No! Jocks Don't Date Guys (Jock series book #2) by @WriterWadeKelly blog tour | Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

What is a sexy soccer stud supposed to do when “following family tradition” falls 180 degrees opposite his closeted ideal?

From birth, Chris Jackson has been schooled on how to land a cheerleader. After all, his father married one, and his father’s father before him. Heck, even his older brother married a stereotypical cheerleader the summer before Chris went off to college. For two years, Chris dodges invasive questions about relationships by blaming his lack of female companionship on grueling practices and heavy course loads. But his lack of interest in girls should’ve given his family a clue. It isn’t until Chris mentions meeting a boy that his father’s synapses short-circuit.

Alonzo Martin is anything but a buxom blond. From his black hair, combat boots, and trench coat to his nail polish and guyliner, the mysterious introvert isn’t easily persuaded to date. Alonzo’s insecurities keep Chris at arm’s length, but Alonzo’s painful past might meet its match in the charismatic jock’s winning smile and sense of humor.

When opposites attract, only cheerleaders and gummy bears can help overcome fear and family tradition.

Buy Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon 

Chris Jackson and Alonzo Martin couldn’t be more opposite; they come from completely different backgrounds. Chris was raised by very loving, hands on parents and his family is still pretty close, even if his father is a little mental. While Alonzo comes from a broken home in a small town where being convicted of murder would be more acceptable than being gay. These two give new meaning to the term ‘opposites attract’.

Chris is intrigued and infatuated from the start; Alonzo however, takes a while to warm up to the jock with the open, kind personality and a slew of friends. Alonzo’s past makes him wary of not only trusting people, but caring about anyone as well. Slowly but surely, one layer at a time, Chris works his way into Alonzo’s world, and eventually his heart. But an innocent mistake sends Alonzo into a tailspin, bringing back painful memories of the past.

I liked that Chris and Alonzo shared this instant connection, but it wasn’t an insta-love type story. Chris has this infectious personality and it’s hard for people not to like him, but Alonzo is hiding under years of pain and sorrow, so if they had instantly fallen into each other, the story would have suffered. Chris had to show Alonzo that he cared, and not just with words. He basically courted his man, showered him with affection and proved to Alonzo he could be trusted. Still, when you have the type of darkness in your past that Alonzo has, it isn’t easily washed away.

Chris wasn’t without his shortcomings though. He was overly critical and harsh at times of his friends, and boy does he have a jealous streak five states long! But I think that was a byproduct of his upbringing. As I said, his father is a bit mental. Speaking of… I didn’t translate the whole cheerleader thing the way I’ve seen some other reviews discuss it. I think what Kelly was doing with that aspect of the story is translating one person’s ridiculous viewpoint into the story. Chris’s parents didn’t give a rats ass he was gay, but his boyfriend isn’t a cheerleader. I read this as a way to show people how ridiculous it looks to others when they hold onto archaic beliefs, like blind, unwarranted hatred of homosexuality. But that is just my take on this part of the story.

Jock 2 is a coming of age story I think, a story about loving who you are and being the person you want to be, not the person everyone else thinks you should be. It was passionate, emotional and I was engrossed from start to finish. I also loved that Kelly gave Ellis and Cole an integral part in the story; I do love when the ones that started the series get to stay involved. I’m very excited to see whose story Kelly decides to tell next. I’m hoping for Doug, but we shall see.

Guest Post with writer Wade Kelly...

My Faults are Their Faults.

Hello Readers!

You are here today, hopefully, to read more about me and comment on this stop of the blog tour for No! Jocks Don’t Date Guys

What I want to talk about is how I write flawed characters. I think PEOPLE are flawed. Sometimes—most of the time—I don’t set out to write a flaw but it comes out naturally because it seemed right for that character.

In No! Jocks Don’t Date Guys it has been brought to my attention that Chris Jackson is very flawed. HAHA, I never realized that until I saw a couple reviews. This is rather funny to me that people (readers) might not like part of his personality. I had never thought of him as arrogant and condescending. But HE IS! And I was like, “Oh my Gosh!” I found it funny that I didn’t see it until it was pointed out to me. So hey, if you want PERFECT characters, then don’t read my books because apparently even when I try to make them perfect, they come out flawed. And I don’t comment about this in a bad way. I am glad my characters are REAL and have these flaws because I think it creates depth. Am I like this? Maybe. I don’t know. I DO KNOW, that when I met my husband, everyone else pretty much fell off the planet friend-wise. My best friend was forgotten and SHE was the one who introduced us. So, I think Chris’s douche move to disregard Doug and go see Alonzo is based on reality that this type of thing happens a lot. Doesn’t it? The girlfriend/boyfriend becomes the only priority. Good or bad, this is life!

