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Congrats to Matthias, who won End Game by Jennifer Brooks!

Congrats to Tina, who won Snow on the Mountain (The Mountains #2) (2nd ed) by PD Singer! Snow on the Mountain is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to Ladypessi, who won Texas Heat (Texas #3) by RJ Scott! Texas Heat will be released by Silver Publishing on August 18.

Congrats to Ami, who won Nothing of a Son by L.A. Witt! Nothing of a Son will be released by Amber Allure on August 19.

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Contests

• Mrs Condit is giving away an ebook copy of the Lashings of Sauce anthology. Not sure when this one ends, but the odds were pretty good when I grabbed the link.

• Charlie Cochet’s celebrating her birthday with a contest – comment on any of the birthday posts through midnight EDT, August 18, for your chance to win.

Bookity

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• When paperbacks were the big threat to the publishing industry… (via TeleRead)

• Fanfic and fair use.

• Baby Boomers don’t dominate the book buying market anymore.

• Authors who earn the most, worldwide. (via Largehearted Boy)

• NPR’s controversial top 100 young adult book list.

• VacuousMinx with part one of how Goodreads caters to authors.

• jmc with two great posts: “If you can’t afford an editor, you shouldn’t be publishing” and “Afterthoughts“.

• Lori Toland shares five tips for authors just getting started.

• Paperback Writer with ten things related to outlining your fiction.

• An American Editor on “Value in an ebook world“.

• Writing tips from famous authors. (via Neil Gaiman’s tumblr)

• The Great Expectations film trailer.

• Statue in the Minneapolis Central Library.

• What if fonts had voices?

• Pretty big book for a kitten!

• What’s Darth Vader reading these days?

Ebookity

• Comparing eInk and LCD screens for reading.

• Some ebook humor from Unshelved.

• Free Joey and Aaron short from KA Mitchell.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

• “Life on the internet“.

• Keep this in mind.

• “Is there enough energy to move the entire current human population off-planet?“

• Have new pyramids been discovered?

• See every US state’s stereotypes with Google’s autocomplete.

• The CDC reports that at least 20% of each US state’s adults are obese.

• Time-saving freezer tips.

• Bake cookies on your stovetop so you don’t heat up the kitchen in the summer. (via Lifehacker)

• Half-fat chocolate made with… fruit juice. Hmm. We’ll see.

• Music has a druglike effect on our bodies.

• Is BCG really a wonder drug?

Cookity

• 20 Italian-inspired dinner recipes.

• 15 classic European recipes.

• 5 British pub foods.

• 10 meals to make now and freeze for later.

• Julia Child’s zucchini tian.

• Smoked lentil salad with sriracha miso mayonnaise.

• Spinach salad pizza. (via The Kitchn)

• Shrimp boil with remoulade and cocktail sauce.

• Sweet tea-brined chicken. (via The Kitchn)

• Pan-fried chicken breasts with corn and tomato summer salad.

• Cookie Monster’s sugar cookies.

• Peach pie muffins with brown butter glaze. (via The Kitchn)

Drinkity

• Aurora Jungle Juice (looks like outer space). (via The Mary Sue)

• Gold Rush.

• Angosoda Cocktail.

• Singapore Sling.

• Dark chocolate bourbon cherry soda floats. (via The Kitchn)

Gluten-Free

• 5 tips for traveling gluten-free.

• Gluten-free lunch ideas for celiacs.

• Gluten-free chicken, carmelized onion, and rosemary red potato BBQ pizza. Speedier than it sounds, since it uses Udi’s delicious frozen pizza crusts.

• Gluten-free black bean avocado stir fry.

• Interesting article about sourdough bread, but I’m dubious about certain of its claims. I’ll wait for some more rigorous scientific studies/tests, thanks. (via CeliacChicks)

Crafty

• Yarn-bombed DC-3 airplane.

• Make a big roll of “film” from a five-gallon paint bucket. (via Apartment Therapy)

• Plastic canvas TARDIS phone charging station.

• Crochet a TARDIS wormhole lap blanket. (via CRAFT)

• Sew your own bike panniers. (via CRAFT)

• Sew reusable bowl covers. (via Lifehacker)

Cool

• Two of my photos: Powderhorn Art Fair and clouds over Lake of the Isles.

• A bug bite itch relieving gadget that actually works?!

• LEGO lenticular mosaic.

• LEGO Lord of the Rings trailer.

• If IKEA made the TARDIS… (via The Mary Sue)

• “If Stars Wars was an 80s hijinks movie.”

• Star Wars pincushion cats.

• If you want to know more about NASA’s “Mohawk Guy”…

• The Oatmeal is trying to raise money for a Nikola Tesla museum.

• Linkity from Fiction Vixen.

Cool or Wha…?

• Stuffed hamburger press.

• Sriracha popcorn.

• “Who’s Your Daddy?” roving DNA testing truck in NYC.

• Fish skeleton sculpture made from plastic cutlery.

• Bat signal sculpture from thread and nails.

• “100 of film’s greatest maniacal laughs collected into six minutes“.

• An iPad case that looks like a 1984 Mac.

Wha…?

• Free 1/3 scale replica TIE Fighter for fervent Star Wars fan near Salt Lake City…

• eBay has banned the sale of magical items.

• Why the heck would people have these things in their carry-on luggage?!

• Famous album covers recreated with… socks. (via Wil Wheaton’s tumblr)

• Christopher Walken latch hook.

• Baby’s first… butcher shop.

• Cthulhu purse. (via The Mary Sue)

• Psychic animatronic cat ears.

LOL

• Sir Patrick Stewart as an Olympic ticket scalper.

• If you’re familiar with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and you think Romney and his running mate seem awfully familiar…

• On human subcultures. (Make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for additional text.)

• “When will we forget?” (Again with the hovering.)

• Some paranormal humor.

• Skeery cake.

• Happy lion is happy!

• Curses. Thwarted again.

