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Congrats to Paula, who won Trust in Me by Lori Toland!

Congrats to Cursingmama, who won Stranger in Black by Devon Rhodes!

Congrats to Lauren, who won Between Sinners and Saints by Marie Sexton! Between Sinners and Saints will be released on May 29 by Amber Allure.

Congrats to Melanie M, who won A.J.’s Angel by L.A. Witt! A.J.’s Angel is being released by Samhain Publishing on May 31.

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Contests

• Blodeued’s giving away two copies of Awaken the Highland Warrior by Anita Clenney. Closes May 29. US & Canada.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away two copies of Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson. Closes May 29. US & Canada.

• Book Lovers Inc is giving away a copy of Virna DePaul’s Chosen by Blood. Closes June 11.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR) and Book Lovers Inc (UF/PNR/etc).

• Book and publishing news/links from Dear Author, Smart Bitches, and ReadReactReview.

• If you have a MacBook Air, check out this gorgeous leather bound book case.

• On using discarded books as room dividers instead of sending the books to landfills.

• The art of pop-up books.

• Fiction Vixen wonders what makes you stop reading an author – a single book you couldn’t finish? Or? Definitely read the comments.

• Thoughtful post about Bordertown and negotiating real-life borders.

• Have publishers caused the decline of books that they blame on technology? Did they create their current dilemma?

• Alan Rickman on speaking “as Severus Snape for absolutely the last time.”

• Sunita has a great post at Dear Author about m/m romance and how it’s nearly always classified as erotica, whether it really is or not.

Ebookity

• Both Kobo and Barnes & Noble announced new touch ereaders, available soon.

• Amazon and Barnes & Noble are bickering about how much battery life their respective devices get.

• Dear Author on why DRM’s probably not going away anytime soon.

• TeleRead has an open letter to publishers about ebook quality control, focused mainly on print books that have been converted to ebooks.

• New NookColors will only have one GB of user-accessible storage – the other four GBs will be reserved for content purchased from Barnes & Noble.

• Is Google dropping its eBookstore?

• One resourceful guy used Google Books to build a 1906-style car!

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• Seventeen facts about cats.

• Not so surprising to discover that the increase in desk jobs has helped fuel the obesity epidemic.

• Footage of the most recent volcanic explosion in Iceland.

• Before and after picture from Joplin, Missouri.

• Will there be a showdown between Texas lawmakers and the TSA?

• Apparently this is not the year to buy a car.

• Tips from Lifehacker on “de-crapifying” your life.

• Should you drive or fly on your next trip?

• Curse those web content scrapers!

• Is your movie theater leaving its 3D lens on when showing 2D films? (via The Mary Sue)

• A blind man with amazing echolocation skills.

• Did you celebrate Towel Day on Wednesday? Or Geek Pride Day?

• A quote that applies to far more than science.

• Check your sunscreen to see how it rates in sun protection and ingredient safety.

• Why our memories get worse as we get older.

• A researcher finds that kids prefer action to violence in their tv viewing.

• A moving and thoughtful letter about a gay rights “a-ha moment”.

• What celiac disease is and isn’t. (via The Kitchn)

Cookity

• Poached rhubarb royale.

• Chocolate from scratch.

• Visual guide to how many fruits and vegetables constitute a serving.

• Deep-fried strawberries.

• Tips for gluten-free birthday cake.

• Ten recipes suitable for giving as gifts.

Crafty

• Sure to please any Harry Potter LEGO fan.

• Or maybe you could make a Harry Potter quilt instead?

• Make your own Spock quilt.

• Knitting linkity from the knittyBlog.

• Mochimochi Land’s tiny knitting kits are adorable!

• Sew a cool iPad (or ebook reader) cover from felt scraps.

• Janna writes about our Minneapolis excursion.

Cool

• I haven’t had a chance to watch this 55-minute Matrix fan film, but it sounds amazing.

• Periodic table of geek storytelling.

• Fabulous linkity from The Mary Sue that includes The Doctor and the Little Prince, how to make chocolate zombie truffles, Jack Sparrow statue made from scrap iron, and more!

• LEGO Star Wars diorama.

• Build a working ukele from LEGOs.

• Hire someone to write that email you really don’t want to write!

• If you’re looking for designs for simple furniture, check out the DIY Design Bank.

• This IKEA hack is conceptually similar to my storage futon frame, although my frame is enclosed, so it’s pretty dust- and cat hair-free.

