Tag Archives: KA Mitchell

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Linkity leeches away your time!

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Congrats to Carla A, who won her choice of A Guitarist in the Fae Queen’s Court (Fae Connections #1) by Amber Kell or the Unconventional At Best anthology!

Congrats to Andrea, who won Dead Shot by JL Merrow! Dead Shot will be released August 26 by JMS Books.

Over the next five to six weeks, I’m going to be buried in a big work project, so I won’t be commenting on blog posts as much as I usually do. My never-very-under-control inbox is now completely out-of-control. And we’ll just see how well linkity goes… 🙂

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Reading Update
Point of No Return by NR Walker. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a closeted cop who’s attracted to the new boxing coach at the gym, who turns out to be equally closeted. How handy! 🙂 As they become closer, will they be able to survive the dangers involved in a cop’s job? I’ll definitely look for more from this author in the future.
No News Is Good News (Florida #3.5) by KA Mitchell. free ebook short. Good kinky short m/m encounter between Aaron and Joey from Collision Course that ends right as But My Boyfriend Is starts.
But My Boyfriend Is (Florida #4) by KA Mitchell. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a deeply closeted guy with a lot of guilt about his straight identical twin being gay bashed. Can he keep lying to himself about the attraction he feels to the guy who stepped into the fray and saved his twin’s life? This started out a bit rough for me, as I wasn’t feeling much sympathy for the closeted twin until about halfway through the book. Anyone want to bet that the next book’s about Tate? 😉 Later: The more I think about it, the more I feel like I got cheated out of a couple of chapters that should’ve been between the last two chapters, or the last chapter and the “I’m really an epilogue, but I’m called the final chapter” chapter… 🙁
Bad Boyfriend (Bad in Baltimore #2) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. I needed a reminder of how good KA Mitchell can be… Excellent kinky m/m romance about a teacher who’s dumped by his closeted boyfriend of ten years, then picks up a hot younger guy at a bar to take along to the baptism of his ex’s baby. Things just sort of spiral from there. 🙂
Drunk Text by seventhswan. free online. Very good m/m romance about a straight college student who wakes up hungover one morning covered in finger paint with a text on his phone that suggests he had sex with a guy the night before… Reread. I enjoyed this just as much as the first time I read it in February.
The Square Peg by Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance (with more potential than was realized) about an accountant who inherits a share in a bar from his estranged father and gets off to a rough start with the other owner.
Finding Forever (Sutter’s Bay #4) by Shawn Lane. ebook. Sweet m/m romance about Galaxy’s younger brother Leo, who meets a closeted guy with an abusive, homophobic father. Unfortunately, this felt rushed and incomplete, or maybe not fully developed. The amount of story definitely needed more pages.
Theory of Attraction by Cleon Lee. ebook. arc. Sweet m/m romance about a hunky teaching assistant who becomes fascinated with one of the other more geeky teaching assistants. Alas, the object of his interest rebuffs him and flees at every opportunity. Unfortunately, the choppy style (not enough sentence opening variety) started to wear on me after a while, but that’s something that may improve with more writing experience.
Little Squirrels Can Climb Tall Trees by Michael Murphy. ebook. Extremely uneven but ultimately meh m/m romance set in NYC about a short and excessively exuberant guy who woos a much taller and rather naive doctor from Oklahoma. The biggest problems I had with the book were the ludicrous number of exclamation points and the tendency to go into excessive detail during scenes that didn’t seem to belong in the book, then skim quickly over things that merited more detail.
Deadly Secrets (Dark Kings of Eternity #1) by Savannah Hartley. ebook. The saddest thing about this book is that there’s the hint of an interesting story buried deep, but even though this ended on a cliffhanger, I’m not inspired to read more.

“Your training is coming along well, young Mayhem.” -Chaos

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Lack of lemurs lowers linkity

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Since I never heard back from the original winner, elaing8 is the new winner of Four Corners by Kate McMurray!

Congrats to maygirl7, who won the Lashings of Sauce anthology donated by Josephine Myles!