• Truth.

• Awww!

• Eeek! Eeek! Eeep!

• No one would fall asleep in that lecture if he did!

• I wouldn’t wait up for George…

• Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the kitchen…

Teh Cute

• Dalmation adopts orphaned spotted lamb.

• Horse! Jaguars! Black cat and kitten! Black kitten! Lioness and baby! Lion and baby! Baby cheetahs! Baby tigers! Tiger and baby! Donkey and baby! Herons! Flamingo and baby! Kitten! Baby panda! Baby tiger! Kitten! Polar bear and baby! Kitten! Baby ocelot! Baby lion! Baby cheetahs! Tigers! Kitten! Polar bear and babies! Baby plover! Kitten! Baby snow leopards! Baby turtles! Baby tawny frogmouths! Baby otter! Baby penguins! Kitten!

Reading Update
Blind Eye (Benjamin Justice #5) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery in which Ben’s been given an advance to write his autobiography and is trying to track down a priest who made a big impression on his preteen self… These mysteries are good, but Ben goes through so much… and so much of it he brings upon himself.
Moth and Flame (Benjamin Justice #6) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery in which Ben is hired to finish a brochure for the city of West Hollywood after the original writer was murdered. I realized after finishing this that the really horrific things have happened to Ben in the odd number books (excluding the first), so now I’m nervous about reading book 7…
Rhapsody in Blood (Benjamin Justice #7) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery in which Ben and Templeton stay at a hotel notorious for being the location of the murder of movie star 50 years ago and the suicide of her daughter 25 years later. Templeton’s there to report on a film about the movie star’s life being shot at the hotel… and then things get messy.
Into the Flames by Mel Bossa. ebook. Engrossing but disturbing gay literary fiction in which Bossa skillfully pulled together her seemingly disparate plot threads. I’m still not sure what I think about this book. On one hand, I did sit down and read it straight through. On the other, I’m absolutely sure I’ll never reread it and I was reminded why I don’t particularly enjoy literary fiction. Your mileage may vary…
Connecting Flight (Turbulence #4) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance in which we get to see both Paul and Dallas on their home turf after returning from Bermuda.
Locks of Love: A Modern Gay Fairy Tale (2nd ed) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Good short m/m fairy tale about a guy who can convince locks to open… but there have to be doors for his talent to work.
Hot August Nights by Kate Roman. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a grad student from New York who’s in Austin, Texas, for a week-long spring vacation and meets the cowboy of his dreams. This was very instalovey, which just didn’t work for me.

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Can you figure out this Mayhem puzzle?! The white spot is on her chest, if that helps…

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Since I never heard back from the original winner, elaing8 is the new winner of Four Corners by Kate McMurray!

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Congrats to maygirl7, who won the Lashings of Sauce anthology donated by Josephine Myles!

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Contests

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Marrying Up by Wendy Holden. Closes August 10 – make sure you read the rules! US & Canada.

• Babes in Boyland is giving away an ebook copy of the m/m anthology Masks Off! Closes 9 pm CDT, August 12.

• Joyfully Jay’s giving away an ebook copy of Four Corners by Kate McMurray. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, August 13.

• Tracy’s giving away an ebook copy of Hearts of Darkness by Kira Bradley. Closes midnight PDT, August 13.

• Tracy’s also giving away an ebook copy of Sigma (The Vanguards #5) by Annie Nicholas. Closes 7 pm PDT, August 15.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Tor.com (PNR), Book Lovers Inc (romance etc), and AAR (romance, audiobooks).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Heidi Cullinan on professionally minded publishers.

• RJ Scott shares some of the things she’s learned in her two years as a published author.

• Becky Black has writerly linkity.

• A book reviewer for Slate wonders if there’s too much niceness in the world of professional online book reviewing. (Thanks, MandyM!)

• “In praise of negative reviews“.

• Goodreads released new guidelines this week – new guidelines that seem to favor writers over readers.

• You can buy color curated book collections.

• Unintentionally funny lines from mysteries. (via PD Singer)

• 10 cool typewriters.

• A stage made of books.

• Warning: if you have OCD, you should not look at these bookcases.

Ebookity

• A fake crowdsourced erotic fiction ebook made the iTunes top five.

• Columnist admits to downloading a pirated ebook. (via TeleRead)

• Infographic on English ebook markets.

• Risks of ebooks based in the cloud.

Learn, Do, Think, Make

• The results of Tam’s “Do gay men watch gay p0rn?” survey.

• A gay couple’s engagement photos were turned into an anti-gay political ad. (via The Mary Sue)

• What if a glass of water was suddenly half empty?

• “Physicists claim it would be impossible to nuke an Earth-killing asteroid“.

• The history of toilet paper.

• An ingredient commonly found in microwave popcorn and other processed foods might be linked to Alzheimer’s.

• A new study by the Mayo Clinic found that 1.4 million of the 1.8 million believed to have celiac disease in the US are undiagnosed.

• Canada has new allergen labeling requirements.

• How to identify those mysterious Asian greens, plus 11 gluten-free Asian noodles.

• Almonds might not have as many calories as originally believed.

• Which state has the fastest average internet speeds?

• A cheetah has set a new world speed record.

• The schlepping workout for the urban dweller.

• The Curiosity rover landed on Mars. Check out the LEGO version! And the xkcd comic!

• A writer for Wired describes how hackers destroyed his digital life. How to protect yourself against social engineering hacks. Ways to keep your digital life secure.

• Make a Mason jar to-go cup. (via CRAFT) (I can’t be the only person who’s simply too clumsy for a glass to-go cup, can I?!)

Cookity

• Vegan “bacon” made from coconut flakes. (via The Kitchn)

• Broccoli pasta sauce. (via The Kitchn)

• Roasted summer squash.

• Hearty summer squash casserole.

• Seared summer squash and egg tacos. (via The Kitchn)

• Sweet and smoky eggplant spread.

