Tag Archives: Eden Winters

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Another episode of linkity in which there are no explosions

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Congrats to Dianna, who won Accidentally His by Shawn Lane! Accidentally His will be released by Amber Allure on March 20.

Congrats to Tracey D, who won Trust, Love, Submit by Kim Dare! Trust, Love, Submit will be released by Total-E-Bound on March 21.

Congrats to Sandy Jay, who won Treacherous Sun (Nu Hayven, Book 1) by Jade Archer! Treacherous Sun will also be released on March 21 by Total-E-Bound.

Minneapolis made the news yesterday for a huge gas main explosion! Amazingly, no one was hurt, but if you look at the photo gallery in the linked article, you’ll see a melted vehicle and a huge crater. (This was about 50 blocks away from me, so the kitties were in no danger while I was at work.)

Contests

Bookity

Ebookity

Do, Think, Learn, Make

  • Have you checked Unclaimed.Org to see if you have money due to you?

Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Time To Do (Perfect Timing #3) by Kim Dare. ebook. reread. Excellent m/m romance about two guys – one gay, one straight – who have been best friends since they were small and are now roommates at college. The gay guy’s been quietly in love with his best friend for years, but has been resigned to never being able to touch him… until he finds his friend’s list of things to experience, which segues from kissing and having sex with women (all checked off) to kissing a man (not checked off)… This was my first Kim Dare book, and remains my very favorite. 🙂
Settling the Score by Eden Winters. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a small-town mechanic whose formerly small-town, now Hollywood actor boyfriend dumps and outs him on national television. A Pygmalionesque story unfolds after that, as the mechanic goes to work for a bestselling author with his own axe to grind. My only real problem with the book was a personal one – I always get frustrated by books that use dialect; instead of immersing me, the dialect kept jolting me out of the book.
Sebastian’s Wolves by Valentina Heart. ebook. Excellent, intense paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter who turns wolf for a long time when his mate dies. I had a hard time putting this one down to do anything else!
Of Cocoa and Men by Vic Winter. ebook short. Delightful short paranormal m/m romance about a lone wolf shifter addicted to hot chocolate, even though it’s not good for wolves. He becomes fascinated by the scent of the new baker in town, who smells like chocolate to him.
Surviving the Change by Cari Z. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a lone wolf shifter who can only stay in one place for a few weeks before other shifters force him to move on. Right after he arrives in Denver, he becomes fascinated with an elusive law student bartending in a shifter bar.
Sunrise by Elizabeth Jewell. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance about a guy with a mysterious lover who shows up every few years and always has to leave by sunrise.
An Assassin’s Touch (Lost Shifters #9) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about Leopard shifter and assassin Shane and Panther shifter Trevor, whose lives are much complicated by an evil Cobra shifter.
Shane’s Fury (Lost Shifters #10) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about Leopard shifter and assassin Shane trying to find his kidnapped mate.
Tool for Change by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Good short m/m encounter between the nerdy facilities supervisor at a convention center and a sexy electrician. I wanted just a little bit more story…
Herbs de Provence by Jenna Jones. ebook. Good m/m romance about a chef with wanderlust who discovers that his friend’s ward has grown up into a gorgeous young man while getting his MBA.
Everyone’s Man by Edward Kendrick. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a rent boy who is brutally gang raped and left to die. The ER doctor who treats him realizes he’s not safe in the hospital and takes steps to keep him safe. With better editing, this could’ve been a very good book… presumably editing would’ve removed such silliness as being able to reach the prostate with a tongue.
Touch My Wolf (My Wolf, Book 2) by Eden Cole. ebook short. So-so short paranormal m/m romance with a dash of m/m/m tossed in. This story about beta wolf Blaine finding out that his mate is one of his pack’s enemies was definitely nowhere near as good as the first book. The whole thing was choppy and felt rushed and incomplete.
Make Me (KinKaid Wolf Pack, Book 2) by Jessica Lee. ebook short. Disappointing short paranormal m/m romance that’s basically two sex scenes between the couple from Bloodlines, strung together by a bit of plot that was left unresolved.
Heads or Tails by Jenna Byrnes. ebook short. So-so short m/m romance about an accountant, engaged to the boss’s daughter, who’s been in denial about his attraction to men until he keeps running into the sexy new guy. Warning: This book contains infidelity and graphic m/f sex.

