Review and Guest Post: Emotionally Compromised by A. Rosa

Emotionally Compromised

By: A. Rosa

Blurb

"A smile will get you far, but a smile and a gun will get you farther" -Al Capone.

Federal Agent Alex Turner deals better with guns than boyfriends, and prefers it that way. Her emotional range is bleak, but her aim is damn near perfect.

Thinking saving the world is a far easier task than dating, Agent Turner springs at the opportunity to prevent young scientist Marcus Gibbs from selling his biological weapon to the highest bidder. With her goal in sight, and Marcus eating out of the palm of her hand, an obstacle she doesn't see coming interferes. Meet Jeremy Hunt -- the distractingly handsome CEO of Sunscape Biotechnologies, and Marcus's boss and best friend.

A man who is accustomed to getting what he wants, Jeremy's never been one to take no for an answer, which has Agent Turner realizing for the first time that her wit might get her farther than her weapon. With no protocol or training to reference when it comes to matters of the heart, she worries that this might be her hardest assignment yet.

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Teaser 

I try to soften my expression and unclench my fists as I stand before Marcus. The deep-seated hatred I feel for this man is indescribable, but I keep my cool. I don't have a choice.

Marcus's eyes feel heavy as they drag down my body and then back up, bouncing as they catch my eyes. His demeanor is harsher than I remember of the pleading boy I first encountered at the club. Despite his transformation, I feel like the man could show a little, I don't know, remorse? Decency? There is no shame in his salacious expression. I'm tempted to comment on his audacity.

Bravo, sir. You have made me feel incredibly uncomfortable in under thirty seconds.

Although, this might be my angle. I take another drag from my cigarette, smiling but eyeing him suspiciously. He lets the silence hang, and my patience wanes.

Fine, have it your way, Marcus. "I hope you don't mind my intrusion." I pout.

He shrugs, and I worry that he either knows my secrets, or is hiding his own.

I'll take option two, please.

"Glad to have some company, actually. What's your excuse?"

I raise an eyebrow, and I let my lip twitch, pondering his question. He doesn't seem too attached to his date. Thinking about that horrid woman, my eyes dart to the glowing windows. I spot Jeremy's towering, broad frame on the dance floor. My heart skips a beat. He is already dancing with her. He's smiling; she's smiling.

It's all going according to plan, isn't it? I feel my stomach plummet with jealousy. I take a deep breath, feeling the crisp night air burning an icy path where the cigarette smoke once was, trying to regain my focus.

"So, I see even you aren't immune to the Jeremy Hunt effect." Marcus interrupts my reverie. He takes a long drag, not taking his eyes off me.

Marcus is either entirely driven by his drug habit, or he has managed to accrue a substantial amount of confidence between now and our front door encounter almost a week ago. It’s in his eyes. Before he couldn’t even hold my gaze, but now his eyes are determined, teetering on piercing. I want to be impressed, but instead, I see it as another opportunity to work to my advantage.

I peruse the veranda, checking for any familiar faces. There is only one other couple out here canoodling, which means few observers. As my eyes swing back around, Derek makes his entrance onto the balcony through the double doors. Perfect timing, as usual.

Derek's lips don't move, and he doesn't make eye contact, but my earpiece buzzes with his disapproving tone. "Are you really smoking right now?"

The corner of my mouth twitches with a lingering smile. I take a defiant stance and take a long drag, bringing my eyes back to Marcus.

                                    Pretty Package With a Bad-Ass Bow

                                                           By: A. Rosa

I had one goal in mind when writing my first novel:

I wanted a strong, kick-ass female character. Period.  (No transitioning hormonal female pun intended).

While making it a point to read a lot of books last year, I realized I had pretty much only read Romance —this was an accident, but I found myself such a sucker for the genre. Who doesn’t love: girl-meets-boy, girl-falls-in-love with boy? *Fans-self* “Oh-Oh! ME!”

However, there was something frustrating about half of the books I read.

Their leading lady was flimsy, and at the whim of her leading man. The build of her confidence would be slow, and overwhelmingly frustrating to me, and all I thought was:

When does the girl get to take the wheel on this weird road of love?

Well, the truth of the matter is, men never let woman drive.

I needed to change that.

Finding that my first novel fit nicely into the genre of “Romantic Suspense” I found a home for my gun-wielding, witty main character, Special Agent Alex Turner, who’s lack of patience was a perfect characteristic for a woman who made her own destiny rather then simply let things happen.

I think Agent Turner, gives the female lead, and the avid romance reader, hope.

A main character perfectly flawed, but driven to do better, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Not to mention I wanted my main character to have the emotional range of a teenage boy, because let’s face it, not all girls know what the hell to do with their emotions.

Okay, I must confess something though, because my main character is not only emotionally underdeveloped, but a federal agent; trained to kill on a whim, her morality hits a grey area constantly when it comes to the value of a human life, and on top of everything else she openly prefers her gun to a boyfriend.

So, is she an impressively strong female lead, or an emotional nightmare? I like the dichotomy.

This is why I fell in love with the idea of this novel.

You’re suddenly being lead by Agent Turner, and you want her to succeed in a myriad of different ways. In Emotionally Compromised, she struggles to do her job, somehow manages a potential love interest, while at the same time keeping her sense of self, and doing the right thing —whether that means pulling the trigger, or taking down her emotional wall to do something as simple as telling her boyfriend how she feels. She’d argue pulling the trigger might be easier.

With Emotionally Compromised I wanted a pretty package with a bad-ass bow to place on top of it. I wanted a fluid combination of personal growth, wonderfully complicated emotional range, and heartfelt struggles of a powerful woman that could kick the butt of the average female lead.

I think I might have done it, and I hope the readers think so too.

Review
This romance strikes a perfect balance between the kinds hot scenes we all love and quality characters. Agent Turner, for example, is strong, but has her...let's say quirks, making her believably real, because, let's face it, who among us isn't quirky? It's easy to become emotionally invested with characters like these.
It was also easy to become invested in the plot. The romance was hot (and okay, it kind of made me wish there was a someone special in my life) and the suspense was can't-go-to-bed-I-have-to-know-what-happens-next addictive. I'll definitely be looking for more of A. Rosa's books in the future!

Rating

Author Info

A. Rosa lives in San Diego, California. When she isn’t scouring city parks or cafe’s to write she is more than likely trying to convince her friends to join her on her next adventure. A sufferer of wanderlust, she is always looking for a new mountain to climb, a canyon to hike, or a plane to board. Her resume consists of coroner, to working at a zoo, and most recently as an executive assistant, but finds her home amongst words, whether it be in books, or in film. Her obsessions are on the brink of bizarre, but that’s just the way she likes it. 

Author Links

www.authorarosa.com

https://www.facebook.com/author.arosa

https://twitter.com/_pink_dandelion

https://www.goodreads.com/pink_dandelion

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