Category Archives: Linkity linkity link

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

A flood of linkity!

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Congrats to Jane, who won Not Anymore by Em Woods! Not Anymore will be released by Total-E-Bound on September 27.

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Learn, Make, Do, Think

  • I must confess to finding human-powered gadgets very cool – if all tvs and video games were powered by exercise bikes, would America have an obesity epidemic?

Linkity Peeps

Cool

  • Cute game, although it may cause cubicle workers to weep uncontrollably… (Thanks, Jase!)

Huh

LOL

  • The bad ex service… make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for additional text!
  • My kitties did not enjoy this black cat meow mix video. At all. Chaos was so sure that I was hiding another kitty in my laptop that he got mad and started to act out. (Thanks? Lisa!)

Teh Cute

  • Fetching kitty! (Both Chaos and Mayhem are fetching kitties – in both senses of the words.)

Reading Update
Seriously, was this my week to read about mysterious guys or what?! You’ll see. 🙂
Ruthless Pursuit (Lost Shifters, Book 6) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance continuing the story of the search to find the Lost (Feline) Shifters, who were abducted when they were young and raised by humans. This installment is about trying to capture the criminally inclined Andrew.
Man and Wolf by Kate Roman. ebook. Decent paranormal m/m romance about a vet who meets and immediately connects with a mysterious guy who brings in his poisoned dog. I enjoyed this one, although an entire storyline of menace never really played out to be anything. Plus the sex-to-story ratio was a bit skewed.
Touch of a Wolf by Jez Morrow. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a grad student who just caught his boyfriend cheating and moved out. He has an uncharacteristic sexual encounter in an alley with a mysterious guy he runs into on the street – who later shows up on his fire escape – and his life is changed, possibly forever.
Wicked Cool by Val Kovalin. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy with a junk removal business who becomes very intrigued by a mysterious property manager he meets while on a job. Can he deal with the unknown, or will all the secrets drive them apart?
His Gift by Clare London. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy who wakes up injured in a rainy ditch, with no memory of how he got there. He manages to make it to an old house, where he meets a handsome, mysterious man and his life takes on a dream-like quality.
Bound by Blood (Soul Mates, Book 1) by Jourdan Lane. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a bartender with a vampire phobia who slowly realizes that not only is the hot guy he’s been ogling a vampire, he’s the Master vampire of the city… (I can definitely tell that Lane was influenced by Anne Rice’s early Vampire Chronicles and LKH’s early Anita Blake books. It works.)
Ethan’s Choice (Kindred Spirits, Book 1) by Jude Mason & Jenna Byrnes. ebook. Decent paranormal m/m romance about an analytical guy who’s considering buying the seaside inn he’s vacationing at. But why are the current owners selling it after only six months? And could the hunky handyman possibly be gay?
Almost Home by Nicole Gordon. ebook short. Intriguing short m/m story about two guys who’ve been friends for years, while one has been going through some rough things that just ended with his father’s death. Sadly, this book simply stops, with no resolution of any sort. However, I did leave a question for Nicole Gordon on her blog and she’s working on a sequel.
What They Say About Love by Alexi Silversmith. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy who breaks up with his girlfriend instead of proposing to her as he’d intended. He decides to go out and pick up a guy to explore a side of himself he’s kept under wraps since college…
The First Real Thing by Cat Grant. ebook. Good m/m romance about a male escort who picks up the wrong guy in a bar and finds himself in an actual relationship… with a guy who doesn’t know what he does for a living.
Not Anymore by Em Woods. ebook short. Good m/m romance about a guy who’s on vacation in Hawaii with his sister and her boyfriend when his attraction to a guy who approaches him on the beach outs him to his family. Things get really complicated when his nasty ex shows up and then the identity of the guy from the beach is revealed. Despite a few niggles, this was an enjoyable read and I’ll definitely look for future books from Em Woods.
Vince by J.M. Snyder. ebook. Pretty good young adult m/m story about two guys who’ve been best friends since they were little… until, when they’re 14, one confesses he’s in love with the other and gets laughter in return.
Just the Right Notes by Sean Michael. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about an architect and a composer who periodically escape to their cabin for a weekend of D/s play. Will that be enough to keep them grounded when their lives go into crisis?
Prisoner of the State by Alex Morgan. ebook short. So-so short kinky m/m about a police chief who abducts a guy he pulled over for speeding and keeps the guy in his basement as a sex slave. This would’ve been better if it had been fleshed out more – it read more like a story outline at points.

“This sock, it has a flavor! It tastes… woolly.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Drip drip drop, little linkity showers…

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Congrats to Lucy Beugeling-Ramos, who won 72 Hours by Clare London! 72 Hours is being released by Dreamspinner Press today.

Congrats to Leni and Sarah M, who each won copies of Wicked Cool by Val Kovalin! Wicked Cool will be available from Amber Quill Press on September 19.

