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Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity: The post-birthday, pre-Thanksgiving edition

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Don’t forget to enter the contest for Media Naranja (Other Half) (Petit Morts #16) by Clare London & Jordan Castillo Price! Contest closes 7 pm CST, November 28.

Go enter the contest for Boats in the Night by Josephine Myles! Contest closes 7 pm CST, November 28.

Definitely enter the contest for Private Eye (Liaisons #1) by SE Culpepper! Contest closes 7 pm CST, November 28.

Congrats to Cori and Lilli, who each won copies of Honored Vow (Change of Heart #3) by Mary Calmes! Honored Vow will be released by Dreamspinner Press on November 21.

Congrats to Kelly, who won Texas Winter (The Heart of Texas #2) by RJ Scott! Texas Winter will be released by Silver Publishing on November 19.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes yesterday! 🙂 I took yesterday and today off from work and did absolutely nothing. Tonight, Jeanne and I are going to see The Mountain Goats play at the Fitzgerald Theater – Neil Gaiman is part the event, too.

Contests

  • Cecile’s giving away backlist ebooks from Rachel Haimowitz, Aleksandr Voinov, LA Witt, Brita Addams, or Cat Grant. Read the contest directions carefully! Contests close November 18 at midnight, EST.

Bookity

  • So last week’s AJ Llewellyn drama led to a larger discussion of transphobia and transgender issues. For me, this post by Aleksandr Voinov tied everything together.

Ebookity

Do, Think, Make, Learn

Thanksgivity

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Crafty

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Teh Cute

Reading Update
Stay the Night by Scarlett Parrish. ebook. Very good m/m romance about Kit, an awkward and antisocial computer programmer who is extremely attracted to his new housemate, but manages to push him away at every turn. Kit reminded me all too much of myself…
Boats in the Night by Josephine Myles. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who’s not really doing so well since his boyfriend left him a month ago. He’s dealing with a hangover when he hears a bunch of noise at the base of his garden and discovers a broken-down narrowboat, with a most fascinating owner…
True Colors by Clare London. ebook. reread. (Totally reusing my original reviewette here!) This turned out to be a very good and intense m/m romance after a sort of shaky start – I almost put the book away because there were so many different people introduced in the first few pages and I couldn’t figure out who was important and who was peripheral. But in the end? Totally redeemed, because Clare London deftly tied in those seemingly extraneous introductory bits.
Where You Least Expect It by M. Durango. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a straight guy whose unlikely friendship with a cyclist he almost ran over has him very confused about his sexuality.
Closet (Todd Mills #1) by RD Zimmerman. ebook. Very good m/m mystery about a prominent and closeted tv reporter whose boyfriend is murdered… and he’s being set up to take the fall. As a bonus, it’s set in Minneapolis in 1995. 🙂
Reclamation (Dominion #2) by Lissa Kasey. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romance in which Sei’s seeing a Dominion-ordered psychiatrist to help him work through the events of the last book, but he seems to be getting worse instead of better. I would definitely have enjoyed this book more if I hadn’t read the prologue – it made me too anxious to really settle into the story.
Consequences (Dominion #2.1) by Lissa Kasey. free ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance about Gabe messing with Sei a bit after Sei gets caught out while shifted.
Touching Wood by Kim Dare. ebook short. Steamy kinky short m/m scene about a dominant and submissive reconnecting with each other in their playroom.
Wight Mischief by JL Merrow. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who goes to the Isle of Wight to research ghosts with the self-absorbed journalist friend he’s fancied himself in love with for years… a fancy he reevaluates as he keeps running into a sexy and reclusive author with a creepy, domineering guardian.
Drive Safe by Sean Kennedy. free ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about a guy driving home through the outback who stops to help a drag queen whose car has broken down.
Congratulations Lucky Winner by LB Gregg. free ebook short. Madcap short m/m story about a hotel manager charged with storing two very unusual awards that are to be given out at conventions in the hotel.
Speed Dating the Slow Way by Chris Owen. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance about two guys who become briefly reacquainted during a charity speed dating event, then reconnect some time later.
Pulled Long (Long Shots #3) by Christine d’Abo. ebook arc. Pretty good m/m romance about Ian, a coffee shop owner who’s been fascinated by and flirting with a handsome customer for months… until he found out the customer was in the process of getting divorced. As he didn’t want to be some straight guy’s rebound, he backed off. I was annoyed by the whole martyr thing that Ian had going on – that’s a trait that drives me nuts. If that doesn’t bother you as much as it does me, you might enjoy this more than did I.
Between You and Me by Willa Okati. ebook. So-so m/m romance about two guys who’ve been best friends since college and now, in their mid-thirties, are starting to realize why neither of them have found “the one”. This just never came together for me – the language was convoluted and the whole beach in the rain scenario… *shakes head*
Stroke the Demon by Eden Cole. ebook. Meh kinky m/m paranormal menage about an orphaned 18-year old who discovers that the mysterious benefactors who’ve been paying for his school and living expenses are demons, and that he was basically bred to be their sex toy. This was one of those stories that had way too much sex for the tiny amount of plot.
Love Revisited: Nash & Paul (Nash & Paul #2) by HC Brown. ebook short. I read this out of sick fascination to see if it was as bad as the first book. It was. Maybe worse. It’s hard to quantify levels of badness at this level.
Saving Tate by Will Banks. ebook short. This m/m short was just bad, from using the phrase “gay lifestyle” to the clumsy writing to the excess of poorly executed plot crammed into too-few pages. Not recommended at all.

