Tag Archives: Josephine Myles

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Ebook Giveaway: Boats in the Night by Josephine Myles [CONTEST CLOSED]

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Today is a two contest/two cat picture day! Go enter the contest for Broken Memories (In the Shadow of the Wolf #2) by RJ Scott & Diane Adams!

Many thanks to Josephine Myles for donating an ebook copy of her freshly released (as in today!) m/m romance, Boats in the Night, for a lucky commenter to win!

Like two ships passing in the night – if one was a narrowboat and the other a luxury yacht.

Disgraced private school teacher Giles Rathbourne has been sent home on extended sick-leave and is stuck in a rut of obsessive housework and drinking. His ex may have been a snobbish bastard, but without him, Giles is adrift, rattling around his huge, lonely house. When a dreadlocked narrowboater’s engine breaks down at the end of his canal-side garden, Giles is furious at this invasion of his privacy – for a while.

Smutty might not have ever held down a proper job, but the fire-dancing, free-spirited traveller can recognise an opportunity for mutual benefit when he sees it. Giles’ extensive gardens are in as desperate need of attention as the upper-class hunk is himself, whereas Smutty knows a thing or two about plants and needs a place to moor up.

A simple business arrangement between two men who have nothing else in common? It would be – if they could keep their hands off each other!

Special Offer

Anyone who signs up for Jo’s author newsletter will be given a voucher to download a free copy of the book from Smashwords (your choice of formats, including PDF, mobi, and epub) – valid from November 16 through December 25, 2011. You can find the newsletter signup link in the sidebar on all pages of Jo’s website.

Boats in the Night was originally published as a serial novel on Jo’s blog, where you can still read it online for free.

Other Books by Jo

About Jo

Eccentric Englishwoman, absent-minded mother, proud bisexual, shameless tea-addict, serial textile craft hobbyist, iconoclastic logophile and writer of homoerotic romance – Josephine Myles is all these things at once. She has held down more different jobs than any sane person ever should, and is fundamentally rebellious, preferring the overgrown yet enticing path rather than the wide and obvious one.

Jo once spent two years living on a slowly decaying narrowboat, and was determined that she would one day use the experience as fodder for a novel. It may have taken a few years, but she got there in the end. She usually does.

She lives in rural Somerset, in the West Country of England, with her husband and four year old daughter. Currently self-employed, she gave up a career teaching English Literature to look after her daughter, who has Down’s Syndrome. When she isn’t working, writing or spending time with friends and family, she bakes cakes and attempts to finish off some of the textile projects she has started, with varying degrees of success. She can occasionally be spotted wearing her creations, as no one else will.

In her short stories Jo is particularly interested in exploring how characters react in the heat of the moment, and what they reveal about their deepest desires and insecurities. She most enjoys writing contemporary tales about unconventional men overcoming their fears through love, but ventures into sci-fi and paranormal when her muse insists. He can be a right difficult bastard at times.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CST, Monday, November 28.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“I must say, I am disappointed that you seem impervious to my kitty mind control powers, Mom, or you would be throwing my mouse for me right now.” -Mayhem

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Languid linkity lounges lazily

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Congrats to Jen B and Beth, who each won a copy of Bulletproof (A Matter of Time #3 or #5, depending) by Mary Calmes! Bulletproof will be released September 26 by Dreamspinner Press.

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  • Have you watched Husbands, the Series yet? It’s a cute web TV series about two guys who wake up married after a drunken night out in Las Vegas. So far there are four episodes, from 1.5 minutes to 2.5 minutes long.

