Reading Update
Into the Bermuda Triangle (Turbulence #1) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. serial. 5/13/2012: Very good short m/m paranormal setting the stage for future episodes of this serial about pilots who fly into the Bermuda Triangle. You are definitely left wanting more! 🙂
6/23/2012: I reread this before reading the second installment and am glad I did – not only did I get more out of it than I did the first time, it helped make things in the second installment clearer.
Autopilot Engaged (Turbulence #2) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. serial. The second installment of this paranormal m/m serial gives us more background on Dallas, how he ended up on this Bermuda Triangle flight, and what he thinks might be going on.
Boystown 4: A Time for Secrets by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Very good gay mystery in which Nick obtains information about a 25-year old murder that has dangerous current implications.
Fire on the Mountain (2nd ed) (The Mountains #1) by PD Singer. ebook. reread. Smokin’ hot m/m romance about two guys fighting forest fires together in the Rockies. I enjoyed the added flashback short story in this edition.
Fourth and Long by Chris Scully. ebook short. Sweet short timetravel romance about a guy whose life started going terribly wrong on the night of his high school prom. He doesn’t expect that to change on the night of his 20th high school reunion.
A Bar Tender’s Tale by Melanie Tushmore. ebook. Good m/m romance about a couple days in the life of a punk bartender as he progresses from a jerk boyfriend to a better boyfriend, even if said better boyfriend moves at a glacial pace.
Second Time Lucky (Middleton #2) by Ethan Day. ebook. Good m/m romance about two guys who run into each other years after things didn’t work out for them for no good reason in college. Can they keep that from happening again?
Bennie’s Wish by Xara X. Xanakas. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a wealthy but wishy washy guy whose friends take shameless advantage of him and constantly put him down, so when a cute guy hits on him, he can’t believe it’s for real.
Half-Baked Promises (Castor Springs #1) by Erica Pike. free ebook short. Pretty good short m/m story about an auditor who has to spend a few days working in the small Texas town where he grew up, although he might never manage to finish the job if that hunky construction worker doesn’t stop making so much noise. This didn’t feel like a complete story – more like the first few chapters of a longer work.
Losing and Gaining by Heidi Champa. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a guy who’s always been obese until finally, at age 25 (two years before the story starts), he decides to reinvent himself by eating better, working out, getting a new job, and changing his name. Too bad you can’t escape the past quite that easily… I thought this had a lot of potential, but I got frustrated with the main character’s doormat nature. People using each other’s names too much in conversation was an additional frustration.

“Why, yes, I am as mysterious as I appear to be.” -Mayhem

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Linkity lurches along

April 13, 2012 Chris 17 Comments

Congrats to SusieQ, who won Battle of Hearts by Valentina Heart!Â Battle of Hearts will be released on April 14 by Silver Publishing.

Contest

Embrace the Rainbow is giving away 36 different GLBTQQ ebooks and print books by 28 different authors. Make sure you read how to enter! Contest closes midnight EDT, April 18.

Bookity

New releases and more: Rarely Dusty Books (m/m romance), AAR (romances), and Book Lovers Inc (a little of everything).

Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

The 2012 Hugo nominees have been announced – and you can read some of them free.

Becky Black explains why writing is like playing Monopoly.

Surviving on a writer’s income. (via Jordan Castillo Price)

Bookwyrm Knits shares some of her thoughts on literacy in the US.

Why old books get that “old book” smell.

Details on JK Rowling’s first non-Harry Potter book have been released.

An editor’s erotic tale of lines and actions deserving of a snarky blog… Part 2. Part 3 (the end). (Thanks, Juni!)

Some humorous tips from Sloan Parker on how not write.

A calendar of fictional birthdays.

Do your cats judge your reading materials?

Better title for Much Ado About Nothing.

Book igloo.

Cool bookends.

Ebookity

Dear Author on options for backing up your ebooks.

Amazon isn’t going to kill publishing. “Amazon is not all of ebooks.” And also, Amazon is succeeding in spite of agency pricing, so… what was the point?

Dear Author explains the settlement between the Department of Justice and Hatchette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster.

Smart Bitches summarize some of the articles about the DOJ and publishers.

Sixteen US states are suing Apple and the Big Six publishers.

Australia might sue Apple and the Big Six publishers, too.

Think, Make, Do, Learn

The Ninth Circuit Court ruled that it isn’t a crime to break a Terms of Service (TOS) agreement, so no need to feel bad about never having read one! 😉

Rick R. Reed featured an interesting article about why Pinterest could be a game changer.

Go sign a petition in support of Electronic Arts, which is under attack from conservatives for including the option to have same-sex couples in a recent game.

The evolution of the pen.

The history of Peeps.

An easy way to check for and remove the Mac Flashback virus.

How identity theft works and how to counter it.

If you’re not thrilled that Facebook bought Instagram, here’s how to export all of your Instagram photos at once.

Drinking a beer might help your creative problem solving skills.

Matt Groening finally reveals where The Simpsons’ Springfield is located.

15,000 temperature records were broken in March (contiguous US).

Cookity

Soft pretzel bunnies. (via The Kitchn)

Menu for a backyard Mexican fiesta.

Deviled egg spread. (via The Kitchn)

Salmon and asparagus.

Spinach and artichoke grilled cheese. (via The Kitchn)

Spring superfoods salad. (via The Kitchn)

White bean and roasted veggie salad.