A classic picture of Chaos from early 2004! How would you caption it? 🙂

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

In which I can’t think of a clever title for linkity and so just ramble on in the title box for a while instead

16 Comments

If you’d like to learn a bit more about me, I’m featured on Coffee Time at Coffee and Porn in the morning today. Beware if you stray off that page, because most of the posts are NSFW.

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Think, Make, Do, Learn

  • When I told people I was going to drive to New Orleans for vacation, nearly everyone asked if I had a GPS and seemed distressed to learn I do not have one. But it was ok! I have a pretty good sense of direction. Rediscover yours and wean yourself from your GPS. 😉

Cookity

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Teh Cute

Reading Update
Missing Daughter, Shattered Family (David Lloyd Investigations #1) by Liz Strange. ebook. Very good m/m mystery (with a bit of romance) about a cop-turned-PI who’s hired to find a troubled young woman. The case becomes increasingly complex, and he finds himself dealing with unresolved issues from his own past. I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series!
His Last Resort by Devon Rhodes. free ebook short. Cute free short m/m romance about a college freshman who’s decided to come out when he arrives at college. It doesn’t go so smoothly at first…
One More Wish (Wish #2) by Devon Rhodes. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romance that starts out in parallel with One Wild Wish, although from Benny’s point-of-view. Benny wants to spend time with the shifter he can’t get out of his mind, but why does Curtis keep making excuses not to see him?
In the Wild (Wish #2.5) by Devon Rhodes. free ebook short. Steamy free short paranormal m/m romance about Benny and Rory waiting for their guys to show up.
Healer (The Institute #1) by Cassandra Gold. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romance about a doctor who can heal people with his mind. Bad guys who want to capture him and use his power for their own ends are closing in on him when a purportedly good guy offers him a way out.
Friction (Dominion #0.1) by Lissa Kasey. free ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance that introduces an unusual male witch and his sometimes vampire lover. Set in the Twin Cities of Minnesota! 🙂
Decadence (Dominion #0.2) by Lissa Kasey. free ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance about male witch Seiran, who’s preparing to bake a cake for his mother’s birthday when his sometimes lover stops by.
Resolute (Dominion #0.3) by Lissa Kasey. free ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance in which Sei starts to work at the bar his sometimes lover owns.
Inheritance (Dominion #1) by Lissa Kasey. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romance in which someone is trying to make it appear that Sei is murdering other witches. Fortunately, his vampire boyfriend, Gabe, and the mysterious Jamie have Sei’s back. I’m really enjoying this series – the next book is already queued up on my ereader.
Chance’s Vindication (Lost Shifters #13) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good m/m paranormal romance about Raven shifter Chance, who feels extremely out of place staying with the Feline Coalition – a situation that his crabby Lion Shifter guardian doesn’t do anything to remedy. I did want to smack Chance for some TSTL behavior later in the story.
A Fix in Time by Jade Falconer. ebook. So-so scifi m/m romance about a guy who works for an organization charged with keeping people from tampering with the past. He’s sent back to the 1800s to fix major time tampering and capture those responsible. He doesn’t mean to get involved with a guy from the past… This had too much infodumping and the writing felt stilted to me.

“You are all in so, so, sooooo much trouble. I saw what you did there. I won’t tell if you give me kitty treats.” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

In which it is Friday and there is linkity and no one is surprised at all

26 Comments

Congrats to Verena, who won Teacher Plus Two (In the Eyes #2) by Valentina Heart!

Contests

  • Jenre’s giving away three ebooks by Aleksandr Voinov: Scorpion, Counterpunch, and a choice from Aleks’ backlist. Comment on one or both of the contest posts for your chance to win.