“It’s been a long week. I’m hiding!” -Mayhem

Contests, Reading

Ebook Giveaway: Settling the Score by Eden Winters [CONTEST CLOSED]

73 Comments

Congrats to Eva, who won Unchaste by Mia Watts! Unchaste will be released by Resplendence Publishing today.

Many thanks to Eden Winters for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m romance, Settling the Score, for a lucky commenter to win! Settling the Score will be released by Torquere Press on March 9.

Closeted mechanic Joey Nichols’ life is good. His boyfriend landed a major Hollywood role and is now well on the way to superstardom. Joey’s bags are packed and soon he’ll leave small town Georgia and join the man of his dreams in California, to live out, proud, and together. Days before his planned departure, his lover outs Joey during a televised interview and announces that they’ve broken up, leaving Joey to face the bigotry of the locals alone.

Bestselling author Troy Steele knows all about having one’s life turned upside down by the media. Now he lives a reclusive existence, shunning Hollywood and the trappings that come with writing books made into blockbuster movies. He spends his time exacting revenge on a former flame via his novels and hiding out in rural South Carolina, watching celebrity gossip shows at his assistant’s urging. Joey’s fifteen minutes of unwanted fame bears an eerie similarity to the plot of Troy’s latest work in progress. What if the jilted lover were transformed into everything the fickle ex wanted, as Troy’s writing for his fictional hero, and secretly wishes for himself? Once polished, could a diamond-in-the-rough good ole boy confront the one who’d caused so much misery and then walk away, pride intact? These are Troy’s questions, and he’s counting on Joey for answers – in the name of research.

Other Books

About Eden

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

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

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

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

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CST, Tuesday, March 8.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Peek-a-boo!” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Should auld lang linkity be forgot…

34 Comments

Yup, linkity’s on Thursday because there won’t be a post on Friday this week. Happy New Year to all of you!

Congrats to Tj, who won The Stroke of Twelve (Perfect Timing, Book 6) by Kim Dare! The Stroke of Twelve will be released by Total-E-Bound on January 3, 2011.

Congrats to Susmita, who won Offside Pass by Stephani Hecht! Offside Pass is the first book in Stephani’s new hockey series and will be released by eXtasy Books on January 1, 2011.

Contest

Bookity

Ebookity

Think, Do, Learn, Make

Best Of

Belated Gift Idea

Cool

Huh

  • Um. If it’s cold enough that you’re using the Nose Dialer instead of taking off your gloves to dial the phone, you’re probably going to get snot all over your phone…

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Ummm… So I’ve been on vacation since last Friday and have gotten rather a lot of reading done… and I read a lot of shorts. Don’t freak. 🙂