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Full Circle by Kaje Harper. ebook short. Excellent, poignant short m/m story about a drunk who rescues a very sick and homeless young man from the street. While the story covers a lot more ground, you really need to just let this tale of redemption unfold for you. I did spend the last third of the book crying… and be aware that the ending, while not a conventional HEA, is hopeful.
Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Excellent m/m romantic suspense about a professor and rehabilitated addict whose relationship with the town’s police chief is jeopardized by his helping one of his students leave town for a few days, then not coming clean about it when he learns the student is wanted for questioning.
Abercrombie Zombie by KZ Snow. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a pair of psychic mediums who are approached by a man claiming to be a zombie and to need their help finding the man responsible for his condition. Two important points: There is no zombie sex (whew!), but there is a cameo appearance by Wisconsin’s favorite wizard… 🙂
Aloes by Chris Quinton. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about an architect who wakes from a coma with synesthesia – he can taste truth and lies. As he begins to work on a major restoration for an intriguing new client, he starts to get threatening anonymous phone calls and mail. I enjoyed this, even though the suspense plot was easily figured out. However, the book ends quite abruptly, as if a sequel was planned – but there’s not a sequel at this point. 🙁
Fuzzy and Last Chance (First Impressions #2-3) by Josephine Myles. ebook shorts. Very good short m/m romances continuing the story of publishing assistant Steve and artist Jez that started in First Impressions. More crazy socks! And… knitting! 🙂
Clear Water by Amy Lane. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy with ADHD whose low self-esteem leads him to make some really bad choices. When the result of one of those choices leads to his near death and timely rescue by a field biologist, neither of them has any idea how much their lives are about to change.
Mixed Signals by Cooper West. ebook. Cute m/m romance about a handsome rescue copter pilot from money who meets (and is attracted to) a nerdy computer geek hanging out in a hair salon’s waiting area.
Training Cats by PD Singer. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a pharmacist who’s slowly realizing that his boyfriend is a jerk. (This is related to the On Call books.)
My Boyfriend Has a Scar by M. Raiya. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a guy who returns to his home town ten years after he left because his father caught he and his boyfriend together and did not react well.
The Book of Wisdom (Change #2.5) by JM Cartwright. ebook short. Good short m/m romance set five years after A Change of Scenery, as Stephen’s protege is coming to stay with them after graduating from college and Con’s not pleased about it.
Of Russian Myth and Lore (Russian Bear #3.5) by CB Conwy. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about Mischa and Tom going to Canada to visit Mischa’s relatives.
Burning Bright by Rachel Wilder & A. Catherine Noon. ebook. Good kinky paranormal menage romance about an animal empath and veterinary surgeon who moves to Chicago to look for a job. When he’s rescued from Russian mobsters outside of a bdsm club by the club’s owner and bouncers, he finds himself strangely attracted to them… I would’ve rated this higher, but there was an extended bdsm scene in which the vet was flogged and had sex while lying on his stomach after his ribs had been broken only a few days before, but his ribs didn’t bother him at all…
Out of the Closet (Out of the Closet #1) by KevaD. ebook. Good short humorous m/m romance about a writer who decides to come out to the roommate he has a crush on, but things do not go at all as hoped.
Back in the Closet (Out of the Closet #2) by KevaD. ebook. Good short humorous m/m romance about a writer who has to go to Iowa and stay at his dead uncle’s farm in order to fulfill the terms of his uncle’s will. This read like the author was trying a little too hard to be clever.
Quick to the Hunt (Hawkins Ranch #7) by Cameron Dane. ebook. Pretty good m/m romance about a soldier returned from Afghanistan with severe PTSD and survivor’s guilt who deals with things by self-harming. My major problem with this one was the overblown, often lurid prose, which made nearly everything seem completely over the top and just… too much, all the time.
Sex on the Hoof (Protect and Serve #1) by Silvia Violet. ebook short. Ok paranormal short m/m romance about a deer shifter who works nights in the police crime lab and finally can’t resist the sexy vampire detective he’s been lusting after. The sex-to-story ratio is a bit skewed in this one…
A Small, Still Voice by DW Marchwell. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a teacher who left his job after being falsely accused of raping a student. Now, six years later, that time comes back to haunt him. The beginning of the book was hampered by awkwardly integrated flashback infodumping, while the end suddenly tried to morph into a mystery without much success.
When Love Is Not Enough by Wade Kelly. ebook. Uneven m/m romance that starts with the funeral of a twenty-two year old who committed suicide, then switches between flashbacks of his life, the nearly present, and the present, trying to explain how he reached the point of suicide. Oddly, this book contained what felt like a commercial – a section in which specific m/m books and authors were mentioned and one of the characters read an excerpt to another. After that, I was no longer on board with the story.
In the Wings by Michael St. Anthony. ebook. DNF. I set this aside for a month to see if I’d pick it up again, but all I felt was relief at not continuing to read it. I didn’t like the main character at all.

