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Hi guys, we have Kathryn Sparrow visiting us today with her new release Alpha Coder, we have a great guest post from Kathryn, there’s a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and we have Shorty’s review, so enjoy the post and click that rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~

Alpha Coder

(Geek Pack 01)

Kathryn Sparrow

As the second son, Liam Reed never expected to be a werewolf Alpha. He preferred to develop software for Soft Corp, but when his brother Jason died in a car accident, their father forced Liam to assume leadership of the pack. Liam plans to govern with compassion, instead of ruling through fear, but pack member Bradley Karr undermines Liam’s leadership, biding his time before challenging for Alpha. Tired of pack politics, all Liam wants is to program and find his mate, but he fears that neither is in his future.

When his mate, werewolf Cody Jones, starts working at Soft Corp as Liam’s intern, sparks fly. However, a relationship with Cody could get them both fired for fraternization. And, that’s not the worst problem. Cody doesn’t seem to accept Liam as his mate.

Liam’s only chance at happiness is to win Cody over while keeping their relationship a secret. But really, Cody would never stay with an introverted geek like him, an ineffectual Alpha failing to live up to his brother’s legacy. Would he?

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To Duck or Flunge

My name is Kathryn Sparrow and I am the author of Alpha Coder. Thanks to MM Good Book Reviews for having me here today.

In my junior year of High School, I was given the opportunity to learn how to fence. I had never been much into sports, but the idea of learning to fight with a sword appealed to me. Although I only actively fenced for three years, I feel very connected to the sport.

I decided that Cody, one of the main characters in Alpha Coder, would share my love of swords and be a fencer.

There are three weapons in the modern Olympic sport of fencing: foil, epee, and sabre. I fenced foil. In foil competitions only the torso is target (no arms, legs, or head) and you must hit with the tip of the weapon.

I’ve known people who fence each weapon and as I considered which weapon would interest Cody, I thought he would most enjoy sabre. Sabre is the fastest weapon. It has a larger target than foil (torso, arms, and head) and not only can you score with the tip, you can score with the edge of the weapon.

When I wrote the fencing chapter, I drew on my experiences to try and give the reader a feel for what a real competition would be like, including the ups and downs. Sometimes you fence someone more than once in a tournament and the outcome of the first bout does not guarantee the outcome of the second. I personally lost a bout early in a competition and later beat the same opponent.

In Alpha Coder, for the deciding bout, I wanted the final touch to be dramatic. In early drafts of the book, I had Cody do a defensive move that I’ve seen in my own competitions that looks very impressive.

He ducked.

He bent his legs so he was under his opponent’s blade and hit his opponent from his crouched position.

I had no idea there was an issue with the description I gave, but there was.

I learned my error when my daughter started taking fencing lessons. I was thrilled that she showed an interest in the sport that I cared so much about. She started learning sabre because that’s what the local club teaches.

One night, I was working on writing while keeping an ear on her lesson and her coach described various defensive moves to the class. He talked about how ducking is a terrible move in sabre. In sabre the head is target and the side of the weapon can score so if someone ducks, you just lower you blade and they are hit!

My clever move was clever… in foil, where hitting the head doesn’t score and when you duck, the tip is no longer pointing at you.

I did some research and spoke with her coaches before re-writing the scene. I found a move that actually looks even cooler. I had Cody perform a flunge.

Flunge is the name of a flying lunge. The sabre fencer leaps into the air moving forward to hit their opponent.

Here’s a link to an image of a flunge. Pretty impressive!

I re-wrote the scene secure in the knowledge that the move was a valid sabre attack that also looked awesome.

If this article has peaked your interest in fencing, here are a few resources to check out:

http://fie.org/ http://www.usfencing.org/ http://www.fencing.net/ http://www.olympic.org/fencing https://askfred.net/ http://www.absolutefencinggear.com/shopping/

Excerpt

Now, he was watching Cody stand dejectedly in a corner, waiting to hear who he would face in the single elimination round. Every line of his body expressed defeat. Liam couldn’t have that. This was Cody, the person who had helped him stand up and be a better alpha. He walked toward him without even thinking.

