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Congrats to Anke, who won Face Value (Sanctuary #3) by RJ Scott! Face Value will be released by Silver Publishing on April 7.

Congrats to blodeuedd, who won Fortune Hunter (Brook Street #2) by Ava March! Fortune Hunter will be released by Carina Press on April 9.

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Contests

• Cryselle summarized the various m/m romance paperback giveaways on Goodreads.

• Jenre’s giving away an ebook copy of The Starving Years  by Jordan Castillo Price. Contest closes end of April 7th (GMT).

• Kaje Harper is giving away winner’s choice of two of her ebooks. Comment by midnight CDT, April 7.

• The Hoppy Easter Blog Hop runs from today through Monday and features hundreds of prizes in the form of ebooks and gift certificates, from both mf and m/ romance authors.

• Babes in Boyland is giving away an ebook copy of Daybreak for a Stolen Child (Stolen Child #4) by Anna Mayle. Contest closes 9 pm CDT, April 9.

Bookity

• New releases and more: m/m romances (Pants Off Reviews, Rarely Dusty Books), Tor.com (UF), Literary Escapism (PNR/UF), The Book Binge (romances), AAR (romance audiobooks), and Book Lovers Inc (a bit of everything).

• AAR discusses what the Slow Book Movement considers to be “good literature”.

• Bookish linkity from Smart Bitches. More bookish links from ReadReactReview.

• M/m romance, publishing, and writing links from Becky Black.

• Tips on showing personality when writing (vs telling).

• Difference between passive voice and verb tenses.

• Turn an old book into a secret hiding place.

• Query humor and tips from Paperback Writer.

• What would a particular young adult heroine do in this situation? (via The Mary Sue)

Ebookity

• “How NOT to gain readers and influence bloggers” if you’re self-publishing. (Thanks, Juni!)

• Marketing for self-published authors. (via GLBT Promo Blog)

• The DoJ might be close to an agreement with publishers in the publishing antitrust investigation. Is Amazon going to come out the winner?

• An American Editor considers whether agency pricing has been good or bad for him as a consumer. He did what I did – simply stopped purchasing books from agency publishers – although part of my reason was deciding not to purchase any ebooks with DRM.

• People who read ebooks tend to read more than do those who read print books. Here’s a summary of the  report. (via TeleRead)

Think, Do, Learn, Make

• Ack! The US Social Security Administration was hacked and they didn’t bother to tell people?! (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• Up to 1.5 million credit card numbers were stolen from a company that processes payments for the major credit card companies.

• “How do ordinary Americans spend their money?”

• Um, letting the chicken industry to take over inspections at poultry plants sounds like a really bad idea…

• A gallery of women in science.

• NASA’s 3D model of the Texas tornadoes.

• Transgender terms and concepts.

• “Living without your daily bread” from the Gluten-Free Goddess.

• If you have a Mac, you should check to see if it’s been infected by a new trojan.

• World paper consumption has increased by half in the last 30 years. Paperless society FAIL.

• Worldwide vanilla shortage?!

Cookity

• Marshmallow Peeps.

• Nutella no-bake bars. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• Macaroni & cheese muffins. (via The Kitchn)

• Chickpea flour steamed savory snack cakes (gluten-free/vegan). (via The Kitchn)

• 15 appetizers to amaze.

• 15 fabulous appetizers.

• 15 appetizerish flatbreads and pizzas.

• 10 quick appetizers.

• 10 pretty appetizers. (Why, yes, it was appetizer week at The Kitchn, why do you ask?)

• 3 spinach dip variations.

Crafty

• Zombie socks… (Thanks, Bron!)

• Knit a rag rug. (via CRAFT)

• Chalkboard paint jars. (via The Kitchn) (I really need to make a couple of these from Mason jars to help me remember to drink enough water!)

Cool

• Coming out, geek style. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• 50 amazing photos. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• Free iPad app from National Geographic on the building of the Titanic.

• Rainbow winged unicorn cake.

• Unicorn silhouette shower curtain.

• Dalek egg.

• President Obama and Nichelle Nichols giving a Vulcan salute.

Cool or Wha…?

• Inflatable Star Trek captain’s chair.

Wha…?

• A pop-up tent that you pull behind your bicycle.

• Someone is putting felt vulvas on statues in Nova Scotia…

• Pants with a built-in… picnic table?

• Indeed – why is the safety vest model shirtless?!

• Ear-shaped earbud storage…

• Bacon coffin.

• Worst album covers ever.

• A priest was planning to make a PowerPoint presentation to members of his congregation, but instead gay porn played when the flash drive was inserted… (aka AutoPlay is dangerous)

LOL

• Jeanne thinks Chaos needs this charm for his collar…

• If you’re amused by vintage ads that have homoerotic overtones, you must check out Kate Roman’s tumblr.

• March’s funniest autocorrects.

• Creative (attempted) tax deductions.

• Shopping with the dubious help of online reviews.

• Game of Ponies.

• It’s not easy being a clown.

• Scary/humorous “fortune”…

• This percentage seems low to me.

• Interpreting dog language.

• Les chats ninjas.

• Oh oh…

• Kitties do know!

• This is May, sometimes.

Teh Cute

• Baby otters! Baby otter! Sitatunga and baby! Baby royal antelope! Baby polar bear! Kittens! Panther and baby! Kitty paws! Lioness and baby! Lioness and baby! Baby lion! Baby cheetah! Dog and baby tigers! Tiger and baby! Tiger and baby! Cat and kitten! Baby zebra! Baby tapir! Sandhill crane and baby! Cat and kittens! Kitten! Red panda!