Contests

  • Katiebabs is celebrating her blogiversary with a contest. For your chance to win some pretty cool bookity prizes, leave a comment by September 22 and let her know which blogs you’ve particularly enjoyed during the past year.
  • Author LA Witt is holding a NaNoWriMo contest – if you successfully complete NaNoWriMo this November and submit your validated word count by December 10, you’ll have the chance to win a signed paperback or ebooks.

Bookity

  • Lily rounds up this week’s m/m romance new releases.

Ebookity

Learn, Make, Think, Do

Gluten-Free

Linkity Peeps

Cool

Huh

  • As someone who gets motion sick very easily, the movie theater bus doesn’t sound like much fun.

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
In the Flesh by Ethan Stone. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about an out cop who lives according to a list of rules that protect him from getting close to anyone. When he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit, his rules slowly start to fail him.
Cover Me by L. A. Witt. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a paramedic who is consumed by guilt over a judgment call that left someone dead and put his own life in danger. Maybe. If he’s not just being paranoid.
Twice in a Lifetime (Sutter’s Bay, Book 2) by Shawn Lane. ebook. Very good m/m romance about Jude from Sweet Reunion, who hasn’t gotten past his lover being murdered five years earlier. He surrounds himself with color in his small flower shop and doesn’t get involved… until he meets the new vet in town.
The Swap by Devon Rhodes. ebook. Very good m/m romance about two machinists who’ve become good friends over the several years they’ve worked together. When one is laid off at the same time the other buys a house that needs fixing up, things start to get a bit complicated.
Tommy’s Blind Date by Anne Brooke. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy who’s been on a series of spectacularly unsuccessful blind dates when his actor best friend suggests that they go out on a blind date together, so he can evaluate his friend’s blind date technique… Something that was nice about this story is that the guys were very average blokes – no amazing bodies or model looks to be seen.
In the Crease by Stephani Hecht. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a guy who’s back in town for his sister’s wedding, trying to figure out how to stop her from marrying one of the two brothers who terrorized him in high school.
Resistance by L. M. Turner. ebook. Really good m/m romance about a bouncer who never hooks up with the same guy twice as part of not feeling and not getting close… until he does hook up with the same guy more than once, which scares him and sends him running. This had me sniffling more than once and I would’ve rated it higher, but… it’s (slightly inconsistently) in third person present (my least favorite tense), which kept pulling me out of the story.
Seasons of Change by Carolyn LeVine Topol. ebook. So-so Jewish inspirational m/m romance (my categorization) about a rabbinical student whose boyfriend dies in a subway accident just a few months before their planned wedding. I felt like this was a story with potential, but as written, I never connected with the characters.
Revenge Is a Dish by Stevie Woods. ebook. So-so m/m romantic suspense about two coworkers and friends who are kidnapped for an unknown reason by an unknown person. The writing was choppy, the timeline didn’t feel plausible, and I never connected with the main characters.
He Scores by D. J. Manly. ebook. Meh m/m romance about a young guy who gets together with a pro hockey player in town for the summer. I still haven’t recovered from sorting out all the unclear pronoun references.

“What?” -Mayhem

“We don’t really like each other. It’s just getting cold here.” -Chaos

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity. Linkity. And more Linkity.

40 Comments

Congrats to Kris and Anne B, who each won a copy of The Cat and the Cradle by Jay Bell!

Congrats to Courtney S, who won In the Crease by Stephani Hecht! In the Crease will be released by Total-E-Bound on September 13.

Contests

Bookity

  • An amusing post at Deadline Dames about dating for novelists. My favorite line: “People with book-worthy personal stories are not necessarily the best people to date.”

Ebookity

Learn, Make, Do, Think

Cool

  • Behold, Cyclisk! Can’t you just hear the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey in the background?

Huh

  • How… lumpy. And I can just imagine what this will look like after a dog who enjoys chewing gets hold of it…