“I’ll get you for this, Mom. Don’t think I won’t…” -Chaos

Contests, Reading

Ebook Giveaway: Barging In by Josephine Myles [CONTEST CLOSED]

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Many thanks to Josephine Myles for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m romance, Barging In, for a lucky commenter to win! Barging In will be released September 20 by Samhain Publishing.

When the boat’s a rockin’, don’t come knockin’!

Out-and-proud travel writer Dan Taylor can’t steer a boat to save his life, but that doesn’t stop him from accepting an assignment to write up a narrowboat holiday. Instead of a change of pace from city life, though, the canal seems dull as ditchwater. Until he crashes into the boat of a half-naked, tattooed, pierced man whose rugged, penniless appearance is at odds with a posh accent.

Still smarting from past betrayal, Robin Hamilton’s “closet” is his narrowboat, his refuge from outrageous, provocative men like Dan. Yet he can’t seem to stop himself from rescuing the hopelessly out-of-place city boy from one scrape after another. Until he finds himself giving in to reluctant attraction, even considering a brief, harmless fling.

After all, in less than a week, Dan’s going back to his London diet of casual hook-ups and friends with benefits.

Determined not to fall in love, both men dive into one week of indulgence…only to find themselves drawn deep into an undertow of escalating intimacy and emotional intensity. Troubled waters neither of them expected…or wanted.

Product Warnings
Contains one lovable tart, one posh boy gone feral, rough sex, alfresco sex, vile strawberry-flavoured condoms, intimate body piercings, red thermal long-johns, erotic woodchopping, an errant cat, a few colourful characters you wouldn’t touch with a bargepole, and plenty of messing about on the river.

Excerpt (scroll down and select tab)

Other Books by Jo

About Jo

Eccentric Englishwoman, absent-minded mother, proud bisexual, shameless tea-addict, serial textile craft hobbyist, iconoclastic logophile and writer of homoerotic romance – Josephine Myles is all these things at once. She has held down more different jobs than any sane person ever should, and is fundamentally rebellious, preferring the overgrown yet enticing path rather than the wide and obvious one.

Jo once spent two years living on a slowly decaying narrowboat, and was determined that she would one day use the experience as fodder for a novel. It may have taken a few years, but she got there in the end. She usually does.

She lives in rural Somerset, in the West Country of England, with her husband and four year old daughter. Currently self-employed, she gave up a career teaching English Literature to look after her daughter, who has Down’s Syndrome. When she isn’t working, writing or spending time with friends and family, she bakes cakes and attempts to finish off some of the textile projects she has started, with varying degrees of success. She can occasionally be spotted wearing her creations, as no one else will.

In her short stories Jo is particularly interested in exploring how characters react in the heat of the moment, and what they reveal about their deepest desires and insecurities. She most enjoys writing contemporary tales about unconventional men overcoming their fears through love, but ventures into sci-fi and paranormal when her muse insists. He can be a right difficult bastard at times.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, Monday, September 19.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Whoa.” -Mayhem

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Linkity on a lark

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Congrats to Laura, who won Clear Water by Amy Lane! Clear Water is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Brace yourselves. Monday is a holiday in the US, so there won’t be a Misadventure. Surely there’s a Misadventure or two that you might’ve missed and could catch up on instead? 🙂

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  • Kaje Harper has a short m/m-themed young adult story, Intervention, that you can read free on her website.