Reading Update
Scrap Metal by Harper Fox. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about a linguistics student who returns to his family’s sheep farm after his mother and brother are killed, leaving his grandfather to work the farm alone. When someone breaks into one of the barns, he has no idea that things are about to take a turn for the better. Make sure you have tissues handy for this one!
The Rare Event by PD Singer. ebook. Very good m/m romance about two radically different hedge fund traders before the subprime mortgage meltdown: one takes too many risks in both his personal and professional lives, while the other is far more careful in both. He finally realizes that loving the risktaker, who scoffs at monogamy, is tearing him apart… The heavy focus on the stock market and stock trading details very nearly lost me in the early part of the book, but I persevered and got sucked into the rest of the story.
Handle with Care by Josephine Myles. ebook arc. Very good m/m romance about a diabetic computer programmer who works from home because he’s on dialysis, and the high point of his days is when the cute purple-haired skatepunk stops by to deliver a package. Bonding over a shared love of the X-Men, they become friends… and then everything changes in a day. I must confess that there was something I really felt needed to happen that didn’t, which was what prevented this from being a five-star read for me.
Face Value (Sanctuary #3) by RJ Scott. ebook arc. Very good m/m romantic suspense picking up where the second book left off – the guy they rescued is safe… for now. But will his doctor be able to keep him safe?
Ambush (True Colors #2) by Clare London. ebook short. Steamy short m/m scene between Zeke and Miles that will leave Miles with some distracting memories of his office.
Crooked by Missouri Dalton. ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance about a cop who goes astray after killing the monster who killed his partner. This could easily have been much longer (so much plot! So few words!) and had an extremely open ending (not really even HFN) that makes me fear one of those Torquere serials.
On the Other Hand, Death (Donald Strachey #2) by Richard Stevenson. Good gay mystery in which Don’s hired by a sly developer to find out who vandalized a lesbian couple’s barn, in the hope that they’ll be more willing to sell their property out of gratitude.
On the Dotted Line by Alexa Snow. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who’s deep in debt and falling further behind, but none of his friends have any idea; neither does the doctor he starts to date. Something about the writing style felt really awkward to me.
Drowning in You by AR Moler. ebook. Ok m/m romantic suspense about two DEA agents who become much closer after one of them nearly dies… This felt really choppy – it jumped from scene to scene instead of transitioning. Also, the ending leaves it open to become a series.
View from the Top by Carson Shepherd. free online. Very short steamy m/m scene that just doesn’t have enough context to really work.
Not That Type of Guy by Sara York. ebook. Meh m/m romance about a CIA assassin who’s been in denial that he’s gay until something happens on the job that makes him reevaluate things. The plot was over-the-top implausible and the relationship between the two MCs had me rolling my eyes.

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“I’m sure I can come up with something to be crabby about…” -Chaos

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Since I never heard back from the first winner, Jaime Samms is the new winner of Ambush (True Colors #2) by Clare London!

Congrats to Dorome, who won The Rare Event by PD Singer! The Rare Event is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to Cole, who won For the Living by L.A. Witt! For the Living will be released on April 1 by Amber Allure.

Congrats to Erica Pike, who won Queen’s Man by K.D. Sarge! Queen’s Man will be released by Turtleduck Press on April 1.

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Contests

• Luisa Prieto’s giving away an ebook copy of the rereleased and expanded edition of After Dark. Make sure you read the directions for entering! Contest closes morning of April 2.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook copy of Earthly Concerns by Xavier Axelson. Contest closes 11:59 pm EDT, April 2.

• Bronwyn Green’s giving away an ebook copy of The Caline Conspiracy by MH Mead. Contest closes 7 pm EDT, April 4.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Sins of the Son by Linda Poitevin. Contest closes April 26.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Tor.com (PNR, genre benders, scifi, fantasy), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), and Book Lovers Inc (a bit of everything).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• American high school students are reading at fifth grade levels… (via The Digital Reader)

• How print books are made.

• Goodreads members are tagging more books as dystopian.

• Is fanfic about to go mainstream? Another article.

• An artist who makes book sculptures… from bowling balls.

• Is manga obscene?

• The Hunger Games movie reviewed in comic form.

• Complaints written by medieval monks in the margins of illustrated manuscripts.

• Smart Bitches takes a look at the covers of historical romances.

• An online game based on Pride & Prejudice. (via Smart Bitches)

• Some Hemingway humor.

Ebookity

• Find out more about New Zealand’s ebook reading habits.

• The Harry Potter books are finally available at Pottermore.

• Do ebooks help reduce intellectual snobbery when reading in public?

• Ethical consumption and ebooks.

• “The silliness of a lot of ereader criticisms.“

• Mark Coker of Smashwords has released a free ebook called The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success.

Think, Learn, Make, Do

• Thoughtful and funny post about two dads taking their kids on what turned out to be a very short roadtrip. (Thanks, Bron!)

• Thoughtful post from the father of a seven-year old who’s identified himself as gay. (Thanks, Jase!) Plus a post from KD Sarge about one of the comments on that post.

• “Are women people?“

• How to sneeze more quietly. (There’s a guy at work who really, really needs to read this.)

• Break ideas to help boost your productivity at work.

• What gives new cars that new car smell?

• How cats survive falling.

