Re-Release-Review & Giveaway: FAME AND FORTUNE by TM Smith (Stories from the Sound #2)

Fame and Fortune

Series: Stories from the Sound Book 2

Author: TM Smith

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: May 16, 2020

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Blurb

I’ve built a life, a home and a business from the ground up with Andrew by my side every step of the way. Fame, fortune and a family was the promise I made him ten years ago; and with hard work and dedication we did it, together. Neither of us even realized something was missing until a skittish young man with a haunted look in his eyes walked into our office.

Victor never doubted who he was, even when he lost everything.

Still a boy when he came to America with his strict, traditionalist Romanian parents, Victor’s Romani upbringing taught him their traditions as well as discipline and perseverance. When he told them he was gay he knew it would be difficult for them to understand, but he didn’t expect them to disown him.

Andrew knew Victor was his soulmate after spending just one night together.

Raised by a single mom, his father disinterested in his role most of the time, Andrew thrived in the chaos. The only thing his dad ever did for Andy that stuck was buy him a camera for his thirteenth birthday. When he went off to college on a scholarship to study photo journalism, he wound up finding so much more than he expected.

Together they created an online businesses that blossomed and grew, the result a family that was as different as they were committed to one another.

Matthew was homeless, jobless and… broken.

At just sixteen he ran away from home after a brutal assault, his parents tossing him aside like garbage. Matthew has done a lot of things over the years living on the street in order to survive. When he finds the flyer for All Cocks, he decides to call and see where it leads. What has he got to lose?

Can three men that did not know they needed each other get past the stigma of society to find a place of happiness, together?

**Trigger warning-Sexual assault**

NOTE: This story was previously published as Fame and Fortune, All Cocks Stories book 2. It has been edited and reworked with a lot of new content added to the story.

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Carra's Review

After reading the first book in this series, I was truly intrigued by the characters of Victor, Andrew and Matthew and how their relationship came about. Here in Fame and Fortune, we get to go back to the point at which Matthew entered their lives and see exactly how they meet and evolve together...which turns out to be a very interesting tale.

You can't help but feel for Matthew after finding out everything he's been through in his life. I wanted to give his parents a very large piece of my mind, and as for his "friends" from high school--I don't see how anyone who reads this wouldn't want to just rip them apart.

There's a lot of emotion in this story, along with a lot of compassion once Matthew is brought into the All Cocks family. To see what he goes through, even as he is starting to heal, pulls at your heart and gives you a lot of food for thought. It's quite satisfying to witness how he makes his way into Victor and Andrew's lives, home and hearts.

The one thing that continually stands out is how carefully Andrew and Victor handle Matthew's situation once they hear his story, and how they thoughtfully manage his entry not only into their business, but into their lives and hearts.

Fame and Fortune is another great story in the All Cocks series, and with the updates in this new edition, it has an even more rounded, full feel to the story.  It’s an even deeper look into all three men, a more complete look at their lives.  I’m looking forward to many more enjoyable books to come with these characters. 4.5 strong, emotional stars for Fame and Fortune, recommended for M/M fans 18+ due to language and explicit sexual content, as well as the sexual assault scene in the blurb's warning.

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Gay for Pay (Stories from the Sound book 1)

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Author Bio

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!

Website - Blog - Facebook Group - Facebook Author Page - Facebook Stories from the Sound - Twitter - Goodreads - QueeRomanceInk - Pinterest - YouTube - Amazon - Smashwords - Barnes and Noble - Kobo - iTunes - Audible - Amazon UK - Amazon AU - Amazon DE

New Release & Giveaway: GAY FOR PAY by TM Smith (Stories from the Sound #1) - Includes Exclusive Teaser!

Gay for Pay

Stories from the Sound #1

by TM Smith

Genre: M/M Romance

Re-Release: April 1, 2020

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Blurb

I don’t know how to explain it—I just woke up one day and there he was. And he became my everything.

All it took was one wrong choice, a decision made in haste, to destroy Chris's future.

It's a mistake that he can't take back or make right, one that cost another person their life. Adrift, alone, and uncertain of his future, Chris moves to New York. He quickly learns that the bright lights of the big city don’t offer the absolution he seeks. A fortuitous encounter moves him in the right direction. But is he willing to take the chance he’s offered to make a fresh start?

After catching his boyfriend cheating, again, Linc is convinced that he'll never find love.

Linc has always been honest about who he is and what he prefers. He's a bisexual gay porn star that will do just about anything with anyone, on camera that is, so he can write his own ticket in a versatility-charged industry. It’s not his sexuality that interferes with his personal life; it’s his inability to trust.

Can the possibility of a happy ever after prove to be enough of a reason for these two men to let their guard down and take a second chance on love?

NOTE This story was previously published as Gay for Pay, All Cocks Stories book 1. It has been edited and reworked with a lot of new content added to the story.

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Check out my review on Goodreads!

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About the Author

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!