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Reading Update
Diving in Deep (Florida #1) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romance about getting a second chance with that guy you had a crush on as a teenager, who’s grown into an emotionally unavailable adult. I definitely got sniffly on this one.
Collision Course (Florida #2) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. Really well done m/m romance about a social worker and a paramedic who has a lot of issues with social workers.
No Souvenirs (Florida #3) by KA Mitchell. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romance about an ER doctor who takes an impulsive dive vacation in Belize when things go awry in his life. He gets to know the dive instructor really well…
By the River (Elementals #1) by Katey Hawthorne. ebook. Good m/m paranormal romance about a guy in his mid-twenties who feels drawn to return to his home town, where he becomes enthralled by a mysterious and naive college swimmer. As MandyM noted, while this was beautifully written, the HFN ending felt very tenuous… as if the “for now” might only be a few minutes or days.
In Search of Saints by Harper Fox. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about an academic who’s been too obsessed by his ex’s betrayal to realize what he has with his new boyfriend.
Inertia (Impulse #1) by Amelia C. Gormley. ebook. arc. Good m/m romance about an isolated handyman who hasn’t been with anyone since he was a teenager and started taking care of his sick grandparents. Then he’s hired to install some shelves by a sexy and strangely skittish accountant who might be flirting with him… While I enjoyed how things developed between the two men, the story seemed to bog down a bit during the last third. And I was a bit surprised when the story ended – it left me with the feeling that this might develop into a serial. 🙁
Dine & Dash (Cut & Run #5.5) by Abigail Roux. free ebook short. Steamy short m/m homecoming scene.
Fireman’s Carry (Carry Me #1) by Charlie Richards. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a gay firefighter who’s recently left his cheating ex and moves in across the street from a straight divorced cop and his kids. I read this after reading a beautifully written book, and the difference in writing between the two was a bit painful. Stalker alert. (So. Tired. Of. Stalkers.)
The Thirteenth Sigil (Section Thirteen Case Files #3) by JL O’Faolain. ebook. So-so paranormal m/m romance continuing the story of Cole, an exiled sidhe who works for a secret, paranormally focused division of the NYPD. The case in this one was pretty weird, the “romance” didn’t really work, and the sex scenes were p0rny and euphemistic. (Check out my status updates at Goodreads for specifics on the last.)
Picking Up the Spare by Heidi Champa. ebook. I read 3/4 of it and was too bored to continue. Plus the name overuse in conversation was irking me.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

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It’s beginning to look a lot like linkity!

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Congrats to Sammy2006, Yvette, and Heather K, who won Simple Gifts (Cornwall Novellas #2) by LB Gregg!

Congrats to Morgana, who won My True Love Gave to Me by Ava March, which is now available from by Carina Press. It’s also available in the Men Under the Mistletoe anthology.

Congrats to Dianna, who won Winter Warmers by Josephine Myles, JL Merrow, Clare London, Chrissy Munder, and Lou Harper!