Life Changes Everything (Life, Book 2) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romance mostly about Ben from Life or Something Scary Like That as he goes on with, well, life after the events of that book. This book does a nice job tying up the loose ends, even if I was kind of cranky about one of them while it was in process.
Sno Ho by Ethan Day. ebook. Reread. Very good m/m romance about a guy staying at a ski resort whose boyfriend was supposed to join him there, but instead dumped him over the phone. Funny, yet touching.
Life in Fusion (Sno Ho, Book 2) by Ethan Day. ebook. Very good m/m romance that picks up exactly where the first book left off and continues the story of Boone and Wade during the six months Boone said needed to pass before he would move in with Wade. And like the first book, this manages to be both funny and touching.
Big Balls and Trouble by Sarah Black. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a pro football player who’s in Boise for the summer and ready to admit that he’s always loved the childhood friend he hasn’t seen for years. I found this story frustrating because it was so short – it felt more like a fragment from a longer story than something that could stand on its own.
Tooth and Nail (His Hearth, Book 2) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a big, tough warder who takes too many chances because, according to the other warders, he doesn’t have a hearth (i.e., a mate). And then he rescues an angel…
Just One Bite (Volume 1) by Scarlett Blackwell, J.L. Merrow, Josephine Myles, Erik Orrantia, Nix Winter, & Stevie Woods. free ebook collection. Scarlett Blackwell: Very good, want more! Vampire. :: J.L. Merrow: Very good. Stone circle. :: Josephine Myles: Very good. Genie. :: Erik Orrantia: Pretty good. Mayan. :: Nix Winter: Ok. Fantasy. :: Stevie Woods: Pretty good. Vampire.
Delany’s Catch by Diana DeRicci. ebook short. Pretty good short paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter who walks into a bookstore to ask for directions and realizes that the proprietor is his mate.
Same Time Next Year by Eden Winters. ebook short. I’m not usually a fan of ghost stories, but this one, about a guy whose true love died when they were in college, worked pretty well, although I found it to be very sad.
Vanilla: The Dominant Ingredient by Andy Slayde & Ali Wilde. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a sub-for-hire, escaped from a bad situation, who is desperately trying to convince the man he’s staying with while he sorts out his life that he’d be the perfect sub. I want to read more about these characters!
Commanding Acquisitions (1-800-DOM-HELP, Book 2) by Christine d’Abo. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a dom, struggling not to lose his bookstore, who’s also lonely and needing something more than just casual encounters. He finds the mysterious 1-800-DOM-HELP business card in his office…
Floggers’ Holiday Sale by Stormy Glenn & H.C. Brown. ebook. Meh two-story kinky m/m holiday romance collection. The two stories were supposed to be about two different doms, each of whom purchased a sub at the Floggers’ (bdsm club) holiday auction, but things weren’t consistent between the two stories: in one, the dom’s not allowed to take possession of the sub until they both negotiate contracts; in the other, the club owner sends the virginal sub with the notoriously brutal dom and just tells the dom to bring the sub back to the club at the end of the week. Editing was consistently horrible across both stories, although perhaps a bit worse in the Stormy Glenn story – for the first part, “dominate” was substituted for “dominant” and “dominant” was substituted for “dominate”…
Hang a Shining Star by Ashlyn Kane. ebook short. Very good m/m holiday romance about a high school teacher who runs into a former student working at a Christmas tree lot and, discovering that the former student has no one to spend the holiday with, impulsively invites him over. My only complaint with this one was that the main characters were named Evan and Eric – I kept getting the names mixed up, as did the editor/proofer at least once! 🙂
Snow and Mistletoe by T.C. Blue. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about a guy with a really bad self-image who hasn’t had any luck finding journalism work. He starts finding mysterious presents outside his apartment door – he’s sure they’re from his friends, trying to cheer him up, because no way could he have a secret admirer…
Christmas with Danny Fit by Amy Lane. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy who’s still living with his mother at 30, not really living his life, until his burgeoning friendship with his sexy assistant at work inspires him to start making changes.
You Can’t Choose Your Family by Zahra Owens. ebook. Very good holiday m/m romance about a couple who’s been together for 20 years. One guy’s family is fabulously accepting; the other’s was controlled by his fire and brimstone father. Now that his father is dead, will anything change?
Christmas Bells by Andi Deacon. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about an assistant professor, staying at his parents’ house for Christmas, whose brother brings home a very attractive friend from grad school who doesn’t have anywhere to go for the holidays.
Silver Thaw by Nora Catherine Price. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about next door neighbors who get the chance to know each other a bit better because of an ice storm.
Sharing Christmas by Shae Connor. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy, recently moved to Atlanta for work, whose next door neighbor invites him over to help put together packages for the homeless shelter.
The Santa Mug by Patric Michael. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy whose boyfriend died four years ago and who’s basically retreated from the world since then, until a friend drags him along to a family Thanksgiving celebration.
A Very D Christmas by Jane Seville. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about D and Jack from Zero at the Bone, reconnecting with family, and being a bullied teenager. (Through 1/31/2011, a portion of the purchase price will be donated to the Trevor Project.)
The Christmas Visit by Marshall Thornton. ebook short. Good short m/m holiday romance about a guy returning to the small town he grew up in to see his dad at Christmas. He keeps running into the deputy who he’d had a crush on and who is now married…
Secret Santa by Deanna Wadsworth. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy waiting naked, blindfolded, and wrapped up with a bow as a present for his boyfriend, hoping to revitalize their fading relationship.
Well-Hung by the Chimney by E.M. Lynley, Ryan Field, & Chloe Stowe. ebook. Pretty good m/m holiday romance collection. I really liked EM Lynley’s story about the difficulties involved in mixing business with pleasure. Ryan Field’s story about a couple dealing with career changes and meeting family was ok. I found Chloe Stowe’s story about an Air Force colonel and a doctor at the Air Force base to be sort of confusing. I might’ve enjoyed Field and Stowe’s stories more had I realized they were about characters from a previous collection and read it first.
A Little Something for Santa by J.M. Snyder. ebook short. Ok short m/m holiday encounter about a guy waiting tables at an all-night diner who confesses to the cook that he has the hots for Santa.
A Christmas Eve Wish by Nicole Dennis. ebook short. So-so m/m holiday romance about a celebrity chef, planning to escape to his mountain cabin for a few days, who gets caught in a blizzard and discovers his cabin is trashed. This one didn’t work for me because of instalove and awkward writing.
All I Want for Christmas by Aeryn Traxx. ebook short. So-so short holiday m/m romance about a guy dreading his friends’ holiday party because his cheating ex will be there.
It’s a Calling by Mara Ismine. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance that I actually read in October, but I somehow managed to not write down the dates I read it or what I thought about it beyond “Huh.”
My Life in Your Hands by A.R. Moler. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about an ER doctor and an undercover detective who get together.
Eyes Wide Shut by Meredith Shayne. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a doctor and a miner who care deeply for each other, but that’s not enough, because the miner doesn’t want anyone to know they’re together. Part of this takes place in Perth!
Of Sound Mind by Elizabeth Brooks. ebook short. Good short futuristic m/m romance about a guy who has cancer and doesn’t want to telepathically bond with his destined mate because if he dies, his mate would die with him.