• Corn on the cobb salad. (via The Kitchn)

• Four-ingredient teriyaki salmon.

• Veggie summer rolls with spicy peanut sauce.

• Thai green coconut curry with chicken and zucchini.

• 12 recipes for rice bowls.

• 15 recipes for Japanese food.

• 20 fresh recipes from Southeast Asia.

• S’mores candy bars. (via The Kitchn)

• Brown butter pumpkin cupcakes with maple pecan frosting. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• 6 skillet cakes that won’t heat up the kitchen.

• 10 recipes inspired by banana bread.

• Strawberry rhubarb sweet rolls.

• Gluten-free blueberry galettes.

• Gluten-free vegan peanut butter ice cream.

Drinkity

• Cocky Rooster (beer and Sriracha).

• Donny Draper. (via The Kitchn)

• Manhattan.

• 7 Asian-style drinks.

Crafty

• Knit a TARDIS scarf. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

Cool

• Minneapolis made it into the Weather Channel’s list of top US skylines. (via tolevann’s tumblr)

• Overlay historical maps on Google Maps. (via Gizmodo)

• TARDIS wedding ring. (via The Mary Sue)

• Batcave movie theater.

• Borg wedding cake. (via The Mary Sue)

• Storm trooper lawn chair. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• LEGO replica of Firefly spaceship Serenity. (via The Mary Sue)

• An Australian news broadcast reenacted the finale of the women’s 100m hurdles using LEGOs.

• Gender neutral toy department.

Cool or Wha…?

• TARDIS mini dress and leggings. (via The Mary Sue)

• Tiny figures made from twist ties.

• Origami sticky notes. (via LB Gregg)

• Nunchaku chopsticks.

• Powdered beer and soda for camping.

• I love the song, but the video for David Bowie’s “Life on Mars”…

• A song about the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.

Wha…?

• Creepy ads for ice cream. Really creepy. (Thanks, Cheryl!)

• Setting fire to the lawn at General Mills is an odd way to protest their support of equality…

• Please no smartphones that spray perfume.

• Showerhead shaped like an old-style phone.

• Tiny toaster usb hub with expensive tiny toast usb drives.

• Trojan had hot dog carts giving away vibrators on the streets of NYC this week until the city shut them down.

• A guy ordered a tv online, but an illegal assault rifle was delivered instead.

• A LEGO piece was lodged in a six-year old’s nose for three years…

• Take a deep cat bite very seriously!

LOL

• Some Olympic swimming humor. (make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for additional text)

• What would be your top event in the geek Olympics? (via The Mary Sue)

• Olympic Cake Wrecks.

• New Simon’s Cat!

• How cats travel with us…

• Find the kitty!

• One of the reasons May’s not allowed in my bedroom at night…

• Batcat!

Teh Cute

• Baby bobcats! Tiger and baby! Tiger! Tigers! Tigers! Baby leopard! Black cat! Black panther! Tigers! Baby tiger! Lions! Tiger! Meerkats! Baby flamingos! Baby foxes! Cat and kittens! Cat and kittens! Baby weedy sea dragons! Lynxes! Duckling! Kittens! Baby coatis! Takin and baby! Hummingbird! Cats and kittens!

Reading Update
Diving in Deep (Florida #1) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romance about getting a second chance with that guy you had a crush on as a teenager, who’s grown into an emotionally unavailable adult. I definitely got sniffly on this one.
Collision Course (Florida #2) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. Really well done m/m romance about a social worker and a paramedic who has a lot of issues with social workers.
No Souvenirs (Florida #3) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romance about an ER doctor who takes an impulsive dive vacation in Belize when things go awry in his life. He gets to know the dive instructor really well…
By the River (Elementals #1) by Katey Hawthorne. ebook. Good m/m paranormal romance about a guy in his mid-twenties who feels drawn to return to his home town, where he becomes enthralled by a mysterious and naive college swimmer. As MandyM noted, while this was beautifully written, the HFN ending felt very tenuous… as if the “for now” might only be a few minutes or days.
In Search of Saints by Harper Fox. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about an academic who’s been too obsessed by his ex’s betrayal to realize what he has with his new boyfriend.
Inertia (Impulse #1) by Amelia C. Gormley. ebook. arc. Good m/m romance about an isolated handyman who hasn’t been with anyone since he was a teenager and started taking care of his sick grandparents. Then he’s hired to install some shelves by a sexy and strangely skittish accountant who might be flirting with him… While I enjoyed how things developed between the two men, the story seemed to bog down a bit during the last third. And I was a bit surprised when the story ended – it left me with the feeling that this might develop into a serial.
Dine & Dash (Cut & Run #5.5) by Abigail Roux. free ebook short. Steamy short m/m homecoming scene.
Fireman’s Carry (Carry Me #1) by Charlie Richards. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a gay firefighter who’s recently left his cheating ex and moves in across the street from a straight divorced cop and his kids. I read this after reading a beautifully written book, and the difference in writing between the two was a bit painful. Stalker alert. (So. Tired. Of. Stalkers.)
The Thirteenth Sigil (Section Thirteen Case Files #3) by JL O’Faolain. ebook. So-so paranormal m/m romance continuing the story of Cole, an exiled sidhe who works for a secret, paranormally focused division of the NYPD. The case in this one was pretty weird, the “romance” didn’t really work, and the sex scenes were p0rny and euphemistic. (Check out my status updates at Goodreads for specifics on the last.)
Picking Up the Spare by Heidi Champa. ebook. I read 3/4 of it and was too bored to continue. Plus the name overuse in conversation was irking me.

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“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

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Congrats to Cheryl H, who won Earthly Desires by Keira Andrews and Leta Blake!

Congrats to Jonathan, who won His Gift by Clare London!

Congrats to Linda C, who won Indulging Ivan by Kim Dare!

Congrats to Juliana, who won Finding Forever (Sutter’s Bay #4) by Shawn Lane! Finding Forever will be released by Amber Allure on August 5.

