Monthly Archives: June 2015

Contests, Reading

Ebook giveaway: Flashbulb (Flight HA1710 #3) by Clare London [CONTEST CLOSED]

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Congrats to Emese, who won Played! (The Shamwell Tales #2) by JL Merrow! Played! is being released by Samhain Publishing today.

Many thanks to Clare London for donating an ebook copy of her freshly released m/m romance, Flashbulb (Flight HA1710 #3), for a lucky commenter to win!

Blythe Harris was taking his first flight to the USA and hopefully a whole new client base for his bespoke upholstery business. An adventure for him, he was both nervous and excited to attract the attention of a handsome steward. Things might have gone further – if Flight HA1710 hadn’t failed.

Marc Stafford is a self-confessed player, and he used his charm to seduce his cute passenger. But in the aftermath of the crash, he’s struggling to recover his confidence. The TV declares him a hero for saving passengers, but at night his nightmares trigger painful flashbulb memories of the crash.

In an Irish hospital, Bly realises that although his broken leg will recover, his career may not. And in Chicago, Marc can’t face returning to work. Neither of them can shake off the memory of their brief, sexy encounter. Both of them need to be with someone who understands exactly what they’ve been through. And on a middle ground they can make all their own.

Excerpt (scroll down)

Other Books by Clare

About Clare

Clare London took her pen name from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fueled family home, she juggles her writing with her other day job as an accountant.

She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic, and sexy characters.

Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter three stage and plenty of other projects in mind… she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fueled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello! You can also visit Clare at her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and GoodReads.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, Friday, July 10.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only luck and counterintuitive espionage will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winner will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“I demand treats and I demand them now, dammit!!!!!!!!” -Chaos

Covers, Reading

Misadventures in Stock Photography: Part the 241st (The return of the return of the return of Prison Stripes Guy)

8 Comments

Welcome to another edition of the Misadventures in Stock Photography! Today we’ll be catching up with Prison Stripes Guy… AGAIN. Thanks to everyone who sent me links to covers! 🙂 And don’t forget that you can hover your cursor over the cover (or long-press on the cover if you’re mobile) to see how I used the title in the Misadventure.

With

for the day, as

in the canyon below him,

is

and that

he’d met while

, then challenged to a

playing

.

Only a leeeetle bit convoluted, right?! RIGHT??? 😉

“It was so nice when there weren’t any naughty boys last week. Alas, they have returned.” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity warns of melted cats on the floor

6 Comments

Randonymity

Contest(s)

Bookity

Think, Do, Make, Learn

Cookity

Gluten Free

Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
A Rule Against Murder (Three Pines #4) by Louise Penny. Good continuation of the series – the Chief Inspector and his wife are staying at a lodge to celebrate their anniversary when death visits the unhappy family reunion also at the lodge.
Aspertools: The Practical Guide for Understanding and Embracing Asperger’s, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Neurodiversity by Harold S. Reitman. DNF @ 33%. I really wanted to like this book. I liked some of the information in it, but unfortunately I found the author’s style too annoying to continue reading. YMMV.
Doodles Unleashed: Mixed-Media Techniques for Doodling, Mark-Making and Lettering by Traci Bautista. DNF at 43%. Maybe the formatting of the ebook made this seem kind of chaotic? Maybe the paper book is less a nonstop and thus somewhat overwhelming list of prompts? YMMV.

“BoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBored…” -Mayhem

Contests, Reading

Ebook giveaway: Mapping the Shadows by Becky Black [CONTEST CLOSED]

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Many thanks to Becky Black for donating an ebook copy of her freshly released m/m science fiction romance, Mapping the Shadows, for a lucky commenter to win!

Ash Bowman is lost. Two years ago he and his cop partner, Evelyn, walked in on a murder in progress that left her dead and him maimed. He left the force and became a private investigator, but business is suffering because of his obsession with mapping the Core of the space station Fraxin Yari, where Evelyn’s ghost haunts him as he prowls the dark corridors.

Journalist Gabe Whitfield is on a mission to learn the truth behind that same murder. He doesn’t expect to stay on Frax after he finishes the job. But meeting Ash Bowman changes his plans. He came to the station a man without ties. He isn’t going to leave the same way.