• The boundary between North and South Carolina has been redrawn and moved quite a bit in some places.

• A study found that people who eat chocolate every day tend to be thinner than people who eat chocolate less frequently.

Cookity

• Pomegranate orange crush. (via The Kitchn)

• Strawberry and honey sorbet.

• Rhubarb custard tea cake. (via The Kitchn)

• No-bake lemon and coconut icebox cookies.

• S’mores cheesecake. (via The Kitchn)

• Nutella cupcakes. (via The Kitchn)

• Turn Jordan almonds or M&Ms into little birdies. (via The Kitchn)

• Gluten-free bran muffins.

• 10 gluten-free desserts.

• 15 different ways to serve fruit for dessert.

• 15 easy no-bake desserts.

• 15 light and easy desserts.

• 20 lemon desserts.

Crafty

• Turn photos into cross stitch patterns.

• Crochet an owl beanie. (via CRAFT)

• Sew a cool cat bed. (via CRAFT)

• Cool crafty photos.

Dangerity

• Robot Unicorn Attack: Evolution looks very addictive. Personally, I’m not going to find out.

Cool

• Some stats from the ten seasons of MythBusters.

• Map of the US winds – it is strangely soothing to watch.

• LEGOesque crayons.

• LEGO version of The Dark Knight Rises trailer.

• LEGO DC Universe. (via The Mary Sue)

• Cthulhu earrings.

• Tumblr’s terms of service.

• Scientific wedding photo shoot.

Cool or Wha…?

• Learning about avalanches leads to better… ice cream.

• An edible cookbook.

Wha…?

• It’s possible to dislocate your neck by sneezing?!

• Is that the name of an Android phone… or a condom?

• 1943 Disney propaganda film to get Americans to pay taxes.

• A man in Coon Rapids, MN, has 400 reptiles in his house?!

• Batman haircut…

• Yoda plush backpack.

• Backpack with a built-in hood.

• Mrs. Doubtfire latch hook.

• Fashion?

• Kotex seems very unconcerned about selling tampons with bread mold on them…

LOL

• A tale of water pipes from the Yarn Harlot.

• Can’t unsee the Sheep Who Must Not Be Named…

• xkcd on Cadbury eggs. (Hover your mouse pointer over the comic for additional text.)

• If you’ve ever wondered what apps Mr. Burns of the Simpsons has on his iPad…

• 10 more autocorrects.

• I ask this question all the time.

Teh Cute

• Black leopard and baby! Black-footed kitten! Lion! Lioness and baby! Lioness and baby! Baby cheetah! Baby tiger! Baby black panther! Swan! Baby clouded leopards! Kitten! Kittens! Kittens! Leaping kittens! Lamb! Penguins and baby! Wee baby fox! Baby owls! Purple-crowned fairywrens!

Reading Update
A Ring and a Promise by Devon Rhodes. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about two guys in the military who start a friends with benefits relationship as cadets… but what will happen after they’re commissioned and sent in different directions? I got a little sniffly on this one.
Cold Turkey by Zebbie. free online. Very good m/m romance about two guys who dance around their attraction to each other, but are too stubborn and proud to admit to any such weaknesses. Be aware that this just barely has an HFN ending.
No Other Life Than This by podga. free online. Very good m/m romance about a fifty-ish guy who’s resistant when his best friend wants to set him up with a date for said best friend’s third wedding. This could’ve used a bit of groveling and explaining near the end, but it managed to work without that.
A Year Full of Days by seventhswan. free online. Very good m/m romance that follows up with Nate from The Side Effects of Forgetting, who isn’t doing very well at all watching Kellan date Will.
I Know What I’m Doing by AzanianHeat. free online. Very good m/m romance about a guy on holiday who unexpectedly runs into the straight guy he once made out with in university five years prior… the straight guy who fled, but hasn’t been able to forget their encounter. Set in South Africa, which was a refreshing change of pace.
Gambling on Maybe (The GlitterBomb #1) by Fae Sutherland. ebook short. reread. Very good short m/m romance about a delightfully flamboyant guy who decides he needs to add some sparkle to a closeted cop’s life. My only complaint was that I wanted more!
Games Boys Play (The GlitterBomb #2) by Fae Sutherland. ebook short. Cute short m/m romance following up on “the gayest of the gay boys” Zach and “Officer Hotness”. As others have mentioned, it was just too short – these two could’ve filled a novel.
Coming Out With the Truth by zolia_lily. free online. Good m/m romance about a writer who moves to a small town after he’s dumped by his boyfriend for a woman, then gets involved with someone deeply closeted.
The Good Old Boy by Carson Shepherd. free online. Good m/m romance about a guy who returns to the small town he grew up in (and fled years ago) after he loses his job, gets dumped by his boyfriend, and breaks his arm.
I Read a Lot by lill_street_writer. free online. Sweet m/m romance about an intense guy who mostly reads during his free time, not really needing to be around others until he meets an intriguing bookstore clerk. This story had some missing words and letters that were an ongoing, lowgrade annoyance.
Life Between Day and Night by podga. free online. Good, but very short, m/m romance about dancing around the edges of attraction, not wanting to ruin a friendship.
All That Matters by podga. free online. Good short m/m romance about two closeted colleagues, one of whom is married, who work for an international corporation and travel a lot.
Chicks Just Get in the Way by Carson Shepherd. free online. Steamy short m/m/m scene that takes place when things don’t go at all as the scheming friend planned. Be aware that there’s dubious consent in this one.
Happy World by Kiernan Kelly & Tory Temple. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who works at Happy World (basically Disney World) and rigidly follows the rules until a free-spirited trainee disrupts his routine and gets under his skin.
Dharma Cafe by Jessica Freely. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about sorcerers and demons and food magic and dreams that you should possibly not read if french fries are your favorite food. The writing was very simplistic, but I got sucked into the story anyway.
Po’ Boys by Lydia Nix, Kiernan Kelly, TC Blue, Julia Talbot, & BA Tortuga. ebook. Ok collection of m/m romance stories (one paranormal) set mostly in New Orleans. I mostly kept reading because I was feeling too lazy to not keep reading…
Fire by DWSimon. free online. Meh short m/m romance about a closeted firefighter who never sleeps with the same guy twice. There was plenty of poorly written sex, instalove, and the arson subplot wasn’t resolved.