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Reading Update
Barging In by Josephine Myles. ebook ARC. Excellent m/m romance about a somewhat slutty travel writer who’s rented a narrowboat for a week so he can write about and photograph life on the canals. When he (literally) runs into a hunky, prickly boater who takes an instant dislike to him, things get a lot more interesting… for both of them. This was a story that built slowly, but never felt like it. And make sure you have your hankies handy! Highly recommended. Available September 20.
Shattered Secrets (In the Shadow of the Wolf #1) by Diane Adams & RJ Scott. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romantic suspense about a wolf shifter who hooks up with a cop who doesn’t realize he’s hooking up with a shifter… and isn’t pleased when he does realize. But a shifter-related case throws them together again and things get complicated. So… when’s the next book coming out? 🙂
The Usual Apocalypse (The Society #2) by Christine Price. ebook ARC. Very good paranormal m/m romantic suspense about an agent who works for a paranormal investigation organization and is very good at his job because people can’t lie to him. Usually. When he takes over an internal affairs investigation because the previous investigator and her husband were found murdered in their beds, he has no idea that his life is about to change irrevocably in multiple ways. I didn’t realize that there was a previous book (In Darkness Bound). I see some reviewers have complained that it wasn’t a romance – rest assured that this most definitely was. Available September 26.
Prep Work by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a somewhat disgraced celebrity chef who discovers that the intriguing chef at the pub where he’s having dinner is a fan.
For the Attention Of (Pushing the Envelope #1) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m romance about a dom who receives a very intriguing and mysterious invitation, which he can’t resist.
Pop, Pop, Snap! by Winnie Jerome. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m story about a cashier at an amusement park who runs into the guy he broke up with to date a guy who turned out to be a jerk.
A Prideless Man (Supernatural Mates #3) by Amber Kell. ebook. Pretty good paranormal m/m romance about a guy with rheumatoid arthritis who moves to the shifter town because he’s always enjoyed being around shifters… and discovers that most of what he thought he knew about himself is wrong.
Riddle of the Sands (Fathom’s Five #2) by Geoffrey Knight. ebook. Pretty good action adventure about a group of gay adventurers rushing against time both to find an antidote to a rare poison with which one of their group has been injected and to find a lost Egyptian pyramid. Only recommended if you can suspend disbelief for a plot more over-the-top than anything from an Indiana Jones movie.
The Curse of the Dragon God (Fathom’s Five #3) by Geoffrey Knight. ebook. Ok action adventure in which our group of gay adventurers is all over the place, trying to rescue their beloved Professor and prevent a bomb from destroying Beijing. I know that this series is deliberately over-the-top, but sometimes it works, and sometimes… not so much. Particularly if you have people arriving instantly in San Francisco from Krakow and the Caribbean. But hey, you might enjoy this if you don’t mind hearing bad porn music playing in your head during the sex scenes.
Danny’s Boy by Kate Aaron. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy who can’t find work after university, so returns to the small town where he grew up and runs into his homophobic former best friend. While I quite liked the story, the pronoun confusion was extreme and frustrating.

“I am a Panther Princess Shark, swimming through the living room, hunting my prey!” -Mayhem

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It’s a beautiful day for some linkity, don’t you agree?

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Congrats to SusieQ, who won Woke Up in a Strange Place by Eric Arvin! Woke Up in a Strange Place is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to Marsha, who won The Tourist by Clare London! The Tourist will be released by Carina Press on Monday, February 28.