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Reading Update
Bad Boyfriend (Bad in Baltimore #2) by KA Mitchell. ebook. Excellent kinky m/m romance about a teacher who’s dumped by his closeted boyfriend of ten years, then picks up a hot younger guy at a bar to take along to the baptism of his ex’s baby.
While Under the Influence (Perfect Timing #8) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s in denial about being gay. He foolishly mentions it to his cousin when he’s drunk, thus setting in motion her plan for him to find out definitively whether he is or isn’t.
Paper Planes by M. Jules Aedin. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a photographer whose partner died in a plane crash a year ago and who isn’t really moving past that until after he becomes friend with an older pilot. I particularly liked that this book didn’t go in for quick fixes – recovering from a significant loss takes time – and that one of the main characters had a disability. Perfect main characters get boring!
Search Me (Cover Me #3) by LA Witt. ebook short. Good short m/m romance following up on Andrew and Nick from Cover Me, who we saw were having problems in Trust Me. I got a little sniffly when things didn’t look too promising for the guys…
The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters by Amy lane. ebook. Very cute holiday m/m romance about a grumbly Colorado alpaca rancher who takes a liking to the cute younger guy who moves in next door.
Let It Snow by Devon Rhodes. ebook short. Good short kinky holiday m/m romance about a professional house sitter who’s feeling lonely and a little sorry for himself on Christmas Eve as he falls asleep making a wish…
What Can Be by Mary Calmes. ebook. Good holiday m/m romance about a guy who hasn’t seen his father or brothers for 13 years, since his mom took him and left. Since then, he’s avoided getting close to people… except he has and now he’s running away from that.
Happiness for Beginners by Zahra Owens. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about two guys, one gay and one presumably straight, who used to play a gay couple on a tv show but haven’t seen each other for ten years. And then the straight one shows up at the other guy’s front door out of the blue…
Winter Rescue by Dawn Kimberly Johnson. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about a guy trying to make it home for the holidays after not seeing his family for a few years, but he ends up in the ditch during a bitterly cold and snowy night and almost doesn’t make it home…
A Walk in the Dark by Kate McMurray. ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about a guy with a crush on his roommate’s boyfriend. This needed to be just a bit longer to be a satisfying read.
Prey Time by Sue Brown. ebook short. Steamy m/m/m encounter between a guy in a bar and a couple he picks up… or do they pick him up?
Cherry Pie by Samantha Kane. ebook. Pretty good m/m romance about a wealthy guy who recently moved to a small town in North Carolina from San Diego. One morning, he discovers the son of his house’s former (deceased) owner sitting outside. Alas, I never got fully invested in the main characters as a couple.
No One Should Be Alone by Tinnean. ebook. Ok holiday m/m romance about two operatives in a top-secret government agency who hook up. This one just didn’t work for me – not only could I simply not get into the story, it was told in alternating first-person with insufficiently distinct voices, so I kept getting confused.
Feels Like Home by Rowan McAllister. ebook. Sweet m/m holiday romance about two guys who end up spending a couple of days together because of a snowstorm. Editing inconsistencies kept annoying me and pulling me out of the story. (Really, that spare tire that got run over by a Hummer H2 at the beginning of the story? You’re not going to be putting it on and driving on it later in the story…)
Bringing Home the Ice Prince by Jana Downs. ebook short. Meh short m/m holiday romance written in the sort of flowery, over-the-top style that annoys me no end.

“Can’t… quite… hit… the… itchy… spot…” – Mayhem

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Linkity of the Doomed

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Congrats to Fehu, who won Crescendo (Song of the Fallen #2) by Rachel Haimowitz!

Congrats to SueM, who won Men Under the Mistletoe by Ava March, Josh Lanyon, Harper Fox, and KA Mitchell! Men Under the Mistletoe will be released on December 5 by Carina Press. (The stories will also be released separately.)

Congrats to Tracey D, who won While Under the Influence (Perfect Timing #8) by Kim Dare! While Under the Influence will be released by Total-E-Bound on December 5.

Not enough linkity for you today? You could check out last week’s poor neglected linkity… 😉