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“This spot was a lot more pleasant when the heat was on…” -Mayhem

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Congrats to Evelyn A, who won Playing the Point (Blue Line Hockey #6) by Stephani Hecht!

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Contests

• Joyfully Jay’s giving away the six m/m romance released by Carina Press for their M/M Romance Week. Contest closes 11:59 pm EDT, March 23.

• LA Witt’s having a mullet-themed title contest – go check out the rules and enter for the chance to win an ebook from her backlist. Contest closes noon EDT, March 24.

• Janna’s also giving away the six m/m romances released by Carina Press for their M/M Romance Week. Winner announced March 25.

• Joder’s giving away an ebook copy of Haste Ye Back by Wendy Burke. Contest closes 11:59 pm CDT, March 25.

• Missouri Dalton’s giving away a print copy of her book The Hanged Man’s Ghost, plus some knitting related goodies. Contest closes April 7.

• Guess when the giant pile of snow will finish melting and you could win a prize at Knitnzu!

Bookity

• New releases: Book Lovers Inc (a little of everything).

• Dear Author focused on fan fiction this week: Fan Fiction: A Tale of Fandom and Morality. Fan Fiction, Plagiarism, and Copyright. Are Fictional Characters Copyrightable? Fan fiction Q&A with a law professor. Fan fiction, Slash and M/M Romance.

• Becky Black on converting fan fiction.

• RWA put out an equality statement – it’s definitely a step in the right direction, although they really need to change “sexual preference” to “sexual orientation.”

• Two 2012 m/m romance conferences.

• Better book title for The Hunger Games?

• Smart Bitches couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on with this book cover, so they held a caption contest – here are the winners.

Ebookity

• How ebooks (specifically Kindle sample chapters) have changed plot structure.

• Ereading might affect our memories of what we read – but that might not be a big deal.

• Should publishers be adapting to an abundance model instead of their former scarcity model?

• PDFs – a dead end for digital publishing? (Yet still they persist…)

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• Retail gas prices over the last decade.

• Scientists have figured out how to stop guys from going bald.

• 10 exercise myths debunked.

• Red meat’s definitely been in the news lately – will it kill you? Or make you happy? And here’s a post that breaks down the dubious science behind some of these studies.

• Meteorologists think our early warm weather is weird, too.

• Turn a single sheet of paper into a cd case. (via Lifehacker)

• Keep your old cell phone and car charger in your car for emergencies.

• Turn mason jars into wall planters.

Cookity

• Vegan Girl Scout cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• Cadbury cream cookie cups. (via The Kitchn)

• Inside out Chinese spring roll salad. (via The Kitchn)

• 5 affordable dinners for one person.

• 10 early spring salads.

• 10 unusual spaghetti recipes.

• 10 eggs-for-dinner recipes.

• 15 sweet-potatoes-for-dinner recipes.

• 15 vegan dinner recipes.

• Lots and lots of gluten-free spring recipes.

• Pink grapefruit margaritas. (via The Kitchn)

Crafty

• Realistic knitted bees. (via CRAFT)

• Bam! Pow! fingerless gloves. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• Pint of beer mittens or socks. (via CRAFT)

• Grow portrait gourds. (via CRAFT) (I can’t be the only one with a dirty mind re: some of the shapes you could grow, right?!)

Cool

• Crocheted crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

• Geeky engagement pictures.

• Firefighters in drag fighting a car fire. (If I read an m/m romance with this scene in it, I would shake my head at the implausibility…)

• Dad and daughter in Wonder Woman costumes.

• An artist who makes really large scale sand paintings. (via Gizmodo)

• If you have a 3D printer, you can print a set of adapters that will let you use LEGOs and Lincoln Logs together.

Cool or Wha…?

• The intersection of art and giant butcher knives.

Wha…?

• Two men on a gay cruise ship were arrested for having sex with each other…

• Yet another reason I’m glad I don’t have a Facebook account. (Although the US Senate is working on a bill to prevent employers from asking for such information.)

• Men on Cape Cod can get a free pizza when they get a vasectomy.

• Tattoos that alert you to phone calls and text messages?!

• ASCII art wallpaper.

• Lurid LED dress. Fashion?!

• Snow globes can burn down your house – or at least start your couch on fire.

• Someone cut in line at a gas station pump and caused an explosion…

• Titanic candle.

LOL

• Awkward family photos. (Thanks, Jase!)

• Typos can make things more fun! (Hover  your mouse pointer over the comic for additional text.)

• Speaking of typos – 10 autocorrects from last week.