Despite initially mistrusting him, Ash can’t resist his attraction to the fiery Gabe. Gabe responds, though knows he shouldn’t when Ash is one of the subjects of his investigation. But they come to trust each other and join forces to find the answers Ash had almost forgotten he was still seeking. If they are to have any chance of happiness, Gabe must help Ash lay the ghosts calling him back again and again to the deep darkness of the Core.

Excerpt (scroll down and select “Excerpt” tab)

Becky talks about the history of Mapping the Shadows.

Other Books

About Becky

A long time science fiction fan, Becky thinks there are few story ideas that can’t be improved by the addition of the words “in space”. If the story also includes two gorgeous men unable to keep their hands off each other then so much the better. She’d happily go into space herself, but being English would insist on there being a reliable supply of tea available.

She likes nothing more than trapping her characters in tricky no-win situations and watching them figure a way out. When not chasing her characters up trees and throwing rocks at them Becky can be found working in an office – where she’s usually thinking about the next rock to throw.

You can find out more about Becky and her books at her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, Monday, July 6.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Art Journaling

No time for Misadventures – making art!

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Congrats to Courtney S, who won Collusion (Diversion #2) (2nd ed) by Eden Winters! Collusion was released by Rocky Ridge Books on June 20.

But there are plenty of Misadventures in the archives to keep you busy if you start to go into withdrawal or something. 🙂

You’ve probably noticed I’ve been reading all sorts of books about art journaling over the past few months. If you’re curious, I’ve included a couple of pages from one of my art journals below, with links to posts with more pictures on my tumblr. I will definitely be posting more pages to my tumblr.

One of the non-abstract pages (newsprint covered with watercolor washes; black pen; watercolor pencil):

And one of the abstract pages (colored pencil and black brush pen):

No big deal, I just forgot I had an artistic streak… for 30+ years. D’oh!

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

That pose makes my spine cringe.

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

In which linkity suffers a fortunately non-fatal cute burn

6 Comments

Congrats to Courtney S, who won Collusion (Diversion #2) (2nd ed) by Eden Winters! Collusion will be released by Rocky Ridge Books on June 20.

Contest(s)

Bookity

Think, Learn, Make, Do

Cookity

Gluten Free

Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
No Excuses Art Journaling: Making Time for Creativity by Gina Rossi Armfield. So-so – perfect if you’re looking for a very structured approach to art journaling at $50-$97/year. No thanks, although I did enjoy some of the sample journal pages in the book.
A Fatal Grace (Three Pines #2) by Louise Penny. Very good continuation of this series. The Chief Inspector and his team return to the magical village of Three Pines, where a nasty interloper has been murdered. Lots of setup for the next book, too – have I mentioned how much I hate foreshadowing?!
The Cruelest Month (Three Pines #3) by Louise Penny. Good mystery continuing the series with a return to Three Pines after someone dies at a seance. All the foreshadowing from the previous book culminated near the end of this one, but felt a bit too pat.

*being adorable* -Mayhem

Contests, Reading

Ebook giveaway: Played! (The Shamwell Tales #2) by JL Merrow [CONTEST CLOSED]

57 Comments

Many thanks to JL Merrow for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m romance, Played! (The Shamwell Tales #2), for a lucky commenter to win! Played! will be released by Samhain Publishing on June 30.

Tristan’s in Shamwell for one last summer of freedom before he joins the family firm in New York – no more farting around on stage, as his father puts it. But the classically trained actor can’t resist when members of the local amateur dramatics society beg him to take a role in their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Especially as he’ll also be giving private acting lessons to gorgeous local handyman, Con, who’s been curiously resistant to Tristan’s advances. Tristan’s determined to get Con in his bed – not only is the man delicious, there’s fifty pounds riding on Tristan’s success after a bet made with his drama school chum Amanda.

Con’s never dared to act before. A late-diagnosed dyslexic who had a hard time at school, he’s always been convinced he’d never be able to learn his lines – but with Tristan helping him, he might just be in with a chance. Trouble is, the last time Con fell for a guy, he ended up getting his heart broken, and with Tristan due to leave the country in a matter of months, Con’s determined not to give in and start anything that’s bound to finish badly.

