These are a few of my linkity things (well, ok, more than a few)

Congrats to Deanna, who won the copy of A.M. Riley’s recent m/m romantic suspense, Son of a Gun!


Contests

Reading & Beyond

  • For info on new and upcoming releases, contests, interviews, and more: Lily (m/m romance), Literary Escapism (paranormal romance, urban fantasy), Katiebabs (all sorts of romance), and SciFi Guy (urban fantasy, paranormal romance, etc).
  • Both KMont and Katiebabs found examples of cover art reuse last week!
  • Jenre did a really interesting series of posts at Desert Island Keepers on category romance themes in m/m romance: historicals, westerns, and others.

Learn-Do-Make

Sad

LOL

WTF

Squee!

Reading Update
Jude in Chains by K. Z. Snow. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a gay journalist who attends a “reparative therapy” camp pretending to be a straight journalist.
Out of the Blue by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Very good m/m historical romance about a British and an American pilot in France during World War I.
The One That Stayed by T.C. Blue. ebook. Poignantly sweet m/m romance with characters who will be familiar to those who’ve read TC Blue’s The One That Was Lost and The One That Got Away. The story is told in a mixture of present day and flashbacks, with perhaps a bit too much headhopping.
Cinnamon Dreams by Vic Winter. ebook short. Cute short m/m romance a guy who ditches his hated office job to work in a bakery, where he spends a lot of time drooling over the hunky baker…
Officers in Need and Uniform Hardness by John Simpson. ebook shorts. These short m/m stories had some of the most stilted, least natural sounding dialogue I’ve ever read. They weren’t meant to be humorous, but I laughed out loud more than once. Ouch.
Man Down by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Enjoyable m/m romance about a paramedic student with a secret past and a paramedic who doesn’t really want to find him intriguing. While the characters from Running Hot do make brief appearances in this book, I think either book could be read first.
Still the One (The Best Gift, Book 2) by Shawn Lane. ebook short. This sweet m/m romance takes place five years after The Best Gift. Malcolm and Dusty are deeply committed to each other, but what will happen when they end up on opposite coasts for their careers?
Until the End of Time (At Long Last, Book 2) by Shawn Lane. ebook. Good m/m romance follow-up to At Long Last. Prescott and Scott have been together for seven months, but is Prescott ever going to admit to his parents and friends that Scott’s not simply his roommate?
Finding the Divine by J.L. Jensen. ebook short. Good m/m romance about a nurse who becomes friends and roommates with the sexy new doctor at the hospital. They’re attracted to each other, but neither knows the other is gay. This was part of Torquere’s “Arcana” series and was the first one I’d read in which the Tarot played a major part in the story instead of just being added as an afterthought. Also, it was set in the Twin Cities, which is always fun for me to read.
If I Must by Amy Lane. ebook short. reread. After reading the great review of this sweet m/m romance short at Reviews by Jessewave, I had the urge to reread it myself. Just as good the second time as it was the first!
The New Client by J.M. Snyder. ebook short. Meh short m/m mystery about a PI who’s hired by woman to find her missing twin brother. Not much of a mystery, plus a pretty glaring condom gaffe.
Savage Awakenings (Lost Shifters, Book 3) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. I have to confess I’ve put off reading this m/m paranormal because it’s Rat’s story; since I’ve always had this urge to punch Rat in the previous two books, I wasn’t sure I could make it through his book. Instead, I got totally sucked into the story. 🙂
Bound by Nature (Force of Nature, Book 1) by Cooper Davis. ebook. I really liked Boys of Summer by Cooper Davis. Alas, this m/m werewolf romance does not measure up well. While I don’t mind books in which flashbacks are used well (such as in Amor en Retrogrado and Son of a Gun), the alternating chapters of present and past in this book drove me nuts. As did a glaring continuity error in which one character puts on his glasses… and then picks up and puts on his glasses a paragraph later. How many simultaneous pairs of glasses can one person wear?! *ahem* Anyway.
To Hate and To Hold by Dakota Rebel. ebook. Good m/m paranormal romance about two vampires who hate each other and get bonded together as part of a mysterious curse. Their cursed bond forces them to get very, very familiar with each other… (Yes, that’s Slouching Open Black Jacket Guy on the left!)
A Pint Light by Devon Rhodes. ebook short. Enjoyable paranormal m/m romance about a vampire who’s expected to mate with a mage and is somewhat surprised to discover the mage is male.
Love Me Dead by A.M. Riley, Lex Valentine, & William Maltese. ebook collection. Good m/m paranormal romance collection about ghosts. (That cover scares me more than any ghost would…) I particularly enjoyed the two stories by A.M. Riley. Lex Valentine’s story was pretty good, but maybe a bit too sweet for me at the end. And, as is par for the course, I skipped the story by William Maltese.
Fire Season (Tales of the Darkworld, Book 3) by Lex Valentine. ebook. Ok m/m paranormal romance about a straight dragon shapeshifter whose fated mate turns out to be male. I thought the strongest part of this story was the time it spent showing how Holden dealt with (and didn’t deal with) his sudden attraction to a guy, which gets glossed over in a lot of fated mate stories. I didn’t like that Garrett made a lot of pronouncements, but never followed through on them. I also really wish I hadn’t read the epilogue, which suggests that their story isn’t finished… and I definitely won’t be reading the rest of it, based on that.
Caging the Tiger (Animal Attraction, Book 4) by Michelle Houston. ebook short. Ok m/m paranormal romance about a tiger shifter who’s finally going to meet the magician with whom he’s been corresponding for years. I think I’m done with this “series” of unrelated shorts, though – I just don’t care enough.
Guardian by Kalita Kasar. ebook short. Ok m/m romance about a guy who has no memory of his life before he was hit by a car when he was ten. And why does he have a recurring dream, from which he wakes yelling for Ben? He doesn’t know anyone named Ben… (Oh, good eye, you! That is BBG on the cover!)
Laying a Ghost by Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance set on a Scottish island, about a fisherman who’s lived there all his life and a guy who comes to the island to live in the house his uncle left to him. Even with the insta-love aspect of the story, I really enjoyed this book. I know there are two additional books (and I have them already), but I’m not not sure I’ll be reading them soon because this really felt like a complete story unto itself.