LOL

  • Just can’t come up with anything for dinner? This site might help inspire you…

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Trinity Trespass by Val Kovalin. ebook. Excellent paranormal m/m romance about two demonic agents who have been sent to keep a unique demon-angel hybrid out of the hands of an evil angel. After the world “clicked” for me, both the fast-paced storyline and the complex relationship between the two agents kept me enthralled.
Talker by Amy Lane. ebook. Powerful m/m romance about a physically and emotionally scarred college student who befriends a much quieter student on the bus to track meets. If you’ve ever been, or known, someone who needed to be saved from themselves, this book will have a strong impact. (And I would say that even if I hadn’t had an influence on the music mentioned throughout the book!)
Bewitched by Bella’s Brother by Amy Lane. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a chronic graduate student and his best friend who spend the summer staying with her divorced brother and his young son, saving money to continue their graduate studies out of state in the fall.
Gayday! Gayday! (G-A-Y, Book 11) by Kim Dare. ebook. Steamy cute m/m romance short about a bratty submissive who keeps getting himself in trouble and calling his dominant straight friend to rescue him.
Night Watch (A Story of The Telling) by Eden Winters. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance that takes place about a year after The Telling, on the Fourth of July, as Jay tries to minimize the noisy holiday’s impact on Michael, who suffers from combat-induced PTSD. (Your purchase during September helps support the the GLBT Bookshelf.)
Cross the Mountain by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about the guys from Fall Down the Mountain out cross-country skiing.
Pleasures of Somerville Park (Object of His Desire, Book 2) by Ava March. free ebook short. Very good free short historical m/m romance following up on Arsen and Henry from Object of His Desire.
Anagama Fires by Sarah Black. ebook. Very good short m/m romance about two potters, both nearly fifty, who’ve been together most of their lives… until the past five years. The more famous, who was the one who left, sends his nephew to his former lover to learn more about firing pottery. I did have a niggle about this one – the story took place over about a week. On the first day, puppies were born. A few days later, the same puppies were running around and getting underfoot! Whoops.
Indigo Knights 1: Squire by Jet Mykles. ebook. Very good m/m romance spin-off from the Heaven Sent series, about the straight singer who filled in for Brent in Heaven Sent while Brent’s wrist was broken, and who is now staying with Brent, Hell, and Brent’s intriguing cousin Izzy while he works on getting a new band together.
Just Desserts by Scarlet Blackwell. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a famous French chef and the equally famous British food critic who seems to have it in for him.
Unexpected Guest (Patient Eyes, Book 2) by Andy Eisenberg. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a recently divorced guy who’s staying in his mother’s old house and fixing it up to sell it for her when a gay couple (the guys from Patient Eyes!) move in next door. Getting to know them reawakens thoughts and feelings he’s buried for a long, long time. I enjoyed finding out how life was going for the guys from Patient Eyes and enjoyed that this book felt more cohesive than did Patient Eyes.
You Can Go Home Again by Drew Zachary. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a guy who’s back in the small town of his childhood after being away for college and vet school.
Raven by Dakota Rebel. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about two vampires who own a gay nightclub (Raven) together, but have never gotten together themselves… (I wish I’d realized this was in Naughty Nooners, which I already owned, before I picked it up! Whoops.)
Masked by Lissa Matthews. free ebook short. Short kinky m/m story that sets up an intriguing situation between a dominant and a mysterious masked submissive… From a comment the author left elsewhere, it seems she does plan to write a follow-up story.
A Lesson in Truth by Sloan Parker. free ebook short. Cute short free m/m romance about a grad student with a crush on his advisor.
Thirty Days (Book 1) and Forever (Thirty Days, Book 2) by Shayla Kersten. ebooks. Good kinky m/m romances about a Dom whose beloved partner/sub died from cancer. As he starts to get back into the scene, his friends introduce him to a sub who had been badly abused and tortured (almost to death) by his previous master. These were hard for me to read at times because they kept reminding me of a friend, although I don’t think things got quite that bad for him before he got out…
Captive by Scarlet Blackwell. ebook short. Huh. So-so m/m romance in which something seems to be happening, but that might not be what’s happening at all. I got annoyed by that.
Green Lake by Anna Marie May. ebook short. So-so short m/m romance about a guy who takes a research assistant position in Alaska to get away from his wealthy, controlling family. Way too much story for the length of the book and, as Jenre noted in her review at Jessewave, the book was all telling, no showing, which made it impossible to connect with the characters.
Golden Boy (Book 1) by Claire Thompson. ebook. So-so kinky m/m romance about a handsome young mechanic so deeply closeted he doesn’t realize he’s gay until he sees an extremely compelling guy while out clubbing with a lesbian friend. That compelling guy turns out to be a prestigious Dom who slowly helps the mechanic discover his submissive side. I had some issues with this one. I really disliked the Dom. And the book pissed me off by ending in what felt like the middle.
Golden Man (Golden Boy, Book 2) by Claire Thompson. ebook. After it felt like the first book stopped in the middle, this book picks up… six months later. Some of the characters feel more like caricatures than like people, which was a problem in the first book, too. But ultimately, I didn’t like or trust the Dom after the first book and nothing in this book managed to change my mind. (Also, I think the cover is really weird.)

“I found this book on the floor, so it’s my book now and I say you don’t get to read it, Mom.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

The Missing Link-ity found!

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Congrats to arzu, who won Twice in a Lifetime by Shawn Lane! Twice in a Lifetime will be released on September 5 by Amber Allure.

Congrats to Tara, who won What To Do With Lore by Jade Archer! What To Do With Lore will be released by Total-E-Bound on September 6.

Congrats to kasjo_peja, who won Gay Day! Gay Day! (G-A-Y, Book 11) by Kim Dare! Gay Day! Gay Day! will be released on September 6 by Total-E-Bound.

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

  • The University of Chicago Press is offering the 1906 edition of the Chicago Manual of Style as a free download this month. Make sure you use the link in the “Update” section of this post to get the DRM-free version! (Thanks, KZ!)