Another character in the same (No! Jocks Don’t Date Guys) book is Doug Archer. I hope you all like Doug because he gets his own book in JOCK 3. Doug has his own issues. For some reason, he’s got my anger. (Lucky Doug.) It felt right for him in this book because of circumstances and plot twists, etc. When you read JOCK 3 next year I hope it makes sense and you understand his anger. This is part of MY personality. I’ve noticed that as I get older I have a shorter temper and less patience. My expectations seem to be higher than they used to be and I expect more competency out of people than I get. This is not a good personality trait for myself and I’m working on loosening up, but I guess it shows in my writing when I create characters like Doug.

Speaking of anger… Keith Leppo of Misplaced Affection also has a lot of anger. Am I that jealous? No! I can get angry and I am not patient. I think Keith is like me in that sense. Keith is ridiculously angry, but don’t forget how young he is. How many 18 year olds do you know who are rational all the time? *snorts*

Flynn Brewer in Misplaced Affection has my fear, I guess. Flynn is afraid of coming out, which can be rational. Sometimes being cautious is logical, but Flynn let his fear practically consume him. In his defense, and defense of myself for writing him this way, Flynn is young and it takes time and maturity to work through his fears.

Nick Jones is ADHD—according to a reviewer. I did not intend this either, but when she described him from that point of view, she was SPOT ON! (Names Can Never Hurt Me) His thoughts jumps around and he doesn’t focus well. Let’s face it, Nick isn’t the smartest guy on the block either. Yes, this is me! I am not so swift many times. Things go right over my head and I say and do stupid things. My mind is also scattered like Nick’s. I often describe my brain as a pinball machine.

Ellis Montgomery is accident-prone as I am. I drop things and make more messes than anyone. I could easily drop a gallon of milk like he did in My Roommate’s a Jock? Well, Crap! I have also balled up wads of paper like he did and tossed them in the general direction of the trashcan, only to pick them up when I was done. In his case, Cole came back to the apartment before he cleaned up his mess. Poor Ellis.

SPOILER ALERT (THIS PARAGRAPH ONLY) Jimmy Miller in When Love is Not Enough lied a LOT. He was split. He felt like he had to hide who he was from everyone. He had the “OUT” side of himself he shard with his father and boyfriend, but he pretended not to be that person in front of his mom and best friend Matt. He had to lie about where he was and who he was with all the time. In the end, it killed him. He couldn’t be himself all the time and he couldn’t be the person his mother loved.

END SPOILER  I was like (Like Jimmy) this and it was killing me. I couldn’t BE a writer. In 2010 I wrote When Love is Not Enough because it was how I felt. I had been forced by the church I was attending at the time to delete my facebook, website, and STOP writing gay romance. “Because it was wrong”. If you’ve read Sculpting Clay written by Linda Reilly, that was me! I had to delete the penname and become someone else. Thankfully, Dreamspinner understood this and I changed my penname to Wade Kelly. (Sculpting Clay will be rewritten and released under Wade Kelly eventually.) I felt lost and alone and unable to be the person I wanted to be: a writer! I put my feelings into Jimmy. I even saw a therapist that year because the church thought I was wrong in the head. The therapist did not see me as suicidal, but I projected that extreme into Jimmy because it was how I pictured kids his age could react when treated like I was and I wasn't even gay! It was because I had written a gay book. Just like Grey’s Anatomy takes real life to the extreme and embellishes, so did I. I took the “what could haves” and put them all into one life in one book. Jimmy is the pain I felt. The “torn” I felt. He couldn’t be all his traits at one time to all people. Living a fractured life is not easy. And with him, his character dies. I pushed on because I wanted to bring hope to those who have been in his position. No one should have to give up and die because they can’t be allowed to be themselves. IE, if you’re gay, you should be allowed to be you—GAY! Like the shirt says, “Some guys are gay, get over it!”