“But I don’t want to use the other portable kitty cave, big kitty. I want to use this one.” -Mayhem

“Tough luck, May. I got it first and I’m prepared to defend it with my laser eyes!” -Chaos

33 thoughts on “These are a few of my linkity things (well, ok, more than a few)”

  1. Congrats Deanna! Oh, lots of links!

    I can’t believe your cats are happy to get into the kitty caves! Very cunning to have them out 🙂
    .-= orannia´s last blog ..Peeking =-.

  2. I can’t believe you didn’t love Rat! Sigh. You know with those kinds they are hiding inner hurt. I’ve read my romance trope psychology books. 🙂

    Didn’t you just want cinnamon buns while reading that book? Well, I did, I know you can’t have normal ones. Hell, now I want a Cinnabon.

    I remember the author saying for the dragon one there is a third, a woman and after she has a baby she kind of fades into the background (she’s a tool to get the kid) but while I enjoyed that one I won’t be reading onward either.

    I gotta get shopping, lots or newish books I’ve missed the last couple of weeks.
    .-= Tam´s last blog ..A minute to update =-.

  3. I will have to try something like that cat tree. (Eventually.) Given how much Mel likes the unmodified Ikea bookcases…

    I like the font picker graphic thing, too.
    .-= naomi´s last blog ..eye candy friday =-.

  4. Hi Chris:

    Thank you for mentioning Heather’s contest. It is for an excellent cause.

    Thank you too for all the links I read a few, Josh Laynon’s open letter to readers was so well crafted and it’s appreciated that authors find fanmail encouraging.

    The post on plagarism saddened me, however I hope something is done about it.

    Just so you know, your posts keep me going when I feel like I can never write and publish another post. And, yes, Donna will be greatly missed.

    Best
    L

  5. Lol…. Laser light eyes…
    Hey Chris.. just dropping in to see what’s shaking! Hope all is well…

    Of course I will spend all day stalking you… as you have all these links! =)

  6. Okay, I’m tryin’ to write a book over here!

    Now you’re adding links to the links. So not fair. Not gonna talk about which ones I checked out, or added to google reader.

    But I will say that while cute boys and kitties is…cute, I think it really needs to be made NSFW, if you know what I mean.

  7. Oh, and thanks for mentioning me. I’m sure no one will think that I’m a whiny (or whingy, if you’re British) blogger person.

  8. Great links as always and thanks for the mention.

    Wow, you did a lot of reading. Bound by Nature was disappointing especially since I loved the author’s first book. To Hate and To Hold was a fun story and Laying the Ghost was also good. Books 2 & 3 are good but you’re right, it could have stopped at book 1 with no problem.

    I’ve got a few others on my TBR already and some waiting for my next shopping trip.
    .-= Lily´s last blog ..Double Blind by Heidi Cullinan =-.

  9. I’m still raging over story of the elderly couple and I’m baffled by the plagiarizing reviewer. That’s just odd and sad.

    The deep fried sweater was just bizarre.

    Must show my youngest son the kitty laser cartoon – these are the kinds of comics he draws. 🙂

  10. Thanks for the mention!

    The story about the gay couple is so sad. I’m sure there are others affected in a similar way too.

    Oh I like the chalkboard refrigerator.

    I saw the Bloggess post earlier and laughed until I cried.
    .-= Sydney´s last blog ..Ferret Spring Fever =-.

  11. Aww, thanks for the shout out. Maybe one day…I’ll be back. Right now, I’ve enjoyed browsing everyone else blogs at a leisurely pace. 🙂

    Ewww…the rectum bar…Yuck!!

    Thanks for the links!! The Inside-out Peanut Butter cups look scrumptious.

  12. Bloglines didn’t like me for 24 whole hours!

    I think that your brain allows you a certain number of Harlequin romances and rejects them when you’ve reached your quota. I’ve definitely reached me quota.

    I also had my vet warn me ages ago that using laser pointers with pets was shown to lead to neurotic behavior.

  13. I think I am developing a case of OCD with these linky post…

    This time it took me all of 5 dyas to get through them…

    Loads of info and tips there -thank you…

    I have read quite a bit of that list of books – and I cant believe you didn’t like Rat – I thought he was the only one who actually spiced up that place…

    Hope you have another great reading week..

    E.H>
    .-= Erotic Horizon´s last blog ..Monday Round Up: Slow and Steady I go…. =-.

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