“Where are you going?” Julie asked.

Liam turned to her. “He looks like he could use a pep talk.” He strode away quickly before Julie could respond. He walked around fencers in various positions in the salle and right up to Cody.

Cody gazed at Liam with a half smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. His body drooped as a droplet of sweat ran down his cheek.

Placing his hand on his mate’s shoulder, Liam focused on Cody. “That first round is in the past now. I know you can do this.”

Cody met Liam’s gaze. “What?”

“You have failure written all over you, but you’re not done. You’re as good as anyone here, and you will win your next bout.”

His eyes lighting with a more genuine smile, Cody smirked. “You don’t know shit about fencing.”

Liam drew a deep breath and spoke with the authority of a true alpha. “No, but I know you, the person who is always there for me. You’re strong, Cody Jones. You want this. Take it.”

Cody stood straighter, chin up. “I will.”

As Liam walked back to his seat, he felt encouraged, but his stomach flipped. Julie glared at him. Liam really wanted to have a talk with her, but what could he say that wouldn’t compromise his position at Soft Corp?

About Kathryn

Kathryn Sparrow has had stories spinning around in her head her whole life and finally decided it was time to write them down. For twenty years, she worked in the Software Industry as a Software Quality Engineer, so she gets a particular thrill including geeks in her stories. Now, she is a stay-home mom although she thinks that’s a terrible name for the job since she spends so much time driving her kids to their various activities. She lives in Massachusetts with her geek husband and adorable, infuriating daughters, who are too smart for their Mommy’s own good. If she had spare time she would spend it knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, and doing any other handicrafts that caught her fancy.

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Review

Title: The Alpha Coder

Series: Geek Pack 01

Author: Kathryn Sparrow

Genre: Fantasy & Paranormal, Shapeshifters

Length: Novel (251 pages)

ISBN: 978-1-62300-953-3

Publisher: Loose ID (July 27, 2015)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Shorty

Blurb: As the second son, Liam Reed never expected to be a werewolf Alpha. He preferred to develop software for Soft Corp, but when his brother Jason died in a car accident, their father forced Liam to assume leadership of the pack. Liam plans to govern with compassion, instead of ruling through fear, but pack member Bradley Karr undermines Liam’s leadership, biding his time before challenging for Alpha. Tired of pack politics, all Liam wants is to program and find his mate, but he fears that neither is in his future.

Product Link: http://www.loose-id.com/geek-pack-1-alpha-coder.html

Review: This is the first book in Geek Pack series. Liam and Cody, both werewolves, meet at work when Cody is hired as Liam’s new intern. Fraternization between them is forbidden but they both find it hard to resist the other considering they are mates. At first Cody does not want anything to do with Liam in that regard because he has plans to finish school and make something of himself before settling down. Liam has no choice but to give Cody time and hope for the best. I really liked this couple as they seemed well suited for the other. Cody helped soothe the pack as well as helped calm Liam down when he was angry and Liam helped bolster Cody’s confidence when it was needed.

I seriously could not stand three people in this story and wanted to slap them all. One Is Tiger, the head of HR. He seemed extremely arrogant and wielded his position like he was god firing people for breaking the fraternization rule and refusing any recommendations afterwards. I never really understood why he was constantly after Liam as it was never really explained. Not to mention near the end what did the CEO summon him for? The answer was never given unless I missed it so I was confused at that.

The next person was Julie, Cody’s friend and office mate. She was so annoying in her attempts to get Cody it was nauseating. Cody should have done a much better job explaining he did not want her than he did. The third person was Bradley, a werewolf part of Liam’s pack. I could not believe the lengths he went to to gain the alpha status for himself. It was despicable and underhanded.

The story was well written with suspense and mystery. I found myself riveted by the story line and did not stop reading until the very end. It was an amazing book with some hot sex between two men who had never been with another man before. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series. Highly recommended.