Running the Numbers by Roxanne Smith (spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Running the Numbers

by Roxanne Smith

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

He’s the hot new guy in the small-town Wyoming office, a bachelor from L.A. with a trail of divorces behind him. But something about Blake Cobb has Sadie Felix setting her sites on him—even though he might just be her biggest competition in the race for a much-coveted promotion. Still, a little workplace rivalry will only make the tension between them more thrilling. At least, that’s what Sadie hopes, until she learns Blake’s already dating the boss’s daughter…

She’s an ambitious corporate climber with a face and a body that could stop a clock. Which is exactly why Blake steers clear of Sadie Felix—he’s been there, done that, with disastrous results. Besides, his new girlfriend is a dead ringer for his first love—the one who got away. But when an office scandal throws the boss’s daughter in a new—and unflattering— light, Blake’s forced to see what’s been right in front of him all along…


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EXCERPT

“You don’t love someone because of their traits,” Sadie snapped. “I add up to more than my idiosyncrasies, more than the mere characteristics of my personality. I’m a human being with faults and fears. I make mistakes. I can be ugly, Blake. As ugly as Amanda, and far uglier than Quinn. So, no, you don’t love me. You don’t even know me.” She went to slam the door in his face.

His hand shot out, catching it and holding it. “Sadie, please.” Hardly a whisper.

Why was he doing this? With one hand, he offered her everything she wanted. With the other, he shaped it into something meaningless and lamentable.

She wanted to help him find his way, but not like this—not as the second-place runner-up for Quinn’s stand-in. “I’ve got it bad for you, Blake. You.” She took a long stride to stand in front of him and drive it home. “Not someone like you, not a suitable substitute, not someone who happens to remind me of you. I’m not settling for someone similar to you, or someone who has the same sense of humor, or the right clothes, or an interchangeable personality, or who laughs at the right jokes or cries on cue. I deserve better than that.” She clenched her jaw and ground out the last words through a sieve of iron, because it pissed her off that she needed to say them. “I am Sadie Darling Felix, and I am worth a thousand Quinns. And any man who thinks he’s going to waltz into my home and tell me I’m good enough doesn’t deserve me.”


Buy Links:

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A Florida native, Roxanne Smith has called everywhere from Houston to Cheyenne home. Currently residing in Asheville, NC, she's an avid reader of every genre, a cat lover, pit bull advocate, and semi-geek. She loves video games, Doctor Who, and her dashing husband. Her two kids are the light of her life.


Website
Twitter handle: thissmithrox
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GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here

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My review:

3.25 stars

Running the Numbers by Roxanne Smith is part of ‘The Long Shot’ romance series and features Sadie Felix, who is striving to reach the next goal in her long term plan, despite all of the obstacles in her way…jealous coworkers, a persistent and competitive ex, and the new guy in the office, Blake Cobb, who seems to have issues with distinguishing the women in his checkered past from those he is about to work with.  Sadie’s determination to be valued for herself is going to be tested, and her office…and her life, may require a complete overhaul before everything is over.

This contemporary romance reminds me of a soap opera. The undercurrents and overt hostilities of the staff in an office that is somewhat of a battlefield in fragile balance, at least until a new player is added to the mix, is complicated by the history that most of these people continue to carry with them. I was a little startled by the amount of baggage that the main characters have to deal with before they even start trying to interact with each other, and, wow, I have to say…with a best friend like that, who needs enemies? It was difficult to establish a rapport with any of these folks at first, given the amount of angst that is a major component of their psyches, but gradually some of them start to display more likeable qualities. The mystery and investigation are a bit awkward to me, and the blithe disregard for complying with office rules was disturbing and unrealistic to my way of thinking. Despite all of this, I gradually came to root for Sadie, who has the courage to demand respect and the right to be appreciated for herself, not as a substitute for an imaginary ideal. I’m not sure I am convinced by the attraction that develops between Blake and Sadie, but I certainly did enjoy some of pithy comments that result from their interactions, as well as the remarkable apologies that are offered. Those in search of a light read populated by folks who are not afraid to air their drama should definitely try this.

A copy of this title was provided to me for review.

The Bloody City by Megan Morgan (VBT, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

It is my pleasure to have a guest post by author Megan Morgan, as she shares her answer to my question...


ELF: What was the most difficult thing to overcome on your path to becoming a published author and how did you conquer it?

OVERCOMING MY GREATEST OBSTACLE

by Megan Morgan

Hello! I’m happy to be here on The Reading Addict today and sharing my work with you. I want to talk about the biggest obstacle I overcame to get to this point, and I feel like a lot of authors out there will know exactly what I’m talking about. If you don’t yet, you probably will someday.

The most difficult thing I had to overcome on my path to publication was—me!