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Reading Update
Lessons in Power (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 4) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Very good historical m/m mystery/romance in which events conspire to bring up a dark event from Jonty’s past that continues to haunt him.
Lessons in Temptation (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 5) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Very good historical m/m mystery/romance, which finds Jonty and Orlando in Bath for academic pursuits, mostly. This one had me quite anxious (the temptation bit).
Putting Out Fires (Coda Book 5) by Marie Sexton. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about Matt trying to figure out what he can do for Valentine’s in order to make Jared feel appreciated.
Promises (Coda, Book 1) by Marie Sexton. ebook. After reading Putting Out Fires, I really wanted to read more Matt and Jared, so I read Promises and The Promise again. 🙂
The Promise (Coda, Book 3.5) by Marie Sexton. free ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about Matt and Jared, after they’ve been together for about 18 months. Reread.
First Impressions by Josephine Myles. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about an artist who becomes fascinated by the guy wearing a suit and crazy socks who he sits across from on the train every day.
Nowhere Ranch by Heidi Cullinan. ebook. Excellent kinky m/m romance about a guy who stays on the move since his family discovered he was gay and started praying for his soul. When he starts working at Nowhere Ranch, he certainly was not prepared for the interpersonal complications… but will he stay or will he go?
Long-Term by Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a university president who takes in a sub whose top kicked him out with not much more than the clothes on his back.
Finding Sanctuary by D.C. Juris. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s felt only half alive for a long time, even though he has all the trappings of success (nice house, lovely fiancee, good job). He’s slowly beginning to realize that what he actually needs are things that his father beat into him as being wrong.
Eros Rising by Ally Blue. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who’s staying in his not-so-good  relationship out of complacency, until he becomes friends with a stripper…
Ten Percent by R.J. Scott. free ebook short. Good m/m snippet (covering maybe an hour) about a guy sitting at his desk, thinking about what being out at work would mean.
Another Little Secret (Sandpipers, Book 1.5) by Jade Archer. free ebook short. Sweet, steamy short m/m/m romance that takes place some months after Sandpipers’ Secrets, at Valentine’s.
Granite: A Rocky Start by G.H. Worth. ebook. So-so m/m romance about a police detective and an assistant district attorney who’ve had the hots for each other for months, but neither realized the other was gay.

“Look at how cute and snuggly I am! You’re jealous, I know.” -Mayhem

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Should auld lang linkity be forgot…

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Yup, linkity’s on Thursday because there won’t be a post on Friday this week. Happy New Year to all of you!

Congrats to Tj, who won The Stroke of Twelve (Perfect Timing, Book 6) by Kim Dare! The Stroke of Twelve will be released by Total-E-Bound on January 3, 2011.

Congrats to Susmita, who won Offside Pass by Stephani Hecht! Offside Pass is the first book in Stephani’s new hockey series and will be released by eXtasy Books on January 1, 2011.

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  • Um. If it’s cold enough that you’re using the Nose Dialer instead of taking off your gloves to dial the phone, you’re probably going to get snot all over your phone…

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Teh Cute

Reading Update
Ummm… So I’ve been on vacation since last Friday and have gotten rather a lot of reading done… and I read a lot of shorts. Don’t freak. 🙂