Make, Do, Learn, Think

  • August was the weakest month of car sales since 1983. Maybe people are realizing that they don’t need to replace their cars as often as the automobile industry keeps pushing us to? *sends happy longevity thoughts out to beloved 1997 car*
  • Have an earworm? Unhearit will help you get rid of it… by possibly giving you a new one. 🙂

Linkity Peeps

Cool

Huh

LOL

  • Hyperbole & a Half on social entrapment. Love this quote: “One of the most difficult aspects of interacting with other people is figuring out how to extricate yourself from a conversation without appearing rude or mentally unstable.”

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Unconventional (Conventions, Book 3) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a computer game programmer, not able to work due to a lawsuit, who moves to California to live with his deeply closeted actor boyfriend.
Duet by Eden Winters. ebook. Excellent m/m romance that’s a bit challenging for me to categorize. The first half takes place in the Scottish Highlands 200 years ago and the second half takes place in the present day. This is a story about an English tutor/violinist and about the Scottish heir who despises the English. It’s the story of a love that transcends the ages. Oh, whatever – it’s just a darn good love story. 🙂
Double or Nothing by Cassandra Gold. ebook short. Decent m/m romance about a casino owner whose con artist ex shows up, asking for a chance to prove that he’s changed.
Collared Hearts and Frosted Hearts by Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks. ebook shorts. Very good kinky short m/m romances about an artist with a prissy boyfriend who not only owns the gallery at which the artist shows, but also gives him money for his rent and bills and leaves him feeling like a whore.
Submission Times Two by Claire Thompson. Good kinky m/m romance about a couple, deeply in love with each other, who are both submissive. Will they manage to keep their need to submit from destroying their relationship?
Masked Submission by Claire Thompson. ebook. So-so kinky m/m romance about a submissive PhD student who goes to a club and becomes fascinated by a cruel and mysterious masked dominant. I definitely like Claire Thompson’s more recent books better, because I found this one to be melodramatic and overwrought.
Dark Submission by Shayne Carmichael. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance about a young man, hired as a live-in secretary, who discovers several unusual and intriguing things about his employer.
Call Me Sir by Stormy Glenn. ebook. Um. Stormy Glenn does D/s. What else is there to say, really?! Well, ok, fine. So-so kinky m/m romance about a club owner who decides, after one look at a young man in his club, that the young man would be his forevermore.
Topping Timothy by Erin O’Niall. ebook short. So-so steamy m/m tale about a young man who’s fascinated by a dominant older man he keeps seeing at the bar he frequents, but who’s also sickened by the thought of bdsm. (And this is one of the ugliest stock photo covers I’ve ever seen.)
Catching a Second Wind by Sean Michael. ebook. This m/m romance about a vet who visits an appealing young psychologist as part of trying to get over the unexpected death of his long-term lover was so sweet and angst free that I confess to being bored… Ok, yeah, there was a titch of near-angst – but seriously, nothing that wasn’t resolved within a page or two.

“I want to sleep now, not be entertained. Go away.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

In which Linkity gets even more out of control than ever before and I wonder how that can keep happening

37 Comments

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Learn, Make, Think, Do

  • If you’ve ever wondered how big something was compared to something else (such as the Moon compared to Australia), wonder no more.

Cool

  • I bet there’s someone on your holiday shopping list who would love the Keychain Multi-tool.

Huh

LOL

  • If you’ve been considering working from home, you might want to check this infographic first…
  • Just read a single page from this 1942 book on the dangers of petting… Wanna bet the author wouldn’t maintain his (dubious) sanity for more than five minutes if he’d been transplanted from then to now?