Black pepper tofu. (via The Kitchn)

10 rhubarb desserts.

15 slow cooker meals.

Puffy cloud s’mores. (via The Kitchn)

Gluten-Free

Gluten-free lemon-infused pasta salad with grilled asparagus.

Gluten-free poutine.

Portable gluten-free lunches (make sure you read the comments, too).

Five meals and five desserts to serve nearly everyone (even your vegan, gluten- and lactose-intolerant friend who’s allergic to nuts and eggs!).

Drinkity

Cake vodka martini. With sprinkles. (via CRAFT)

Jelly bean cocktail.

Crafty

Download a pattern to knit an Olympic gymnast.

Make your own charm bracelet. (via CRAFT)

Cool

Download an excellent free Leonard Cohen tribute album from Herohill. (via Cover Me)

Free iPad apps: National Geographic Today (cool photos) and Minds of Modern Math (a millennium of math history).

Canada now has a limited edition quarter with a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur on it… although it costs $30 to purchase one.

Smauglock Holmes.

Turn yourself (or a friend) into a superhero action figure! (Definite gift potential.)

There’s going to be a Katniss Barbie/action figure.

Looking at Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window from a different angle.

Penny-for-your-thoughts ring.

Vintage letterpress bracelet.

Pixelated crayons.

Amusing use of stock photos by Senator Al Franken.

Cool or Wha…?

Kitty art heels…

Millennium Falcon ice cube tray.

Star Trek Enterprise pizza cutter, which would probably go well with your Enterprise bottle opener.

It takes two people to turn the pages of the world’s largest atlas.

A “bottle” of wine that’s in four serving-sized portions.

Wha…?

The Chork – a fork combined with chopsticks.

iPod dock sofa.

A janitor found a portable meth lab in a Walmart bathroom.

Sunglasses shaped like the US.

Hotdog stuffed pizza crust.

A pumpkin pie-ish head covering?

Yellow and brown ombre crocheted shorts.

LOL

Poking at the recent spate of legislation restricting the reproductive rights of women in the US. (Possibly NSFW)

Darth Vader as a good dad.

Power to the Peeps.

Easter autocorrect fails.

Some litter box humor.

Get a cat they said…

How to tell when you shouldn’t try to cuddle your kitty.

Measuring happiness with cats.

I’ve been that kind of tired.

Teh Cute

Fennecs! Fennec! Tiger and baby! Baby tiger! Baby tiger! Baby tigers! Cheetah and baby! Red panda and baby! Kitten! Black jaguar! Kitten! Bird and bison! Fennec! Baby clouded leopards! Fennec! Baby tigers! Cheetah and babies! Hummingbird! Kitten! Baby penguins!

Reading Update
Magic Mansion by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about two magicians who briefly connect during auditions for a reality television show about magicians in which they both end up as participants (along with ten others). Who will take home the glory… and the $250,000 prize? Wonderfully written and with bonus points for a completely unique story concept!
The Art of Words by RJ Scott & Meredith Russell. ebook arc. Very good m/m romance about an artist with severe dyslexia that he keeps hidden. When his work attracts a wealthy, handsome sponsor, it seems too good to be true…
If Only by sadtomato. free online. Very good *braces self* Edward/Jacob slash. I can’t believe I typed that! LOL. But really, it’s just a story about a gay guy and his straight roommate/best friend… with a crazy number of “outtake” chapters at the end, including an alternate ending that made me sniffle a bit.
Little Boy Dead (Boystown #0) by Marshall Thornton. free ebook. Very good gay mystery prequel to the Nick Nowak Boystown series in which we get to meet a younger, less cynical Nick working as security for a film festival and just starting his new life as a private investigator. (Also, that is a scary belly button.)
The Long Con by Lori Toland. ebook. Good m/m romantic suspense about a British agent who tracks a stolen Faberge egg to New York City, where he’s mistaken for a prostitute and uses that to his investigative advantage. This book had a somewhat over-the-top old-school romance feel to it; while that’s not usually my forte, it mostly worked here and I got sucked into the story.
Ice Blues (Donald Strachey #3) by Richard Stevenson. Good gay mystery that starts with Don going to pick up his car (towed in a snow emergency, the bane of all northern folk) and finding a dead, frozen body in it…
Third Man Out (Donald Strachey #4) by Richard Stevenson. ebook. Good gay mystery in which Don is asked to protect a guy who forcibly outs prominent gay people and who fears his life is in danger as a result. (In the ebook edition I read, none of the acronyms were capitalized. Argh.)
Shock to the System (Donald Strachey #5) by Richard Stevenson. ebook. Good gay mystery in which Don tries to figure why a guy who’d dropped out of an ex-gay program ended up dead. (Had the same acronym issue as the previous book. And… aren’t these covers heinous?)
Chain of Fools (Donald Strachey #6) by Richard Stevenson. ebook. Good gay mystery in which Done investigates what may be one part of a family turning against another over selling the family’s award-winning newspaper to pay off debts. (No acronym issues! Yay!)
Learning from Isaac by Dev Bentham. ebook. Good m/m romance about a college professor who’s mutually attracted to one of his students (a senior), but they agree not to act on that attraction until after graduation. And then the professor runs into the student in a most unexpected place…
Reluctant Mate 2 by Eden Cole. ebook short. Meh short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who, aided by a drug that makes it seem as if he’s a shifter, vows to hunt down the wolf shifters who killed his brother.