Life Changes Everything (Life, Book 2) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romance mostly about Ben from Life or Something Scary Like That as he goes on with, well, life after the events of that book. This book does a nice job tying up the loose ends, even if I was kind of cranky about one of them while it was in process.
Sno Ho by Ethan Day. ebook. Reread. Very good m/m romance about a guy staying at a ski resort whose boyfriend was supposed to join him there, but instead dumped him over the phone. Funny, yet touching.
Life in Fusion (Sno Ho, Book 2) by Ethan Day. ebook. Very good m/m romance that picks up exactly where the first book left off and continues the story of Boone and Wade during the six months Boone said needed to pass before he would move in with Wade. And like the first book, this manages to be both funny and touching.
Big Balls and Trouble by Sarah Black. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a pro football player who’s in Boise for the summer and ready to admit that he’s always loved the childhood friend he hasn’t seen for years. I found this story frustrating because it was so short – it felt more like a fragment from a longer story than something that could stand on its own.
Tooth and Nail (His Hearth, Book 2) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a big, tough warder who takes too many chances because, according to the other warders, he doesn’t have a hearth (i.e., a mate). And then he rescues an angel…
Just One Bite (Volume 1) by Scarlett Blackwell, J.L. Merrow, Josephine Myles, Erik Orrantia, Nix Winter, & Stevie Woods. free ebook collection. Scarlett Blackwell: Very good, want more! Vampire. :: J.L. Merrow: Very good. Stone circle. :: Josephine Myles: Very good. Genie. :: Erik Orrantia: Pretty good. Mayan. :: Nix Winter: Ok. Fantasy. :: Stevie Woods: Pretty good. Vampire.
Delany’s Catch by Diana DeRicci. ebook short. Pretty good short paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter who walks into a bookstore to ask for directions and realizes that the proprietor is his mate.
Same Time Next Year by Eden Winters. ebook short. I’m not usually a fan of ghost stories, but this one, about a guy whose true love died when they were in college, worked pretty well, although I found it to be very sad.
Vanilla: The Dominant Ingredient by Andy Slayde & Ali Wilde. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a sub-for-hire, escaped from a bad situation, who is desperately trying to convince the man he’s staying with while he sorts out his life that he’d be the perfect sub. I want to read more about these characters!
Commanding Acquisitions (1-800-DOM-HELP, Book 2) by Christine d’Abo. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a dom, struggling not to lose his bookstore, who’s also lonely and needing something more than just casual encounters. He finds the mysterious 1-800-DOM-HELP business card in his office…
Floggers’ Holiday Sale by Stormy Glenn & H.C. Brown. ebook. Meh two-story kinky m/m holiday romance collection. The two stories were supposed to be about two different doms, each of whom purchased a sub at the Floggers’ (bdsm club) holiday auction, but things weren’t consistent between the two stories: in one, the dom’s not allowed to take possession of the sub until they both negotiate contracts; in the other, the club owner sends the virginal sub with the notoriously brutal dom and just tells the dom to bring the sub back to the club at the end of the week. Editing was consistently horrible across both stories, although perhaps a bit worse in the Stormy Glenn story – for the first part, “dominate” was substituted for “dominant” and “dominant” was substituted for “dominate”…
Hang a Shining Star by Ashlyn Kane. ebook short. Very good m/m holiday romance about a high school teacher who runs into a former student working at a Christmas tree lot and, discovering that the former student has no one to spend the holiday with, impulsively invites him over. My only complaint with this one was that the main characters were named Evan and Eric – I kept getting the names mixed up, as did the editor/proofer at least once! 🙂
Snow and Mistletoe by T.C. Blue. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about a guy with a really bad self-image who hasn’t had any luck finding journalism work. He starts finding mysterious presents outside his apartment door – he’s sure they’re from his friends, trying to cheer him up, because no way could he have a secret admirer…
Christmas with Danny Fit by Amy Lane. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy who’s still living with his mother at 30, not really living his life, until his burgeoning friendship with his sexy assistant at work inspires him to start making changes.
You Can’t Choose Your Family by Zahra Owens. ebook. Very good holiday m/m romance about a couple who’s been together for 20 years. One guy’s family is fabulously accepting; the other’s was controlled by his fire and brimstone father. Now that his father is dead, will anything change?
Christmas Bells by Andi Deacon. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about an assistant professor, staying at his parents’ house for Christmas, whose brother brings home a very attractive friend from grad school who doesn’t have anywhere to go for the holidays.
Silver Thaw by Nora Catherine Price. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about next door neighbors who get the chance to know each other a bit better because of an ice storm.
Sharing Christmas by Shae Connor. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy, recently moved to Atlanta for work, whose next door neighbor invites him over to help put together packages for the homeless shelter.
The Santa Mug by Patric Michael. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy whose boyfriend died four years ago and who’s basically retreated from the world since then, until a friend drags him along to a family Thanksgiving celebration.
A Very D Christmas by Jane Seville. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about D and Jack from Zero at the Bone, reconnecting with family, and being a bullied teenager. (Through 1/31/2011, a portion of the purchase price will be donated to the Trevor Project.)
The Christmas Visit by Marshall Thornton. ebook short. Good short m/m holiday romance about a guy returning to the small town he grew up in to see his dad at Christmas. He keeps running into the deputy who he’d had a crush on and who is now married…
Secret Santa by Deanna Wadsworth. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy waiting naked, blindfolded, and wrapped up with a bow as a present for his boyfriend, hoping to revitalize their fading relationship.
Well-Hung by the Chimney by E.M. Lynley, Ryan Field, & Chloe Stowe. ebook. Pretty good m/m holiday romance collection. I really liked EM Lynley’s story about the difficulties involved in mixing business with pleasure. Ryan Field’s story about a couple dealing with career changes and meeting family was ok. I found Chloe Stowe’s story about an Air Force colonel and a doctor at the Air Force base to be sort of confusing. I might’ve enjoyed Field and Stowe’s stories more had I realized they were about characters from a previous collection and read it first.
A Little Something for Santa by J.M. Snyder. ebook short. Ok short m/m holiday encounter about a guy waiting tables at an all-night diner who confesses to the cook that he has the hots for Santa.
A Christmas Eve Wish by Nicole Dennis. ebook short. So-so m/m holiday romance about a celebrity chef, planning to escape to his mountain cabin for a few days, who gets caught in a blizzard and discovers his cabin is trashed. This one didn’t work for me because of instalove and awkward writing.
All I Want for Christmas by Aeryn Traxx. ebook short. So-so short holiday m/m romance about a guy dreading his friends’ holiday party because his cheating ex will be there.
It’s a Calling by Mara Ismine. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance that I actually read in October, but I somehow managed to not write down the dates I read it or what I thought about it beyond “Huh.”
My Life in Your Hands by A.R. Moler. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about an ER doctor and an undercover detective who get together.
Eyes Wide Shut by Meredith Shayne. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a doctor and a miner who care deeply for each other, but that’s not enough, because the miner doesn’t want anyone to know they’re together. Part of this takes place in Perth!
Of Sound Mind by Elizabeth Brooks. ebook short. Good short futuristic m/m romance about a guy who has cancer and doesn’t want to telepathically bond with his destined mate because if he dies, his mate would die with him.