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Sorry that Linkity was late today! My web host had an upgrade go terribly awry last night, right as I was about to push the button to schedule the post.

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Contests

• Joyfully Jay is giving away an ebook copy of By the River by Katey Hawthorne. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, August 3.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away a backlist ebook (winner’s choice) from Andrea Speed. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, August 4.

• And Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook copy of By the River by Katey Hawthorne. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, August 5.

• Pants Off Reviews is also giving away two Dreamspinner Press $10 gift certificates. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, August 6.

• Joely Sue Burkhart is giving away an ereader valued at up to $200. Her post has a list of ways you can enter before September 1. (Thanks, Nicole!)

Bookity

• New releases and more: Rarely Dusty Books (m/m), Tor.com (UF, genre benders, fantasy, scifi), and Book Lovers Inc (romance etc).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author. Bookish links from VacuousMinx and Fiction Vixen.

• Cuddlebuggery on that oft-used phrase: “If you don’t like it, then don’t read it!” (via Experiment BL626)

• From Kassa: “Being intolerant of intolerance.”

• Kaetrin on why “fade to black” doesn’t work for her “…except when it does.”

• Dear Author on fair use of images for bloggers. Kris shares some thoughts on blogging and copyright.

• Tor.com on Jasper Fforde and his books.

• The power of books.

• Periodic table of typefaces.

• Turn a cable spool into a bookcase. Or maybe you’d rather turn ladders into a bookcase?

• Behind the scenes at the library…

• Gotta agree, Reader Cat. Oops, sorry, Reader Cat!

• Who would you cast in a Neil Gaiman biopic?

• On the wizarding genetics of Harry Potter.

• Fifty Shades of Grey knocked Harry Potter out of Amazon UK’s all-time bestseller top spot.

• Gilbert Gottfriend reads Fifty Shades of Grey. (NSFW) (Thanks, Cheryl!)

• From Paperback Writer, what authors shouldn’t put on their promo bookmarks and publishing 911 hotline.

• More satirical “advice” for authors from Stacia Kane.

Ebookity

• Lots of free techy ebooks available from Microsoft.

• Yet another way for publishers to track your ebook reading habits…

• This comic about the state of the music industry could probably be extrapolated to the future state of the publishing industry.

• People on why they pirate ebooks.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

• “Why do so many Americans live alone?”

• A bit more on celiac disease and migraines.

• The correct way to use those little fast food ketchup cups.

• How to photograph food.

• Quinoa may not be as gluten free as we thought…

• “8 truths about home organization I learned from the Berenstain Bears“.

• “What if there was a robot apocalypse?”

• Spice up your workout with some zombie apocalypse training.

• Hints of dolphin culture?

• Why are toilets still made from porcelain?

• Have you checked out the new Hotmail, er, Outlook.com?

Cookity

• 15 recipes for classic comfort foods.

• 10 simple dinner recipes for two.

• 10 baked recipes with tomatoes.

• Zucchini chips. (via CRAFT)

• Gluten-free eggplant “pizzas” with prosciutto. 13 more gluten-free pizza ideas.

• Rainbow pizza. (via The Kitchn)

• Grilled vegetable stack with lemon hummus.

• Layered Greek hummus dip. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• Bankokamole.

• Magic mushroom caprese salad. (via The Kitchn)

• Grilled pesto shrimp skewers. (via The Kitchn)

• Grilled vegetable and smoked chicken sausage stuffed baked potatoes. (via The Kitchn)

• Fortified dairy-free, gluten-free applesauce spice muffins.

• Dairy-free banana date cake.

• Oreo cheesecake bites. (via The Kitchn)

• Warm fudgy pudding cake.

• Boiled chocolate icing.

• Cookie dough waffles. (via The Kitchn)

• Roasted strawberry and chocolate ice cream. (via The Kitchn)

• 9 recipes for Whoopie pies.

Drinkity

• Sassy lassi. (via The Kitchn)

• Strawberry lemonade. (via CRAFT)

• Sparkling peach punch.

• Melon ball.

Crafty

• Hmm. Not sure where this one goes, but Crafty was looking awfully sparse, so… Nominations are open (through August 6, 11:59 pm EDT) for Knitters’ Hunk and Knitters’ Chick. (via The Ravell’d Sleave)

• Print and fold tiny paper cats. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Funky animal sculptures. (via Kellithee’s tumblr)

• Harry Potter wedding.

• Periodic picnic table. (via The Mary Sue)

• LEGO mechanical loom.

• LEGO Olympic park.

• LEGO Star Wars chess set.

• Tentacle doorstop. (via Schneier on Security)

• Google Street View in ASCII.

• Flying penguins!

• Eight memorable moments from the Olympics opening ceremony.

• Tumblr: The Musical.

• Gadget that sprays juice directly from fruit without the need for juicing.

Cool or Wha…?

• Mini Mini Coopers in the Olympics.

• A couch for cats.

• Metropolitan usb ports.

• Pizza cutter for people serious about cutting pizza.

• Chip-embedded smart pills.

• Bed bug registry.

Wha…?

• Arm(or)ed robbery…

• $1000 headphones for cats.

• Japan’s cockroach forecast.

• Be worried if you can think of an actual use for this stock photo. (NSFWish and not suitable for those with coulrophobia)

LOL

• Is it the Olympics or gay p0rn? (slightly NSFW) (via Experiment BL626)

• NBC Delayed is a parody Twitter account for frustrated Olympics viewers to enjoy. (via I Can Has Cheezburger?)

• Animals as superheroes.

• Introversion explored via Cake Wrecks.

• Internal monologue… (make sure to hover your cursor over the comic for additional text)

• Wait, I think she stole my backpack!

• Kids spending too much online and not doing their chores?

• “The moment of clarity.” (Thanks, Cheryl!)

• If you’ve ever wondered why cats have nine lives…

• Cats on catnip.

