Friday, May 12, 2017

Blog Tour: Choices and Changes by TM Smith #Interview #Review #Giveaway


Love - Loss - Friendship - Family
The All Cocks stories

There comes a time in every man’s life where he has to make a choice between what is right and what is easy. 

Born and raised in Fort Worth Texas by open-minded parents, Dean Anderson realized early in life he was attracted to both sexes. Equal opportunity, he picked his lovers based on personality and common interests. He met Maggie in college, fell in love, got married and started a family. And they were happy…until they weren’t. 

Adam Chase’s mother is South African, his father American military working at the US Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa. His parents’ positions in the South African and American governments awarded Adam dual citizenship, and he attended University in America, at Berkley. In America, Adam is lives openly as a gay man, something that could get him killed in his mother’s home country. He met his husband, Patrick Carter, at college and they too were happy…until Patrick died. 

Two lives converge, and it would seem fate is giving them each a second chance at happiness, together. Dean stays in New York and moves into the apartment his son, Dusty, shares with his boyfriend David. He and Adam are quickly welcomed into All Cocks’ vastly growing family. And then one phone call changes everything. 

The men of All Cocks learn that death is just another part of life, a road everyone travels eventually. Choices are made, decisions that change their lives irrevocably. They rally together, drawing strength from each other as their close-knit family experiences the best and worst life has to offer. But that’s what families do, right? 

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon AU

Series reading order 
Gay for Pay book 1 
Fame and Fortune book 2 
How to Deal book 3 
Dare to Hope book 4
Live for Love book 5 
Hide and Seek book 6 
Choices and Changes book 7


Review

I’ve read every book in this series so far. Each one telling a story of fractured characters finding the glue to put them back together. We’ve dealt with so many serious issues, watched glorious happiness fall upon deserving characters, and through it all we’ve watched a family grow.
In Choices and Changes, the family element becomes most evident. Dean, Dusty’s father, and Adam are the MC’s here. You saw Dean in the last book and there was minor overlap from then to now. It wasn’t repetitive or anything. It showed some behind the scenes stuff we only saw mentioned in the other book. I liked that.
I also loved that the author is using middle aged characters. Adam and Dean are in their 50’s I believe. It’s refreshing because I don’t get to read, too often, older characters. I really liked Adam and Dean in the other book and that appreciation only grew stronger here.

There is such a dark element at work here in this book. It sort of surprised me but the reader will see it coming. You’ll find yourself stopping before reading the next page thinking, “If I don’t turn here it won’t be true.” But, you have to turn and you have to deal with all the emotions that go on.

It is in that dark time that we really see how big this family has grown. How much love, support, loyalty, and friendship has molded these people into an impenetrable unit. Dean makes mention to it and you just feel it. It’s not just, “oh, look, people.” It’s, “WOW all that love!”

 Only issue I had with this book is the same issue I had with the last one. Too many characters with similar names. David, Dean, Dusty. Micah, Matthew. It actually confused me a few times. I had to stop and try to remember which was which. A break up of names would have made the flow better for me.

It’s a great series with raw emotion and tons of love!
 




Q&A with author TM Smith



Part II – Diverse Reader

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
Oh hell yes, don’t we all? Sometimes I have to make myself write, I might trash 90% of it in the end, but that 10% I get to keep is pretty fucking amazing. Other times I have to walk away and recharge. I have hit a wall a couple of times trying to take the story in a direction it didn’t want to go, or trying to force a character into a story. I’ve learned that if the character stops speaking to you, you’ve probably pissed them off, so figure out why and fix it. And if you can’t, either scrap them all together or kill them off and make it intense.

What comes first, the plot or characters?
That is a trick question, both. Sometimes someone just starts talking and I start writing and I mold his or her part of the story around them. Then there are times I come up with an amazing storyline in my head and I have to work the characters into it.

Are you working on anything at the present you would like to tell us about?
I am, thank you for asking. I’m starting my first M/F contemporary romance that I hope to release at the end of the summer. From there, I’m not certain what will come next. There will be at least 2 more books in the All Cocks stories, and I have an Angel series I want to start.

Describe the perfect writing space.
Sitting at my desk with my headphones in and a Mimosa next to me. I think I might like sitting on the beach with my laptop and a drink with an umbrella in it as well though. 







Tour schedule and links: 

May 8th
All In One Place {Spotlight only & This or That}
Gay Media Reviews {Review & Spotlight}

May 9th
Making it Happen {Review & Excerpt}
Bike Book Reviews {Review & Spotlight}

May 10th
Wicked Faerie’s Tales andReviews {Review & Author Q&A part 1)
Love Bytes {Spotlight & Exclusive Excerpt}
Books Laid Bare boys {Review & Spotlight}

May 11th
MM Book Escape {Review & Deleted scene}
Open Skye {Spotlight & Would you rather?}
Foxylutely {Review & Spotlight}

May 12th
Happily Ever Chapter {Review & Guest post - Trope Trends}
Diverse Reader {Review & Author Q&A part 2}

May 13th
Sik Reviews {Review & Spotlight}
Cathy Brockman {Review & Author top 10}

May 14th
Bayou Book Junkie {Review & Playlist}
Two Book Pushers {Review & Spotlight} 
Smashly Bookalicous {Review & Author Q&A part 3}
A military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; TM Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer. A Texas transplant, she now calls DFW her home. Most days she can be found curled up with a good book, or ticking away on her next novel.

Smith is a single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic. Besides her writing, she is passionate about Autism advocacy and LGBT rights. Because, seriously people, Love is Love!


Author links: Amazon || Smashwords || Website || Facebook || Twitter 
Join the All Cocks INC Groupies page on facebook for exclusive excerpts, content, early peek at covers and giveaways that are just for members of the group. 


** Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Choices and Changes or an e-book. Be sure to leave a comment as all comments are entered into a monthly giftcard giveaway. Leave your contact info!



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