Negotiation Tactics (Guest post, spotlight, review)

                                           
 

I am happy to present a guest post from the author of Negotiation Tactics, Lori Ryan who has shared with us things she is thankful for!

Here's Lori:

So much to be thankful for and so little time! No, really, I have very little time. I have a new series I’m working on so I have to get my butt back to work. Since Thanksgiving just passed by for another year, I thought I’d take a minute to let my readers know what I’m grateful for this year.

 Some of you may not know this, but I only began writing last December and I published my first book this past April.  It’s been a bit of a crazy ride! Along the way, I’ve had a lot of people help me out, a lot of people take the time to support me, and a surprisingly large number of readers contact me to tell me what they love about my books. I’m so grateful to everyone I’ve met on this journey.

My friends and family were the first group of people to help me and show me support. Not one person told me I couldn’t write or that I was silly for trying to publish a romance novel. They all told me I could do it and then asked how they could help. And help, they did! They listen to plot twists and character sketches, read early manuscripts and tell me what went wrong, and do a last proofreading after the final run through with the editor.

When I hit the Amazon bestseller lists in my genre, I was contacted by a group of other writers who were getting together to publish an anthology of book together. We worked like mad women for two months getting the boxed set ready, lining up blogs to feature us, and doing interviews and guest posts. We met weekly to discuss marketing and sales strategy, to make decisions about title and cover, and to make sure the formatting and preparation was running on track. Then, we hit the ground running and ran flat out for our release week tweeting, networking, and Facebooking like crazed lunatics.

It was, without a doubt, the most intense experience I’ve had as a writer to date. And, it was fabulous! I’m so thankful the group found me and that I’ve forged these relationships. Those are ten authors that I’ll share a tight bond with forever and that’s never going to go away.

One of the really cool things about that experience was the way other authors in the industry also got behind us and helped push us to the top. Oh, and push they did! We made the USA Today bestseller list two weeks in a row and the NY Times bestseller list one week (and counting!). We had help from our fans, bloggers in the industry, and other writers big and small. I’ll never forget the day one of my favorite writers – a woman who has sold over 25 million books worldwide and has tens of thousands of followers on Facebook – posted about us on her page! She congratulated us on our success and told her followers to go check out our book. How cool is that? I promise you, someday, I will pay that favor forward when I can.

And, last, but by no means least, are my readers! Oh, how grateful I am for all of you! I hadn’t taken the time to imagine what it would feel like to hear from a reader who loved my work until I got that first email. The feeling is incredible. When you write a book, it becomes your baby. And, then you have to put that baby out in the world and let people tell you if it was horrible or wonderful, or just plain uneventfully blah. So, you put it out there and you sit and watch your computer screen and pray. And wait. And hope.

When you guys email me or post messages for me on Facebook or write a review for me online, I do a little dance. I promise. Really, I do. It’s my happy dance. You guys bring me so much happiness. I see your names and faces on my page over and over, leaving comments and saying hello and I love seeing you all there each day!

So, in addition to my wonderful family, those are the things that I’m grateful for this year. I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you’ll have a safe and happy holiday with your loved ones this year! Thank you all for reading. Oh, and go buy some books! It’s Black Friday, after all.


BLURB:

Fans of the Sutton Capital Series have been waiting for Jennie and Chad’s story for a long time and they won’t be disappointed! And, new readers are sure to fall in love with the series.

After the crushing heartache of losing her husband at a harshly young age, Jennie Evans had finally found a place to call home. She had a job she loved and new friends to support her. With the exception of having to continuously fight off the feelings she had for Chad Thompson, she was happy again. As happy as she could be anyway. When Jennie’s well-meaning friends meddle in her life, they send her world into a tailspin once again. Soon, she’s on the run from some very dangerous people with the one man she doesn’t want to be with.

Chad Thompson has loved Jennie from afar for the last year, but he’s maintained control. Jennie’s made it clear she wants nothing to do with him and he won’t cross the line she’s drawn in the sand. Until she asks him to. And, when that happens, their world is turned upside down. Chad’s left scrambling to keep Jennie safe as he tries to right their world again. Unfortunately, Chad has to accept the fact that his heart is likely to be crushed in the process and nothing will ever be the same again.

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Excerpt:

His dark looks – even with the smattering of scars that etched his skin from his time overseas – rivaled those of the biggest and brightest stars of Hollywood. In spite of that, there wasn’t an arrogant bone in Chad’s body. This, of course, made him all the more attractive.

