| Title | : | The Rules of the Game (DArth #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle , Hardcover , Paperback , Audiobook & More |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published December 18, 2012 |
This job is the key to Jane's future and she's been given a great opportunity, but now she needs to prove that her promotion was justified. She just isn't sure she can survive in this high pressure environment with hidden dangers and equal exhilaration. Her mentor's support is the only thing that is keeping D'Arth from ripping her to pieces.
The Rules of the Game (DArth #1) Reviews
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I'm sorry to say that this one didn't work for me. This author's writing style was a bit stilted for me. There was more telling than showing. The enemies to lovers progression between the MCs wasn't properly built up to be truly believable or enjoyable. I think the author was trying to write a slow burn romance, but it was more of a spontaneous combustion.
I couldn't connect with either MC. The h spends the first 50% of this story feeling insecure, the H is dismissive of her, and she hates herself for starting to feel attracted to him. I don't enjoy stories where women can't help but be hormonal, mute puddles around a handsome man. This h eventually snaps out of it, but it just took too long and by then I didn't care anymore. We also hear plenty about the other women whom he's dated. I seriously wanted him to stop mentioning them. It was annoying and detracted from whatever he was feeling (or in this case trying not to feel) for the h.
And as unenjoyable as this story was, it ends unresolved. "The End- for now" is what we get for sticking out to the end. I am not a happy camper.
Safety
A note on the writing/editing: it really needed another proof. Part of the reason this was hard to read were all the comma splices, fragments, and run-on sentences. -
Well I finally found this book. It's under another pen name, Shel Stone, and is called 'A Thin Line'.
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FREE on Amazon US today (4/3/2013)
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SURPRISINGLY AN ENDEARING SWEET STORY..., May 5, 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: The Game (Kindle Edition)
I actually think this is surprisingly very good, there's a substance to the story. True, for those who found this boring, there is a lot of talk of corporate merger; about brainstorming; the actual building of a project; putting it into motion; finding the right financial backers; present it and ultimately take it to the highest level...that is, winning the bid. So for those who have never been exposed to this type of conglomerate business projects or acquisitions would likely get bored. Especially no hot steamy vulgar sex scenes which is so prominently dominant amongst books nowadays, and the so called cliffhanger that comes with 2-3 sequels, so yes, this would probably be boring.
This is not just all about mergers and acquisition but fears and apprehension of actual people involved and seeing the completion and ensuring the success all the way through.
The true heart of the story is about Damon D'Arth and Jane Burrows going through fighting the strong attraction to each other, aware of the company's office policy of not condoning fraternizing among employees. There's also the issue of trust, each worked for the two opposite company's that are merging, seeing that Jane is the corporate performance monitor for the other side, Damon suspects Jane is somewhat of a spy. When an important big project took them both to Singapore and worked side by side, the attraction grew between them and eventually gave in and slept together. Determined not to get emotionally involved, Damon pushed Jane away by blatantly telling her not to expect anything, that nothing would come out of their sleeping together. You'd be surprised and be proud of how Jane took this and how she dealt with it, the girl knows how to back a man down. You have to read this, the sexual tension is strong and smoking between Jane and Damon whenever they were around each other. This is an easy good read, you'll love Damon, he's such a hot, sexy but intriguing man who's so in love with Jane but does not know it or refuses to accept it. Don't miss out on this because of two bad reviews, the story has its merits, besides, it's Free, how can you go wrong? -
If you like a sweet but level headed h who doesn’t fall all over the office panty-dropper and keeps him guessing till the very end, then you may like this book. To give him credit, he doesn't go for office romance (read office girls) himself and tries to keep things professional.
This is an office romance with a difference in that that these people really do work and not just indulge in all-over-any-surface sex. In fact the work details were info-dumpingly tedious especially in the beginning but if you patiently chaff out the romance, it will be rewarding.
(They do have sex in case you’re wondering.)
Camille Oster says she writes original stories and believe me, she does!
Nothing tropey, nothing cheesy here. -
I really loved this story as romance develops very slowly between arrogant, superficial, but beautiful and brilliant Mr. All-that and plain Jane, when he takes off his blinders, starts to see beyond the surface, and grows to appreciate and then love her depth of character, competence, perseverance, and ethics instead of just judging women based on image and a one-sided concern about what they can do for him. This novel contains very well-developed story and characters, even the secondary ones; I loved wily old Mr. Carmichael! I also found the back story of the wheeling, dealing, and back-stabbing in the international world of mega-business complex, well-built, and fascinating.I personally did not mind the abrupt ending, cracks in the hard and solid walls protecting someone like Damon's heart would not come easily and the dawning knowledge that to love means to change and grow, even if you have deluded yourself into thinking that you are just perfect as you are, would undoubtedly cause a great deal of anguish. All that is necessary is to start the cracks and know that, sooner or later, the walls are history. The author can just leave the rest up to the reader's imagination, and in mine, the poor baby, left vulnerable and defenseless when his protective shell cracks and crumbles, would not stand a chance against the redoubtable Jane's love.
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I really enjoyed this book. I liked how when I was reading it, I could see the story actually happening, there weren't really any elements where I would say that would never happen. I also liked how the characters engaged on both the personality level, but also on their professional role level, making it a much more complex relationship.
The ending was abrupt, but I think it was appropriate for the story. I love that it didn't devolve into the emasculating grovel that some stories seem to go for, where you completely lose respect for the male character as he confesses that everything he knew of everything was wrong. He was a hard man at the beginning and a hard man at the end.