Website - Blog - Facebook Group - Facebook Author - Facebook Stories from the Sound - Twitter - Goodreads - QueerRomance Ink - Pinterest - YouTube - Smashwords - Barnes and Noble - Kobo - iTunes - Audible - Amazon US - Amazon UK - Amazon DE

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New Release-Review & Excerpt: A NEW EMPIRE by Layla Reyne (Fog City #3)-Includes Giveaway!

 A New Empire 

by Layla Reyne

Series: Fog City #3

Publisher: Layla Reyne (Self-published)

Release Date (Print & Ebook/Audio): November 11 (Ebook & Print); Audio TBD

Length (Print & Ebook/Audio): Approx. 52,000 words

Subgenre: M/M Romantic Suspense

Warnings: Explicit sex; explicit language; violence.

Purchase link: 

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Blurb

Legacies were made to be rewritten.

Assassin Hawes Madigan wants to do right--by his family, his organization, his city, and the man he's falling for, ATF agent Christopher Perri. But Hawes's rules are being challenged by someone willing to kill for the old ways. To save his soul and his empire, Hawes must make an impossible decision: fight from the outside or bend the knee to win back his throne from within.

Chris is used to being the inside man, the one undercover. Now, he's on the outside marshaling forces in support of the man and the ring of assassins he was supposed to take down. His mission shifted when he found something that's been missing for ten long years--a home, with Hawes.

As Hawes and Chris make a dangerous play for control, the lines between allies and traitors blur. Trusting the wrong person could destroy the legacy Hawes envisions for the Madigans. But not trusting anyone, or each other, could mean lights out on their love and lives forever.

The King and King Slayer fight together in this thrilling conclusion to the Fog City Trilogy!

Teaser

“Listen to me, Madigan.” He gritted through the pain of pulling his arm out of the towel sling, because dammit, he needed two hands for this. He framed Hawes’s face, holding his gaze, his attention, their world, steady. “The organization needs you. Your family needs you. I f*cking need you.”

“Why?” Hawes choked out.

“Because I don’t just think I’m falling for you. I fell, baby, the minute I walked into Danko and saw you across the room. Your head held high, like you f*cking owned the place. The second you called me Mr. Perry.” He gave him a little shake for emphasis. “I know.”

Hawes closed his eyes, and Chris’s heart skipped a beat, until they opened again, full of resolve. Of that same confidence he’d fallen for. “I fell for you that night I walked into my condo and saw the box of mooncakes. You got it; you got me. I know too.”

“Then we’ll get her,” Chris said, heart racing now. With love, and hope for the future. “And we’ll get justice for Isabella, for our families, and for us.”

“And then?”

“And then we’ll rebuild the empire, by your rules, better and stronger than ever before. Together.”

The king smiled, wicked, deadly, and f*cking glorious.

Release Blitz Q&A with Layla Reyne

Q: Secondary Characters: Why they are important to the story?

LR: For Hawes in Fog City, his siblings, Holt and Helena, are the bricks of his foundation, along with love interest, Chris, and friend and ally, Braxton Kane. Hawes, Holt, and Helena run both family businesses with him, he trusts them implicitly, he looks to them for input, and they each contribute differently to the family unit. He wouldn’t want to do this without them.

Q: If you listen to music while writing, share your playlist.

LR: Here’s my Fog City playlist, which alternated frequently with The Revivalists albums. I swear, every one of their songs seems to fit this series!

Q: What would a love letter between the characters look like?

LR: From Hawes to Chris:

Dante, I know. --H

From Chris to Hawes.

Madigan, I know. --Mr. Perry

Carra's Review

Just lay me down now, because after finishing A New Empire, Layla Reyne has totally wiped me out.  I’m not even sure what to write that’s not going to just reiterate everything I said about the first two books of this series.  Edge of my seat?  Check.  Incredible romantic suspense written so that you do not want to put it down?  Double check.  Still kept on my toes even once my suspicions of who was pulling all the strings to try and pull off a coup of the Madigan family’s business-behind-the-business were confirmed?  Yep, that too.

Everything about this final installment revolves around trust—and while you can never be sure about who anyone should be trusting in this family and their business, it is completely evident now that the trust between Chris and Hawes is absolute.  Where that will get them in the end with the uncertainty that surrounds them is anyone’s guess.

If you follow my reviews, you should know by now I wouldn’t steer you wrong.  So when I say this series has been my favorite of this author’s so far, that’s saying A LOT…especially since I’ve run out of adjectives to describe how incredible I’ve found her romantic suspense series.  A New Empire holds true to this, delivering on the action, suspense, and adding enough twists and turns that you can never be sure of, well, just about anything.  Anything except the devotion between Chris and Hawes—there is no room for doubt when it comes to that.

