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Congrats to Renee, who won Danny and Mike by Valentina Heart! Danny and Mike will be released by Silver Publishing on September 29.

Congrats to Serentiy, who won Love Comes Silently by Andrew Grey! Love Comes Silently will be released on October 1 by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to Victoria H and Marsha S, who each won Dex in Blue (Johnnies #2) by Amy Lane! Dex in Blue will also be released by Dreamspinner Press on October 1.

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*Because a catastrophic Firefox crash took out my plugins and left me VERY CRANKY…

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Contests

• Chances to win backlist ebooks from JL Merrow and Josephine Myles on the Hot Pressure blog tour at Pants Off Reviews and Tam’s Reads.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a signed copy of Season for Surrender by Theresa Romain. Contest closes October 5.

• Tracy’s giving away an ebook copy of Starved for Love by Annie Nicholas. Contest closes 7 pm PDT, October 7.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Tor.com (UF, genre benders, fantasy, scifi) and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Book and library links from Mental Floss.

• Twitter for newbie authors.

• Part two of how Goodreads caters to authors from VacuousMinx.

• “Free riding, free expression, and familiarity in genre fiction.”

• One of the reasons indie booksellers haven’t done as well as they might have.

• Jessewave reports on the reader poll of how we like our m/m romances.

• This is not going to end well.

• Frightfully expensive and impractical, but nice to look at – the book chair.

• “I’m just going to read a few pages…”

• LOL-worthy quote from JK Rowling.

Ebookity

• If you purchased a Nook or Kindle ebook of JK Rowling’s Casual Vacancy, you may be experiencing formatting frustrations.

• Infographic on the rise of ereading.

Think, Learn, Make, Do

• Garrison Keillor on the Republican party.

• Why it’s so difficult for pandas to get pregnant.

• What determines whether cats will show spots or stripes. (via awyeahbigcats)

• “Cats adore, manipulate women.”

• Canadian… cheese smugglers?!

• Other nut butters have been added to the peanut butter recall.

• “Buddhist iron man discovered by Nazis came from outer space.”

• Pointing laser pointers at the moon…

• What would the oceans look like if the earth didn’t spin? (via The Mary Sue)

• How to get bacon in every bite of your BLT.

Cookity

• Veggie skeleton. (via The Kitchn)

• Asparagus quiche with spaghetti squash crust. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• Roasted radicchio and shrimp with warm bacon vinaigrette.

• Mushrooms on toast.

• 10 ways to eat a potato for dinner.

• Loaded potato skillet. (via The Kitchn)

• Green curry shrimp. (via The Kitchn)

• Braised brisket with red wine and prunes. (via The Kitchn)

• 10 recipes for ground beef.

• 10 egg salad recipes.

• 15 dinners you can double and freeze.

• 10 pear recipes.

• 7 fall pies other than apple.

• Peanut butter and jam cupcakes. (via The Kitchn)

• Pumpkin biscuit cinnamon rolls. (via The Kitchn)

• Cinnamon roll pancakes.

• Make your own Nutella. (via Lifehacker)

Drinkity

• Pumpkin kahlua maple latte.

• 20 smoothie tips and recipes.

• Grand Veev cocktail.

Crafty

• Is etsy going to go pro?!

• Macrame flashback. (NSFW)

• Exploding ball of yarn.

• Knitted sandwiches. (via knittyblog)

• Make a bat mobile. Heh. (via CRAFT)

• Carve rocks with a Dremel. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Starry Night made with images from the Hubble Telescope.

• LEGO Hobbiton.

• The Lake Harriet elves say vote no on the Minnesota anti-marriage amendment!

• Google now has underwater Street View.

• Dragon claw bracelet.

• Squishy Celtic knot pillow.

• The Princess Bride celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Cool or Wha…?

• Butterbeer lip balm.

• Geeky car emblems.

• Wooden guitar spoons.

• Doctor Who workout.

Wha…?