Every time I see this sign in my neighborhood, it gives me the giggles, so I had to get a (somewhat enhanced) photo of it:

“You’re too close, Mom!” -Mayhem

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Linkity loves Banned Books Week

September 30, 2011 Chris 25 Comments

Stop by and enter the contest for Across the East River Bridge by Kate McMurray! Contest closes 7 pm CDT, October 10.

Congrats to Helena, who won Life Over Limb (EMS Heat #11) by Stephani Hecht! Life Over Limb will be released by eXtasy Books on October 1.

Contests

To win your choice of two books from LA Witt’s backlist, answer her question in the comments of the contest post by October 5.

Joder’s giving away a dvd copy of the third season of Fringe. Become a follower and comment by 11:59 pm, October 8, for your chance to win. US only.

Book Lovers Inc is giving away three different prizes (m/f erotic romance ebooks by Gracen Miller, plus a skull cameo pendant/pin for the first place winner). Comment through October 8 for your chance to win.

Bookity

New releases and more: Elisa (GLBT), Tor.com (YA SFF, UF/PNR/horror, fantasy, scifi), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog (a little of everything), and Book Lovers Inc (a bit of everything).

It’s Banned Books Week, and the Mary Sue notes that “women authors and books for young women top the ALA’s 2010 list of challenged books“.

“Are writers harming themselves by sticking with traditional publishers?“

Wave wonders whether we’re hitting saturation in m/m romance. A response. (You can track down many more response posts, too.)

Remember the one about monkeys, typewriters, and Shakespeare?

Miss typewriters, but like the convenience of word processing? Maybe USB Typewriter can help! (Thanks, Bron!)

Bendy rubber bookshelves.

Bookcase necklace.

Ebookity

The big news this week was the bazillion new Kindles that were announced, including a tablet, the Kindle Fire. Having trouble figuring out which Kindle you should get? This flowchart might help.

Some of the privacy issues with the Kindle Fire’s browser, Silk.

Thoughts and concerns on the new library lending program for Kindle ebooks.

Kobo’s got an Android tablet coming out soon, too.

An xkcd comic on DRM – and a post from TeleRead on how they think the comic misses the point.

Are ebooks eliminating the democratizing effects of reading?

Dear Author on ebook file bloat.

How important are ebook covers? (via TeleRead)

Ann Somerville discloses how much she sells on Smashwords in comparison to other sites.

How do ebook buyers discover new ebooks?

Think, Do, Make, Learn

“If you’re not paying for a service online, then you’re what’s being sold to advertisers and marketers.”

How to stop Facebook from tracking everything you do online.

A mom’s ideas for gender equitable science education.

RNA may be why women live longer than men.

If you’re female and you drink coffee, you have a 20% lower chance of depression.

If you cycle to work, you’re inhaling more carbon particles than people who walk to work.

Deadly food recalls for the week: cantaloupe and ground beef.

Brass thieves are rendering Chicago’s fire hydrants unusable.

The pumpkin shortage on the East Coast? Probably won’t happen.

The Washington Monument is shut down indefinitely while engineers assess how badly it was damaged by the earthquake.

Use kitty litter buckets to make very sturdy bike panniers.

How to make your cat’s life more interesting.

Cookity

Five chocolate desserts.

Eight fall salads.

Ten simple dips.

Fifteen fall cookies.

Spiced chai concentrate.

Stuffed fried olives.

Peel a head of garlic in ten seconds. (via The Kitchn)

Frozen latte cake in a mug. (via The Kitchn)

Chocolate-covered peanut butter pumpkins. (via The Kitchn)

Candy corn cupcakes.

Crafty

Build an inkle loom.

Make paper bag trees.

Learn to knit intarsia.

Knit Missoni-style vase cozies.

Crochet Toy Story aliens.

Use masking tape for “screenless screen printing”.

Make rope bracelets.

CRAFT is on Pinterest.

Cool

The North American Dialect Map is fun to explore. The heavy MinneSOHtah accents you heard in Fargo? You’ll find them in the Iron Range Dialect Area in northern Minnesota. (Thanks, Bron!)

Kitty donuts! (Thanks, Seanna!)

Game of LEGO pool, anyone?

LEGO Tower of Orthanc and the Last March of the Ents.

Decaying LEGO Victorian house.

LEGO lunch boxes and bottles. (via The Kitchn)

Free Firefly-inspired rap songs you can download.

Was this the world’s largest public lightsaber fight?

Temporary knitting-themed tattoos. (via KnittyBlog)

The new Gorillapod Micro tripod has gifting potential.

For Doctor Who fans, the Master’s pocket watch also has gifting potential. (via The Mary Sue)

M/m, yaoi, and GLBT linkity from Sloan Parker.

Do you live in one of the most probable places for a zombie infestation?! (via The Mary Sue)

Lioness rescues stranded cub!

Cool or Wha…?

Infinite regression Cosby sweater.

Full-scale LEGO Ford Explorer.

Cat scratch(er) turntable.

Cutline necklace.

Skeleton hand bracelet/ring thingie. (via The Mary Sue)

Wha…?

If you weren’t sufficiently traumatized by what those male models were wearing last week…

A bacon font…

A vintage Mickey & Minnie Mouse ad for milk… (Thanks, Seanna!)

The Free Flexor – is it the most sexually suggestive exercise device?