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Reading Update
Men Under the Mistletoe by Ava March, Harper Fox, Josh Lanyon, & KA Mitchell. ebook collection. Another exceptional collection of holiday-themed m/m romance from Carina Press. Ava March’s historical was very good. (Poor Sasha! Then… poor Thomas!) Harper Fox’s story drew me in slowly, then seduced me utterly. So good! Its excellent epilogue should serve as the standard to which all other epilogues should strive. Josh Lanyon’s story was a pretty good read, but left me with too many unanswered questions to be truly satisfying. Finally, KA Mitchell’s story kept me wondering how things were going to turn out until the absolute end.
Winter Warmers by Clare London, Chrissy Munder, Lou Harper, Josephine Myles, & JL Merrow. ebook collection. This m/m romance holiday collection is perfectly titled – these are heartwarming, cozy tales that will help you find your holiday spirit as you curl up on your couch with your ebook reader. (Yes, they are also sexy tales. I know you were wondering!) 😉
Simple Gifts (Cornwall Novellas #2) by LB Gregg. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about an emotionally closed off bar owner who’s dragged to a holiday party, where he runs into the guy who loved and left him for the military without a word ten years ago.
Dudleytown (Cornwall Novellas #1) by LB Gregg. ebook short. reread. Very good Halloween-themed m/m romance about some college students taking a “shortcut” on their drive home for the weekend. Things go a bit more spectacularly awry than is usual for such shortcuts… Plenty of trademark L.B. humor and insight make for an entertainingly suspenseful read.
Trompe L’oeil by KC Burn. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a history professor who’s been a bit of a hermit since he dumped his cheating boyfriend six months ago. When he moves into a new apartment, his sister gives him a mysteriously compelling nude portrait of a Depression-era artist…
“A Calling for Pleasure” (Lars & Rael #1) by JL Merrow (from The Care and Feeding of Demons). short from ebook collection. I just read “A Calling for Pleasure” because it’s the first story in an m/m paranormal romance series by J.L. Merrow about two detectives for the Paranormal Enforcement Agency. In this short, the detectives are after a succubus who’s leaving a trail of dead guys behind her. The male detective (non-romantic detective pairing, not to worry) becomes fascinated by a male succubus (why didn’t they just call him an incubus?!) who’s picked up during the investigation…
A Blast from the Past (Lars & Rael #2) by JL Merrow. ebook. Good short paranormal m/m romance in which the detectives are trying to catch a demonic firestarter.
A Wish Too Far (Lars & Rael #3) by JL Merrow. ebook. In this one, our detectives are after a mysterious person who’s making and pushing pills that grant wishes… slightly twisted.
Broken Memories (In the Shadow of the Wolf #2) by Diane Adams & RJ Scott. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about the wolf shifter rescued at the end of the last book, who’s terrified of shifting and can’t remember much from before his rescue. I don’t think this book was long enough for the amount of story being told. At times, things seemed to jump ahead inexplicably, as if parts were missing.
Someone Special by TC Blue. ebook. Good holiday m/m romance about a photographer working as a Santaland elf who gets involved with a somewhat prickly, time-crunched guy also working as an elf. This started out much stronger than it finished – the last 1/4 of the book got painfully sugary and repetitive.
Tribe (Todd Mills #2) by RD Zimmerman. Pretty good gay mystery in which an old friend of Todd’s reveals secrets kept since their college days as some creepy fundamentalists with nefarious intent close in. I didn’t like this as much as I liked the first book – way too much time spent with the creepy fundamentalists.
Working It Out by Sara York. ebook. Meh m/m romance about a gym owner whose partner died six months ago. He’s surprised to find himself with feelings for a handsome closeted doctor. Such a frustrating read! The main characters’ intentions and emotions seemed to flip flop on every page. There were not one but two psycho women intent on seducing the gay main characters. The writing was choppy and simplistic. *sigh*

“What a long week! I’m exhausted!” -Mayhem

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Ebook Giveaway: Men Under the Mistletoe by Ava March, Josh Lanyon, Harper Fox, & KA Mitchell [CONTEST CLOSED]

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Congrats to Mandy, who won A Lie I Can Live With (The Match Before Christmas #3) by Eden Winters! A Lie I Can Live With is being released today by Torquere Press.

Because tomorrow’s Thanksgiving here in the US, I won’t be posting. However, I will have some form of linkity on Friday. 🙂

Many thanks to Ava March, Josh Lanyon, Harper Fox, and KA Mitchell for donating a copy of their forthcoming m/m holiday anthology, Men Under the Mistletoe, for a lucky commenter to win! Men Under the Mistletoe will be released on December 5 by Carina Press. (The stories will also be released separately.)

Additionally, to celebrate the anthology’s release, the authors are running a scavenger hunt until December 2. One winner will receive a $100 gift card to Amazon or the ebook retailer of your choice. Two entries will be randomly selected to win a download of the anthology.

Baby, it’s cold outside.

A man receives the gift of pleasure at the hands of two expert lovers. Boyhood sweethearts get a second chance at romance. Two very proper gentlemen indulge their forbidden desires. And a Christmas tree farmer has an epiphany. It may be cold outside but these four holiday novellas will warm you up.

My True Love Gave To Me by Ava March
Alexander Norton loathes the festive season. The revelry of the ton is a reminder of Christmas four years ago, when his first love, Thomas Bennett, broke his heart and fled to New York without a word. So when he encounters Thomas at a holiday ball, Alexander is determined not to let on how much he still hurts.

Thomas has returned for one reason only: Alexander. Having finally come to terms with his forbidden desires, he will do whatever he must to convince Alexander to give their love another chance. But instead of the happy, carefree man Thomas once knew, Alexander is now hard and cynical. Saddened to know he’s to blame for the man’s bitterness, Thomas resolves to reignite the passion he knows lies hidden behind the wall of disdain…

Lone Star by Josh Lanyon
Growing up in rural Texas, Mitchell Evans’ ambition to be a dancer made him a target. Though he found success in New York City, Mitch is at a crossroads, and heads home for the first time in twelve years to figure things out. When what appears to be a reindeer jumps out in front of his car, he drives off the road and into the path of the one man he hoped to avoid.