Bookity

Ebookity

GayRomLit

Learn, Do, Make, Think

Halloweenity for Next Year

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Teh Cute

Reading Update
The German by Lee Thomas. ebook. Very good historical gay suspense/horror set in small-town Texas during WWII, when the brutal murder of two boys has emotions running high against the Germans in town. Be prepared for a very disturbing read.
Nexus (Warder #5) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about lawyer and warder Marcus going to Kentucky with his hearth, Joe, to visit Joe’s family, never expecting to run into demons while there. While I did enjoy this, at times I felt simultaneously as if I was missing part of the story, yet was being rushed through the story.
I Dare You by Tam Ames. free ebook short. Cute free short Halloween-themed m/m romance about a college student whose roommate dares him to go to a Halloween party and make a move on a guy he likes.
More Than Anything (More #1) by Shawn Lane. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a college freshmen who thinks the hunky football player hitting on him is just doing it to make fun of him. I want to read more about these two!
Hot Ticket (Serving Love) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. Good m/m romance about two very different guys who meet while doing court-ordered community service. *waves at Slave Boy*
Foxe Hunt (Skyler Foxe Mysteries #2) by Haley Walsh. ebook. Good m/m romantic suspense about high school English teacher Skyler who gets involved in another murder investigation while trying to decide if he actually has a boyfriend or not. It wasn’t until I hit the cliffhanger ending that I remembered I wasn’t going to read this one until the next book came out. D’oh! Also, Skyler is starting to reach new levels of TSTL and I spent a fair amount of time wanting to shake him.
Crankset (Chainbreaker #2) by Kate Roman. ebook short. Good short m/m sequel to Chainbreaker, which unfortunately lacks the charm of the original. In this one, our San Francisco bike messenger and his Gulf War veteran boyfriend become frustrated about living behind a curtain in the corner of someone’s living room.
Night Terrors (Night Wardens #1) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Pretty good m/m paranormal romance about a guy who has to leave college in order to fulfill his destiny as a Warder and protect humanity from a paranormal threat. This one needed a bit more polish and development to really shine.
For the Bite of It (Vampire in Exile) by Viki Lyn &Vina Grey. ebook. Meh paranormal m/m romance about an exiled vampire stripped of his powers and baking cupcakes in Tempe, Arizona, where he comes under suspicion of murder. Did the suspicious cop have to be so appealing and so deeply closeted? Although this is kind of choppy and sloppily edited (“scoured” instead of “scowled”?!), it was heading for three stars until it abruptly stopped, at the point of a critical conversation, feeling very unresolved. If this is supposed to be the first part of a serial, there’s sure not anything about it on Liquid Silver’s page for the book. And if there had been – I wouldn’t have purchased it.

“Hmm. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” -Chaos

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Halloweenity Linkity Booity

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Congrats to Melanie M, who won More Than Anything by Shawn Lane! More Than Anything will be released by Amber Allure on October 30.

Contests

Books

Ebooks

  • If you want an Android tablet for reading, but think the Kindle Fire sounds too locked into Amazon, check out the Kobo Vox.

GayRomLit

Think, Do, Make, Learn

  • What number human were you on the planet? I was (roughly) the 3,429,463,820th person alive on the planet when I was born, and the 77,402,259,003rd person to have lived since the beginning of human history.

Halloweenity

Cookity

So, The Kitchn’s gone a little crazy on recipe lists… which I can’t resist. Brace yourselves. 🙂

Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

  • Top 50 autocorrects from Damn You Autocorrect’s first year: Part 1.

Teh Cute

Reading Update
With a Kiss by Kim Dare. ebook. Excellent kinky paranormal m/m romance loosely based on Sleeping Beauty. A young man who’s being mentally, physically, and sexually abused by his boyfriend comes to the hospital every week for three years to read to a vampire in a mysterious coma. And then the vampires is awakened… This book shines in not trivializing the process of recovering from abuse.
I Just Play One on TV by AL Turner. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about two actors in a suspenseful science fiction tv show with a lot of “subtext” between their characters. One actor is out, although it doesn’t seem to be public knowledge, while the other is deeply closeted and in denial… Let’s just say I spent the last part of the book crying.
Across the East River Bridge by Kate McMurray. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about two academic rivals with an unfortunate chemistry who work together to solve the cold case mystery of two men murdered together in late 19th century Brooklyn.
Guarding Morgan (Sanctuary #1) by RJ Scott. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a guy being kept in an FBI safe house so he can testify about a shooting he witnessed. When the safe house is compromised, he ends up in the care of an intriguing agent for a special organization dedicated to keeping witnesses alive… Definitely looking forward to the next book in this series!
Private Eye (Liaisons #1) by SE Culpepper. ebook. 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…
Just Desserts (Petit Morts #14) by Josh Lanyon. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy confined to a wheelchair after his drunken cousin crashed their car. Unfortunately, this story didn’t provide any additional insight into Chance and his own journey.
Loose Change (Petit Morts #15) by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Very good short m/m paranormal focused entirely on Chance, set up as a series of brief scenes.
Media Naranja (Petit Morts #16) by Clare London & Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance about a young man who accompanies his dying grandmother and her friend to a tropical resort.
Immortal Coil (Petit Morts #17) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Excellent short paranormal m/m romance about a high school teacher and former coach whose life changed dramatically several years ago. When he wanders into a small street carnival, he doesn’t know that it’s about to change again. (This story is also the culmination of Chance’s story arc.) I loved this quote: “If everything were anything,” Chance said softly, “the barriers would break down, and we’d all lose ourselves to chaos. And then there would be no cotton candy.”
Independence by Clare London. free ebook short. Steamy, kinky short m/m scene between an established D/s couple.
Learning To Walk (City Hospital #3) by Drew Zachary. ebook. Sweet m/m romance about a guy, seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, who develops feelings for his physical therapist. Since there’s not much conflict in this one, I think it’d be a good read to help recover from an angst-fest book.
Cycle-pathic by Stefan Seabourne. free ebook short. Steamy short m/m scene between a bike courier and the lawyer whose car he dented… with a surprise ending.
Sugar on the Mountain (Mountain #8) by PD Singer. free ebook short. Cute short m/m scene between Allan and Mark in Allan’s catering kitchen.
Blood on the Mountain by India Harper. ebook. Good m/m romantic suspense about a security firm co-owner who goes to Rio to protect a client doing nonprofit work there. This ended with plenty of unanswered questions, although I fear the sequel might be m/f, featuring the other (female) co-owner of the security firm.
Gambling on Love by Jane Davitt. ebook. Good, slightly kinky m/m romance about two guys who fell in love with other in high school. When they were caught kissing in the locker room, one of them left town and didn’t return until 11 years later. He’s very different and he doesn’t want to stay… but the one who stayed doesn’t want to leave. While I’m a fan of Jane Davitt’s work (particularly that written with Alexa Snow), this book never fully came together for me – I couldn’t get invested in the characters or the story.