Cheech & Chong promoting fiber…

No, I don’t really want rat poop and bug larvae in my coffee, thanks.

Shirt that looks like you spilled coffee on yourself.

A jacket designed so you can carry 22 pounds of stuff on your body instead of paying for it in your luggage when you fly.

Insanely expensive buttered pancake floor pillows.

Toast-scented air freshener for your car.

LOL

Some humor about the Oxford comma, or lack thereof. (Thanks, Seanna!)

The Princess Bride Monopoly (sadly not a real product). (via The Mary Sue)

Why the Bloggess loves her neighborhood.

Five autocorrected color names.

Ten autocorrects involving food.

What a clever parent!

The lost Doctor Who episode?

Literal computer problems.

Poor Chester.

A kitty truth.

What happens when there’s a cat malfunction in the tubes of the internet?

Kittens worry about these things.

While the free wi-fi and caffeine might tempt you… RUN!

Don’t tread on me…

Basement Cat meets Old Spice commercial?!

Teh Cute

Kittens! Albino hummingbird! Kitten! Baby red pandas! Kitten! Baby leopard! Kitten! Baby Tasmanian devils! Kitten! Lioness and cubs! Kitten! Cygnets! Baby fennec fox! Many baby pandas! Red panda and babies! Baby pandas! Otter and babies!

Reading Update
Woke Up in a Strange Place by Eric Arvin. ebook. Very good fantasy m/m story about a man who wakes up in the afterlife, with no memory of his prior life, and, with the help of a cryptic guide, begins a journey to recover his memories and make his peace with the significant people from his life.
Blood Howl by Robin Saxon & Alex Kidwell. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a guy, formerly Special Forces, who now offers those skills for hire. When a job goes in an unexpected direction, he has no idea how much his world is about to change… If a few more questions had been answered by the end of the book, this could have been a five-star read. Maybe there will be a sequel?
Ex Equals by LA Witt. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy, formerly in the Navy, who has just started teaching math at a community college and discovers that his ex (still in the Navy) is in his evening class.
In Remembrance of Us by AJ Rose. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy suffering from amnesia after a mugging. He’s missing the last two years of his life… including he and his best friend becoming much, much closer. I got sniffly while reading this one. (Be aware that there’s cheating, which I realize is an automatic no for some readers.)
Boystown 3: Two Nick Nowak Novellas by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Two very good historical m/m mysteries about Chicago PI Nick Nowak. It’s 1982, and no one really understands why gay men are getting sick… 🙁
Bulletproof (A Matter of Time #3/#5) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Enjoyable roller coaster of a read that picks up three years after A Matter of Time. Sam’s been away from home in deep cover for months. Jory’s working a job he hates and trying to extricate himself from the complicated interpersonal situations he tangles himself into.
A Little Bite of Magic (Magic #1) by MJ O’Shea. ebook. Sweet paranormal m/m romance about a witch/chef who leaves his pretentious family behind in New Orleans to open a restaurant in San Francisco.
Happy Trails by Carol Lynne. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a college student out hiking with his cop brother and his brother’s hot work partner. This read like a snippet from a longer book rather than a complete story, which I found frustrating.

“I am sooooooooooooo bored.” -Mayhem

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Please stay properly hydrated and nourished as you peruse linkity

May 6, 2011 Chris 31 Comments

Congrats to Helena, who won Fanning the Flames (The Match Before Christmas #2) by Eden Winters! Fanning the Flames will be released by Torquere Press on May 7.

Congrats to Lynn, who won Sharing Paul (Portals #3) by Jade Archer! Sharing Paul will be released May 9 by Total-E-Bound.

Contests

Tracy’s giving away a copy of Tara Taylor Quinn’s It Happened on Maple Street. Comment byÂ 7 pm PDT May 6 (today) to enter.

Over at Amara’s place, Cat Grant’s giving away an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m romance, A Fool for You, and a Nook. Contest closes 11:30 pm PDT, May 10.

Amy’s giving away two tickets to see Cirque du Soleil in the Twin Cities on May 27. Contest closes midnight CDT, May 12.

Leontine’s giving away your choice of a romance book/ebook released in May. Answer her question in the comments by May 16 for your chance to win.

Bookity

New releases and more: Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Renee (various romance/UF/PNR), Fantasy Dreamer (ongoing list/calendar you can subscribe to for UF/PNR etc), AAR (romance audiobooks), and Book Lovers Inc (various romance/UF/PNR).

Book and publishing news from Dear Author and book linkity from ReadReactReview.

There’s going to be a Hyperbole and a Half book!

Another good post from Kassa, this time suggesting that we focus on the authors who respect and do not trash reviewers instead of on badly behaved authors.

Marie Sexton and Heidi Cullinan talk about snark online.

Dear Author and Smart Bitches on cliffhangers. (Me? I hate them. I stopped reading Karen Marie Moning’s -fever series because of the cliffhangers.)

Fiction Vixen explains how she keeps track of her books.

If you haven’t read War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, go read this review at Smart Bitches to see why you should (besides that it takes place in my neighborhood!).

For several months, Fleeting Pages will open a pop-up bookstore in an old Borders space in Pittsburgh to sell indie books.

Make page-corner bookmarks with cute monsters on them.

Book xylophone. (Thanks, Juni!)

Minnesota House Majority Leader Matt Dean “launched a peculiar and unhinged attack on noted local author Neil Gaiman.” Here’s the comic book version of the incident (via Wyrdsmiths).