This is definitely a picture you need to click on to embiggen. 🙂

“Have a Happy New Year. Or else.” -Chaos

http://squee.icanhascheezburger.com/2010/12/28/cute-baby-animals-when-worlds-collide/
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Worn to a little nub from a crazy week, I still attempt linkity!

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Congrats to Courtney, who won Breathe by Sloan Parker!

Congrats to Marie, who won Mistletoe and Submission by Kim Dare!  Mistletoe and Submission will be released by Total-E-Bound on December 6.

Congrats to Brenna and LadyM, who won His for the Holidays by LB Gregg, Harper Fox, ZA Maxfield, and Josh Lanyon. His for the Holidays will be released by Carina Press on Monday, December 6.

Contests

Bookity

  • Author newsletters: Kim Dare (news, free story, and a contest) and Heidi Cullinan (I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I’m sure it’s filled with awesomesauce).

Ebookity

  • Have you been to Brief Encounters yet? It’s a new blog from Tam and Jenre, devoted entirely to reviews of short m/m stories. Congrats, you two! Were you concocting this in San Francisco?!

Think, Do, Learn, Make

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Reading Update
Unspeakable Words by Sarah Madison. ebook. Excellent paranormal m/m romantic suspense about a very precise San Francisco-based FBI agent who’s been shuffled around a lot because he’s not easy to deal with. He gets assigned a temporary partner from Quantico because of a new lead in an old case. When his temporary partner ends up sleeping on his couch, his orderly world is disrupted and things start to get interesting. I’m definitely hoping for more books about these two!!
Beyond Reckless by Ava March. ebook short. Very good steamy short m/m Regency romance about two men who enjoy the thrill of nearly being discovered…
Idaho Battlegrounds by Sarah Black. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a small-town Idaho sheriff who’s also a lieutenant in a National Guard unit that’s been in Afghanistan for the past four years. He’s now up for reelection against the corrupt interim sheriff, while at the same time getting to know a local dairy farmer who has a few secrets of his own…