Missed out on GayRomLit, but still want part of the experience? Read on!

I came back from GayRomLit (GRL) with lots of swag – not only swag that I’d picked up for myself, but also swag I’d accumulated from people who didn’t have enough space in their luggage, or who didn’t want to deal with hassles in Customs. In fact, I came back with enough extra swag to have a GRL Swag Giveaway Contest!

Wanna see? Ok.

*sniff sniff sniff* -Mayhem

*sniff sniff sniff* -Chaos

“Why are you giving away these great kitty beds and toys, Mom?!” -Mayhem

*sniff sniff sniff* -Chaos

Um. Well. You can’t see if very well, huh? But you get the idea!

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Monday, November 7. CONTEST CLOSED.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Cats not included in prize.
  • 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.
  • This contest is US only, due to shipping costs. Sorry. 🙁
Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity leaves you in the lurch as SOC prepares for reduced services during vacation

34 Comments

Congrats to Juliana, who won Vessel (Cutting Cords #2) by Mickie B. Ashling! Vessel is being released by Dreamspinner Press today.

Congrats to Paula, who won Marked Yours and Together Bound (Sentries 1-2) by Elizabeth Noble! Together Bound will be released October 10 by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to SusieQ, who won RSVP (Pushing the Envelope #2) by Kim Dare! RSVP will be released by Amber Allure on October 9.

Brace yourselves. This is the last linkity post until October 28, as I’m heading out on vacation in a couple days.

Several contests each week will appear automagically. I’ll announce contest winners. I may or may not post some pictures from vacation. You’ll just have to stay tuned to see what happens. Or doesn’t. 🙂

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Do, Think, Make, Learn

Cookity

  • So, The Kitchn pretty much went nuts with recipe lists this week. Brace yourselves.

4 sweet potato-centric meals

5 Asian-style pumpkin recipes

5 savory fall apple recipes

5 non-cabbage slaw recipes (plus runner bean coleslaw)

8 recipes for cabbage

8 recipes for beet and radish greens

40 recipes for fall vegetables

15 recipes for fall vegetables

4 more recipes for fall vegetables

Crafty

Halloweenity

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

  • Both Chaos and May love to play fetch. Sadly, May’s special gift is always dropping the fetch toy just out of reach…

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Song of Oestend by Marie Sexton. ebook. Excellent kinky scifi m/m romance with cowboys. Weirdly, I’m not a big fan of scifi and even less of a fan of cowboy books, but this just completely worked for me. It’s about an artist who takes a job as a bookkeeper for a ranch on the other side of the world so he can get away from his past at the university. He finds himself unprepared for his new life, but he slowly finds his way and makes his place at the ranch as he befriends the reclusive foreman.
Once a Marine by Cat Grant. ebook ARC. Very good m/m romance about a waiter who’s always been really attracted to Marines, although it’s never turned out well for him. But when an extremely handsome guy (obviously a Marine) sits in his section, he’s drawn to the guy despite himself. There’s more to both of them than what meets the eye – will either of them be able to overcome their previous bad experiences to find love this time?
Mummy Dearest (The XOXO Files #1) by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a professor of archeology who visits a dime museum in Wyoming to study its mummy, only to find that there’s a reality/documentary show there filming the same mummy. I was a bit disappointed that the main characters felt awfully familiar from other Lanyon books I’ve read.
Whitetail Rock by Anne Tenino. free ebook short. Very good short kinky m/m romance about a defensively snarky grad student who meets a hunky motorcycle cop when he’s home from school for the summer. It features this laugh-out-loud funny quote:

“Sam. I’ve got news for you. Not every childhood trauma can be healed by finding the right penis.”

Sam looked devastated. He opened and closed his mouth, eyes wide, then suddenly slumped back against the railing, unable to support himself anymore. “You mean,” his voice was barely a whisper. “All those romance novels lied?”