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Shining in the Sun by Alex Beecroft. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a wealthy British businessman (so deeply closeted he’s never considered that he might be gay) who escapes on his yacht for a month every summer so he can get away from his mother, his fiance, and his other obligations. When he sees a gorgeous surfer on the beach, everything starts to change for him.
Life, Over Easy (Fragments, Book 1) by K.A. Mitchell. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about an Olympic diver whose career ended in a near-death accident. Now he’s attending college and trying to deal with the odd aftereffects of his severe head injury.
Chasing Smoke by K.A. Mitchell. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a Homeland Security Agent who’s back in town helping get his mom’s house ready to sell when he runs into his high school crush. Will a mystery from their pasts bring them closer together or drive them further apart?
Slow Bloom by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox. ebook. Very good, very steamy m/m romance about a college student who’s taking care of the neighbor’s lawn while he’s home from college for the summer. He’s had a crush on the much older author neighbor for years and finally decides to act on his feelings.
Switch by Claire Thompson. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a confident banker who’s a well-known and respected dominant. When he meets a scruffy artist, he has no idea that his whole world is about to be turned upside down.
Moving On by Fabian Black. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a young man who’s been escaping from his past via alcohol and staying on the move until a dominant older man gives him a ride.
Mist Gray: Falling Apart, Falling Together by Andy Slayde & Ali Wilde. ebook. Very good kinky paranormal m/m romance about a romance novelist staying at a lakeside cabin for the summer who becomes fascinated by his next-door neighbor. When he discovers that said next-door neighbor is a sub still grieving for the dom who died a year ago, the novelist is sure he can’t be what his neighbor needs.
Retribution in Blood (Drone Vampires #9) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about Drone Vampire Micah, a secret he’s keeping from everyone including his mate, and his human family, who are living with the Drones.
Enslaved by Blood (Drone Vampires #10) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a Drone vampire who’s been imprisoned and tortured by the VRF for six months. Will the Drones be able to rescue him before it’s too late?
Wild Thing by Mia Watts. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a Minnesota DNR agent who suspects that the guy he’s had a crush on for years is hiding information about the massive wolf sighted in the area.
The Quality of Mercy (Bonded) by Jay Lygon. ebook short. Good paranormal m/m romance short about a reclusive vampire romance novelist whose life is turned upside down when he finds a cute, freshly turned vampire at his front door.
Twice Blest (Bonded) by Jay Lygon. ebook short. Good paranormal m/m romance short about that reclusive vampire romance novelist and his attempt to hook up with a cute student.
Bonded by Jay Lygon. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a surfer who inadvertently ingests some vampire (romance novelist) blood and then realizes he can feel what the vampire’s feeling… and vice versa.
A Vintage Affair by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Good m/m romantic suspense about a sommelier, hired to evaluate the extensive wine collection of a formerly moneyed Southern family, who discovers a corpse in the wine cellar. While this was well-written and engaging, the m/f/m scene took me by surprise and the ending seemed hasty and excessively tidy.
Soren’s Surrender (Incognito, Book 10) by Anna Leigh Keaton. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s only recently realized he’s gay and has become fascinated by a dominant that he’s been watching at the club he frequents. (Yes, I randomly read this one book in the series because it’s the only m/m book.)
Dark Submission by A.J. Hardcourt. ebook short. Steamy, kinky short m/m scene about a guy who’s been participating in an online bdsm group because he’s sure his boyfriend wouldn’t understand his desire to submit. One night he wakes up to find two strangers with bondage gear in his bedroom… and they know his online identity.

“Why did you call me goofy, Mom? That’s not very nice.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Leapin’ linkity lizards!

42 Comments

Congrats to Nikyta, who won Wild Thing by Mia Watts! Wild Thing will be released on August 23 by Total-E-Bound.

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Think, Learn, Make, Do

Gluten-Free

Knitting & Crochet

Linkity Peeps

Huh

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Fugly by K.Z. Snow. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about three extremely superficial friends who hit on the wrong man’s husband in a bar. Afterward, they discover that the men they find attractive and hit on now shun them due to a mysterious rash that has appeared on their faces.
A Red-Tainted Silence by Carolyn Gray. ebook. Very good, emotionally draining m/m romantic suspense about two successful musicians, who’ve loved each other since their teens, and the outside forces and people that have torn them apart and nearly destroyed them. Constantly switching between the present and the past, half the story is told from one’s perspective; the rest from the other’s.
Chaos Magic, Love Runes, and Personal Demons (The Gods & Chaos Series) by Jay Lygon. ebooks. Very good kinky m/m urban fantasy series about a willful submissive who’s also a powerful witch and who worships an unusual set of gods: the God of Traffic, The God of Negotiation, etc. As he tries to stay out of the way of his abusive ex, he meets a powerful and compelling dominant and his whole life changes.
The Harem Boy by Jay Lygon. ebook short. Good short kinky m/m romance about Ophir and Chris, two of the characters from the Gods & Chaos series.
Chain-Male by Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks. ebook. Good, quirky m/m romance about a librarian who meets a guy in the history class he’s auditing and gets a history lesson he won’t soon forget.
His Hearth by Mary Calmes. ebook. Good m/m paranormal romance about a guy who’s wildly successful in his advertising career, but much less so when he dates.
Stirring Up Trouble by Z.A. Maxfield. Good m/m romance about a chef who only lasts a few months at any job before getting fired. He ends up working at a failing neighborhood restaurant owned by an anti-social guy who looks pretty tasty when he’s cooking in his Utilikilt…
A Big Hunk O’ Love by Hunter Raines. ebook. So-so short m/m romance about a recently divorced, deeply in the closet mechanic who takes a trip to Alaska with his (gay) best friend, who’s an Elvis impersonator.
Blind Faith by Claire Thompson. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy, blinded in a car accident, who sees himself as damaged goods that no one could find attractive anymore.
Continuum of Longing by Claire Thompson. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about two guys who work together in a bank, neither of whom realizes that their attraction is mutual.

“What?!!” -Chaos

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Friday the Thirteenth Lucky Linkity

34 Comments

Congrats to Amie, who won Enslaved by Blood (Drone Vampires, Book 10) by Stephani Hecht! Enslaved by Blood will be released by eXtasy Books on August 15.