It’s no secret writers often suffer from self-doubt. Whether still trying to get published or with fifty books in print, every time a writer puts their fingers to the keyboard and pounds out a story, they worry—that it’s not good enough, that it won’t resonate, that it’s not worth being read. I guarantee even bestselling authors are plagued by this doubt. No matter how much I love the story I’m trying to tell, I still fret over if I just churned out a big steaming pile of garbage that no one will want to read, or if they do read it, they’ll point and laugh at me.

For many years, I let self-doubt and unrealistic expectations get the best of me. I slowly built my skills and ability to tell stories, but I always jumped before I was ready, too anxious and overeager to wait until I had polished my tale to perfection. Instead of rewriting and figuring out what did and didn’t work, I just wanted something to hand to a publisher and pray they would accept it. Of course, they never did. And so, the self-loathing and worry that I would never be ‘good enough’ started again, which kept me on the cycle of churning out mediocre (and sometimes downright terrible) work in a desperate rush to get noticed and validated. I wanted to chase the storm clouds of doubt away and be a real writer. But being a real writer takes time, and getting good at it takes even longer.

I finally found the patience, not only to learn my craft correctly, but to understand everything involved in both the creative and business sides of it. I don’t know how this happened—maybe I got older, or maybe it finally all sank in. Somehow, I worked through the tangle in my head. I got serious and focused. I learned to take a deep breath, look at things again, and try to do better before I sent something out into the world. I had to overcome myself and all my negative thoughts and emotions before I could find a clear path. I had to be open to what that path might bring and not impose my own ideals on it or try to force the direction it went. The path eventually led me to the right place, and to my surprise—there was still more to learn.

The most important thing I discovered is that publication isn’t so much a destination as another step on a long, ever-evolving journey. Publication isn’t a trophy to set on the mantle. It’s another turn of a wheel that you want to keep in motion for as long as you can.

I was definitely the biggest obstacle to myself on the path to publication. I had to grow and change, and so did my work. Sometimes I look back on myself in those days and shake my head, but fondly. I never gave up, no matter how much I painted myself into a corner, and that was the important part. That’s why I get to be here today, showing off my second book in my very first published series. This is the dream sad, anxious, self-loathing me wanted so bad, I just didn’t have a clear picture of it back then.

Remember: just because you’ve been hacking away at the foliage for ages doesn’t mean you won’t eventually find a path—keep on hacking!


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The Bloody City
by Megan Morgan



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GENRE: Urban Fantasy



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BLURB:


On the run…

It’s been four months since the head of the Institute of Supernatural Research was murdered. But that doesn’t mean June Coffin is out of hiding yet. In a world where being different can get you killed, it’s best to keep a low profile. Especially for a Siren who can control other people with the call of her voice. That goes double if your powers might be inexplicably growing…

On the hunt…

But June isn’t the only one trying to clear her name. There’s Sam, the charismatic paranormal rights leader, and Micha, the first human on record to go paranormal. All of them must bargain with a mysterious vampire named Occam Reed if they want to stay alive.

Out of time…

As tensions increase between humans and paranormals, June must decide who to trust. If only she could hear the song inside her heart…


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EXCERPT

The whole thing was like attending one’s own funeral, only slightly less creepy.

Midway through the next speech, movement behind the stage caught June’s attention. A group of people were gathering back there. Her spirits lifted. Maybe the FBI was about to throw down.

“What’s going on back there?” Sam stood on his tiptoes.

“Probably more people who want to talk.” June sighed.

She skimmed the crowd, seeing if anyone looked as bored as she felt. A familiar face popped out for a split second, and she quickly looked back at the spot. She had to be imagining things.

She wasn’t.

Roughly thirty yards away in the tight-packed crowd, a man stood, staring at them. He wore a hoodie despite the heat, the hood pulled up and shielding his face. His eyes were bloodshot and watery.

“Sam.” She scrabbled at his hand. “Someone’s watching us.”

The man moved toward them. The speaker on stage had finished and other people were coming out. Sam was focused there, but he looked at June, and then around.

“Occam,” she whispered. “To the left.”

Occam pushed up next to them and stopped. His eyes were rimmed with red, his skin flushed.

“I know you’re in there,” he taunted.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sam whispered.

Dread welled in June’s chest. The intensity of Occam’s gaze chilled her to the bone beneath the blazing sun.

The blazing sun. A vampire was out in broad daylight. He didn’t even have the benefit of shade, like at the clinic. Why?

“Get out of here,” Occam said. “Or you are going to die.”



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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Megan Morgan is an urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and erotica author from Cleveland, Ohio. Bartender in an airport lounge by day and purveyor of things that go bump in the night, she’s trying to turn writing into her day job so she can be on the other side of the bar for a change. She’s a member of the RWA and author of the Siren Song urban fantasy series from Kensington Books, as well as numerous other shorter, sexy works. She resides on the shores of Lake Erie with her adult son and not-so-adult cat, the latter of which ‘helps’ her write her works by stuffing herself between writer and laptop on a regular basis.



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GIVEAWAY




a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here