• Some belated St. Patrick’s Day humor.

• This could involve a long wait.

• Dress your kitty up as the internet for Halloween!

• Just further proof that I’m a cat person…

• Entitled kittehs feel entitled.

• Hee hee!

Teh Cute

• Kittens! Baby tigers! Baby lion! Lioness and baby! Lioness and baby! Lioness and baby! Lion and baby! Baby tiger! Baby tiger vs pumpkin! Kittens! Baby cougar! Baby cougar! Baby white jaguars! Lambs! Ferret! Baby cheetahs! Bunny! Sugar glider! Mongoose! Dormouse! Baby raccoons! Kitten!

Reading Update
The Epic Love Story of Doug and Stephen by Valerie Z. Lewis. free ebook. Doug is straight, not too bright, and a former mechanic who’s now a male model on staff at a gay magazine in New York City, where he decides he’s gay for miserable and sort of scary editor Stephen. This romance manages to be funny, touching, and memorable.
Between the Bars by Carson Shepherd. free online. Very good kinky m/m romantic suspense about a romance writer who hooks up with a guy in town on business, with no idea that his life is about to change forever. Other than a little too much story time devoted to sex at one point and some bits of past progressive tense that I found odd, this was one of the better romantic suspense books I’ve read in a while.
The Luck of the Irish by Megan Reddaway. free ebook short. Very good short and fun m/m romance about a Dubliner, cursed by a leprechaun to have bad luck, who meets an intriguing guy at a training seminar on St. Patrick’s Day.
Owen’s Home and Garden by Evie Kiels. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy with a crush on his slutty and oblivious best friend – his best friend who vanishes after a very, very messed up day. Be warned that part of this taking place in northern Minnesota (albeit near a fictitious town) probably weighted my rating.
Facing Fitz by Kim Dare. ebook short. Sweet short kinky m/m romance about a submissive who’s convinced his severe claustrophobia will make it impossible for him to submit to the dominant he finds attractive.
Fortune’s Favor (PowerUp! #4) by Marie Harte. ebook. Good m/m paranormal romantic suspense about two psychics trying to resist their attraction to each other as they hunt a crazed killer.
On Thin Ice (Ariel Estates #1) by Jessica Lee. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a lone wolf shifter/doctor in the Alaskan wilderness who rescues the amnesiac sole survivor of a plane crash. Who and what is the man he rescued… and was he responsible for the crash?
The Mask of Narcissus by Vincent Lardo. Good gay mystery (originally published in 1987) about a successful society reporter still trying to recover from the suicide of his lover, a closeted cop, the previous year. When he tries to figure out the truth behind why one of his good friends murders her husband and his young girlfriend, he slowly realizes that nothing is quite what it seems. Unfortunately, I found the title to be something of a spoiler for the mystery.
Brass Balls by Mia Watts. ebook short. Pretty good short m/m romance about a cop who’s had a crush on his dad’s best friend, now the captain of police, for years but didn’t think the guy was gay. Wish the ending hadn’t felt so rushed.
Tapping Darkness (Kavanagh #1) by Kracken. ebook. Ok yaoi-themed romantic suspense about a goodhearted private detective who is hired by a gorgeous painter’s model worried about a missing artist. This moved slowly and never fully engaged me.
The Set Up by JP Bowie. ebook short. Ok short m/m romantic suspense about a movie extra who gets set up for murder. Let’s just say I didn’t achieve suspension of disbelief on this one.
Cam’s Best Friend by Jaxx Steele. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance about a wizard who’s punished by being turned into a dog and set loose in New Orleans. While this had potential, the execution felt really awkward.

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*drowsing* -Chaos

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Congrats to Raevyn, who won the M/M Week books by Erastes, Kim Knox, Ava March, KC Burn, Dev Bentham, and Larry Benjamin from Carina Press. All six books will be released on March 19.

Congrats to Sarah Madison, who won Diversion by Eden Winters! Diversion will be released on March 18 by Amber Allure.

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Contests

• Babes in Boyland Piper Vaughn and MJ O’Shea are giving away swag, an iTunes gift card, and a copy of their forthcoming ebook, The Luckiest. Contest closes 9 pm CDT, March 17. Make sure you read the rules carefully!

• Joyfully Jay’s giving away an ebook copy of Nobody’s Hero by Katey Hawthorne. Contest closes 11:59 pm EDT, March 20.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of The Three Colonels by Jack Caldwell. Contest closes March 22. US & Canada.

• PD Singer is giving away a paperback copy of The Rare Event on GoodReads. Closes April 7.

• Eden Winters is giving away two paperback copies of Diversions on GoodReads. Closes May 2.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR) and Book Lovers Inc (a little of everything).

• Is Amazon’s homophobia showing again?

• A new French law allows the French government to seize authors’ rights on books published before 2001 that are no longer in print – and this includes British authors who have been published in France.

• AAR on childhood reading memories.

• Smart Bitches takes a different look at the controversy surrounding 50 Shades of Gray – particularly at the “mommy p0rn” label.

• Smart Bitches also looked at descriptions of nipples in romance and found those descriptions lacking.

• Helpful posts for authors from Carina Press.

• Becky Black on point of view.

• Josephine Myles’ seven rules for a fast first draft.

• Facebook and reading.

• Tolstoy checks GoodReads…

• The 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world. (via TeleRead)

• Kris is curious about who readers believe writes the most romantic stories in m/m romance and would like people to stop by and take the poll to see if she can figure it out.