I’m not saying more, because I really can’t without starting to spoil things.  I’m happy with the way things went down, though I would have be good if the baddie got a bigger smack-down (I can be vengeful like that).  And while the main issues of this series do get tied up here in this book, doors are left open for some of the supporting characters to get their own stories.  I don’t know about you, but I sure would like to see what’s going on for Holt.  Scotty too deserves his own tale as well.  I’m just gonna kick back and wait a bit…

A New Empire is Layla Reyne again doing what she does best, and I find myself again dishing out another 5-star rating.  Remember, this is the third book in the series, and you must read these in order or you will be lost.  It’s a wild ride, but boy did I enjoy the trip.  Trust me, you will too.  Then you’ll be joining me while we wait for what comes next, so buckle up!  And yes, this one’s also for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content…because Chris and Hawes together…whew!

About the Author

RITA Finalist Layla Reyne is the author of Dine With Me and the Fog City, Whiskey Verse, and Changing Lanes series. A Carolina Tar Heel who now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home, Layla enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart-pounding romance. She is a RWA® RITA® Finalist in Contemporary Romance (Mid-Length) and Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense.

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Join us for a giveaway: Layla Reyne is giving away one Grand Prize of a Set of signed Fog City paperbacks (within the contiguous USA) or a set of Bookplates (international). Enter now! 

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Review & Giveaway: THE MESSENGER by TM Smith (The Archangel Trilogy #1)

The Messenger

Series: The Archangel Trilogy #1

Author: TM Smith

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: September 25, 2018

For centuries Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer have worked together, coexisting in the same universe. Gabriel chooses to remain silent and secluded, preferring the garden in the Hall of Souls. He dances beneath the Tree of Life, barefoot and with reckless abandon…until the day he looks into the eyes of another angel and sees the dreams he’s kept silent mirrored there. 

Eons have passed since the moment Michael came to be the general of the All Father’s army in heaven, the protector of mankind. Michael has been in love with Lucifer for as long as he can remember, their relationship second only to his bond with the All Father. But lately, Michael has begun to notice cracks in the surface of their love, sensing that his lover is not as angelic as he seems. 

Lucifer was the All Father’s first creation, the bringer of light, his Morning Star. He has sat to the right of the throne every day since the dawn of time. Two things were tasked to the Archangels from the start: put no other before the All Father, and protect the humans he cherishes. Lucifer challenges both sacred rules. He puts his love for Michael before his love for his creator, and he questions his creator’s wisdom when it comes to the atrocities he has seen committed by mankind. 

One will fall while two remain and grow stronger. A battle of wills is on the horizon, and not only mankind, but the fate of all beings will hang in the balance.

"Interesting gay romance take on God and His angels" ~ Amazon Review

"Author TM Smith rewrites Christian theology with a vivid imagination and true, all-encompassing-love God, introducing us to her new world of Angels and Demons!" ~ Amazon Review

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I’m am absolutely not a religious person, never read the Bible, and what I know of Christianity is from friends, required literature in school, and television.  So, as you might expect I had no real preconceived ideas of any religious framework before starting to read this story.  I personally think that was a good thing, since I was able to see the author’s vision for the story and not overlay it on any existing religious beliefs—this is fiction after all, and our world should have very little bearing on the story the author is trying to tell.  What I found was a thought-provoking book that played with my emotions (I mean, who’d have thought you could sympathize with Satan?), and some powerful scenes that were stunning in their imagery and intensity.

Though this is meant to be Gabriel’s story, in order to tell it we need to learn about Michael and Lucifer’s relationship—one that is cracking under the strain of Lucifer’s continued questioning of the All Father and his loss of faith in humanity.  While I mentioned having sympathy for Satan, given what was expected of Lucifer (what is expected of all archangels-protecting mankind and putting no other before the All Father), and his insistence on not just pushing but smashing those boundaries, there was only ever one outcome that could come to be.  

Gabriel is the essence of innocence, but can protect and fight when needed just as fiercely as his counterparts.  His penchant for communing with the souls at the Tree of Life embodies hope and joy, something he willingly shares with anyone who needs it to refresh their own souls.  Michael, as the general of the All Father’s army in heaven, is a relentless protector, strong and true, but still hurts from the splintering of his relationship with Lucifer.  Gabriel and Michael fit easily together, with Gabriel helping Michael to heal.

Yes, this is a romance—one that rewrites what you may see as religious canon—but don’t let your own religious beliefs color your opinion of this story.  This is about love, pure and simple, regardless of the players.  Part of telling the story includes some scenes of obvious religious nature, some of which I personally could have done without (but this is a strongly personal viewpoint due to my own beliefs…or rather non-belief), but without which Lucifer’s true nature of what he becomes cannot be fully realized.  There are also times when the characters become quite introspective, and I found that this lead to a greater depth in the overall story.

The Messenger was a 4.5-star read for me, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series—especially given the epilogue and its tease with Raphael’s character.  I think readers’ reactions will probably differ quite a bit depending on their own religious backgrounds, but regardless you’re still going to find a strong, solid, and provocative story that will have your attention from cover to cover.  This book is meant for readers 18+ for sexual content.

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!

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