Congrats to Paula, who won A Game of Skills (The Farmingdale Gentleman’s Club, Book 2) by TC Blue! A Game of Skills will be released by Total-E-Bound on August 16. (And go read this interview with TC Blue!)

If you read m/m romance, you should definitely join the M/M Romance Group on GoodReads. It’s a great source for reading recommendations, discussions, eye candy, author news, giveaways, and more.

Contests

Bookity

  • Tracey D left such a great comment here yesterday I had to share it with all of you: “Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again. — Review for The Wizard of Oz”

Ebookity

Learn, Make, Do, Think

Linkity Peeps

Cool

Huh

  • Erm. I certainly know what I think this pen looks like! (NSFW, depending on how you perceive the pen.)
  • Not sure that these skull spoons could actually be used as spoons, with those eye holes…

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
This week’s short reading list is due to my small part in the M/M Romance Group’s celebration, plus I’m in the midst of reading a very long book. I’m sure I’ll finish it by next Friday. 🙂
Duck! by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky paranormal m/m romance/fairy tale about an avian shifter who was raised in the human foster system and only recently discovered that he wasn’t human. Since it’s believed he’ll be a low-status duck shifter, he’s being treated very, very poorly until a high-ranking hawk shifter decides to take him home as a servant/submissive. Um, I might’ve gotten sniffly while reading this one…
Strawberries for Dessert by Marie Sexton. ebook. Very good m/m romance about an accountant who works all the time, always chasing his next promotion, and a guy who doesn’t need to work but travels incessantly, unable to stay too long in one place. I got sniffly while reading this one, too!
A Game of Skills (The Farmingdale Gentleman’s Club, Book 2) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a guy who’s been on the run for a long time, protecting his dead best friend’s child, who has special abilities. Along the way, they rescue a member of the Farmingdale Gentleman’s Club… but will coming to the Club’s attention help them, or further endanger them?
Boys of Pleasure by Heidi Cullinan. illustrated short ebook. Very good short m/m romance about a librarian who’s out at a bar to clear his head after a fight with his boyfriend and becomes fascinated by the guitarist onstage.
Valley of Shadows by Phoenix Emrys. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a famous historical romance author who has a big secret: he can see and speak with ghosts. Ghosts who want him to pass on messages to their loved ones so that they can rest in peace. He does so anonymously… until one fateful day. This story took a somewhat odd and unexpected turn about 2/3 through… and I still haven’t decided what I think about it.
Changing Perspective (Lusting Wild) by Marilu Mann. free ebook short. So-so free short paranormal m/m romance about a bar owner who is unexpectedly attracted to the guy applying to be a bouncer. (The cover’s a bit amusing for an m/m romance, isn’t it?)
Heart Song by Jambrea Jo Jones. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a guy whose older, emotionally distant lover has just died. (And talk about a cover bonanza! Candy Cane Guy and Torso Guy!)

“Tough luck, Mom. I’m staying right here, so you can just forget about mailing all this stuff out to those M/M Romance Group people.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

In which I completely fail to come up with anything remotely clever for a linkity post title

31 Comments

Congrats to Lily, who won the copy of Strawberries for Dessert by Marie Sexton! Strawberries for Dessert is now available from Dreamspinner Press. (To promote Strawberries for Dessert, Heidi Cullinan posted a free short featuring Randy and Sam from Special Delivery and Double Blind.)

Contests

  • LesleyW’s curious about your book prejudices. Leave a comment about said prejudices before August 7 for your chance to win a copy of The Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hilburn.
  • Devyn Quinn’s giving away a copy of her new paranormal romance, Siren’s Call (Dark Tides), to a commenter on each of the three posts she made during her visit to Desert Island Keepers. Leave your comments by midnight, August 7, to enter.

Bookity

  • New releases: Lily (m/m romance), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR; includes interviews, contests, & news), Katiebabs (forthcoming releases whose covers intrigued her), Renee (romances that she’s looking forward to), and Elisa (GLBT releases for July).
  • The climbing library is gorgeous and very clever. I wonder if my condo association would notice me adding one…
  • Check out the Misadventure that Kris found! I added another example in the comments. Be warned that some of the other links in the comments are very NSFW.

Ebookity

Make, Learn, Do, Think

  • Yes! Vindication for my years and years and years of not making my bed. 🙂
  • And vindication for being a twitchy, doodling meeting attendee!
  • I really like this nautical rope bracelet. I wonder if I could find black nautical rope to make one for myself?

Huh

  • You will not catch me knitting any of these. Some of the comments are pretty funny, too. (Um, thanks??, MamaTulip!)
  • If you’ve always wanted to be able to punch a hole through the cap of a beer bottle and drink your beer through a straw (and you aren’t worried about the little metal disk now floating in your beer), you’ll love the BottleBop Bottle Cap Punch.
  • July was National Ice Cream Month in the US. Consumerist listed ten bizarre ice cream flavors that you might want to try… or not. No, no haggis ice cream for me, thanks!