Ebookity

Digital sales have increased Simon & Schuster’s profits.

Do, Learn, Make, Think

West-central Minnesota had an earthquake last Friday!

Some excellent thoughts from Minnesota Representative Steve Simon (DFL Hopkins/St Louis Park) on HF 1613, a proposed amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that “only a union of one man and one woman is valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota.” I know how I’m voting in 2012.

Let the FCC know what you think about the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile buyout.

A group gathered in Washington, D.C., to remind the FDA that we’re still waiting for their definition of gluten free, which was supposed to be released in 2008.

Some foods can help keep weight off.

Where you should live in order to avoid natural disasters.

If you’ve always wondered how astronauts use a toilet in space…

How to avoid spreading misinformation on the internet.

The number of US households with tvs fell for the first time since 1992. Of course, by their definition (“TVs that aren’t hooked up to traditional programming sources don’t count as TV-having households”), I apparently don’t have a tv. *looks over at 27″ Sony non-tv*

Cookity

Strawberry margarita popsicles sound pretty tasty, although using Mike’s Hard Lemonade means they’re not gluten-free.

Solar system cake pops!

Homemade Snickers bar.

Homemade Cheez-Its.

Use Jolly Ranchers to make some brightly colored flavored vodka.

Extra-dark brownies.

Gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crumble.

Crafty

Crochet some flower coasters.

Adding a crochet edging to tea towels gives them a vintage look.

Make environmentally friendly cat toys.

Surely you know a toddler who needs some knitted kitty pants?

Make baby aprons instead of baby bibs.

Make a vegetable patch quilt.

Make and send tiny photo postcards!

Make a Portal Sentry Turret egg cup.

Geeky craft books: The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun (NERF blowgun project), The Star Wars Craft Book, and World of Geekcraft.

Cool

A knitted object so big it can be seen via Google Earth! (Thanks, Cheryl!)

I’d love to see a movie about yarn graffiti.

Cat/knitting/food linkity from Mrs. Pao.

A wonderful quote.

Maybe you need some new geeky wallpaper for your computer – everything from Batman to a TARDIS.

The Popular Science DIY archives are sort of mindboggling. (via Gizmodo)

A new Super Soaker that uses magazines to reload.

If regular scissors just aren’t versatile enough, maybe you need Cuts+More Scissors.

The Necono Cat Camera is now available in the US.

Posters perfect for cat owners.

Dr. Who shoes.

A bottle opener with geeky gift potential.

Cool or Wha…?

Skeletor belt.

Elliptical bicycle.

Anatomical fiber art.

Soft serve ice cream tie.

Networked Etch-a-Sketches.

Wha…?

Did you celebrate Hairball Awareness Day (last Friday) by wearing jewelry made from cat hair? I didn’t, either.

Creepy beetle backpack.

Fashion mystifies me. I like the “Better” picture, though!

Spectacularly ugly, creepy boots.

Lobster bra.

Kitchen sponge dress.

Finger-nose stylus for touchscreens… (via Gizmodo) (Very Clockwork Orange-esque…)

Loungers made from shopping carts do not look comfortable.

Augmented reality tattoo?!

Thermochromic urinal…

LOL

The video in this post has one of the best (and certainly the one with the most cats) explanations of a voting system I’ve seen!

Have you used the Lovecraft knot to tie a tie before? (Thanks, Juni!)

I think this shall be my new favorite saying.

Simon’s Cat super short. 🙂

Aw, who wants to be on the rescue party!?

LoTR-themed cat humor.

Flee, kitteh, flee!

Chaos is the evil twin…

Yes, Chaos, it was my shoe…

Whoops!

Oh oh…

Teh Cute

Video: Mama cat adopts baby red panda…

Kitten silhouette! Hummingbird! Kitten! Sugar glider! Kittens! Mama and baby cheetahs! Kittens! Mama and baby jaguar! Kitten! Bull moose and cow moose! Alvin! Rainbow bee eater! Kittens! Bun! Bun! Kitten! Polar bear family! Kitten! Hedgie! Pygmy marmosets! Baby penguins! Fox kit!

