minnesota…)
- Make sure you’re donating to real oil spill charities and avoid scams.
- Ugh – I had no idea so many kids’ drinks and snacks contained lead.
Huh
- Can’t say I’ve ever felt the need for a light fixture shaped like an ice cream cone…
LOL
- Hyperbole and a Half documents my life and I finally understand why I will never be an adult.
- If you enjoyed watching how BP dealt with a coffee spill, you might want to check out College Humor’s look at their rebranding attempt.
- Lily has an assortment of amusing links – but beware that many are NSFW. Also, several might scar you for life – and that includes links in the comments.
- Watch the IKEA ad that was too racy for Houson tv.
Weekly Cute Burn
- Kitten! Kitten! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Melly! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens!
Reading Update
The Cop and the Drifter by Christiane France. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a cop… and a drifter. 😀 What, you want more? Ok, it’s about a cop, on administrative leave and unsure whether he still has a job, who’s camping and meets a young homeless man. (I won this over at Wave’s place.)
Hajiri’s Pet (Midnight Rain, Book 1) by Auburnimp & Michael Barnette. ebook. Ok cyberpunk m/m romance about a mercenary whose life is saved by a genetically engineered “battlepet” who then imprints on him. Definitely a HFN ending… and there aren’t any other books in this series yet.
Safe House by M. King. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a guy who has always resisted acknowledging what he needs in the bedroom… and now it’s driving a wedge between he and his boyfriend.
Precious Jade by Fyn Alexander. ebook. Very good kinky historical m/m romance about Jade, raised in the theater, who gets a job as a secretary to an MP and has the chance to explore his submissive side.
Double Shot Cappuccino by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who’s having a hard time getting over his brother’s death the previous year. Will his brother’s best friend’s brief visit help? Or just lead to more heartache?
Mad Blood, 
In Passion and in Blood, 
Saved by Love’s Blood, 
Bound by Blood, and 
Reborn in Blood (The Drone Vampire Chronicles, Books 2, 4, 5, 7, & 8 ) by Stephani Hecht. ebooks. Enjoyable m/m paranormal romances about the Drone Vampires, who are made, not born, and are treated like second-class citizens by pure-born vampires. Toss in wizards and werefolk, too, just to keep things really interesting. (I skipped any books that weren’t strictly m/m.) (And how glad am I that Stephani’s such a good sport about her book covers being a veritable Who’s Who of the Misadventures?!)
Here and Now by Lisa Marie Davis. ebook. Ok m/m romance about an HIV-positive guy who’s turned his life around after living on the streets. He’s prepared to live his life on his own… and then he meets a guy who pushes him (gently) and challenges his beliefs about himself. I had a huge niggle with this book – when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and went on a drug regimen… he was in a situation in which he would not have had health insurance. At that point, this book went straight to fairytale land for me.
From the Dreamspinner Midsummer’s Nightmare Daily Dose…
Dead End Job by Clancy Nacht. ebook short. So-so short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who manages an office full of zombies and then one day, there’s someone living hiding amongst them. Not a fan of zombie books…
Staking His Life by Kiernan Kelly. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance about a vampire whose life isn’t ever going to be the same again after he goes to a bar with his werewolf roommate. I didn’t like this one as much as I usually like Kiernan Kelly’s books – it was too heavy on puns and self-indulgent cleverness.
Vampire Movie Night by S. Blaise. ebook short. So-so short paranormal m/m romance about two guys watching a cheesy vampire movie and making out on the couch.
There’s Something About Spot by Felicitas Ivey. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance about a town of misfits and how two residents celebrate Midsummer.
“Foot cleaning? What are you talking about? We don’t even have feet.” -Chaos
*best innocent and adorable look* -Mayhem