• Cat seasons.

• The reason I have the paper towels and toilet paper locked up…

• Not Chaos, but totally could be.

• This cat is probably Chaos’ hero…

• Aw, poor little black kitten…

Teh Cute

• Cheetah and baby! Tiger! Tiger and babies! Tigers! Tiger and babies! Lioness and baby! Snow leopard and baby! Tigers! Tiger! Tiger! Baby tigers! Lioness and babies! Hummingbird! Hippo and baby! Civet! Peacock and baby! Kittens! Lions and babies! Anteater and baby! Panda! Bat-eared fox babies! Cat and kitten! Otters! Baby lynxes! Ducklings! Kitten! Baby lions! Baby penguins! Baby anteater!

Reading Update
LA Heat (LA #1) by PA Brown. ebook. Very good gay mystery with a titch of romance about a sexy, slutty IT geek accused of murder and the deeply closeted cop conflicted between attraction and duty. Be aware that there are some graphic descriptions of mutilated bodies…
LA Mischief (LA #2) by PA Brown. ebook. Good gay mystery in which David and Chris and their relationship (or lack thereof) definitely take precedence over the rest of the story. Two steamy short stories are tacked on to the end of the book.
LA Boneyard (LA #3) by PA Brown. ebook. Very good gay mystery with a titch of romance in which I wanted to smack David for 90% of the book; for the other 10%, I wanted to smack Chris.
LA Bytes (LA #4) by PA Brown. ebook. Very good gay mystery with a titch of romance. In this one, Chris is trying to track down a hacker who nearly kills both he and David.
Bermuda Heat (LA #5) by PA Brown. ebook. Good gay mystery in which Chris and David go on vacation to Bermuda to check out a startling revelation about David’s past. Their vacation goes downhill after David is arrested for murder… This was definitely my least favorite of the series – I’m not a fan of books in which the main series characters are accused of murder. It worked ok in the first book with Chris because it was the start of the series; not so much now.
The Limits of Justice (Benjamin Justice #4) by John Morgan Wilson. Another very good and very dark gay mystery that starts about a year after the previous book. Ben’s not taking very good care of himself, but then he’s hired to ghostwrite an expose of a guy who writes sleazy bios of recently dead celebrities… and things get complicated. Now waiting for the library to get in the next book in the series!
Calling the Show by JA Rock. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about an extremely uptight and socially awkward stage manager for a college production who’s upset about a last minute technical staff change, but who slowly warms to the cute new guy running lights…
Indulging Ivan (The Whole A-Z #5) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Very good kinky short m/m romance about a dom who’s staying with a friend while he looks for work. He’s also trying to avoid the temptation of the friend’s younger brother, without much success…
Catching Kit by Kay Berrisford. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a guy who works for the British government, capturing Ethereal Beings (aka elves). When he unexpectedly becomes close to one of his captives, everything changes. I was a bit frustrated by the epilogue, which took place a year after the main story, because all the stuff that was mentioned in the epilogue as having occurred during the intervening year seemed like it needed to be a story in itself!
Bossy and the Brat (Men of Holsum College #5) by Daisy Harris. ebook. Good m/m romance about an almost college senior from a conservative small Kansas town who can barely admit to himself that he likes guys… but he can’t keep his eyes off the dance major who lives across the hall in their dorm.

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This is Chaos, pissed off about being at the vet. You can only see one of his eyes because he’s in pirate mode – he managed to scrape the cornea on his right eye, so he’s been wandering around with only his left eye open! He’ll be fine, but since I do have to put ointment in his eye four times each day for a week, I might not be…

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Congrats to Vicki T, Tina, and Lauren L, who won the Three Fates anthology by Mary Calmes, Andrew Grey, and Amy Lane. Three Fates is being released by Dreamspinner Press today.

Congrats to Pat N, who won Accounting for Luke (Dangerous Lovers #2) by Amber Kell!

Congrats to Sally, who won Summer School by Tam Ames! Summer School will be released by Silver Publishing on July 28.

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Contests

• Joyfully Jay is giving away an ebook copy of Calling the Show by JA Rock. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, July 27.

• Josephine Myles is giving away an ebook from the backlist of Christiane France. Closes 9 am GMT, July 30.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook copy of The Summer Place by Ariel Tachna. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, July 30.

• Tracy’s giving away a paperback and an ebook copy of Savage: Daughters of the Jaguar by Willow Rose. Closes 7 pm PDT, July 31.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook copy of Moonlight, Tiger, and Smoke by Connie Bailey. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, July 31.

Bookity

• A list of July’s new LGBT releases from Elisa Rolle.

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• An author and book blogger on being sued for using a copyrighted image in a blog post.

• VacuousMinx on the structural problems she sees with Goodreads and how GRs may have decided that readers are the problem…

• Extremely configurable wall shelves.

• A hotel owner in the UK has replaced all the nightstand bibles with copies of Fifty Shades of Grey…

• Harry Potter and the Ten Years Later is a new web series.

• Composite technology could reveal the faces of literary characters.

• “Paper Passion” is a new perfume that smells like freshly printed books.

• From Paperback Writer, “Ten things that may indicate you’ve written a McOpener”.

• “You Chose Wrong” is a tumblr of endings gone wrong from the Choose Your Own Adventure series. (via Tor.com)

• Carolyn Crane has some handy blog buttons for authors fighting against GRs bullies. (HUMOR)

• Auntie Special Snowflake on how authors can become rich and famous online, winning the internet war, and an author’s most important battle.

Ebookity

• Ebooks, libraries, and publishing. (via Unshelved)

• Check out what’s available at the International Children’s Digital Library.

• Amazon has relisted free public domain ebooks, which breaks external links.

• Are authors who stick with traditional publishers hurting their future careers?

• Kindle 3G web browsing outside of the US will now be capped at 50 mb per month.

• More on privacy and ereading from Dear Author, specifically focusing on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, and Kobo.