Reading Update
Shifting Sands by Jet Mykles, Ally Blue, Willa Okati, JL Langley, Kimberly Gardner, & Brenda Bryce. ebook collection. Very good paranormal m/m collection about the cowboys of the Shifting Sands Ranch, who have been cursed to shift into animals from the Chinese zodiac each full moon. The stories were smoothly integrated, with the exception of one author who got carried away with the puns. Thanks to to Tam’s review for reminding me I had this one!
Some Kind of Magic by R. Cooper. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romantic suspense about a werewolf detective who’s known for two years that the half-fairy consultant is his mate, yet hasn’t done anything about it because everyone knows that fairies don’t do anything for the long haul.
The Red Thread of Forever Love by Nicole Kimberling. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a Canadian folklorist traveling in Japan who has somehow attracted a very amorous spirit…
A Rose is a Rose by Jet Mykles. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a beautiful young man, just dumped by his sugar daddy, who becomes friends with the very sweet straight owner of his apartment complex. I got a little sniffly while I was reading this one.
Alphabet Soup by CB Conwy. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a carpenter who keeps going to a BDSM club and hooking up with different Doms as he tries to get what he needs. He hasn’t been at all successful… and then he meets CK, who doesn’t behave like any of the other Doms. This story starts immediately after A Russian Bear and the free short Malaria, Cholera and Bubonic Plague takes place during this story.
Hotwired Heart (Tales from Rainbow Alley #1) by Jaime Samms. ebook short. Good short kinky m/m romance about a guy, trying to escape from his life as a gang member, who ends up in the Rainbow Alley part of town.
Finders, Keepers (Tales from Rainbow Alley, #2) by Jaime Samms. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s inexperienced about bdsm and trusts the wrong Dom, who basically abuses him. This book would’ve worked better for me if it hadn’t been told in first-person, alternating between three different people. Also, stalker alert! 🙂
Fix This, Sir (Tales from Rainbow Alley, #3) by Jaime Samms. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s not doing so well recovering from a crippling injury on top of numerous other issues. I am so glad that this book was alternating third-person instead of the alternating first-person of the previous book! Made a huge difference for me. I was a little worried that this book suffered from Omniscient Dom Syndrome, but it turned out ok in the end.
A Helping Hand (Tennessee Cops #2) by Shayla Kersten. ebook. reread. This story of a closeted cop with a crush on his straight best friend was one of the earliest m/m romances I ever read, and I like to reread it periodically.
Mr. Plum by Sue Brown. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about two guys who always see each other at the same coffee shop and then in the train station before their morning commute. I love this cover.
Cup Check (Blue Line Hockey, #3) by Stephani Hecht. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a deeply closet hockey player who’s terrified that coming out will ruin his chance of ever making it to the NHL.
Anything For You by Ethan Day. ebook. Good m/m romance about a deeply closeted ad exec who gets involved with a coming-out advocate. This generates some tension… Maybe it’s because they’re mostly (all?) written in first person, but Ethan Day’s books are starting to all feel the same to me.
Going the Distance (Driven to Distraction #2) by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox. ebook. Good short m/m romance following up with the professor and the mechanic who got together in Driven to Distraction as they sort out what they are to each other.
Sonoran Heat by Katrina Strauss. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy in his 40s, recently single for the first time in nearly 20 years, who starts to date a much younger artist and student.
Wishing Star by Jambrea Jo Jones. ebook short. Cute short holiday m/m romance about a guy, sitting outside his stalled car in the middle of nowhere on Christmas Eve, who wishes on a star for true love and wakes to find himself miles away. This felt a bit rough due to some missing words and pronoun confusion.
Broken Rules (Broken #1) by Jade Buchanan. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who hasn’t been to his home town for ten years (ever since his parents kicked him out of the house when they discovered he was gay), but returns for his mom’s funeral and runs into his former best friend. I was frustrated by the sheer number of names introduced during the first third of the book. I’m not sure if that frustration was the reason I never fully connected with the characters or the story. Maybe.
Second Chance by Derek Adams. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a jogger and a cop who meet after the jogger chases down a burglar, then slowly get to know each other better.
Full Release by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Ok m/m mystery about an accountant who slowly realizes he’s being framed for a murder and tries to figure out who’s the actual killer. Unfortunately, he spent most of the book doing the most stupid thing he could in any given situation – TSTL characters frustrate me. A lot.

“If you loved me, you would feed me right now and forget this whole ‘It’s not time for dinner’ thing.” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Long ago, in a linkity land…

January 28, 2011 Chris 29 Comments

Contests

Cecile’s giving away an ebook copy of Strange Familiar by Cassidy Hunter. Contest closes January 29.

Tracy’s giving away a copy of books 10 and 11 in the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr. Contest closes 11:49 PST, January 31.

Larissa’s giving away a signed copy of Catch Me If You Can (Romano & Albright, Book 1) by L.B. Gregg. Contest closes February 4.

Blodeudd’s giving away two copies of Yours for the Taking by Robyn Kaye. Contest closes Feb 3. Patti’s also giving away two copies of Yours for the Taking and her contest closes February 4. (US & Canada)

Juniper Moon Farm is holding a fundraiser to help a Vermont organic vegetable farmer who basically lost his entire business to a barn fire. There are many, many fibery prizes to help encourage people to donate! Donations will be accepted until February 6. (Thanks, Seanna!)

Bookity

New releases and more: Tor.com (YA paranormal; UF/PNR; fantasy; scifi), Katiebabs (books she’s looking forward to), and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

Via Dear Author, a post from Ursula LeGuin mocking the new morality clause HarperCollins has added to its author contracts. Definitely read the comments on the post!

Neil Gaiman on seeing words he wrote in an unexpected place.

Eric Arvin shares some writing wisdom.

Ten websites Paperback Writer would love to see on the internet.

Paperback Writer would also like a checklist for returning ideas to her muse.

Ebookity

Trying to get pdfs to fit on your ereader’s screen better? Briss might help.

Ebooks are now outselling paper books at Amazon.

Tired of your Kindle? Microcosm Publishing will trade you paper books and magazines for it.

Publishers need to decide whether they’re selling ebooks (providing full ownership rights for the purchase price) or providing a rental (at rental prices). Another, longer opinion piece on the same topic. Dear Author weighs in, too.

The first all-indie ebookstore in Australia is called SPUNC. *ahem*

Make, Think, Do, Learn

Writing helps you learn better than typing does.

If you need help visualizing how big the internet is…

How to modify your google searches to give you better results.

Do you need a mouse that works on your couch?