• Genderswapped Harry Potter characters.

• Geeky free downloadable book covers. (via The Mary Sue)

Ebookity

• Paypal has revised its policies to allow legal fiction.

• Dear Author on the difference between “retail price management” and “Agency pricing.”

• Publishers versus readers.

• The Encyclopaedia Britannica will no longer be available in print.

• One tablet to rule them all…

• Sew a Kindle Fire slip case from fat quarters. (via CRAFT)

• Sunita (Dear Author) about how she’s come to appreciate fan fiction.

• One of the best books I’ve read this year was a free m/m hockey story called Heart in Hand – check out Lauraadriana’s recommendation for it, too.

Do, Learn, Make, Think

• If you had to show the Star Wars saga to someone who’d never seen them before, what order should you choose? (Thanks, orannia!)

• Make an emergency kit out of an empty pill bottle.

• Scientists have discovered a new human species.

• A National Geographic video of a photographer describing his encounter with an endangered Asian lioness. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• The story behind “Keep Calm and Carry On.” (via Apartment Therapy)

• Words that I wish we as Americans would all live by.

Tuneity

• Check out the poignant song “Sun in an Empty Room” by the Weakerthans.

Cookity

• Gluten-free breakfast tips.

• Gluten-free chocolate animal crackers. (via The Kitchn)

• Brownie roll-ups (like Little Debbie snack cakes). (via The Kitchn)

• Snickers cake. (via The Kitchn)

• Shamrock shakes. (via CRAFT)

• Chickpea-based alternative to the tuna sandwich.

• 5 healthy dips for lunch.

• 5 quick low-calorie lunches.

• 10 dinner recipes that have good leftovers for lunches.

• 10 non-sandwich portable lunches.

• 15 sandwiches, salads, and soups.

• 15 lunchtime salads.

Crafty

• Rainbowy crafts, plus make your own rainbow glitter shoes. (via CRAFT)

• Hunger Games-themed crafts.

• Crocheted LEGO blanket. (via CRAFT)

• Ombre paper star garlands. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Geeky apple pi recipe for Pi Day, plus 14 other Pi Day pi recipes. (via The Mary Sue)

• Thread drawings.

• TARDIS ring.

• GuiTARDIS.

• R2-KT.

• Why aren’t there ever penguins on the plane when I fly?!

Cool or Wha…?

• Homemade edible crayon snacks. (via The Kitchn)

• LEGO anesthesia machine.

• R2-D2 can coolie.

• Self-standing pens.

Wha…?

• I’d be crying, too. Can’t you just hear David Bowie singing “Fashion”?

• Jeans that can stand on their own and probably leave you bruised from wearing them?!

• Alien-inspired heels that look like torture devices… (via The Mary Sue)

• iPhone mug case.

• iPad sleeping bag case.

• I would inadvertently blind myself in my sleep…

LOL

• “Here is a video of a person in a Darth Vader mask and cape, and a Utilikilt, riding a unicycle, playing Star Wars music on a bagpipe, in Portland, OR” (Thanks, Bron!)

• Things you shouldn’t try to deduct from your taxes.

• 10 AutoTourette’s autocorrects.

• Natalie Dee on crocheted secondary sex characteristics.

• George Takei’s happy dance.

• Pinterest Bingo. (via Gizmodo)

• The Lord of the Rings drinking game.

• Ordinary Batman adventures.

• Yay! I’m a star!

• Why isn’t evil always this cute?

• Kitty can’t unsee!

• Cats being cats.

• Kitties don’t really understand work.

• A day in the life of a kitten. A day in the life of a cat.

• What your cat does when you nap.

• Cat eye chart.

• Chaos?!

• A new Simon’s Cat!

• Alas, this doesn’t work so well if you live alone…

Teh Cute

• Baby tiger! Lioness and baby! Tiger and baby! Baby crow or raven! Baby polar bears! Cat and kitten! Hedgie! Baby clouded leopards! Otter! Buns! Baby penguin! Kitten!