Just as Tristan thinks he’s finally won Con’s heart – and given his own in return – disaster strikes. And the curtain may have fallen forever on their chance of happiness.

Warning: contains a surfeit of Bottoms and asses, together with enough mangled quotations to have the Bard of Avon gyrating in his grave.

Excerpt (scroll down and select Sneak Peek)

Other Books

About JL

JL Merrow is that rare beast: an English person who refuses to drink tea.  Having grown up by the seaside, she also loathes fish and chips.  She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.  Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne. She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporaries and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. You can find out more about JL at her website, blog, Facebook, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, Monday, June 29.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Covers, Reading

Misadventures in Stock Photography: Part the 240th (Possibly Passing Out Guy)

8 Comments

Congrats to MarMight, who won The Champion’s Secret (Red Dragon #4) by Becky Black!

Welcome to another edition of the Misadventures in Stock Photography! Today we’ll be meeting Possibly Passing Out Guy (PPOG).

Once upon a time, there was a

who had

: “Everything, everywhere, was really

, and all of it will be my

because I am actually an ancient

!”

Well then.

*Judging Eye of Judginess* -Mayhem

I think Amazon’s Minions box is quite flattering to Ms Mayhem, judging or not!

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Higgeldy piggeldy linkity

5 Comments

Congrats to MarMight, who won The Champion’s Secret (Red Dragon #4) by Becky Black!

Bookity

Think, Make, Learn, Do

Cookity

Gluten Free

Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults by Cynthia Kim. Excellent little book for those of us who’ve come to suspect we’re neurodiverse instead of neurotypical. Defines autism spectrum disorders, describes the process of getting an official diagnosis (and how that might not even be possible for everyone), and discusses how to properly self-diagnose. Highly recommended.
Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1) by Louise Penny. Very good mystery set in Quebec, in a thriving little town that’s not on any of the maps (the Chief Inspector checks as they’re driving out from Montreal), after an elderly and much-beloved town resident is found dead. Accidental death… or murder? I’m already on the wait list at the library for the next two books in the series. 🙂

“Clean face, clean face, I’m going to have a clean clean face!” -Chaos

Contests, Reading

Ebook giveaway: Collusion (Diversion #2) (2nd ed) by Eden Winters [CONTEST CLOSED]

16 Comments

Many thanks to Eden Winters for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming re-released m/m romantic suspense, Collusion (Diversion #2) (2nd ed), for a lucky commenter to win! Collusion will be released by Rocky Ridge Books on June 20.

Dead men can’t love.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky.

While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals.

When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.

Eden explains why she changed the Diversion series book covers.

Other Books by Eden

About Eden

Our heroine sits quietly in her cube, just one of many, typing, filing, and breaking the occasional nail, hiding her true identity beneath her clever disguise of nerdy glasses and business suits (with sensible shoes!). Frantic eyes watch the clock as she waits impatiently for the ruse to end and her true calling to begin.

With eager anticipation she drives her average car to her average home, and eats her average (vegetarian and completely healthy!) meal alone. The minutes tick by, and when the sun finally sets she leaps tall sofas in a single bound, shedding her disguise to take on her true super heroine persona! Is she in such a rush to save the world? Save the city? Save the neighbor’s kitten from a tree! No! She liberates her laptop from the evil clutches of arch villain, Hall Closet, and flings it open to free the worlds hiding within its depths. There are lonely werewolves searching desperately for mates, spoiled rich boys just waiting for her gentle caress of the keyboard to create someone who’ll truly understand them, and futuristic soldiers, gunning across the universe to save the men they love… No scenario is too bizarre! A time traveling pirate? No problem! Violin playing specter haunting a Scottish castle? You betcha!

When she’s not busily creating happy-ever-afters for fictional hotties, our heroine enjoys music, the great outdoors, and cruising down the highway on the back of a Harley Davidson.

You can visit Eden at her blog, website, and GoodReads.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, Friday, June 19.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

Behold the noble housepanther!

“Are you mocking me, Mom? I don’t like it when I’m mocked.” -Chaos