Eighty percent of US divorce lawyers say that social media is now mentioned by their clients as one of the reasons the marriage failed.

Use an old gift card as a headphone cable wrapper.

ModernCat’s odor elimination survival guide could come in handy.

How to determine the cost of clutter.

Check out The Kitchn’s tips for removing baked-on food from pots and pans.

Make some spicy dark hot chocolate to drink!

McGyver would be proud of you for modifying a hand-crank flashlight with a usb port so you can manually charge your tech gear.

Try a 15-minute no-equipment workout developed in 1904! Or you could use Craigslist to put together a home gym.

Cool

Jase and Juni started a blog called Happiness Is Shy! (NSFW)

Last week, The Kitchn blog focused on gluten-free foods and concerns. Recommended! (Thanks, Jodi!)

Tape art – way better than you expect.

ThinkGeek has a Molecular Cuisine Starter Kit.

A 1:35200 scale toy train set is very, very small.

Maybe a child you know needs a homemade TARDIS.

Geek jewelry links from EPBOT.

Extemely geeky tote bag.

Turn a soda can into an embossed box.

These yarn words are pretty nifty.

I have a very similar fabric keychain that I love.

Kristi’s got crafty, photography, and food linkity.

Print free US Patent Valentine’s cards.

Amazingly, this fun short action film (Lazy Teenage Superheroes) was made for $300.

Gorgeous animated short film about a little girl on a carousel.

Huh

You can’t even take a three-inch toy gun through airport security…

Using bombs for snow removal instead of shoveling – not recommended.

I hope that this isn’t really what Lady Gaga’s forthcoming fragrance will smell like.

Now you can buy frozen pizza and frozen cookies in a single handy package.

The L cup bra size just debuted.

T-shirt fail.

Air pollution monitoring t-shirt…

MeatWater. Just say no.

LOL

I’m a fast listener, too. (Thanks, CursingMama!)

Bronwyn Green on dropping off her son at a birthday party with an apology… and more.

Fun video mashup of the Minnesota-Wisconsin December 2010 blizzard, including a cute song.

Toni Andrews on how to excavate a buried car “using only a small hand shovel and your own wits”.

Guillotine by Gillette.

Infographic humor.

The Oatmeal’s State of the Web, Winter 2010 edition.

Bottled water addicts should skip this link.

Not kitty treats!

Kitty law #1?

I’ll pass on the skwerls, but the rest sounds good to me.

I’m sure many kitty boys have this same question.

Yeah, I can picture Chaos saying that.

Teh Cute

Kitten pile! Baby flying squirrel! Kitten! Baby polar bear! Red panda! Wee hedgehog! Bunny! Panda! Fennec fox! Baby skunk! Kitten and bunnies! Red panda! Lynx kittens!

Reading Update
The Tourist by Clare London. ebook. Excellent paranormal m/m romance told from the perspective of a tourist, a spirit who can head hop, albeit with limited control. Usually he just stays for the sex and then moves on… but something’s different for him this time. This totally sucked me in and I couldn’t go to bed until I finished it. To be released 2/28.
Another Enchanted April by Eric Arvin. ebook. Excellent and cleverly written m/m romance about three friends on vacation in a seaside town, staying at an Italianate villa with intoxicatingly lovely gardens. Each of them will be profoundly changed… but not necessarily in the ways they expected. (And I may have gotten sniffly whilst reading this. I can neither confirm nor deny.)
A Strong Hand by Catt Ford. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a famous photographer of erotica who’s shooting a catalog of high-end sex toys when he begins to realize he’s attracted to his assistant after his assistant models for the shoot.
Ruby Slippers by Alexi Silversmith. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a police detective who thinks that men shouldn’t wear makeup or do anything feminine, so when he finds out what his boyfriend does for a living, things get ugly. I enjoyed the chance to see James and Ethan from What They Say About Love as secondary characters.
Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Very good collection of three m/m mysteries featuring Chicago PI Nick Nowak. Set in 1980 before AIDS devastated the gay community, these gritty stories reminded me of Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski mysteries, only with a lot more sex. 🙂
Boystown 2: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Another very good collection of three mysteries featuring Chicago PI Nick Nowak. I really, really hope that the author is busily working on Boystown 3, because the final story ended on a surprising (but sadly realistic) dark note.
Out on the Net by Rick R. Reed. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy who finally accepts that he’s gay 20 minutes before he’s supposed to get married to a woman. The story is told via his blog as he tries to figure out being gay and meeting guys in his small town.
Bloodlines by Jessica Lee. ebook. Very good (and smokin’ hot) paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shapeshifter, supposed to be the next alpha of his pack, who’s kicked out of his pack when his father discovers he’s gay.
Red Hot by Kate Roman. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a straight guy who breaks up with his girlfriend because he can’t stop thinking about his male roommate.
Brush with Desire by Chrissy Munder. ebook short. Very good steamy m/m short that starts with an exhausted IT guy drooling over a hot man in a suit he sees in the grocery store and ends with a smoking hot (and humorous!) encounter between them.
Hearts and Flowers by Chrissy Munder. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about an accountant, a found puppy, classified ads, and quite a bit more. While I enjoyed the story, I felt there was just too much going on for the story’s length.
Driven to Distraction by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox. ebook. Good m/m romance about a professor who inherited his grandfather’s collection of classic cars. When he damages one of the cars, he has the chance to get to know his mechanic much, much better…
Possession (Devlin Island, Book 1) by S.W. Vaughn. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about an unfortunate vacationer who runs aground on Devlin Island with the worst possible timing, then meets a crabby male witch trying to figure out if there’s a demon loose on the island.
Where He Belongs by D.C. Juris. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m/m romance about a sub who left his two masters and now has to try to convince them to take him back.
Sandpipers’ Secrets (Sandpipers, Book 1) by Jade Archer. ebook. Good m/m/m romance about a guy who desperately needs a job to keep he and his brother off the streets and so is happy to get a kitchen job at Sandpipers, despite the attraction he feels to the couple who own the restaurant.
Xavier’s Way by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who realizes that his now ex-fiance was siphoning money out of his business. But what are these strange feelings he has for the handsome auditor he’s hired to gather evidence of his ex’s wrongdoing?
A Measure of Discipline by Diane Adams. ebook short. Ok m/m short about a guy who’s leaving his university number crunching job and needs to train two student workers to take his place. I haven’t read the two previous stories and, alas, this was just confusing as a standalone.
Best Man by Shelley Munro. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about two closeted rugby players and teammates, neither of whom knows the other is gay, who’ve been lusting after each other.
Work of Art by Rob Knight. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a neurotic artist and a guy who manages musicians. This was basically just a little slice of their life together and I couldn’t really see a point to it.
Tryst by Stone Richards. ebook. Meh m/m romance about a PI who gets sent to London to investigate a prominent businessman for a company considering a deal with the man. The whole thing was so implausible…