Reading Update
Moving in Rhythm by Dev Bentham. ebook arc. Very good m/m romance about a closeted online math instructor whose crippling shyness and social anxiety have him living a hermetic life. When his brother is deployed to Iraq, he agrees to take care of his pregnant sister-in-law during the deployment, and finds himself being forced, protesting, out of his shell… not always smoothly. This was a wonderful combination of sweet and serious.
Social Skills by S Alva. free online. Good m/m romance about a college freshman who plays the violin and has crippling social anxiety. He’s nearly incapacitated by anxiety when he realizes that the closeted football player he’s tutoring is gay and likes him.
Ghosts & Flames by Kaje Harper. ebook. Good holiday paranormal m/m romance a guy with a ghost problem who runs into a guy with a vampire problem. While the final 2/3 of the story was very involving, the first third simply had too much info-dumping – I kept wondering if this was the second book in a series.
Question Mark (Liaisons #2) by SE Culpepper. ebook. Good but uneven m/m romance about Mark from the previous book, who finally realizes that he needs to get over his ex and decides that a trip to Bora Bora is just what he needs. While I was rooting for Mark and his guy, parts of their interactions just didn’t make sense.
Stroke! by MJ O’Shea. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a guy on his college crew team who’s struggling to keep a freshman from taking his varsity spot. The big mystery was pretty obvious from the beginning.
Maple Leaf Red: Sugaring Off! by Vic Winter. ebook short. Cute short paranormal m/m romance about a guy living alone on a remote Canadian sugar bush who helps an injured wolf…
And Then I Met Him by L Arthur. free online. Pretty good m/m romance about a straight college student who works at a tutoring center and becomes strangely fascinated by a defensive and troubled young man.
Sorry Now? (Paul Turner #1) by Mark Richard Zubro. Good gay mystery about a Chicago police detective trying to figure out who killed the daughter of a homophobic minister and politician.
Political Poison (Paul Turner #2) by Mark Richard Zubro. Pretty good gay mystery in Chicago police detective Paul Turner tries to figure out who killed a professor/alderman. The background stuff that doesn’t change much between books was copied and pasted from the first book. Grrr. Strangely not feeling the urge to check more of this series out from the library… And seriously – why would you try mouth-to-mouth on someone who was poisoned?!
Promise in a Kiss by Piper Vaughn. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about two guys who made a promise to each other when they were kids, then lost touch. While this was sweet, it felt more like a tease than an actual story.
In the Penalty Box (Seattle Marauders #2) by Riley Shane. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a closeted hockey player and the freelance writer who used to have a crush on him. Alas, this did not stand up well against the fabulous (and free) m/m hockey player romance, Heart in Hand.
In the Name of the Law by Sue Holston. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a cop who’s been in love with his straight partner for years.
Schooled in Murder (Tom & Scott #12) by Mark Richard Zubro. Ok mystery in which Tom stumbles a dead body or two at school and is under suspicion for murder, with unsuspected enemies coming out of the woodwork. The whole thing with the blurb for this and the previous book saying that Scott is a former professional baseball player is beyond weird. Quote from the book itself: “Scott plays professional baseball.” That seems pretty clear to me at least!

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“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

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Congrats to Sara V, who won Hot Hands (College Fun and Gays #1) and Grade-A-Sex Deal (College Fun and Gays #2) by Erica Pike!

Congrats to Darcy, who won Lesson Learned by Lillian Francis!

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If you blog on blogger and you want to get back the subscribe to comments by email function (please please please), you have to switch to the embedded comment form.

Contests

• Joyfully Jay’s giving away The Amethyst Cat Caper by Charlie Cochet. Contest closes March 13, 11:59 pm EDT.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Black Howl by Christina Henry. Contest closes March 15. US only.

• SE Culpepper is giving away three signed copies of Question Mark (Liaisons #2). Contest closes 10 pm CDT, March 15.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), AAR (romances), the Book Binge (romances), and Tor.com (PNR).

• Authors have started a petition asking PayPal to stop censoring legal fiction and author’s free speech. The National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression are planning to put pressure on PayPal, too.

• VacuousMinx on why she’s boycotting Dreamspinner Press.

• Book linkity from ReadReactReview. M/m romance, publishing, and writing linkity from Becky Black.

• The DABWAHA is almost here! Fill out your brackets March 11 through 13, then start voting on March 14.

• Bookwyrm Knits has information on a reading challenge for Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series.

• Tank bookmobile.

• Turn an old book into a jewelry box. (via CRAFT)

• How fast do you read? (Thanks, Jase!) I only got 533 words/minute – I think I’d do a lot better on a test using a contemporary example.

• Lifehacker has some tips for getting in more reading time for those who don’t have enough time to read.

• Smart Bitches takes a look at some “WTFTROUBLE” level romance book covers. (NSFW! But really funny!)

• Better book titles…

• Don’t wait until the last minute to check out your books at the library…

• Eden Winters shares a day in the life of her swag from GayRomLit.

Ebookity

• The US Department of Justice plans to investigate Apple and the Agency pricing publishers for ebook price fixing. Apple comments on the allegations.

• “Trick Question: When is the top selling ebook in the Kindle Store not the top selling ebook?”

• Random House raises library ebook prices. A lot.

• A Harris Poll found that almost 30% of US adults are using ebook readers.

• 10 reasons ebook reading isn’t perfect. (via Consumerist)

• Tablet sales seem to be affecting sales of ereaders and PCs.

• Unsurprisingly, tablets offer more distractions from reading than do ereaders.

• Dear Author’s favorite non-reading Android applications.

• How to make reading on a computer less unpleasant.

• How to deal with Adobe DRM.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

• Daylight Saving Time starts this weekend in the US and Canada. Beware – it could be deadly!

• One side effect of the mild winter is that maple syrup will probably be more expensive.

• The infamous Anoka-Hennepin School District has settled lawsuits brought against it by students who were bullied.

• Recent college graduates are making 8-11% less than they did a decade ago.

• Female people, if you’ve always wondered what kind of vibrator you should get, now there’s a handy flowchart to help you decide. (via The Mary Sue) (NSFW)

• The Oreo is a century old! And… there have been 500 billion Oreos sold during that century.

• Why walking is the best exercise.

• All sorts of things you can do to improve your online privacy.

• A staple remover might make adding keys to your key ring less frustrating.

• Build your own self-regulating automatic plant watering system.

• Add a usb drive to your Swiss Army knife.

• Make a marble run on your fridge! (via CRAFT)

Cookity

• Double LEGO cupcakes. (via CRAFT)

• Red velvet cupcakes with cheesecake and streusel topping. (via The Kitchn)

• Make your own chocolate syrup.

• Ricotta salata citronette salad dressing.