The last person Texas Ranger Web Eisley expects to see four days before Christmas is his first love. He hasn’t seen Mitch since they quarreled over coming out to their friends and family years ago. Though he’s not in the closet now, Web has worked hard for the respect of his fellow officers, but he still regrets the loss of Mitch in his life. And his bed.

The attraction between them is as strong as ever, and it doesn’t take long for the men to pick up where they left off. But is love enough to keep Mitch in town in the New Year?

Winter Knights by Harper Fox
Historian Gavin Lowden is in Northumberland on Christmas Eve for two reasons: to find evidence of a romantic bond between Arthur and Lancelot, and to finally tell his partner Piers that he loves him. Piers has promised to come clean with his conservative family and join Gavin for their first holiday as a couple, but at the last minute, he bails. Devastated, Gavin heads out onto the moors alone, just as snow begins to fall…

Gavin stumbles into an underground chamber, where strange happenings cause him to question what is real and what is fantasy. He’s found by two mysterious men who offer him a bed for the night – and awaken him to nuances of erotic pleasure he didn’t know existed. Pleasure he hopes to share with Piers.

When Piers learns that Gavin has gone missing, he is desperate to find him. He knows now breaking up was a terrible mistake, and he’s ready to take the next step in their relationship – if it’s not already too late.

The Christmas Proposition by KA Mitchell
It’s Christmas in Epiphany, Pennsylvania – the busiest time of year for Mel Halner. But running the family Christmas tree farm has worn down his love for the happiest season of all, and lately Mel’s been wondering what if he’d said yes to a ticket out of town with millionaire Bryce Campion three years ago.

Bryce isn’t used to people saying no to him, and he can’t forget Mel or their brief but sizzling affair. He might not have been offering forever, but Bryce can’t understand a guy as sexy and smart as Mel choosing to stay rooted on the family farm over enjoying the high life with him. He’s determined to make Mel see what he’s missed out on the first chance he gets.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CST, Friday, December 2.
  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Stare deep into my eyes. You are getting sleepy. When you wake up, you will feed me all the kitty treats I can eat without clipping my claws first.” -Chaos

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

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

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

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

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

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Linkity and a new tattoo!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Please ignore the bruising…)

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

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

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity lacks comprehensible weather

28 Comments

Congrats to Courtney S, who won Becoming His by Shawn Lane!

Contests

  • Lynn’s celebrating her blogiversary with a contest – your prize to be determined by whether you knit, quilt, cross stitch, or none of the above. Answer her question in the comments before June 12 for your chance to win.

Bookity

Ebookity

Think, Learn, Do

Cookity

  • Petri dish jello (probably guarantees you’ll never have to bring anything to a potluck again).

Crafty

Cool

  • Instead of carrying a separate little Swiss army knife on my key chain, I could just put my keys on this clever carabiner.

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

  • Cicada ice cream?! (No longer in production, due to health department concerns.)

LOL

  • What’s your unicorn name? Mine’s Poppy Celestial Pony: “Poppy is quick-witted and bright as a spark. She is as dark as the night sky, and she brings the sunshine and chases away clouds.”
  • xkcd on the cloud. (Make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for additional text.)