Cool

Linkity Peeps

LOL

  • Is it bad that I’d like to modify my car to do this?! And while I wouldn’t necessarily want to modify my car to do this, it’s pretty clever. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

Teh Cute

  • Just be warned that you might not make it out alive from the Daily Squee…

Reading Update
See what happens when I read long books instead of shorts?! I have a very short Reading Update. 🙂
Brushback (Evan Austin Mysteries, Book 1) by Jamie Scofield. ebook. Excellent m/m mystery about a Seattle private investigator hired to find an about-to-be heir by the mother who abandoned the boy and his father years ago. However, things aren’t quite as straightforward as that. 🙂 So… are there going to be any other books in the series?! This seems to be the only book from the press and the only book by this author… and no updates since the June 2009 release.
Double Blind (Special Delivery, Book 2) by Heidi Cullinan. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about a gambler who picks up and inadvertently saves a guy who just lost his last five dollars at roulette and isn’t sure what he has left to live for.
Loving Edits by Mickie B. Ashling. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a rich and prestigious editor, the writer/lover he dumped years ago, and the writer’s beloved and devoted boyfriend. The beginning might be tough to get through, because none of the three are shown in a particularly good light, but the payout is more than worth it (probably because of it)! I’m always hesitant to read menage, because so few authors have convinced me that it would work emotionally for everyone involved, but I can definitely add Mickie B. Ashling to my list of authors who can make it work.
Priority One by Stephani Hecht. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a new paramedic, young and inexperienced in more ways than one, who’s living with his overprotective brother while trying to recover from a traumatic incident.
Tinsel and Frost by Eden Winters. ebook short. Sweet short holiday m/m romance about a former ballet dancer who’s now a stripper after a career-ending accident.
The Distance Between Us by L.A. Witt. ebook. Decent m/m romance that, unfortunately, drove me completely nuts more than once or twice, or I would’ve rated it higher. It’s about two guys who have been together for ten years and finally broke up recently. However, they’re still living together because of the housing market – they can’t afford to sell their house and they can’t afford to pay rent somewhere else and pay the mortgage on the house. They get a very hot roommate and then both get sexually involved with him. I wanted to slap the two main characters. Many, many times.The sex-to-story ratio was seriously skewed. And this wasn’t one of the menage books that worked for me. All of this is a shame, because I really like L.A. Witt’s writing.
So Much More Than Naked (Books 1 & 2) by D.J. Manly. ebooks. Um. These m/m romances were codependent trainwrecks of pseudo-bdsm, the two main characters were both TSTL, and I only kept reading out of sick fascination for how bad it could get.

“Well, ok, I am less bored now that Mom finally opened the windows again.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Let linkity leech away your life!

40 Comments

Congrats to Kaetrin, who won Priority One by Stephani Hecht! Priority One will be released on August 1 by eXtasy Books.

So, last Saturday evening CJ (aka urban fantasy author Carolyn Crane) and I sat down in my living room with some gluten-free beers, our laptops, and Google Docs to polish up a (hopefully) humorous post with a paranormal romance theme. Thanks to CJ’s tireless efforts, our post has been published at Tor.com. Stop by and check it out if you get a chance!

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

  • Confused about all the different varieties of epub? This primer might help.
  • If you’d like to digitize your print books and aren’t in a hurry to do so, here’s a setup you can put together yourself.

Learn, Make, Think, Do

  • Snickerdoodle cake! I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with a gluten-free cake mix…

Linkity Peeps

Huh

LOL

  • This is why the toilet paper at my condo is in the vanity and not easily accessible to people… or Chaos.
  • A little Frogger humor – make sure you hover your mouse pointer over the comic to get additional text!