On This Day… (Stand Alone Short Stories #2) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Sweet and steamy short m/m romance about a dom who arrives home from work to discover his sub has things set up for an anniversary celebration… but he’s not sure what anniversary it is they’re to be celebrating.
Coming Out Wolf by Julia Talbot. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance about a werewolf who’s decided that he wants his roommate (also a werewolf) as his mate… but his roommate doesn’t seem to be aware of him sexually.
Sucks & Blows by Storm Grant. ebook short, ARC. Punny short m/m paranormal story about a perpetually horny dentist who, in order to convey his sense of humor, mentions on his business cards that he does vampires, too. He doesn’t expect an actual vampire to show up in his office…
The Little Death by Andrea Speed. ebook. Good noir-styled m/m romantic suspense about a hard-boiled PI who’s hired by a “homme fatale” to find his missing twin brother… but nothing’s really adding up in the case, except the bodies. I suspect the references to classic noir detective stories will be obvious to those more familiar with the genre – I thought I was doing well to catch a Maltese Falcon reference!
Fixed by Tristram La Roche. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a guy who’d been living in the south of France with his boyfriend until the economy went bad and he lost everything – home, business, money, and boyfriend. He moves back to Yorkshire in reduced circumstances and isn’t particularly pleased to run into a guy he recognizes from his school days…

“Must. Not. Fall. Asleep…” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity loves Banned Books Week

25 Comments

Stop by and enter the contest for Across the East River Bridge by Kate McMurray! Contest closes 7 pm CDT, October 10.

Congrats to Helena, who won Life Over Limb (EMS Heat #11) by Stephani Hecht! Life Over Limb will be released by eXtasy Books on October 1.

Contests

Bookity

  • Miss typewriters, but like the convenience of word processing? Maybe USB Typewriter can help! (Thanks, Bron!)

Ebookity

Think, Do, Make, Learn

Cookity

Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Woke Up in a Strange Place by Eric Arvin. ebook. Very good fantasy m/m story about a man who wakes up in the afterlife, with no memory of his prior life, and, with the help of a cryptic guide, begins a journey to recover his memories and make his peace with the significant people from his life.
Blood Howl by Robin Saxon & Alex Kidwell. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a guy, formerly Special Forces, who now offers those skills for hire. When a job goes in an unexpected direction, he has no idea how much his world is about to change… If a few more questions had been answered by the end of the book, this could have been a five-star read. Maybe there will be a sequel?
Ex Equals by LA Witt. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy, formerly in the Navy, who has just started teaching math at a community college and discovers that his ex (still in the Navy) is in his evening class.
In Remembrance of Us by AJ Rose. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy suffering from amnesia after a mugging. He’s missing the last two years of his life… including he and his best friend becoming much, much closer. I got sniffly while reading this one. (Be aware that there’s cheating, which I realize is an automatic no for some readers.)
Boystown 3: Two Nick Nowak Novellas by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Two very good historical m/m mysteries about Chicago PI Nick Nowak. It’s 1982, and no one really understands why gay men are getting sick… 🙁
Bulletproof (A Matter of Time #3/#5) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Enjoyable roller coaster of a read that picks up three years after A Matter of Time. Sam’s been away from home in deep cover for months. Jory’s working a job he hates and trying to extricate himself from the complicated interpersonal situations he tangles himself into.
A Little Bite of Magic (Magic #1) by MJ O’Shea. ebook. Sweet paranormal m/m romance about a witch/chef who leaves his pretentious family behind in New Orleans to open a restaurant in San Francisco.
Happy Trails by Carol Lynne. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a college student out hiking with his cop brother and his brother’s hot work partner. This read like a snippet from a longer book rather than a complete story, which I found frustrating.

“I am sooooooooooooo bored.” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Languid linkity lounges lazily

26 Comments

Congrats to Jen B and Beth, who each won a copy of Bulletproof (A Matter of Time #3 or #5, depending) by Mary Calmes! Bulletproof will be released September 26 by Dreamspinner Press.

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Think, Do, Make, Learn

Cookity

Crafty

Cool

  • Have you watched Husbands, the Series yet? It’s a cute web TV series about two guys who wake up married after a drunken night out in Las Vegas. So far there are four episodes, from 1.5 minutes to 2.5 minutes long.