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• Chick fil-A’s CEO made it clear his company is against marriage equality. The Jim Henson Company does not wish to partner with Chick fil-A in the future. Chick fil-A may or may not have created a fake Facebook account as part of this. Boston’s mayor wrote a letter to Chick fil-A, telling the company it wasn’t welcome in Boston. Unfortunately, the ACLU said that’s unconstitutional.

• Mitt Romney puts his foot in his mouth re: Sally Ride… And yay, The Mountains Goats/John Darnielle! (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• The Norwegian response to terrorism makes me want to move to Norway…

• Learn the difference between llamas and alpacas.

• Which are the top airports for spreading disease?

• Poor airlines – a court has ruled that they have to tell the truth about airfares.

• Make your own charging station. (via CRAFT)

• What you need for making your own simple home gym.

• A rubber band can protect your walls when you have to pull out nails with a hammer.

• You can search Google from your tablet or phone by scribbling letters on the screen instead of typing.

• Deaf people might be able to get near-real time subtitles/text translation of things happening around them.

• New gluten-free beer labeling policy in the US. Why it’s hard to assess hydrolyzed and fermented products (including beer) for gluten. (Keep that in mind when considering “gluten-free” barley-based beer such as Omission.)

• Learn more about Amy Begley, gluten-free Olympian.

• Keep an eye out for ATM skimmers…

Cookity

• Try substituting avocado for butter when you bake.

• Corn, tomato, & black bean tostadas with creamy cilantro dressing.

• Golden quinoa salad with radish, dill, & avocado.

• Grilled artichoke pesto zucchini bites. (via The Kitchn)

• Spicy swiss chard chips. (via The Kitchn)

• Lemon chicken with artichokes. (via The Kitchn)

• Make your own smoked salmon.

• Bacon s’mores.

• Hazelnut mandarin polenta cake. (via The Kitchn)

• Gluten-free, dairy-free pear-pecan sour cream coffee cake muffins.

• Constellation cookies.

• Carrot cake and almond butter popsicles. (via The Kitchn)

• Frozen lemon mascarpone cheesecake. (via Keira Andrews)

• Creme brulee ice cream. (via The Kitchn)

• 20 ice cream recipes.

• 15 zucchini recipes.

• 11 pesto recipes.

• 10 recipes that use leftover coffee.

Drinkity

• Berry mint chocolate kiss.

• Tropical sangria (scroll down). (via The Kitchn)

• Sparkling white peach sangria.

• White peach cooler. (via The Kitchn)

• Hot and spicy Bloody Mary granita. (via The Kitchn)

Crafty

• Braid a jump rope from plastic bags. (via CRAFT)

• Knitted Olympians.

• Knitted landscapes. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• TARDIS tea infuser. (via The Mary Sue)

• TARDIS closet. (via CRAFT)

• Terry Gilliam’s daughter digs through his personal archives. (via The Mary Sue)

• Knitting, food, and photo linkity from MrsPao.

• Floating mug that doesn’t leave moisture rings on furniture. (via Becky Black’s tumblr)

• View-Master photo frame.

• Will there be more scifi things happening at the Olympics?

• Photos of Einstein. (via Tor.com)

• xkcd’s “What If?” blog makes physics way more interesting and accessible than I remember it being in college. This week, I learned what would happen if you gathered a mole of moles together. O.O

• Lamp with a bulletin board lampshade.

• The Disney anti-princesses.

• Cute video called “Don’t, Darren, Don’t” about red shirts and other characters who tend to die in movies and on tv.

• What NASA thinks are the five most beautiful pictures of the Earth as taken by Landsat satellites.

• Gorillas destroying poachers’ snares.

Cool or Wha…?

• I really can’t see this cat hammock keeping cats off the furniture…

• Fingernail lawns.

• Elephant sculpture covered by sunflower seeds.

• Cross stitched Final Fantasy Monopoly board.

• TARDIS shed protected by a Dalek. (via The Mary Sue)

• Light-up lightsaber chopsticks.

• Chewbacca messenger bag.

• Roaring wookie alarm clock.

• Shark laundry hamper.

• Buildings inspired by fairytale illustrations.

• A Minnesota bar has a pregnancy test dispenser in the bathroom.

Wha…?

• An 11-year old managed to fly from the UK to Rome without a ticket, passport, or accompanying adult.

• Giant squirrel head feeder.

• Dog-shaped scratching post.

• Urns shaped like your head to hold your cremated ashes…

• “Experiment reveals 6% of humans casually murder rubber animals“.

LOL

• Keep calm… True Blood style.

• 15 autocorrects related to movies.

• Bagpipes and a penguin.

• How many goats/sheep/chickens/guinea pigs/cows would it take to mow your lawn? (via Gizmodo)

• In case you were unsure…

• Eyelash wish log. (hover the cursor over the comic for additional text)

• Unicorn chasers and oddly specific apologies at Cake Wrecks.

• If you’re wondering when Texas will see cooler weather…

• How to tell if it’s way too hot.

• “How to suck at your religion“.

• “Not everyone likes to snuggle.“

• The Incredible Supercat!

• Make sure you keep your cats cool in this heat!

• I just assume May’s trying to dig through the center of the planet when she does this.

• Contortionist cat.

• Possessive cats…

Teh Cute

• Black cats! Black cat! Black kitten! Leopard and baby! Black jaguar! Snow leopard and baby! Egret! Cheetah and baby! Cheetah and babies! Bison! Wombat! Baby otters! Rock hyrax and babies (they’re the closest living relative of elephants)! Red panda! Pygmy rabbits! Manatee and baby! Spotty toes! Baby padu! Baby tiger! Panda and baby! Baby cougar! Cat!

