Lori will be awarding a $50 gift certificate to Amazon to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, so make sure you leave a comment and email address. Good luck! You can follow along with the tour here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/09/virtual-nbtm-tour-negotiation-tactics.html
Negotiation Tactics: Book Three in the Sutton Capital Series
by Lori Ryan
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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 One:
Chad suppressed a grin as he watched Jennie. At the moment, Jennie and Chad were in the pool at Kelly and Jack’s house, where everyone had gathered for one last party before the baby arrived. Chad stood on one side of a volleyball net and Jennie stood on the other. Somewhere along the way, he’d forgotten what Jennie was arguing about, but he didn’t care. Chad loved to see her fiery eyes sparkle as she fisted small hands on her hips and lit into him. She barely reached his chest, but she should get points for trying. Jennie tossed her head, flinging her strawberry-blond curls out behind her and kept right on going.
Chad loved this side of Jennie. She was bold and brash and confident. She was feisty and fun loving and nothing seemed to frighten her. Not many women Jennie’s size – a mere 5’4” and 115 pounds – would try the things she did with Chad. At 6’4” and about 265 pounds of pure muscle, there weren’t many people who treated Chad the way Jennie did. Jennie taunted and teased Chad at every turn, almost as if she were two or three feet taller than him.
Chad knew why she did it. They both felt the wild attraction that sizzled between them and they both worked hard to control it. With so many mutual friends, coupled with the fact that they worked together all day during the week, they couldn’t avoid seeing one another. So Jennie seemed to deal with things by throwing her saucy, cheeky attitude at him all the time. It was almost as if she tried to keep their interactions superficial, never going deeper than the surface. If she was busy yelling at him or taunting him, there wasn’t any room for anything else.
Welcome Lori Ryan! Please start off by telling us a little about yourself.
Hi there! Thank you for having me today. It’s always fun making the blog tour rounds and meeting my readers along the way. A little about me, huh? Well, I live in Austin, Texas with my husband, two kids, three dogs and a cat. It’s a little bit of a madhouse, but it works for us.
Is Negotiation Tactics a single title, or part of a series?
It’s part of the Sutton Capital Series and I think it’s the best one yet. I think as a writer, I’ve been developing and getting better and better and I also think the characters in this book are my favorites so far (but only by a tiny margin!).
What were your inspirations for the story?
These two characters appeared in the previous books and I just knew they needed their own story. I’ve been looking forward to writing their story all along and I know from reader emails that people have wanted it for a long time, too!
Please share your setting for Negotiation Tactics. Have you ever lived or visited there? If so, what did you like most?
This book takes place in a few locations. The characters live in Connecticut, where I lived for several years. They also spend time at a tropical resort (who doesn’t love one of those?) and in a cabin in New Hampshire, where I also lived for several years. I actually hit three of my favorite locations all in one book!
When did the writing bug first bite?
Last year. I was pregnant and couldn’t do much physically so I read a ton of romance novels. Pretty soon, I wanted to try writing one. I published the first book in this series, Legal Ease, in April of this year, I think.
Who are you favorite authors, book/series?
Oh, I just have so many, it’s hard to name them. I recently discovered Liliana Hart’s Addison Holmes series and those just make me laugh. She combines humor with drama and suspense and hot romance. What could be better?
If you could have an author roundtable discussion with any authors, who would you invite?
Some of my friends from the world of romantic suspense: Dana Marton, Jill Sanders, Kaylea Cross, Donna Fasano… that’s another list that would quickly be too long!
Do you have any hobbies or special things you like to do in your spare time?
I really spend all of the free time I have right now writing. I have two kids under the age of four so free time is non-existent. Whenever I can, I sit down and write.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve heard or seen?
I just discovered this video on Facebook. Who does this? It’s just awful. http://www.700wlw.com/pages/onair_scottsloan.html?article=11683702
Where has this series been and why am I just NOW reading the 3rd book in the series? I must rectify this quickly. This is such a great book. The characters are engaging, the plot flowed and the dialogue, inner and between Chad and Jennie is believable. Plus, even though I haven’t read the other books, I never felt lost with the secondary characters. That’s good writing and being able to feel like I’ve known them even without reading their books.
What I really enjoyed was how much Chad really loved Jennie. He loved her for who and what she was, even knowing that she couldn’t get past losing her childhood sweetheart. That really pulled at my heartstrings. I felt bad for him in some ways but it was the respect that he had for her that did me in. *sigh*
I will have to say that sometimes Jennie got on my nerves a bit with her NOT getting over Kyle. I realize that losing him at an early age was hard but with some encouragement from her parents and Kyle’s parents, you would think that she would have moved on but she didn’t. It wasn’t until she truly got in trouble that she finally realized how much Chad meant to her and her life going forward.
But my favorite thing about Chad and Jennie is the trope of second chances/friends to lovers. I’m a sucker for the tropes and yes, there is another one there, too but to tell you would completely spoil the book for you. Ms. Ryan does a great job balancing the smexy times, suspense element and the friendship that Chad and Jennie had before they slept together. Their relationship is utterly believable and I must go back and read about them in the earlier books. 🙂
Overall, I can’t wait to read another Lori Ryan book. She has written a great book about two people that fell in love with each other when they didn’t want to. True love waits for no one and Chad & Jennie should have know this when they first made love to each other. *sigh*
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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?
To follow me on Facebook, visit: http://www.facebook.com/loriryanromance
To visit my website, visit: http://www.loriryanromance.com/
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.
To buy my books, visit my author page on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/loriryan.
Great review. Thank you for the chance to win. 214prez@gmail.com
Liked the interview. THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
Thank you all for coming by and thank you for the wonderful review, Harlie! It means so much to hear that someone likes my work.
Lori!
Nice review and interview
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Ohhh! Second chance! Love it! 🙂
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
I enjoyed the post thank you & a very helpful review.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BOOK AND TOUR! THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY! calicolady60@hotmail.com
Love your dogs! Giant Schnauzers? We had a few minis growing up. Wonderful companions. Anyway, congrats on your new book! Best of luck with it. ^_^
cloud.weaver.girl AT gmail DOT com
Hi! They are actually both labradoodles but the black one looks a lot like a giant schnauzer – we cut him that way a lot of the time:)
Thanks for the interesting interview and review. OK, there are actually 3 (or rather 2.5) books in front of this one. Is it necessary to read those other books before reading this one? Sometimes it is beneficial to read books in order, but other times even books written with a common theme/thread can be stand-alone.
Hi! All can be read as stand-alone but I hope after you read one, you’ll want to read them all:)
Great review and excerpt. I’m looking forward to reading the book.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
I haven’t read this author yet. This story sounds like one I’d really enjoy. I’ll be adding it to my TBR stack. Enjoyed the review. Thanks 🙂
Great interview and review.
Happy reading,
Mary Lou