Teh Cute

Reading Update
What Happened to Larry Alan? by Dawn Kimberly Johnson. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about a guy who gets hit in the head with a soccer ball and has a chance to change some pivotal events from his past.
Any Closer by Mary Calmes. ebook. Feel-good m/m romance about a good-hearted guy who owns a construction company and finds out something sordid about the past of one of his employees/friends.
The Love of a Mate (Pack Discipline #4) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about the pack troublemaker, who’s incredibly suspicious when the beta’s brother begins a subtle pursuit.
The One that Counts by Chrissy Munder. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy who’s feeling introspective after his father’s death and shares some things from his past that his partner didn’t know.
Just-You Eyes by Clare London. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy, accompanying his sister to a heterosexual speed dating night to even out the numbers of men and women, who meets a hotel employee and has an uncharacteristic one-night stand.
Cherries on Top by Rowan McAllister. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who doesn’t do relationships, but finds himself unable to resist the sweet, previously straight bartender who takes him home.
Between Friends by Lou Harper. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about two guys who’ve been friends since they were kids. One’s closeted, in deep denial, and the other’s not willing to be his dirty little secret.
We’re Both Straight, Right? by Jamie Fessenden. ebook. Very good m/m romance about two straight college guys who have been best friends for years. When one of them learns how much money they can make doing a “straight guys’ first gay experiences” porn shoot, he convinces the other to do it with him.
A Deadly Kind of Love (Deadly Mystery #6) by Victor J. Banis. ebook. Very good m/m mystery in which Tom and Stanley head to Palm Springs to help a friend who found a dead man in his hotel bed. I must confess that it was refreshing to read a nearly angst-free installment of their story!
Long, Lonely Howl by Lyn Gala. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a YMCA youth counselor who inadvertently finds out about werewolves and has to make some life-changing decisions. Be aware that the ending’s a bit abrupt and is definitely HFN.
Shades of the Past (EMS Heat #9) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good m/m romance about an EMT whose partner and cousin died on the job because she wouldn’t listen to him. He blames himself for her death and isn’t doing very well at all. (I wanted just a bit more in each of the later scenes in the book.)
Bad Company by KA Mitchell. ebook. Good m/m romance about two guys who were friends when they were kids, but haven’t spoken for years… until one decides to piss off his homophobic father and “go gay”. Strangely, he wasn’t the person who needed to be smacked in this book.
About Damn Time by Elizabeth Jewell. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about two guys, close friends and both gay, who’ve never gotten together – but will a bet change that? I was doing ok the story until the sex scene – someone who’s just spent nearly six months restoring a classic car is probably not going to be ok with having sex on the car’s hood, especially with belt buckles flopping all over the place…
Hairy, Horny, and Over Here by J.L. Merrow. ebook short. Very funny m/m story about a photographer and a hunter out looking for jackalopes in the woods on the Isle of Wight. I’d suggest reading this book in conjunction with I’ll Tell You a Secret, Jackalope. 🙂
Pearls Before Swine by Vic Winter. ebook short. Very steamy short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who considers himself very civilized and proper, but has to reconsider after he runs into (literally) a shifter at the museum and invites him over for coffee…
What You Wish For: The Nine of Cups by Alex Marcus-Jacobs. ebook short. reread. Ok short m/m romance about a college student who gets a disconcerting tarot reading, just prior to a life-changing event. The conversations were my main reason for not rating this higher – they were awkward and didn’t feel realistic.
Obsidian (What You Wish For #2) by Alex Marcus-Jacobs. ebook. Ok kinky m/m romance continuing the story of the college student and his older lover/Dom. Like the previous book, this seemed stilted and awkward to me.
Layoffs by Dallas Coleman. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about two guys who get laid off from the same company because others took credit for their work.
Neon Yellow: Obsessive Adhesives by Andy Slayde & Ali Wilde. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a player who starts to see the appeal of the quiet guy from Accounting. Only… who keeps leaving those unnerving post-it messages on the guy’s computer monitor?! I would’ve rated this higher if there hadn’t been some real TSTL moments in it. You know there’s a stalker. You know he’s been following your new boyfriend; in fact, he broke into your boyfriend’s house and completely trashed it (besides leaving those increasingly threatening post-its at work). Why would you decide to get away from the situation and go camping (ie, isolated)? And most especially, why wouldn’t you be completely freaked out when the axe and other items disappeared from the campsite?!?!?
Rushing Towards Perfection by Mya. ebook. Ok kinky m/m romance about two guys who are rushing into a relationship without knowing a lot about each other. This one just didn’t quite work – it felt like sections were missing.
Run With Me by Eden Cole. ebook. Meh m/m romance about the son of a crime boss who keeps running away from his father, even though his father always sends brutes to beat him up and drag him home. But maybe the latest guy who’s tracked him down will be different…
Sex Scene: Take One by Lee Avalone. ebook. Incoherent trainwreck. Any sex scene that has “his large log” in it… no. Just no.

Mutant kitty!!!! O.O

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

Kitty toes and linkity

32 Comments

Congrats to Kathy K, who won the copy of LB Gregg’s Catch Me If You Can (Romano & Albright, Book 1)! (Don’t forget about LB’s review contest, which runs through March 16.)

Contests

Books & Reading & Readers, Oh My!