The man was stunningly handsome, unquestionably kind and gentle, and he sent the bones in Jennie’s body into a puddle on the floor when he glanced her way. She didn’t want to be attracted to him. But, Jennie found she couldn’t ignore his effect on her no matter how she tried. And that, unfortunately, tore at her heart. Jennie wished with all her being that Chad Thompson didn’t have such a powerful effect on her.

When Jennie had first met Chad, she tried to find faults in him. If she could get herself to see him as an arrogant jerk, she might be able to ignore the physical attraction she felt for him. It would certainly make it easier, anyway. At first, Jennie thought he was just what she hoped for: a superficial jerk with no substance under the good looks and charm. Since Chad was born into the Sutton Capital family, he could have sat back and reaped the benefits of the family business without actually doing any work. Chad only worked until three o’clock many days, making Jennie assumed he was living off of trust fund money and not really contributing at all. That made it easier to resist the outward allure.

Sadly, her first impressions didn’t last and Jennie soon had to admit that Chad was just as attractive a person on the inside as he was on the outside. It turned out that Chad left work early to volunteer at a nearby veteran’s hospital. And the more Jennie got to know Chad, the more apparent it became that he was anything but a selfish, spoiled trust fund brat. That certainly didn’t make it easier for Jennie to resist him. But, she knew in her heart, she didn’t want a relationship with him or anyone else. She didn’t want the chemistry between them to exist.



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My review:

4 out of 5 stars

This contemporary romantic suspense tale features two people who are attracted to one another yet tied to past events which prevent them from moving forward.  An assignment that is designed to force them into close proximity has very unexpected results, both in their personal and professional lives and they will have to struggle to make sure that they both survive long enough to determine where they want their relationship to go.

This was my first introduction to this series and, although there was a brief period of getting caught up on everyone's lives and connections, there wasn't an overwhelming information dump, but rather a feeling of catching up with friends.  I enjoyed the camaraderie displayed between all of the characters but confess to being a little disappointed by Jennie's struggle to face her feelings for Chad as it seemed to go on a bit too long.  Jennie's lack of openness to those who are important to her is a bit troubling but of course I realize that everyone deals with their issues differently.  For some reason, the characters occasionally seem to act a little inconsistent to me (e.g. Jennie's way of entertaining herself in the morning by trespassing) but this is a fun light read despite that and I would enjoy getting to know more about the rest of these characters.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Lori is an award winning author and stay-at-home mom. Her second book, Penalty Clause, won first place in the romance category in Lcuky Cinda Publishing’s Annual Global Writer’s Contest in 2013.

Lori has had a number of careers before embarking on her newest adventure of writing novels. After graduating from the University of Connecticut School of Law, she practiced law for three years, working primarily in the areas of utilities law and intellectual property litigation.

More recently, Lori owned and operated a dog training business in Austin, Texas, where she specialized in aggression and became an expert in the field of dog bite analysis. Lori sold her dog training business in 2013 and is now a full time writer and mother of two.

Lori still lives in Austin with her husband -- who is endlessly supportive of her changing career paths -- and her two children, one cat, and three dogs.

How can your readers follow you?

Facebook
Website
Author page on Amazon

Want to be a part of my online street team? Email me at Loriryanauthor@gmail.com and put the words ‘street team’ in the subject line. I’ll email you back with directions for joining my team.

To join my email list to receive updates and news, including sneak peeks and free giveaways or contest news, visit http://www.loriryanromance.com/#!join-my-mailing-list/cdpp

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GIVEAWAY

Lori will be awarding a $50 gift certificate to Amazon to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.  Please leave a valid e-mail address and tell us what you are thankful for or what you are hoping to be thankful for once Christmas is here, lol.

Other stops on the tour:


October 18: Unabridged Andra
October 25: Regina May Ross's Blog
November 1: Susana's Morning Room
November 8: Beyond My Writing Space - review only
November 15: Straight from the Library
November 22: Musings and Ramblings
November 29: Musings From An Addicted Reader - review only
December 6: Reading In Twilight
December 13: Crazy Four Books
December 20: Book 'Em North Carolina
January 3: Harlie's Books
January 10: Simply Ali
January 17: Booklover Sue
January 24: Brooke Blogs
January 24: Storm Goddess Book Reviews and More
January 31: Sharing Links and Wisdom