Reading Update
Wacky Wednesday by JA Rock. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a dom and his younger sub who haven’t been connecting very well recently… and then they wake up to find they’ve switched bodies, which definitely gives them the chance to understand each other better!
Daddio (Horizons #3) by Mickie B. Ashling. ebook. Very good m/m romance that picks up six months after the second book as Lil and Grier settle into their relationship – Lil learning to parent, Grier working to control his anger, and both of them learning to communicate and compromise. Jody and Clark are back, too! Plus there’s plenty of smutty goodness to go around.
Marlowe’s Ghost by Sarah Black. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a former Marine turned history scholar who goes to England at the request of a professor to check up on the professor’s sickly, scholarly nephew and perhaps shepherd him back to the US. The lyrical writing was vaguely scholarly and packed with info about Christopher Marlowe, yet didn’t have the brain dump quality that some of Black’s other works have had.
A Better Man (The Men of Halfway House #1) by RJ Scott & Jaime Reese. Very good m/m romance about a contractor who’s been unable to find work and is about to be homeless, so he answers an ad for a handyman job that turns out to be much, much more. And what’s up with his secretive, prickly, and attractive new boss? I’m glad there’s a sequel planned, because I want to see what the next chapter of their lives looks like!
The Auspicious Troubles of Chance (The Auspicious Troubles of Love #1) by Charlie Cochet. ebook. Very good historical m/m romance about a guy who lost everything that mattered to him and has been living on the edge ever since. He knows he can’t keep going on as he has been, so… he joins the French Foreign Legion.
Roses in the Devil’s Garden (Fallen Rose #1) by Charlie Cochet. free ebook short. Very good short historical m/m romance about two NYC Prohibition agents who constantly have to be on the lookout for agents on the take. Definitely looking forward to reading the next book!
Lost in My Waking Dream by Charlie Cochet. ebook short. Good short sort of historical romance, sort of not (can’t say more without being spoilery) about a guy who feels as if he’s surely been going crazy since the Great War.

Latin Boyz by PA Brown. ebook. Good but unevenly paced m/m suspense with a tiny bit of almost romance thrown in. Actually, this reminded me of an Oprah book – the depressing stuff tended to overwhelm the happy moments and… it did not end so well.

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People periodically ask how I get such good pictures of Chaos and Mayhem. (Aw, thank you!) The secret is to take lots and lots of pictures, crop, and don’t be afraid to tweak the pictures to make them more interesting (plus tweaking can hide a multitude of problems). I’m all about simplicity when I work on pictures – I use a simple photo editor to crop and then tweak in Picasa. Here’s a crappy original:

Here’s the crappy original cropped to focus on the cats:

And here’s the cropped and tweaked final version (still crappy, but more interesting):

“Quit taking my picture! I’m outta here.” -Chaos

“Yeah! What the big kitty said! You are trying to steal our souls!!” -Mayhem

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Congrats to Zanara, who won The Wish (2nd ed) by Eden Winters! The Wish is being released today by Dreamspinner Press. And don’t forget that a new edition of Valentine Wish (Wish #3) is available as a free read today!

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Congrats to Majken, who won A Better Man by RJ Scott and Jaime Reese! A Better Man will be released by Silver Publishing on July 21.

Congrats to Erica, who won Daddio (Horizons #3) by Mickie B. Ashling! Daddio will be released by Dreamspinner Press on July 23.

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Contests

• Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is giving away an ebook copy of Primal Red (Bellingham Mysteries #1) by Nicole Kimberling. Winner selected July 22.

• Joyfully Jay is giving away the following ebooks: your choice from Katey Hawthorne’s Supowerpowered Love series; your choice of Ava March’s Bound series or her Convincing series; or Player and the Prude (Holsum College #4) by Daisy Harris. All contests close at 11:59 pm EDT, July 22.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook of your choice. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, July 22.

• Tracy’s giving away an ebook copy of Cold Steel and Hot Lead (How the West Was Done) by Karen Mercury. Closes 7 pm PDT, July 24.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook copy of A Life Without You (Boston Boys #1) by Erica Pike. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, July 24.

• Pants Off Reviews is also giving away an ebook copy of Lucius’ Bite (Family of Misfits #1) by K-Lee Klein. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, July 25.

• And Pants Off Reviews is giving away three ebooks from the backlist of Josephine Myles. Closes 11:59 pm EDT, July 26.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of The Officer Says, “I Do” by Jeanette Murray. Closes August 1. US & Canada.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Fiction Vixen (romances), AAR (romances), and  Book Lovers Inc (romance etc).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Dear Author on the wider implications of the “Stop the GRs Bullies” site. Some humor about the whole mess from Carolyn Jewel (via Kate) and Anime June (via Experiment BL626).

• Melanie posted about her favorite series covers and cover artists.

• LA Witt on why she despises the term “mommy p0rn”.

• Make a bedside smartphone dock out of an old book.

• Berlin uses fallen tree trunks to hold books for a free book exchange program. (Thanks, Kate!)

• Five meals from literature. (via The Kitchn)

• There really was a Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin. (via The Mary Sue)

• Better book title for Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye.

• Jennifer Armintrout has started her snarky chapter-by-chapter review of 50 Shades Darker.

• Will someone pass the brain bleach, please?

Ebookity

• Root a Nook Simple Touch and turn it into a superpowered ebook reader/eInk Android tablet.

• Make a “boom” for handsfree ereader or tablet reading.

• Part one of Dear Author’s series on privacy and ereading.

• Because readers of ebooks have so many choices (and tend to accumulate ebooks faster than we can read them), mainstream publishers threatening to release new books as paper only for the first several months doesn’t necessarily matter to us – we have plenty of other things to read.

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• “On politics: The logic of the illogical“.

• Chick fil-A’s company president has taken a very public stance against gay marriage. You can make your own Chick fil-A sandwiches at home instead of supporting hate.

• “How much Force power can Yoda output?“

• How Adam Savage of Mythbusters works.

• Splitting an Amazon Prime membership four ways (with your “family” members) makes it a lot more palatable…

• The Time of London is demanding it stop raining in the UK. Looks like they have a valid point! (via Yarnerinas)

• The FDA has approved the first drug that helps prevent HIV.