• Roasted chickpea fajitas. (via The Kitchn)

• Almond-cranbery quinoa breakfast cookies (not gluten-free, alas). (via The Kitchn)

• Lentil sliders. (via The Kitchn)

• 10 vegan breakfasts

• 10 make-ahead breakfasts

• 6 savory pancakes

• “Healthy eating for people who hate cooking.”

Gluten-Free

• 2012 Best of Gluten-Free winners: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

• How to transition to a gluten-free life.

Crafty

• Large Hadron Collider quilts.

• Amazing knitted Olympic athlete scarf. (via Cabled Sheep)

• Needle-felted Lorax. (via CRAFT)

• Knitted zippered hand warmers. (via CRAFT)

• Night biking gloves with integrated LED arrows. (via CRAFT)

• Crocheted Matthew McConaughey. (NSFW? for crocheted tush)

Cool

• Tiny flying robots playing the James Bond theme… (Thanks, Donna!)

• Evolution depicted via crayon animation.

• A LEGO minifig is one LEGO executive’s business “card”. (via The Mary Sue)

• LEGO Tank Girl! (via The Mary Sue)

• LEGO space shuttle launch.

• Huge Hogwarts model.

• Art from the “Star Wars Identities” exhibit.

• Victorian Star Trek. (via The Mary Sue)

• Dr. Who vs Sherlock Holmes.

• TARDIS in a bottle.

• Mashup: Toy Story and The Shining.

• Lorax Chucks.

• Paper sculptures.

• Minneapolis cake!

• How clever is the Butter Saver?! Definitely ordering some as gifts and for myself.

Cool or Wha…?

• Hammock tent.

• United States of Cast Iron.

• Bird’s nest bed.

Wha…?

• “Pink slime” is in 70% of supermarket ground beef in the US?!

• You’re getting really scary over there, Wisconsin – now a bill has been proposed to make single parenting child abuse. Plus more on the bill that repealed equal pay for equal work.

• Las Vegas growth, 1973-2011.

• Beef straws.

• Creepy wedding cake topper.

• I got nothin’… Still nothin’…

LOL

• Stephen Colbert on contraception.

• xkcd on tumblr and on those cryptic computer error codes. (Make sure you hover your mouse pointer over the comics for additional text.)

• 15 funniest autocorrects from February.

• Ouch!

• It looks like an exceptional blanket fort, doesn’t it? So colorful inside!

• This is me when you ask to use my computer.

• Maybe Mordor for your next vacation?

• Wil Wheaton’s comment on an, um, interesting book about Wesley Crusher. (NSFW!!! NSFW!!!!) (via The Mary Sue)

• Hmm. Good point about exercise.

• How a dog’s brain works.

• When your cat won’t stop meowing…

• How many cats will it take to ease your broken heart?

• Naughty black kitty!

• BatCat!

Teh Cute

• Kitten! Bald eagle and baby! Otters! Baby otters! Hippo and baby! Baby ferret! Tiger and babies! Tiger and babies! Baby clouded leopard! Baby tiger! Tigers! Tigers! Leopard and baby! Baby leopards! Baby skunk! Lioness and baby! Lioness and baby! Dog and bunny! Kitten! Kitten!

Reading Update
Heart in Hand by salifiable. free online. 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.)
Private Eye (Liaisons #1) by SE Culpepper. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a PI who gets involved in the case of a missing teenager when he’s contacted by a cop who’s a friend of the family. Too bad the extremely hot cop is straight… I’m looking forward to the sequel and wondering how SE’s going to get me invested in Mark.
Waking Up Naked (Sex Sells #2) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a guy who wakes up naked and hungover in a strange bed with no idea how he got there. And when he eventually does figure out where he is, things don’t go so well…
Songs You Know by Heart by Dr. Noh. free online. Good short m/m romance about a wealthy jerk of a businessman with a taste for rough sex who offers to blow the straight guy who mugs him in the park, never expecting to see him again…
Technicoloured Something by Zebbie. free online. Good m/m romance about a prickly gay architecture student who’s in a wheelchair. He’s not happy that his partner for a major class project seems to be bicurious and hitting on him.
Second Wind by Mickey S. free online. Good m/m romance about a widower with a young son and a conservative family who becomes friends with a gay man and finally acknowledges the feelings he’s always had for men. It doesn’t go over so well with his family… This story suffered from excessive name use during conversation and could definitely have been shorter, but it was sweet anyway.
Here Comes the Corpse (Tom & Scott #9) by Mark Richard Zubro. Good gay mystery which starts with Tom and Scott’s getting married. Too bad Tom finds a body in the bathroom at the reception.
File Under Murder (Tom & Scott #10) by Mark Richard Zubro. Ok gay mystery in which Tom finds a severed head in a file drawer at the clinic for gay teens where he volunteers. This one was kind of dull, and Scott was nearly absent from the story.
Everyone’s Dead But Us (Tom & Scott #11) by Mark Richard Zubro. Ok gay mystery in which Tom and Scott vacation at an island resort and bodies start turning up everywhere. This was beyond silly, actually. And what the heck is up with the book blurb, which says that, “Tom Mason, former Chicago area high school teacher, recently made a public splash by marrying his long-term lover, former professional baseball player Scott Carpenter.” The problem is that, as far as I remember, neither of them has retired from their professions. Their wedding a few books back was timed after the end of the baseball season. The next book is set at the school where Tom teaches, and it sure sounds like he’s still teaching. The blurb on GRs matches the blurb on the dust jacket.

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“Oh oh… what was that scary noise?!” -Mayhem