“Ok, you’re right, your phone doesn’t have a flash…” -Chaos

“…But the big kitty and I think you need to stop taking pictures of us anyway, flash or not.” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Should auld lang linkity be forgot…

December 30, 2010 Chris 34 Comments

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 Stephaniâ€™s new hockey series and will be released by eXtasy Books on January 1, 2011.

Contest

Tracy’s giving away a pdf copy of Karen Mercury’s m/m/f Western historical romance, Working the Lode, to someone who comments by 11:59 pm (PST), January 4.

Bookity

New releases and more: Elisa (GLBT); SciFiGuy (UF/PNR, YA); Tor.com (UF/PNR, fantasy, scifi); and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

Book linkity from Dear Author and ReadReactReview.

Does the Library Journal article that listed some m/m romances to get libraries started on an m/m romance collection mean that the genre is gaining mainstream acceptance?

Sign ups are now open for the 2011 M/M Romance Challenge.

An American Editor wonders if Amazon has too much power.

Aw, a lamp for your nightstand that’s shaped like a little house and your book becomes the house’s roof when you’re done reading for the night. Not quite so cute if you’re reading an ebook. 🙂

Ebookity

The state of ebooks at the end of 2010. Some ebook publishing predictions for 2011 from Smashwords. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reviews its predictions from the beginning of 2010.

Ebook readers are putting classics on best-selling (free) ebook lists.

How to use your new ebook reader or iPad.Â Helpful tips for new Kindle owners.

How to do more with your Kindle.

Make your own inexpensive iPad or ebook reader stand.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

Gluten-free cookie recipes.

Amazing bee facts! (Thanks, Jase!)

Build a magnet-free compass from Legos.

Two no-sew techniques for inserting a zipper into knitwear.

Dealing with the compulsively neat person in your life.

Turn the Christmas cards you received this year into Christmas postcards you can send next year.

Some ideas for keeping the holiday spirit alive throughout the year.

If you got a new gadget for Christmas, check out Gizmodo’s handy setup guides.

You might be able to get rid of your texting plan by using one of these eight applications.

Why one Gizmodo writer ditched iTunes for mp3s from Amazon.

Idling your car for longer than 30 seconds isn’t a good thing.

Are gift cards good gifts? Some tips on how not to waste gift cards.

An infographic on the personal economics behind holiday gift giving.

Is it better to “self insure” your pets than to buy pet insurance?

Even if you know you’re getting a placebo, it can still work.

Ack! The Nintendo 3DS can actually mess up kids’ eyes! 🙁

Best Of

Craft 2010: Knitting & Crochet

Craft 2010: Geek Crafts

Doctor Who crafting

Belated Gift Idea

Recreate your classic family photos.

Cool

Fallingwater… in gingerbread.

A rainbow making machine.

A coffee table that splits in half to reveal storage.

Amazing photo of running horses.

Twenty hours of blizzard compressed into 38 seconds.

Turn your crappy old kitchen cupboards into chalkboards.

A Clockwork Orange Chucks!

Nothing says geek quite like percentile dice hanging from your rearview mirror…

Cheryl continues to outfit her Barbies in high style. (The kitty is my favorite addition to Barbieland!)

If you’re having trouble coming up with New Year’s resolutions, this handy generator might help. (via Paperback Writer)

Huh

2010’s silliest sales taxes.

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…

Male/female plug rings (not as dirty as you’re thinking)…

CDs that look like lunch meat…

Panther paw/claw boots…

Pink “shoehawk” heels…

LOL

The secret beind bad GPS directions.

Pets and the Christmas tree…

Poor Ceiling Cat!

Woe the unladen swallow!

Teh Cute

Kitties! Baby bun! Baby cougars! Kitten! Squirrels! Tiger cub! Bunny! Charlene Butterbean! Kitten! Cheetah! Kittens! Baby reindeer! Baby penguins! Kitten! Baby chinchilla!

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.