• Inflatable Tauntaun costume.

• Pre-peeled, re-wrapped bananas…

• 12 cat-related patents.

• Self-driving cars are now legal in California.

• Smart socks.

• Zombie corset. (via The Mary Sue)

LOL

• We are the introverts…

• More from Henri the existential cat.

• Oh oh…

• Ah, kitties…

Teh Cute

• Black panther and baby! Egret! Black kitten! Cheetah butt! Baby cheetah! Tiger! Tiger! Snow leopards! Cheetah and baby! Swans! Tigers! Cheetah and babies! Snow leopard! Baby tiger! Baby tigers! Baby red pandas! Valais blacknose sheep! Kitten! Red River hog and baby! Kittens! Tree kangaroo and baby! Tiger and baby! Baby leopards!

Reading Update
The Hot Floor by Josephine Myles. ebook. arc. Very good m/m/m romance about a glassblower who’s attracted to the couple living downstairs from him. As they become friends, his attraction only increases, but he respects their rule about not getting involved with people they see all the time. And then things change in a flood of surprising circumstances…
Heart in Hand by salifiable. free ebook/online fiction. reread. Very good m/m romance about two hockey players on rival teams who become friends – and more – through an unusual turn of events. I got sniffly more than once while I was reading this one. What didn’t work so well for me were all the hockey details in the last third of the book, which got to be a bit much. (Note that this is, as Kate puts it, set in an alternate universe and features two real-life NHL players.) Reread: Just as good, if not better, on the reread. My eyes leaked this time, too. Reread the second: Yeah, I read it twice this week. 🙂
If Heaven’s Hypothetical by Shoemaster & Impertinence. free ebook/online fiction. Very good m/m romance about a guy who runs away from home and his minor league hockey team in Canada because he doesn’t think he has a choice. And then he becomes friends with a vaguely familiar guy who keeps coming into the diner where he waits tables…
At the End of All Your Lines by Lake (beyond_belief). free ebook/online fiction. Surprisingly sweet short m/m romance about best friends and hockey teammates who get drunk married in Las Vegas.
Not a Heart of Gold by queeniegalore. free ebook/online fiction. Steamy short m/m romance about a hockey player who becomes obsessed with the thought of his teammate and best friend as a hooker he can buy.
Inferno by Scarlet Blackwell. ebook. Good m/m romance about a closeted cop who’s pissed at a sexy club owner for being tempting… oh yeah, and for being a murder suspect, too. 😉 Over-the-top drama ensues.
Baked to Death (Simon Kirby-Jones #4) by Dean James. Good gay mystery in which an old friend shows up trying to regain Simon’s affections and a medieval fair provides a dangerous distraction. This was the last book in the series and one thing had to happen for me to be happy with how it ended. I’m happy. 🙂
How to Quit Playing Hockey (Hockey #1) by Isa K. ebook. Good m/m romance about two closeted minor league hockey players whose idyllic summer together ends with the start of the new season as one is sent up to the majors and the other faces the possibility of being cut from the team and trying to define a post-hockey life.
There’s Cock in This Book (Hockey #0.5) by Isa K. free ebook short. reread. I should’ve refreshed my memory and reread this before reading How to Quit Playing Hockey! Good short m/m story about a deeply closeted minor league hockey player who survives by keeping his head down and blending in… until the new guy on the team hits on him. With a bit more proofing and a less abrupt ending, this would have been a 4.5 star read.
Another Dead Republican (Tom & Scott #13) by Mark Richard Zubro. ebook. Good gay mystery in which Tom and Scott head to Wisconsin to support Tom’s sister after her loathsome husband was murdered during a gubernatorial recall election. A titch more editing would have helped on this one.
Summerboys by stlkrchck. free ebook/online fiction. Good m/m romance about two camp counselors who don’t communicate with each other very well. I think this one’s probably more fun if you have actual familiarity with the hockey players who inspired the fic.

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*admires the unbearable cuteness of Mayhem*