• Foods you should avoid eating during heatwaves. (via The Kitchn)

• Canadians – don’t leave your plastic money in a hot car!

• Make your own sprinkler using PVC pipe.

• Don’t forget to clean the filters in your air conditioner or dehumidifier!

• It’s the 30-year anniversary of the clamshell computer. (via Liliputing)

• “The truth about semen“.

• “15 crazy ideas to make your life saner“.

Gluten-Free

• GF lasagna.

• GF pizza.

• GF blueberry muffins.

• Granita.

Cookity

• Roasted vegetable curry. (via The Kitchn)

• Lettuce wraps with ginger, carrots, & shredded tofu. (via The Kitchn)

• Grilled tofu spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce. (via The Kitchn)

• Chopped salad with soba noodles. (via The Kitchn)

• Avocado hummus.

• Classic guacamole.

• Bacon and tomato guacamole. (via A Caffeinated Yarn)

• Thai-style turkey burgers. (via The Kitchn)

• Brownie cookies with salted caramel creme filling. (via The Kitchn)

• Almond Joy shortbread bars. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• Snickers bars. (via MrsPao)

• Pink lemonade bars. (via The Kitchn)

• 5 fruit salsas.

• 6 mayo-free potato salads.

• 10 recipes for cooking with beer. You can use gluten-free beer…

• 15 recipes using peaches.

• Gin rickey.

Crafty

• Crocheted porch pouf. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Quote from Neil DeGrasse Tyson on keeping religion out of science classrooms.

• Quote from Bill Maher on what atheism is.

• Northern Lights over Duluth and the North Shore. (Thanks to Jeanne for the second link!)

• 200,000 piece LEGO model of the Roman Colosseum.

• Some LEGOs from The Dark Knight Rises.

• Painting a 150-foot tall Batman.

• The perfect car for the zombie apocalypse. (via The Mary Sue)

• Mr. Tea Infuser.

• I think we all need one of these!

Cool or Wha…?

• Musical wine glasses.

• Maze tumbler.

• Sushi bazooka.

• Layered-door refrigerator.

Wha…?

• Products that cannot possibly work. (Thanks, Jase!)

• Crotch flask.

• TSA does extra crotch screening on man with world’s longest penis…

• Spanx for men?

• Air-conditioned pants.

• Custom furniture that you can use as a coffin when you’re dead…

• Knitted hangover mask.

• Cars with built-in espresso machines.

• Rooftop dining set. (via Gizmodo)

• Refrigerator for your bathroom.

• Malt-flavored Mountain Dew.

• R2-D2 football.

• The new town of Bikinis, Texas.

LOL

• 10 “reasons” to oppose marriage equality. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

• Best drugstore promo?

• Amazon Yesterday.

• “The actual cast of Star Wars sings ‘Call Me Maybe’“. Then watch the cast of Doctor Who sing “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

• Very NSFW m/m photo story enacted with action figures and more…

• Be careful who you do geology with! (hover your mouse pointer for additional text)

• Internet argument victory. (again with the hovering)

• How people from around the world react to a 64F forecast (with sunshine).

• Animals with misleading names.

• Animal instincts.

• Make the internet more cat friendly with Meowbify. (Thanks, Jase!)

• Star Wars scenes done with cats.

• What I really do… the cat edition.

• Yes. Yes they will.

• Cat house.

• Cat tree.

• I hear ya, Cynical Cat.

• The power of kitties.

• Some feline spider-hunting humor.

• Chaos wouldn’t be this polite.

• Chaos again.

Teh Cute

• Kittens! Baby panda! Baby tigers! Baby moose! Kitten! Egret and babies! Baby tigers! Black kitten! Tiger! Baby black panthers! Baby tigers! Tiger and baby! Tiger! Lion and baby! Lioness and baby! Cheetah and baby! Tiger! Baby snow leopard! Baby lion! Baby tigers! Baby lions! Baby cheetah! Stompers! Baby spoon-billed sandpipers! Kittens! Baby penguin! Flamingos and baby! Kitten! Kitten! Snow leopard! Kitten butt!

Reading Update
Red-Eye Dawn (Turbulence #3) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. Very good installment of the serial in which Paul starts to freak out about their situation, but gains calm from an unexpected source.
Temporal Driftwood by Stephen Osborne. ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about a guy who’s shown two possible futures for himself… Can he believe he deserves the good one?
An Oral Fixation by Piper Vaughn. free ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about a college student who’s had a crush on his bisexual roommate for years, but the timing hasn’t worked out to say anything about it.
Naked Truth (Sun, Sea & Submission #3) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Good short kinky m/m romance about a nudist who seems determined to disrupt the (closeted at work) life of the Pendragon Hotel’s manager.
Final Atonement (Doug Orlando #1) by Steve Neil Johnson. Good gay mystery set in NYC in the early 90s about a cop, ostracized by his peers for trying to do the right thing, who’s trying to figure out who murdered a universally disliked rabbi.
Player and the Prude (Men of Holsum College #4) by Daisy Harris. ebook. Good m/m romance about a wealthy and slutty business major who takes a bet from a friend to seduce a gawky, repressed film student.
Skin Deep (Gray Zone #3) by Adrienne Wilder. ebook. Pretty good paranormal m/m romance about a guy who returns home one day to discover that his boyfriend is very, very sick… and is then plunged into a nightmarish world he can barely comprehend. This was a very mixed read for me – it’s a Bittersweet Dreams title, so it doesn’t exactly end happily. And I couldn’t quite relate to the main character – many of his actions seemed TSTL to me.
Come Cuddle Me by Missy Welsh. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a naive young man who posts his address along with an invitation to “come cuddle me” and is rescued from his foolishness by the bearish neighbor he’s been crushing on.

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“I can’t believe you called me a thug, Mom. Look at how sophisticated and refined I am!” -Chaos