Pretty Ugly (Petit Morts #6) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m story about a photographer who describes himself as “plug ugly”. He’s shooting an event when he encounters the elusive chocolatier Chance, who gives him a very special chocolate…
Sort of Stranger than Fiction (Petit Morts #7) by Josh Lanyon. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance about a small-town bookstore owner who’s quite intrigued by the scarred guy who owns a nearby dojo.
One Less Stiff at the Funeral (Petit Morts #8) by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Very good short m/m paranormal story about a guy who helps family members plan services for their freshly deceased relatives.
Critic’s Choice (Petit Morts #9) by Josh Lanyon. ebook short. Very good short m/m paranormal m/m romance about a film critic who gets the chance to work on a dream project and does so, even though he’ll be working with his cheating ex-boyfriend.
Wishink Well (Petit Morts #10) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Excellent short paranormal m/m romance about a man in a hospice, dying of COPD, who runs into the mysterious and alluring Chance stocking vending machines. This Petit Mort has sharper edge than the others.. and we find out a tiny bit more about Chance.
In a Wolf’s Eyes by Cassandra Gold. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who gets lost in the woods and found by a strangely intelligent wolf…
Copper Country Gold by Taylor Lochland. ebook. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a bobcat shifter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who’s been limiting himself to one-night stands because there aren’t any other gay shifters in the area and he knows his clan leader will never accept an outsider.
WHAT by Missy Welsh. free ebook short. Good free short paranormal m/m romance about a tattoo artist who has a crush on his straight boss.
Dinner and a Movie by Beth Wylde. ebook short. Steamy short m/m encounter about a couple out for dinner and a very unusual movie…
Strings Attached by Nick Nolan. ebook. Good but uneven m/m romance about a high school senior who discovers, after his alcoholic mother ends up in treatment, that his dead father’s family is wealthy. His transition to a life of privilege while he tries to figure out who he is and what he wants does not go smoothly. The author’s afterward reveals numerous references to the story of Pinocchio, only a few of which I caught. I’d suggest including a forward with an abbreviated version of that story to help the reader…
Double Bound (Strings Attached, Book 2) by Nick Nolan. ebook. Ok m/m romantic suspense that was all over the place. This book focused on the butler/bodyguard from the previous book. Unfortunately, especially the closer to the end of this book I got, it felt like the heir (the main character from the previous book) was back to being Pinocchio, with others deciding things for him.
The Christmas Wreath (Tales from the Bell End Cafe, Book 1) by Fabian Black. ebook short. So-so short m/m holiday romance about a young man who fancies himself in love with the older man who saved his life. I think this is the first installment in a serial story… and those drive me nuts. I’d rather read an entire story, not wait for it to be eked out.
The Perfect Tree (The Forbidden Room, Book 3) by J.P. Barnaby. ebook short. Steamy short kinky holiday m/m romance, after which reading you’ll not look at Christmas decorations the same again!
Twinkle, Twinkle by Josephine Myles. ebook short. DSP Advent Calendar. Good short holiday m/m romance about a doctor who, when treating an electrician shocked while checking the wiring for Christmas lights, realizes that the hunky electrician was the fat kid everyone beat up in school.
Biting the Christmas Biscuit (Broken, Book 1.2) by Dawn Kimberly Johnson. ebook short. So-so short holiday m/m romance in which the couple from Broken go to spend the holidays with one’s dead boyfriend’s family. The ending on this was odd – it just sort of stopped.
Storm on the Mountain (Mountain #7) by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance continuing the story of Mark and Allan, this time with a Valentine’s Day blizzard.
On Call: Crossroads (On Call #3) by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Very good short m/m romance continuing the story of veterinarian Dante and doctor Keith, as Keith tries to come to grips with losing a patient.
Housesitting by M. Durango. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Good short m/m romance about a guy who’s housesitting for his uncle for the summer, next door to the now-resident who was his teenaged crush.
Little Fishes by Syd McGynley. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Ok short kinky m/m romance about a master taking his slave to meet his family, who aren’t aware of the nature of their relationship.
How Did I Lose My Passport – And Find My Love by JM Cartwright. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. So-so short m/m romance about an absent-minded medical researcher who misplaces his passport while traveling and is surprised when his nemesis, the hospital’s COO, turns up to get things sorted out.

“That was tasty. I’m glad Mom left those crackers near the edge of the counter while she was getting something out of the fridge!” -Chaos