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Full Circle by Kaje Harper. ebook short. Excellent, poignant short m/m story about a drunk who rescues a very sick and homeless young man from the street. While the story covers a lot more ground, you really need to just let this tale of redemption unfold for you. I did spend the last third of the book crying… and be aware that the ending, while not a conventional HEA, is hopeful.
Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Excellent m/m romantic suspense about a professor and rehabilitated addict whose relationship with the town’s police chief is jeopardized by his helping one of his students leave town for a few days, then not coming clean about it when he learns the student is wanted for questioning.
Abercrombie Zombie by KZ Snow. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a pair of psychic mediums who are approached by a man claiming to be a zombie and to need their help finding the man responsible for his condition. Two important points: There is no zombie sex (whew!), but there is a cameo appearance by Wisconsin’s favorite wizard… 🙂
Aloes by Chris Quinton. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about an architect who wakes from a coma with synesthesia – he can taste truth and lies. As he begins to work on a major restoration for an intriguing new client, he starts to get threatening anonymous phone calls and mail. I enjoyed this, even though the suspense plot was easily figured out. However, the book ends quite abruptly, as if a sequel was planned – but there’s not a sequel at this point. 🙁
Fuzzy and Last Chance (First Impressions #2-3) by Josephine Myles. ebook shorts. Very good short m/m romances continuing the story of publishing assistant Steve and artist Jez that started in First Impressions. More crazy socks! And… knitting! 🙂
Clear Water by Amy Lane. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy with ADHD whose low self-esteem leads him to make some really bad choices. When the result of one of those choices leads to his near death and timely rescue by a field biologist, neither of them has any idea how much their lives are about to change.
Mixed Signals by Cooper West. ebook. Cute m/m romance about a handsome rescue copter pilot from money who meets (and is attracted to) a nerdy computer geek hanging out in a hair salon’s waiting area.
Training Cats by PD Singer. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a pharmacist who’s slowly realizing that his boyfriend is a jerk. (This is related to the On Call books.)
My Boyfriend Has a Scar by M. Raiya. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a guy who returns to his home town ten years after he left because his father caught he and his boyfriend together and did not react well.
The Book of Wisdom (Change #2.5) by JM Cartwright. ebook short. Good short m/m romance set five years after A Change of Scenery, as Stephen’s protege is coming to stay with them after graduating from college and Con’s not pleased about it.
Of Russian Myth and Lore (Russian Bear #3.5) by CB Conwy. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about Mischa and Tom going to Canada to visit Mischa’s relatives.
Burning Bright by Rachel Wilder & A. Catherine Noon. ebook. Good kinky paranormal menage romance about an animal empath and veterinary surgeon who moves to Chicago to look for a job. When he’s rescued from Russian mobsters outside of a bdsm club by the club’s owner and bouncers, he finds himself strangely attracted to them… I would’ve rated this higher, but there was an extended bdsm scene in which the vet was flogged and had sex while lying on his stomach after his ribs had been broken only a few days before, but his ribs didn’t bother him at all…
Out of the Closet (Out of the Closet #1) by KevaD. ebook. Good short humorous m/m romance about a writer who decides to come out to the roommate he has a crush on, but things do not go at all as hoped.
Back in the Closet (Out of the Closet #2) by KevaD. ebook. Good short humorous m/m romance about a writer who has to go to Iowa and stay at his dead uncle’s farm in order to fulfill the terms of his uncle’s will. This read like the author was trying a little too hard to be clever.
Quick to the Hunt (Hawkins Ranch #7) by Cameron Dane. ebook. Pretty good m/m romance about a soldier returned from Afghanistan with severe PTSD and survivor’s guilt who deals with things by self-harming. My major problem with this one was the overblown, often lurid prose, which made nearly everything seem completely over the top and just… too much, all the time.
Sex on the Hoof (Protect and Serve #1) by Silvia Violet. ebook short. Ok paranormal short m/m romance about a deer shifter who works nights in the police crime lab and finally can’t resist the sexy vampire detective he’s been lusting after. The sex-to-story ratio is a bit skewed in this one…
A Small, Still Voice by DW Marchwell. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a teacher who left his job after being falsely accused of raping a student. Now, six years later, that time comes back to haunt him. The beginning of the book was hampered by awkwardly integrated flashback infodumping, while the end suddenly tried to morph into a mystery without much success.
When Love Is Not Enough by Wade Kelly. ebook. Uneven m/m romance that starts with the funeral of a twenty-two year old who committed suicide, then switches between flashbacks of his life, the nearly present, and the present, trying to explain how he reached the point of suicide. Oddly, this book contained what felt like a commercial – a section in which specific m/m books and authors were mentioned and one of the characters read an excerpt to another. After that, I was no longer on board with the story.
In the Wings by Michael St. Anthony. ebook. DNF. I set this aside for a month to see if I’d pick it up again, but all I felt was relief at not continuing to read it. I didn’t like the main character at all.

“I’ll get you for this, Mom. Don’t think I won’t…” -Chaos

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Linkity on the lam

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Congrats to Susan65, who won Ex Equals by L.A. Witt! Ex Equals will be released on September 18 by Amber Allure.

Congrats to Kimberly, who won the Fire Trilogy (Kian, Darach, and Eoin) by RJ Scott! The final book, Eoin, is now available from Silver Publishing.

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Randomly Me

  • I now have a tumblr. Mostly it’s going to be quotes, random observations, videos of songs that I love and that have moved me, lyrics, and some of my photos. Near the bottom, you can see some of the things that I’ve liked elsewhere on tumblr.