This is definitely a picture you need to click on to embiggen. 🙂

“Have a Happy New Year. Or else.” -Chaos

http://squee.icanhascheezburger.com/2010/12/28/cute-baby-animals-when-worlds-collide/
Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Friday is linkity day! Well, except for the next two weeks, when Thursday will be linkity day.

29 Comments

I never heard back from the first winner, so congrats to Juli-Anna, who’s the new winner of A Shifter Christmas (The Lost Shifters, Book 8 ) by Stephani Hecht!

Congrats to Jase, who won Knight’s Fall (Boys in Blue) by Mia Watts! Knight’s Fall will be released December 20 by Total-E-Bound.

Congrats to Tracey D, who won His Christmas Present by Rachel Randall! His Christmas Present will also be released by Total-E-Bound on December 20.

Contests

Bookity

  • Do not watch the video for Blank: A Novel if you are especially sensitive to violence against books.

Ebookity

Snowity

  • We had a lot of snow and then it got cold. If you missed my photo of what my street looked like after the snow stopped, it’s at the end of this week’s Misadventures post.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

Gift Ideas

Holiday

Cool

  • I’d never heard of the archer fish before. (Thanks, Jase!)
  • If you’re planning to get cremated, a ghost urn would be pretty cool.

Huh

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
The Match Before Christmas by Eden Winters. ebook. Excellent m/m holiday romance about a contractor who joins an online GLBT dating site several months before Christmas, with the hope that he’ll meet someone and not be alone (well, besides his two black kitties) on Christmas. Anyone who’s ever done the online dating thing will be able to relate to the numerous and discouraging encounters he has before almost giving up on his plan… And my kitties are in the dedication! 🙂
Trust Me If You Dare (Romano & Albright, Book 2) by LB Gregg. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense continuing the madcap and lusty adventures of caterer Ceaser (who really does need someone to keep him out of trouble, possibly by wrapping him in cotton wool and locking him up) and his boyfriend, PI Dan (who would so like to take that job on). *commences waiting for Book 3*
Cameron’s Pride (Thrown to the Lions, Book 4) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky paranormal m/m romance about a lion shifter without a pride, working as a stripper, and about the rich jerk determined to make that lion his for any amount of money.
Red Lights and Silver Bells (EMS Heat, Book 6) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Very good holiday m/m romance about how important facing emotional demons is to moving on with life.
I’ll Run Away for the Holidays by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Sweet holiday m/m romance about a guy whose best friend guilts him into driving from Florida to her home in Michigan for the holidays… and then he finds out that her younger brother, who made a slobbery (and rebuffed) pass at him several years before, will be joining them for the drive.
Making His List by Devon Rhodes. ebook. Excellent m/m holiday romance about a guy who always keeps the men he dates at arm’s length, and having his young niece and unreliable sister move in with him just give him more excuses to do so. I might’ve gotten sniffly while reading this one. *ahem*
The Reason for the Season by Chrissy Munder. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about a college student in the UP, trying to get to his sister’s house in Flint for Christmas, who gets a ride from the rideshare board into “snowpocalypse.” I especially enjoyed this story since I was reading it during what the local news stations dubbed “snowmaggedon.”
The Next Twenty by Margaret Mills. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about a straight guy in his 50s, who discovers that a good friend, freshly retired from the military, is gay and has been attracted to him for years.
Enchanted Grounds by Michelle Moore. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m holiday romance about a guy who finds a mysterious coffee shop and starts to visit it daily, at the same time that he starts having realistic dreams about sleeping and snuggling with a man he’s never met…
The Wild Side by Janey Chapel. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a college student who agrees to help out a friend by waiting tables over Valentine’s Day weekend. He’s never been interested in seeing the same guy twice… is that about to change?
Vintage Toys for Lucky Boys by G.R. Richards. ebook short. Ok short m/m holiday romance about a guy who brings some old toys into an antiques shop to be appraised… and things proceed a bit too quickly for me to believe. The insight into being transgendered was the best part of the book.
White Out by Heidi Champa. ebook. Ok short m/m romance about a researcher, escaping a broken heart and swearing not to fall in love again, who takes a six-month research position in Antarctica to get away from memories of his ex. (Still haven’t figured out the title, as it didn’t seem to relate to anything in the book other than Antarctica being cold and snowy.)