• Linkity from MrsPao and from CarrieK.

• Use silicone pot holders to protect your bathroom counters from hot curling irons, etc.

• Tidy way to control cables and cords.

Cool or Wha…?

• TARDIS fez.

• Star Wars shower!

• Wrench necklace.

• Wine glass holder necklace…

• Steampunk spiders. (via The Mary Sue)

• Cat5 o’ nine tails.

• Cat scratch tights.

• McDonald’s around the world…

• Are you one of the people who’s turned their back yards into a little Disney park?

Wha…?

• Roadkill plush toys?! (Thanks, Bronwyn!)

• Police scrambled to a UK golf course to tranq a tiger… that turned out to be stuffed.

• Tentacle tie! (Thanks, PD!)

• Pineapple pants…

• Pimple ring.

• You can now buy the Candwich.

• “Time Is Money” clock. (Thanks, Bronwyn!)

• This looks like a suffocation hazard to me…

• Samauri underwear…

• Apple fandom might stimulate the brain like religion?!

LOL

• Do not get out of the car!

• A kitty truth.

• How can you be sad with a purring kitty right there?!

• “DO NOT WANT” food texts.

• Stephani Hecht and family watch and react to Starship Troopers 3.

• Ferrets in sweaters…

• Teh seben kittehs ob teh aboxalypse. (Pretty sure Chaos is standing in front of them directing their actions.)

• It’s not easy to appall Basement Cat!

• Who doesn’t love falling asleep with a gud book?

Teh Cute

• Kitten! Baby tiger! Kitten! Cygnet! Cat and kitten! Baby tiger! Kittens! Okapis! Kittens! Baby panda! Kitten! Otter! Kitten! Baby panda and mom! Lap full of kittens! Baby panda! Cat and kitten! Baby penguins! Kitten! Lion cub and mom! Cat and kittens! Quail chick! Baby platypuses.

Reading Update
Reverb by Jet Mykles. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about the lead singer of a rock band who’s really attracted to his straight lead guitarist and finally has the opportunity to seduce him… and then things go very, very wrong. Keep your hankies handy for this one!
Highway Man by Eden Winters. ebook short. Excellent short m/m romance based on the song “Papa Was a Rodeo” by the Magnetic Fields. I like to think that part of the song is an epilogue for the story. 🙂
Nothing Ever Happens by Sue Brown. ebook. Very good, very angsty m/m romance about a gay man staying married both for his son’s sake and out of fear of his overbearing, homophobic mother. Things start to break down when a new couple move to the neighborhood… Be warned that there’s infidelity in this one, which isn’t usually to my taste, either, but I got sucked in despite that.
Pain Management by Cassidy Ryan & Zoe Nichols. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about two guys who are business partners and best friends, until a drunken night together threatens all of it. Um, I might’ve cried a bit – this one really got to me! I got sniffly on the reread, too.
Deliberately Bound (Bound #3.5) by Ava March. free ebook short. Steamy short kinky m/m romance in which things don’t go at all as Vincent had planned upon Oliver’s return from London.
A Weapon of Opportunity by Kiernan Kelly. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a gay cop in love with his straight partner, who was killed in the line of duty five years earlier… but his ghost remains.
A Fool for You by Cat Grant. ebook. Good m/m romance about a dyslexic keyboardist who gets screwed over by his band members and boyfriend because he wasn’t able to write his music down. The pacing on this felt odd to me – an overnight change from brat to not-brat plus insta-love just didn’t quite gel.
Stroke to His Cox by JL Merrow. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about the cox of a rowing team, who has a crush on one of his rowers.
Keeping House (Truth or Dare #1) by Lee Brazil. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a trust fund baby whose controlling older brothers manipulate him into getting a job and supporting himself. If only it hadn’t been insta-love…
Impossible to Resist by Em Woods. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance about a guy who’s phobic about being touched, but that doesn’t stop him from having a crush on one of the co-owners of the firm where he works. I did have a couple niggles: refractory periods and whether someone with haptephobia would actually change so quickly. Also, it felt like there was an awful lot of story for so few pages.
Lipstick & Handguns (Lawful Disorder, Book 1) by Gabrielle Evans. ebook. Ok m/m romantic suspense about a cop who finds himself getting too attached to a guy who survived being abducted and tortured. I kept getting distracted from the story by typos and descriptions that had me rereading to see if I’d read them right.

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“Send me all your everythings now, please. Thank you.” -Mayhem