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  • Research, so suggestive this week…

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Reading Update
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (Irish Eyes #1) by Tom Collins. free online story. Very good free m/m romance about two guys who live in the same building, each surreptitiously eying the other for the past several months. It was refreshing to watch a relationship develop and to see them working through issues in what felt like a realistic fashion.
When Irish Eyes Are Sparkling (Irish Eyes #2) by Tom Collins. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romance about a bi-curious artist with a heart of gold (whose family owns the Irish Eyes pub) and a paramedic who avoids emotional entanglements. My only complaint is a plot thread involving a voicemail and an attack that never went anywhere.
Must Be Love by Dallas Coleman. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a barista who moved out of the house he shared with his doctor boyfriend, but they continue to hook up with each other.
The Book of Daniel (St. Nacho’s #4) by ZA Maxfield. ebook. Good m/m romance about Jake’s brother, Daniel, who was seriously injured in the previous book. He’s still in St. Nacho’s going to physical therapy, waiting for his divorce to go through, admiring a handsome firefighter from afar, and getting grief from people about substituting money for emotion. I would have liked this better if it hadn’t made several time jumps near the end, which I thought made the story seem disjointed and somewhat rushed.
Can’t Be His (His #3) by Shawn Lane. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about an exterminator and a world class figure skater who are roommates, have been friends for years, and have secret crushes on each other.
Library Science Just Got Sexy by EM Lynley. ebook short. Ok short m/m story about a professor involved with a student (although not a student in his program). This is pretty much just a couple of semi-public sex scenes. (And was also previously released as Public Exposure.)
Emerald Moon (Prides of the Moon #2) by Ann Mayburn. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance about a puma shifter who hasn’t seen his mate since killing his mate’s serial killer brother many years ago. I suspect I won’t be reading more in this series, since it sounds like most of them will be m/m/f.
Love at First Sight (Home #4) by Cardeno C. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a high school senior on a trip to NYC who falls in love with a guy he sees at the hospital holding a newborn and crying. After he graduates, he moves to NYC to find his dream man again, but things don’t go as he had hoped. This book was painfully sweet, which isn’t my favorite thing. And there were several points in the book when the head hopping drove me nuts.

“Aw, come on, May. Don’t hold a grudge.” -Chaos

“You pulled fur off my butt! Again!!!!! You are mean, big kitty!!!!” -Mayhem

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Linkity and a new tattoo!

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Stop by and enter the contest for Barging In by Josephine Myles! Contest closes 7 pm CDT, September 19.

Congrats to Cayce, who won Love is in the Title (Love #1) and Love is in the Hallways (Love #2) by RJ Scott!

Congrats to D, who won Galen and the Forest Lord by Eden Winters! Galen and the Forest Lord will be released by Torquere Press on Saturday, September 10.

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  • If canning looks to be the only way out of your CSA veggie overload, check out these five canning websites.

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Reading Update
Lullaby for a Stolen Child (Stolen Child #2) by Anna Mayle. ebook short. Very good short m/m/m dark fantasy about a human stolen by the Fae as a child, the Redcap who took his place, and the golden Fae hunter who’s been entranced by him for years.
In Darkness Bound (The Society #1) by Christine Price. ebook. Very good m/m/m paranormal romantic suspense that I had to read after reading The Usual Apocalypse. And maybe I was more forgiving of its faults than I might’ve been if I’d read it first, but it totally sucked me in and worked for me.
Not Knowing Jack (Regularly Scheduled Life #2) by KA Mitchell. ebook. Very good m/m romance about Jack, a chef, and Tony, Jack’s younger bartender boyfriend. When Jack begins to act mysteriously, Tony realizes how very little he actually knows about Jack, even after living together for a year. This book had the potential to be a five-star read; however, I found the ending rushed and thus rather unsatisfying. (“Wait, where did the previous year go?!”)
Bullied by Jeff Erno. ebook collection. Very good, if somewhat heavy-handed, collection of short stories about gay teens being bullied in school. The stories are told primarily in first person, from a variety of perspectives: the student being bullied, the bully, the parent who’s been lying to herself about her open-mindedness. While the stories are painful and moving, the overall message is hopeful: things can get better, but not without help.
The Hunting Moon by Evelyn Shepherd. ebook. Good but inconsistent paranormal m/m romantic suspense about two cops, a powerful psychic and a werecoyote, on the Columbus Preternatural Task Force. As the werecoyote pursues the mutual attraction that the psychic denies, they’re also trying to solve a string of murders and capture a deranged stalker from the psychic’s past. Several things kept me from rating this book higher: an ongoing issue with word usage and substitution (“saddled” instead of “sidled” being the most memorable) and inconsistencies in the psychic’s powers (if he could lock and unlock doors with his mind, why couldn’t he get out of handcuffs?).
Ash Swan (Cob Brothers #1) by Amber Kell & Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance loosely based on the fairytale of the Six Swans. In the first installment of this series, the crown prince, who’s living on Earth for a few years before taking the throne, rescues a handsome bike courier who’d fallen into a pond while feeding ducks and geese in the park, then proceeds to get to know the courier better…
Hey, There’s Fur in My Wedding Cake (Lost Shifters #12.5) by Stephani Hecht. free ebook short. Good short paranormal romance about an exiled wolf shifter who returns to the pack that exiled in order to attend a wedding reception, where he meets a very intriguing feline shifter…
Change on the Fly (Blue Line Hockey #5) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Sweet m/m romance about an NHL player who sustains a career-ending injury and isn’t doing so well until his best friend from high school shows up at his door.
Swept Away (Beach Bums #2) by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who’s retreated to his beach house to try sorting out his thoughts after he drunkenly kissed a guy in a bar on a dare… and enjoyed the kiss so much, his fiancee ended their engagement after he told her about it.
In From the Cold by Mercy Celeste. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a sheriff’s deputy and a country singer who were each others’ firsts in high school, but who’ve taken different and equally self-destructive paths since then… and that doesn’t end when tragedy brings the singer back to their hometown. This book had a lot of unrealized potential, which was unfortunately overshadowed by somewhat choppy writing and the absolutely worst case of pronoun confusion I’ve ever encountered.
The Playwright (The Male Room #3) by Carolyn LeVine Topol. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a playwright whose writing partner and roommate signs him up for The Male Room online dating site, hoping to help him get over a broken heart years before. The insta-love was more insta-lovey than usual in the this one.