Learn Things

Things That Didn’t Fit Elsewhere

LOL

Reading Update
The Larton Chronicles by James Anson. I heard about this delightful m/m romance when Josh Lanyon mentioned on his blog that it was one of his comfort reads. The book is about Robert, ex-policeman and mystery author who moves to the obscure village of Larton, and Michael, the horse-mad and out of control village “squire”. Written in a fabulously understated style that seems quite British indeed to me (Jenre and EH will have to confirm or deny this for me), the book chronicles the ups and downs of building a life together. (Also, all sex occurs entirely offsides and is only referred to in the most discrete terms.) I’d definitely recommend picking this up directly from the publisher and not from Amazon – the price difference is quite significant. Recommended.
The Dark Farewell by Josh Lanyon. ebook. As previously mentioned, I won this historical m/m romance over at Jessewave’s. This was an extremely well-done story about a reporter from NYC in central Illinois to follow up on a union-related massacre when he becomes intrigued by a medium who is staying at the same boarding house. From Josh’s comments on Jenre’s review of this ebook, I was sort of prepared for the abrupt ending to the story, which is modeled on ghost stories from the period (early 1920s), but I found myself really wanting to know more about these characters! Recommended.
No Souvenirs (Florida Series, Book 3) by K.A. Mitchell. ebook. Very good, steamy, and intense m/m romance about that mysterious ER doctor we met in previous books. Hard to go wrong with K.A. Mitchell! Recommended.
Custom Ride by K.A. Mitchell. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who has an anonymous encounter with a mysterious stranger at Pride (in Minneapolis!), then keeps encountering the guy again back home in St. Cloud.
Scared Stiff by Laura Baumbach, William Maltese, Josh Lanyon, & Sarah Black. ebook collection. This was a good m/m paranormal romance collection overall, although each story had its foibles. Baumbach’s was unfortunately plagued by egregious editing errors such as misused words, missing words, and randomly introduced names. (Wait, I thought that Eli and Mason were in bed together. Where did this “Josh” come from?!???) Black’s story suffered somewhat from the main characters overusing each other’s names in conversation, so their conversations seemed stilted. (Handily, author Patti O’Shea just posted about this very problem.) Lanyon’s story was very good, with just a condom use issue. I skipped Maltese’s story because I’m not a big fan of his style, plus it was fantasy.
Primal Passions (Lost Shifters, Book 1) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Enjoyable paranormal m/m romance about a paramedic who suddenly discovers that the world is much weirder than he knew when he’s imprisoned by thugs and rescued by a feline shapeshifter.
Fire and Ice by A.J. Llewellyn & Stephani Hecht. ebook. I definitely like Stephani Hecht’s work on her own better. This m/m romance about a former boxer and a hockey goalie was all over the place, with instalove and bits of story that didn’t fit very well.
Garron’s Gift and Rawley’s Redemption (Good-Time Boys, Books 2-3) by Carol Lynne. ebooks. Ok m/m romances being the continuing story of the Good brothers, their guys, and dangerous homophobes in their small Nebraska town. It appears that this series, like Campus Cravings, also intersects with the Cattle Valley series. Apparently Cattle Valley is like the Borg…
Now and Forever by Addison Albright. ebook short. Sweet m/m romance short about a couple planning their wedding reception, during the all-too-brief time gay marriage was legal in California.
Moving On and Moving Along by Addison Albright. ebook shorts. These are sweet m/m romance shorts about a guy trying to move on after his lover was killed in a car accident a year ago.
Aidan and Ethan (Seeking Redemption, Book 1) by Cameron Dane. ebook. Angsty m/m romance about a guy who vanishes without a word after planning a life together with his best friend, then reappears over a decade later. I started out feeling as if the entire premise of the story was extremely flimsy, but that was actually addressed a bit later. (Also, not so good with the condom thing in this book.)
Private Dicks by Katie Allen. ebook. This m/m romantic suspense was a reread – it’s one of my comfort reads. Obviously I think it’s a good book! 🙂 And you’ll have a chance to win a copy of the sequel in the not-too-distant future…

“Mom, do I really want to know why you’re taking a picture of my back toes?” -Chaos

If you commented on this post before 7:30 am CST, March 11, your comment has vanished. Sorry! My fault entirely.