Cole Reid is cynical and sarcastic like me. I AM THE ONE who was called a cynical fatalist by someone I know! I see the glass half empty. I am the one who can’t believe anyone would like me (at times). Why would readers even like my books? My books are so boring. Yes, this is the ho-hum Eeyore attitude that Cole has because it is so ME! ~My Roommate’s a Jock? Well, Crap!

And finally, because I am running out of ideas to write, Rob McAvoy “reads” people. My Roommate’s a Jock? Well, Crap! Not necessarily a flaw, but something I can do at times. (Other times NOT so much!) I often get a sense of people by being near them. I also “feel” them. Like a describe Lance in No! Jocks Don’t Date Guys, I have felt people. (I refer to it as reading their aura) VERY FEW feel “warm” to me like Lance does. This is why I say it is his “Lanceness” in the dedication area of the book. Only 3 people in my life have given off “WARM” like Lance. It is an experience in itself to be around a feeling like that. I have also meet people that “feel” happy. Not the joy in their face or their happiness in general, but an almost tangible happiness in the air around them. In contrast, I have also felt “ickyness.” This doesn’t happen often, but it is not a nice feeling to meet someone for the first time and the “spidy senses” tingle that says: “Stay away from this person.” And really, I wish it would come up more often because I am often really naïve for all the “reading people” I can do. It’s like a switch that flips all on its own. One time I HAVE NO CLUE, and others I get extrasensory feedback that makes the air tingle. It’s weird, but it’s me. I gave this trait to Rob. (Note: Rob is in all 4 books I’m writing in the series.)

Thank you for stopping by this part of my blog tour. I hope now that you see all these terrible personality traits I have, you’ll still want to hang with me if we ever meet in person. :p

As a thank you I have several giveaways. Leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win an Amazon gift certificate. I am going to take all the names from all the comments from all the blog stops and put them in a drawing. I have 8 stops including this one. The more comments you make then higher your chances of winning. I will have 3 winners of a $10 Amazon gift certificate, and for those who comment on ALL 8 STOPS, I will enter each of them into a grand prize drawing good for:

1)     An eBook from my backlist of your choice,

2)     A $10 Amazon gift certificate,

3)     A Wade Kelly Spoon in the colors of your choice J, and

4)     One autographed paperback copy of the novel of their choice (Includes all the books in my back list, as well as JOCK 2 AND Bankers’ Hours coming up in March)

Note: I am willing to mail things to other countries so don’t let that stop you!

Blog tour:

Nov 18 – GGR – cover reveal

Dec 7 - RGR - Writing What I know: Emotion

Dec 14 – Jeff Adams – Finding a Muse

Dec 15 – Novel Approach – Writing My Own Experiences

Dec 16 – Multitasking Momma – Giving Characters a JOB!

Dec 18 – Love Bytes Reviews - Striving to Improve

AND… and…. I did an interview with Jeff Adams for his and Will’s Pod Cast. You may like to check that out!

HUGS,

Wade Kelly

Wade Kelly lives and writes in conservative, small-town America on the east coast where it’s not easy to live free and open in one's beliefs. Wade writes passionately about controversial issues and strives to make a difference by making people think. Wade does not have a background in writing or philosophy, but still draws from personal experience to ponder contentious subjects on paper. There is a lot of pain in the world and people need hope. When not writing, she is thinking about writing, and more than likely scribbling ideas on sticky notes in the car while playing "taxi driver" for her three children. She likes snakes, can’t spell, and has a tendency to make people cry. 

Real * Raw * Riveting 

Author Links: My Website | Facebook | My Blog | Twitter | Dreamspinner Press

As Kelly listed above, here is everything that is up for grabs...

1)     An eBook from my backlist of your choice,

2)     A $10 Amazon gift certificate,

3)     A Wade Kelly Spoon in the colors of your choice J, and

4)     One autographed paperback copy of the novel of their choice (Includes all the books in my back list, as well as JOCK 2 AND Bankers’ Hours coming up in March)

Please leave your contact email in your comment below so that Kelly can contact you if you are one of the winners. Good luck everyone, and thank you Wade Kelly for stopping by today, delivering such an amazing guest post and offering up some great swag!!