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Bound and Determined by Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow. ebook. Excellent kinky m/m romance about a college senior who realizes he’s submissive, which is simultaneously difficult for him to accept and something he craves.
Blinded by Our Eyes by Clare London. ebook. Very good m/m mystery about a gallery owner who discovers an artist murdered in his gallery and slowly begins to realize that nothing he’d believed about the people in his life is as he thought it was.
Fair Game by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Very good m/m mystery about an FBI agent turned professor after being injured in the line of duty who’s asked to look into the disappearance of a student on campus. (I received this book via NetGalley. Fair Game will be released on August 2 by Carina Press.)
A Game of Chances (Farmingdale Gentleman’s Club, Book 1) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense with lots of little twists and turns. The Farmingdale Gentleman’s Club is a private grey ops organization. And I don’t want to tell you anything else because being surprised by the twists and turns was a big part of what I liked! I’m definitely looking forward to the next book.
Safe in His Arms (Wicked Hearts, Book 2) by Claire Thompson. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about the seemingly irredeemable cruel and controlling “best friend” from the previous book, who’s slowly spiraling toward rock bottom. If you’d told me after I finished reading Wicked Hearts that Claire Thompson could make me care about and like this guy, I would not have believed you.
Ports of Call by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a couple on vacation at the beach, trying to get past one of them having been mugged.
Two Steps Up by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Cute short m/m about a teen standing across the street from where a gay teens support group meeting will be held, trying to work up the nerve to go to the meeting.
Protests and Proposals by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Another cute short m/m romance about two guys protesting Proposition 8 being repealed.
Blue Skies by Diane Adams. ebook short. Decent short m/m romance about a conservative businessman who’s very attracted to a flaming younger man, but stays away because he thinks being “so gay” brings the wrong sort of attention to the gay community.
Gay Best Friend (G-A-Y, Book 10) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m romance about an allegedly straight guy who kisses his gay best friend on a dare from his obnoxious coworkers, then realizes that he might not be as straight as he’d always believed.
A Limited Engagement by Josh Lanyon. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about an actor who gambles everything when he outs his closeted lover to end his lover’s engagement to a woman.
Bargaining by Rhianne Aile & Madeleine Urban. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance about two friends who finally get together, only to discover they’re both tops. This story will work best for those unconcerned about realism in refractory periods or condom use.
Lilacs by Megan Derr. free ebook short. Ok free short paranormal m/m romance about two guys who hate each other due to a big misunderstanding… and then discover they’re about to become stepbrothers.
News at Eleven by Jack Greene. ebook short. Cute’n’steamy short m/m romance about a tv station manager who’s been admiring the very out star news anchor from a distance.
Cold Steel by Morgan Lee. ebook short. So-so kinky short m/m interlude about an undercover cop who’s “arrested” by his partner at the end of his assignment. This teetered on the edge of purple prose… and I’m pretty sure those handcuffs would’ve messed up the finish on the cop car…

“This is an advanced technique. Don’t try this at home without the assistance of a qualified kitty.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

What linkity through yonder window breaks?

41 Comments

Congrats to KC (SmokinHotBooks), who won Making Promises (sequel to Keeping Promise Rock) by Amy Lane! Making Promises will be released on Monday, July 26, by Dreamspinner Press.

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Learn, Make, Do, Think

Linkity Peeps

Huh

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Sweet Son by Heidi Cullinan. ebook. Very good bdsm m/m faery tale about a young man who, after having numerous dreams of his true love, sets off to find him. The journey is not at all what he expects… truly a case of “you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.”
Phoenix Rising by Kimberly Gardner. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a deeply closeted guy who falls for a stripper who doesn’t want to be anybody’s dirty little secret ever again.
Bound to Please (Phoenix Rising, Book 2) by Kimberly Gardner. ebook. Excellent kinky m/m romance about a young man who’s secretly in love with his boss, a photographer and dominant who owns a bdsm club. When the dominant starts working with a hot new model and former porn star, everything changes. (Usually I don’t read menages, because most authors can’t make the emotional/romantic connections between three people convincing. Kimberly Gardner can.)
Sexy Summer Fling by Kimberly Gardner. free ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy working as a (female) fortune teller when a very hot guy comes in to get his palm read.
A Wicked Caress (Lost Shifters, Book 5) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about Noah, the most recently rescued of the Lost Shifters. He’s back in Flint with his family for the first time ever, but he doesn’t feel as if he belongs there.
Blood Slave by Kim Dare. ebook. Good kinky paranormal m/m romance about a vampire who doesn’t realize that humans can offer submission without being broken to do so.
Mitch by Dakota Rebel. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a bounty hunter who’s given a contract on the very sexy vampire lead singer of a popular band.
The Letter Z (Coda, Colorado, Book 3) by Marie Sexton. ebook. Very good m/m romance about Angelo & Zach and Jared & Matt and how relationships are complicated and easily misunderstood by those outside the relationships… including, in this case, the reader. You definitely need to read both Promises and A to Z before reading this book.
Sticky Fingers (Go Fish, Book 2) by H.T. Murray. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance that follows up on Cal and Ian. Particularly recommended if you love watermelon.
What Not To Wear by Clare London. ebook short. Fun short m/m romance about the dangers of working at the same company as your boyfriend when you both have a penchant for public sex.
Nevermore by Addison Albright. ebook short. Sweet’n’steamy short m/m romance about a divorced teacher who’s stayed in the closet because he’s been afraid of taking risks with his job or his kids.
Wicked Hearts by Claire Thompson. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who’s basically been under his cruel and nasty best friend’s thumb for years. Things do not go smoothly as he tries to put more distance between himself and his friend.
Masks of Emotion (aka Julian’s Second Chance) by Claire Thompson. ebook. Good m/m romance about two guys who traveled in Sri Lanka together for a few days when they were college students, then lost touch due to a big misunderstanding.
Runaway Man by Jambrea Jo Jones. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who runs into his boyfriend on the train, after vanishing from his boyfriend’s life without a word some months before.

“What?” -Mayhem