Blog Tour: Code of Conduct by April White: A Smartypants Romance

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“Sharp writing, layered characters, and wonderful tension flow through this book, along with a super-swoon-worthy hero and a kick ass heroine I just love.” -- Elizabeth Hunter, USA Today bestselling author

Code of Conduct, the first in the romantic suspense Cipher Security series of standalones, from April White is available now!



RATING/REVIEW: ☕☕☕☕☕ ( 5 cups of awesomeness for a whole lot of reasons! I adore this one!)

 "Flying kisses are ones that make your insides feel like you're accelerating to reach altitude, and the moment you begin to soar, your chest can fill with air again, and your body floats free.  I never had a flying kiss and always thought Mum was talking romantic nonsense."  He took a deep breath, looked back at his hands, and smiled.  "Apparently, it wasn't nonsense."


When Smartypants Romance stated that it was going to feature different authors writing in the Penny Reid Universe aka Pennyverse, I could not contain my excitement. I adored Penny Reid from the very first book of hers I've read which happened to be Neanderthal Seeks Human. The Knitting in the City world had the most fantastic female characters ever written and of course the men that complemented these women were also spectacular. So when Code of Conduct was touted to be the first in Cipher Security Series, in the KitC world then I was all in to reading this one. I have never read anything of Ms. April White, what I do know is Ms. Reid has always praised her writing prowess and the Overlord has never led me astray with her recommendations before. Readers I am a convert of Ms. White and will be reading more of her works from now on!

Code of Conduct, from the first paragraph, has totally won me over, all because of Shane, P.I extraordinaire and could totally be Jane Bond, the California edition. I mean she's badass, confident and tall, way tall. Therefore, she needed someone as Bondish as well! Enter Gabriel Eze, British, gorgeous, former UN peacekeeper and newest Cipher Security Specialist. And yes he feels like a Bond. They even have their own Q! From the very first moment they met, and that one will go on the list for iconic meet cute, Shane and Gabriel will capture your heart, they are vibrantly alive on these pages and they are really fully fleshed out characters that you can sink your teeth into. The plot seems straightforward but then gets twisty you don't really know whats going on until the very end. The romance is perfectly paced, because these two characters might appear all put together but they have their secrets and their own personal anguish that they reveal slowly to each other. Making the declaration of I love you's quite realistic. Slow burn it might be but the sizzle is no less hot than a bonfire for these two. I love that beloved characters from KitC makes special cameos and new ones also makes appearances that makes me hopeful that Ms. White will continue writing of this world.

Code of Conduct is here! Prepare yourselves for Shane and Gabriel..... and Oscar!

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There are three things you need to know about Shane P.I.
1) P.I. is not her last name, it's her job title,
2) Her specialty is catching cheaters, and
3) She's a superhuman - kind of.

Gabriel is a security expert for Cipher Security, and a former UN Peacekeeper with a fierce protective streak that finds its focus on the beautiful P.I.

Their attraction is like an elephant in a room full of breakable things, and figuring out how to trust each other with their hearts, and maybe their lives, is the most fragile thing of all.

'Code of Conduct' is a full-length romantic suspense novel, can be read as a standalone, and is book#1 in the Cipher Security series, Knitting in the City World, Penny Reid Universe.

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Download your copy today!
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2m0Tjm3
Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2lZklKt

Excerpt

I pulled up the audio version of the newest Iron Druid book, turned my phone on speaker, and when the tub was full, I sank into the hot water with a sigh. Luke Daniels could read a shampoo bottle and I’d listen, but my mind kept drifting off of Atticus’ and Oberon’s adventures, and was instead hopping from rock to rock in the garden of ADDATA, the Quimbys, and Gabriel. I wasn’t even annoyed when the phone rang and interrupted the story, because I knew I’d have to go back to the beginning of the chapter anyway.
It was on its fourth ring when I finally dried off my hand and reached to answer it, so I hit the speaker button just as I looked at the screen.
Gabriel’s name startled me so much I didn’t say anything – I just sat up in the tub and stared at the phone.
            “Please say you’re not in the bath.” Gabriel’s voice was quiet, deep, and had a note of pleading in it.
“What do you want, Gabriel?” I moved again, and the water sloshed around me. I knew he could hear it because he groaned softly.
“Where to begin.” It was almost a whisper, and the words sent a shiver through me. He cleared his throat and continued in his normal, beautiful voice. “We had a call from Quimby. He said he’d found you and wondered what we were going to do about it.” I didn’t say anything, and the silence lasted two long heartbeats. “Are you okay?” he finally asked, quietly.
“He saw me turn from Bryn Mawr onto Sheridan. I lost him in the alleys.”
Gabriel exhaled. “Good.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be finding his money? Or his wife? Or something else he misplaced?”
“Do you have his money or his wife?” he asked
 “No.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? What exactly do you want from me, Gabriel?” I sat forward and the water sloshed again. I traced the ripples with my fingers as I heard his sigh.
“I don’t know. I just know that every time you move, I hear the water in your bath, and I imagine …” He exhaled sharply. “Be careful, darling. I don’t trust Quimby not to try to hurt you if he can. Don’t let him catch you.”
 “You haven’t caught me yet, and you’re far more resourceful than that little man.”
He chuckled softly. “Yet.” He hung up the phone without saying goodbye, and Luke Daniels’ voice returned, continuing the story as I sank down in the water and let its heat lap over the chills on my skin.

About April White
April White has been a film producer, private investigator, bouncer, teacher and screenwriter. She has climbed in the Himalayas, survived a shipwreck, and lived on a gold mine in the Yukon. She and her husband share their home in Southern California with two extraordinary boys and a lifetime collection of books.
Her first novel, Marking Time is the 2016 winner of the Library Journal Indie E-Book Award for YA Literature, and all five books in the Immortal Descendants series are on the Amazon Top 100 lists in Time Travel Romance and Historical Fantasy.

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