*sigh* “I knew it was too good to last…” -Chaos

“Hi, big kitty! You looked lone… ooooh, shiny!” -Mayhem

Contests, Reading

Ebook Giveaway: The Match Before Christmas by Eden Winters [CONTEST CLOSED]

58 Comments

Congrats to Jerilin, who won Christmas with Danny Fit by Amy Lane!

Many thanks to Eden Winters for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming holiday m/m romance, The Match Before Christmas, for a lucky commenter to win! The Match Before Christmas will be released by Torquere Press on December 15. (And Eden has a birthday between now and her release date, so make sure you wish her happy birthday!)

Candlelight, mistletoe, gaily wrapped packages beneath a trimmed tree, and someone to share it with. That’s all contractor Barry Richards wants for Christmas. Desperate for a traditional holiday, he takes drastic measures. Creating a profile on “GetaDate.com,” he hopes to find the perfect man in a matter of weeks. When one date after another goes sour, while all around him friends are falling in love, he starts to lose faith.

The first snows begin to fall and the world is filled with seasonal cheer, all except for Barry, for whom time is running out. Facing the prospect of a lonely holiday, he tries just once more to make The Match Before Christmas.

Other Books

About Eden

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

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

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

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

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CST, Tuesday, December 14.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Darn it, big kitty, I’m not a kitten! I do not appreciate you holding me down to give me a bath!” -Mayhem

Gluten Free, Randonymity, Reading, Reviewettes, See the Sights

Some incoherent thoughts from vacation, plus my out-of-control Reading Update

36 Comments

So the best thing about being the last person reporting in on a vacation trip is that so much has already been written about it by others. 🙂 Please note that some of the links below will have NSFW components!

For some reason we took our group photo after Tracy left – from the left, me, Jen, Tam, and Kris:

And here’s Tracy at Yaoi-Con, with some yaoi clutched in her hand and a mysterious pink-haired person sitting next to her:

Does anyone know what the heck this gelatinous blob, found amongst the washed up seaweed on the beach at Carmel, could be?

Look at the tasty gf beer in a frosted glass I had at Allegro Gourmet Pizza in Carmel! (Alas, no photos exist of the delicious gf bacon cheeseburger pizza I devoured there.) (And yes, that is CarrieK‘s arm across the table – I had the chance to hang out with her for a few days, too. I think we knitted together for maybe 20 seconds or so.)

Check out the yummy gf veggie panini and gf red velvet cupcake I ate at Cafe Mariposa!

Meeting blog friends is always wonderful. I would go on vacation with them again, should I ever have the chance.

The best part about Yaoi-Con was meeting all the authors! I’m pretty sure I’ll miss someone, so please forgive me in advance. I met Clare London, Felicitas Ivey, Marie Sexton, Lynn Flewelling, Andrew Grey, Mary Calmes, Amy Lane, TC Blue, ZA Maxfield, Belinda McBride, EM Lynley, Astrid Amara, Ginn Hale, Nicole Kimberling, Rowan McBride, and… *mind goes blank*

The chocolate-covered macaroons from Hot Cookie were the best I’ve ever had… and they’re even available in less graphic shapes than the video might suggest. 🙂

San Francisco is really, really hilly. You can’t properly appreciate that until you’ve been on a death march with Kris or Tracy.

