Guest Post: Exchange of Fire by P.A. DePaul

Exchange of Fire

SBG, #1
P.A. DePaul

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Penguin InterMix
Date of Publication: August 19th 2014
Number of pages: 391
Cover Artist: Rita Frangie

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN     Kobo     ARe     eBooks

Faking her death was easy, living with her past is harder, but nothing is more dangerous than falling in love…

Sandra Walsh was a deadly sniper for the Sweet Briar Group, a covert agency with assassins for hire, until her last mission went horribly wrong, accidentally killing an innocent girl. Knowing she’s a danger to her team, Sandra goes off the grid, becoming a Shade—an agent declared dead but secretly hiding among the living. She intends to honor her vow never to pull another trigger or have contact with the spy world again. Until she meets Casper Grady…

Grady is a former Marine with a troubled past and a debt to pay. His life mission has gone from protecting the nation to helping local children and their families. The moment he meets Sandra, he knows there’s more to her than meets the eye, but he can’t help but be drawn to the mysterious femme fatale. And when Sandra’s past suddenly catches up to her, Grady is determined to protect her at all costs, no matter how dark and dangerous her secrets are.

As the danger increases, so does their intense attraction. But when they’re forced to choose between each other and the people they’ve sworn to protect, their growing love might not be enough to keep them together—or alive…

Rapid Review: 
I read this book back in December, when I signed up for the blog tour. I had heard wonderful things about it from Anna over at Herding Cats and Burning Soup, and I love a strong female not afraid of using a gun, so this seemed right up my alley.

We meet Wraith (Sandra Walsh) just before the incident that pushes her into faking her own death.  Which means, we are introduced to this strong character, but then we see her break and most of the rest of the book is her putting herself back together, with the help of her team and the man she has come to love while in hiding.

There is plenty of action to satisfy most any adrenaline junkie, with some steamy smexy scenes added for good measure. If you like conflict between your romantic leads, you won't be disappointed. There were several instances where I wanted to grab them both and smack their heads together because they weren't communicating with each other. Overall, I enjoyed the book and gave it 3 stars.

Guest Post: 
Hello Musings and Ramblings!! I too am a self-professed bookworm and geek girl! I’m so glad to be here today talking about strong female assassins.

A little introduction: My name is P.A. DePaul and I’m the author of the Romantic Suspense SBG series. Exchange of Fire, SBG #1 introduces a clandestine Black Ops team working for SweetBriar Group (AKA SBG), a corporation the rest of the world believes is an environmental company.

When I had an inkling that I wanted to write a Romantic Suspense novel, the first character who came to mind was Wraith (AKA Sandra Walsh). I knew instantly the heroine would be a badass sniper for a Black Ops agency.

Why a sniper? Because it’s not a role women are encouraged to participate in.

Women have proven to be some of the best snipers in the world, but you rarely hear about them. For some reason, there’s still a taint when it comes to women specializing in this field. I think it’s because men typically feel threatened when the power shifts from them to women. In a role where a female could end their life from a zip code away, has to really make men twitchy.

As I worked through developing Wraith’s character, it became important to me to show her not only as a badass, but also how she has a feminine side too. It would be really easy to portray Wraith as a dominating woman, barreling through men to accomplish her goals. But that would feel like cheating. In my mind, Wraith needed to be the total package. As an assassin on a Black Ops squad, she’s not always going to be in a situation where she can hide behind her rifle scope. She also needed to be able to charm a man using her looks and femininity to her advantage.

To bring her life, I needed to research. I read books such as Seal Team Six by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin, and American Sniper by Chris Kyle (may he rest in peace). I performed countless internet searches based on the terms they used so I could know all the nuances of her rifle and what actions she’d perform. But hands down, the best knowledge I gathered was by talking to one of the top snipers in the country. I met him at the Writer’s Police Academy last year and I’ve thank the lord every day for having him as one of my contacts. He drew pictures in my notebook, illustrated points on his rifle, and answered a ton of emails about his profession. Having this hands-on knowledge gave Wraith multi-dimensions and allowed her to become more believable.

Wraith experiences a lot on the pages of Exchange of Fire, some of them awesome, others horrific. What makes the journey worth it is meeting her match. Our hero Casper Grady is a former Marine who doesn’t allow anyone to push him around.

Thank you so much for spending time with me today!! Also, thank you to Ramblings and Musings for hosting me! Do you have any questions? Don’t be shy. I want to know what you’re thinking. Want to know more about researching? About Exchange of Fire? Wondering what’s coming next in the SBG series?

Giveaway: 
PA is offering a tour wide giveaway of:

• 5-- $10 Amazon or B&N gift cards (winner’s choice) 
• plus 4 e-copies of Exchange of Fire (sent via Netgalley). 

Entry-Form

Author Bio:

P.A. DePaul is a multi-genre romance author including paranormal fantasy and romantic suspense. She originally hails from Carroll County and Baltimore County, Maryland, but also lived in Macon and Warner Robins, Georgia. She currently resides in a beautiful community just outside Philadelphia. Exchange of Fire is the first novel in the SBG series with the second novel, Shadow of Doubt, releasing April 2015

To connect with the author online:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads


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