I got a new tattoo on Sunday. 🙂 This one first, so you can see where it’s located:

And a close-up, so you can see the bright green eyes!

(Please ignore the bruising…)

My other tattoo is located in the same spot on the back of my left arm.

“May and I have noticed that your new tattoo doesn’t look like us, but instead some freaky black cat. Any last words?” -Chaos

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Linkity on a lark

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Congrats to Laura, who won Clear Water by Amy Lane! Clear Water is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Brace yourselves. Monday is a holiday in the US, so there won’t be a Misadventure. Surely there’s a Misadventure or two that you might’ve missed and could catch up on instead? 🙂

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  • Kaje Harper has a short m/m-themed young adult story, Intervention, that you can read free on her website.

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Reading Update
Barging In by Josephine Myles. ebook ARC. Excellent m/m romance about a somewhat slutty travel writer who’s rented a narrowboat for a week so he can write about and photograph life on the canals. When he (literally) runs into a hunky, prickly boater who takes an instant dislike to him, things get a lot more interesting… for both of them. This was a story that built slowly, but never felt like it. And make sure you have your hankies handy! Highly recommended. Available September 20.
Shattered Secrets (In the Shadow of the Wolf #1) by Diane Adams & RJ Scott. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romantic suspense about a wolf shifter who hooks up with a cop who doesn’t realize he’s hooking up with a shifter… and isn’t pleased when he does realize. But a shifter-related case throws them together again and things get complicated. So… when’s the next book coming out? 🙂
The Usual Apocalypse (The Society #2) by Christine Price. ebook ARC. Very good paranormal m/m romantic suspense about an agent who works for a paranormal investigation organization and is very good at his job because people can’t lie to him. Usually. When he takes over an internal affairs investigation because the previous investigator and her husband were found murdered in their beds, he has no idea that his life is about to change irrevocably in multiple ways. I didn’t realize that there was a previous book (In Darkness Bound). I see some reviewers have complained that it wasn’t a romance – rest assured that this most definitely was. Available September 26.
Prep Work by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a somewhat disgraced celebrity chef who discovers that the intriguing chef at the pub where he’s having dinner is a fan.
For the Attention Of (Pushing the Envelope #1) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m romance about a dom who receives a very intriguing and mysterious invitation, which he can’t resist.
Pop, Pop, Snap! by Winnie Jerome. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m story about a cashier at an amusement park who runs into the guy he broke up with to date a guy who turned out to be a jerk.
A Prideless Man (Supernatural Mates #3) by Amber Kell. ebook. Pretty good paranormal m/m romance about a guy with rheumatoid arthritis who moves to the shifter town because he’s always enjoyed being around shifters… and discovers that most of what he thought he knew about himself is wrong.
Riddle of the Sands (Fathom’s Five #2) by Geoffrey Knight. ebook. Pretty good action adventure about a group of gay adventurers rushing against time both to find an antidote to a rare poison with which one of their group has been injected and to find a lost Egyptian pyramid. Only recommended if you can suspend disbelief for a plot more over-the-top than anything from an Indiana Jones movie.
The Curse of the Dragon God (Fathom’s Five #3) by Geoffrey Knight. ebook. Ok action adventure in which our group of gay adventurers is all over the place, trying to rescue their beloved Professor and prevent a bomb from destroying Beijing. I know that this series is deliberately over-the-top, but sometimes it works, and sometimes… not so much. Particularly if you have people arriving instantly in San Francisco from Krakow and the Caribbean. But hey, you might enjoy this if you don’t mind hearing bad porn music playing in your head during the sex scenes.
Danny’s Boy by Kate Aaron. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy who can’t find work after university, so returns to the small town where he grew up and runs into his homophobic former best friend. While I quite liked the story, the pronoun confusion was extreme and frustrating.

“I am a Panther Princess Shark, swimming through the living room, hunting my prey!” -Mayhem