It’s hard to resist the HRC Store – such a great cause, amazing staff, and cool stuff.

I barely get motion sick at all on electric buses. Damn diesel fumes on regular buses!

NaNoBloMo may kill me, compulsive commenter that I am. Alas, NaNoBloMo peeps, I’m not going to be able to comment on all your posts, no matter how much I’d like to. In part, that’s because work is going to get progressively more crazy throughout the month.

My beloved car experienced brain death while I was on vacation. It is currently awaiting a brain transplant. Please think happy healthy car thoughts for me, ‘k? Also, why the heck would you put a woman who begged for a junker loaner into a 2011 BMW?! *takes deep breaths*

Reading Update
Bedtime Story for a Stolen Child by Anna Mayle. ebook. Excellent m/m dark fantasy about a man, stolen by the Fae when he was a child, who returns to the human world to confront the Changeling who took his place. Recommended.
The Trap by Indigo Wren. ebook. Very good m/m romance about two college roommates, best friends, who planned to start a technology company together… until one of them basically flees into the night without a word. And that’s all I’m going to say about it, because part of what really drew me into this story was having events unfold for me, without really knowing what was going to happen.
Blacque/Bleu by Belinda McBride. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a deeply closeted werewolf (because there supposedly aren’t any gay werewolves) who gets involved with a vampire… and then his pack responsibilities become more pressing.
The Strength of a Gamma (Pack Discipline, Book 2) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky paranormal m/m romance about two gamma wolves who are best friends with deeper feelings for each other, but one of them doesn’t believe that he’s good enough to be the other’s mate.
Almost Heaven by Kimberly Gardner. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who’s training for the priesthood and teaching at a parochial high school until his reaction to the much older brother of one of his students has him doubting his chosen path. I had a small niggle about this one, which could’ve been handled with one sentence about how the Ryan situation was resolved. 🙂
Trust Me by Jeff Erno. ebook. This m/m romance was a very mixed read for me. I really liked the base story, about two boys, one extremely religious, growing up in the 80s and trying to come to terms with their attraction to other boys. But I kept feeling as if I were being drawn into the story, only to be shoved out again, perhaps because there was too much telling and not enough showing? Additionally, the story had these odd, very meta-feeling lecturey interludes that did not work for me at all.
Manfred’s Curse by Shawn Lane. ebook short. Cute short paranormal m/m romance about a guy getting freaked out by the weird storm he’s weathering alone, with only his black cat Manfred to keep him company…
Eat Me by Mia Watts. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a man who was cursed 400 years ago to live as domestic lynx belonging to a family of witches. All that remains of the family is a single male descendant, who doesn’t seem to have any curse-breaking magic… I wish this story had been just a bit longer, because the ending happened way too fast.
Oliver and Angus (Shifting Perspectives, Book 1) by Nerine Petros. ebook short. Short paranormal m/m romance with lots of potential that wasn’t quite realized, primarily because too much story was crammed into too few pages, giving the story a very choppy feel. Hopefully the next story about the dingo shifters who’ve sought asylum in a wolf shifter-controlled town in the Australian Outback will be longer, or at least have more transitions and exposition.
Unbound (Bonded II) by Jay Lygon. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance continuing the story of Viking vampire and romance novelist, Brandr, and his vampiric go-go boy housemates. Read the other books first, because in this one, questions are answered and it will make more sense if you know the questions before you get the answers. 🙂
Faerie Bound by Jenna Castille. ebook. Good kinky paranormal m/m romance about an Alpha wolf shifter and pack leader who’s been hiding his need to be mastered because other shifters would think him weak and challenge him. How will he balance his needs and those of his pack as he seeks his mate? I’m pretty sure there are additional books planned, based on where part of the storyline was left at the HFN end of the book.
The Horror in Dunwich Hall by Johnny Murdoc. ebook short. Good steamy short Lovecraftian m/m story. I absolutely love the first two lines: “There was a naked jock on my bed and a thing with tentacles coming out of my toilet. One of these things did not belong, and if you tell me that it was the naked jock, you shouldn’t be reading this story.” You can read it for free online.
I Take Thee by Zoe Nichols. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a guy, addicted to E and pot, whose boyfriend has just returned from treatment and is dedicated to staying clean.
Chainbreaker by Kate Roman. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a San Francisco bike messenger and his boyfriend.
Someplace in This World, edited by Lee Benoit. ebook collection. Good m/m romance collection about finding the place (or person) where you belong and feel safe and happy.
What You Can’t Live Without by Eden Winters. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Sweet m/m romance about a rich doctor who can’t understand why the doctor he desires has chosen to return home to El Salvador to help his family, rather than staying to become rich in the US.
Where a Hand Is Always Needed by Kara Larson. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Good short m/m story about a teenager visiting family in the Outback, trying to sort out whether he’s gay.
Marked by Sean Michael. ebook. Ok paranormal m/m romance about two werewolves who are mates, but who have been separated for ten years, living half lives, because one can’t shift and was cast out from the pack. If the word “mate” had been used half as many times, it would still have been excessive. Unpleasant as this cover image is, it’s an actual, unmodified stock photo. Ewww!
A Real Boy by J.L. Merrow. free ebook short. Enjoyable (and free) twisted m/m retelling of Pinnochio, with a few other stray fairy tales thrown in around the edges.
Pricks and Pragmatism by J.L. Merrow. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who’s almost done with his university degree. He has no money, so he’s been staying with various guys, basically exchanging sex for food and lodging. But what’s up with the nerdy engineer he’s just moved in with, who doesn’t seem interested in him in that way?
Corruption by Jack Greene. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance about a straight guy who finds himself unaccountably drawn to a woman dancing in the club Corruption… even after he realizes the woman is actually a twinky boy.
My Girl by Stormy Glenn. ebook. Why do I torture myself so?!? Meh m/m romance about a guy hiding as a woman in witness protection. The weird references to GA Hauser and her books were annoying (rather like a GA Hauser commercial) and the plot holes were classic Stormy Glenn.
Needing Harte (1-800-DOM-help, Book 1) by Marilu Mann. ebook. So-so kinky m/m romance about a closeted cop who’s intensely attracted to a submissive stripper during an investigation and is subsequently given the 1-800-DOM-help number to help him learn about bdsm. This would’ve been much better without the insta-love and an odd bit of woo-woo related to the 800 number.
At Piper’s Point by Ethan Day. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a guy who finally returns to the island where he spent his childhood summers with his unorthodox grandmother. He’s planning to quietly spread her ashes and set her house in order before he leaves in the fall, but things don’t quite go as he’d hoped. I would’ve enjoyed this book more if it had been a bit shorter and more focused.
Blood Heat (Dangerous Ground, Book 3) by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Good romantic suspense in which our agents try to bring in a suspected terrorist and everything that can go wrong does.
River of Need (Tennessee Cops, Book 4) by Shayla Kersten. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a cop who bails out his ex, who’s been picked up for prostitution. I wanted a bit more from this story – a bit more length, a bit more depth.

…..zzzzzzzz….. -Mayhem

Apparently May’s plan to stake out my suitcase and prevent me from leaving again was more exhausting than she anticipated…

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!

39 Comments

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, Reading

Ebook Giveaway: Duet by Eden Winters [CONTEST CLOSED]

37 Comments

Many thanks to Eden Winters for donating an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m romance, Duet, for a lucky commenter to win! Duet will be released by Torquere Press on August 25.

The English – an evil not to be tolerated, or so Aillil Callaghan believes, and Malcolm Byerly, the Kentish tutor his father brings to the Highlands to teach his younger brothers, is no exception. Their affection for the boys and a shared passion for the violin brings the two men together, scarlet fever tears them apart. When a Druid priestess offers her aid, grief-stricken Aillil vanishes into legend, to be handed down from one generation to the next.

Over two centuries later, violinist Billy Byerly’s arrival at Callaghan Castle for a concert feels like coming home. An old man presents him with a strangely familiar violin, and from its strings he draws melodies he doesn’t remember learning. Billy doesn’t believe in ghosts, but if the tales of the Lost Laird aren’t true, then why does he dream of a dark-haired, kilted Highlander? And why is he haunted by the strains of a phantom violin?

Two violins, one love. How many lifetimes?

Other Books

About Eden

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

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

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

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

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, Tuesday, August 24.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Neener, neener, big kitty!” -Mayhem

“Oh, you are going to regret taunting me and how, May!” -Chaos

Don’t forget to enter the contest to win Wild Thing by Mia Watts! Contest closes 7 pm CDT, August 20.

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