So it was a 5 star for me. I thought it was a subtle and sophisticated story. -
This book was a 3.5 read to me
The story was flowing really nice, expecting a confession and a change in relationship status for the two main characters then it suddenly ended. I was really disappointed it ended so fast and that there was no epilogue which would of brought everything together. -
i was really enjoying this book then it got to a very interesting part and bang the end couldnt believe it would have got 5 stars if more time and effort went into the ending such a let down :(
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SUPER SEXY, SIZZLE, HEAT-FILLED ROMANCE
Slow burning romance. No insta-lust here (hate that). But a cat-and-mouse game.
Heroine: early-to-mid twenties, blonde, pretty and intelligent.
Jane isn't a LOOK-AT-ME-I'M-SO-SPECIAL kind of girl. She's the girl next door, pretty ordinary, WHOLESOME and endearing without trying. She has an inner strength that Damon (the hero) pushes. Because she doesn't try to gain attention (she's not rude, aggressive or too sweet/ saccharine or melodramatic) it works in her favour. She's professional but friendly. (She'[s not like those heroines who are rude to the rich powerful hero to gain his attention)
Damon: good-looking, successful Alpha male. Blond, tall, and powerful. He's almost the sociopath CEO type - focused predator, controlled and without close attachments. However, when he meets Jane he begins to slowly appreciate the ordinary things in life - such as holding hands and walking along the street with someone you admire. She doesn't change him - or make him realise OMG-WHAT-WOULD-I-DO-WITHOUT-YOU but she does show him that "wholesome" and "domesticated" doesn't mean boring.
The only thing I find odd is that why do authors assume business men enjoy being I tabloids photographed with multiple women? Most businessmen prefer a discreet professional PR image
Plot: I loved reading about Jane's career, how it moves strength to strength and her how her hard work pays off. Damon's respect for her when she accomplishes a difficult task. And the industry she works in sounds fascinating. I also loved the nuanced writing style and the descriptions titbits of Australia, Singapore and New Zealand.
The ending was rather abrupt - there ought to have been an epilogue but I think that's due tot he author turning this into a series (and unfortunately the next series don't sound very interesting). Which is a shame
One of my favourite romance books I read this year.
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This is a fantastic book, filled with 2 people with so much passion & chemistry they bring the pages alive with the heat they have with each other. Jane Burrows a system analysist with a firm that is involved in major world infrastructure of a global scale.
Damon D'Arth the hot boss that she believes is out of her league, so she just doesn't try. They actually don't like each other at the start, mostly due to office politics. Her boss, Edmund Carmichael & Damon are on 2 different wave lengths of thought, or so she thinks.
While in Singapore things change, dramatically. They have an affair, or at least that's what they call it. Damon says he doesn't do the girlfriend thing. Yeah tell us another one, we know where this is going & we enjoy the ride all the way.
They both struggle with all what happens & fight it till the bitter end. They love each other & it will catch them. Jane realises it first, but has resigned herself to the thought that she doesn't fit in his world. Damon can't stop thinking of her, no matter what he does. She has a hold on him that he can't explain.
The HEA takes us right until the end & honestly I started to think that it may not happen. But the author came through for the seasoned romantic that I am & we get the glorious ending that we needed. Very enjoyable story, keep them coming. -
Well, apart from the numerous editing issues (missing words, grammatical errors), this book held my attention until about 80 % through. By this point, the back-and-forth internal dialogues were getting a bit tiresome, and I realized the story would probably continue in a second book. And it did. I won't be picking up the next book, because I feel their story could have been told in one (slightly longer) book.
The Pros
- Good sexual tension
- Strong, career-driven female protagonist
- Secondary characters without their own storylines, simply there to round the core story out and serve as supporters or antagonists
- Interesting work environment
- Mature characters
The Cons
- Editing issues, for example missing words that cut up the flow of the reading
- Inconsistencies in characterization
- No real character development
- Most of the love story is already told, no need for a sequel
- Too much back-and-forth reasoning that affected the pacing -
I loved everything about this book except for the very ending. Actually I can't even call it an ending because I felt like it just stopped in the middle of a thought. There's no book two and the book just ended. Like a road that randomly just throws up a construction sign once you're already in construction. WTF
I wouldn't be so pissed of the book hadn't held my attention the entire time. If I had just thought the characters or plot was so so I would understand why it just ended, but damn, just as we we're about to get a resolution it just ends, and you can guess what will happen but why wouldn't the author offer some type of closure?
Okay, I've ranting and I'm still pissed but I'll let it go... I guess.
This book was really good. Good plot, climax (lots of them), great character personality, and I guess you can draw your own HEA. -
I very much liked that our heroine was not a dishrag. She was every bit as stubborn as her hero. It might have been a tad bit better if she had actually chosen her career instead of it being one she was lead around the nose in.
Overall, nicely told romance and I laughed with joy at the way it ended. -
It ended rather abruptly, but for an iBooks freebie it was an okay book.
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I really liked this book, couldn't put it down.
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At least this was free... If I had paid for a book that had that many grammar errors and typos, I'd be pretty ticked off.
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Good story and loved it but wanted more at the end. I wanted to see how their Damon and Jane's story ended.
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It was a cute story it dragged somewhat but it was an okay
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Good book about plain Jane in the world of business and merging. Starting as a personal assistant, and working her way into high profile projects because of Carmichael. Romance.
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didn't really care for this book....it was a free book so I thought I'd give it a shot. couldn't get into it.
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It is a great book to read
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It was a cute little romance - the characters were interesting, and I liked the slow progression of their feelings.
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ugh The ending was annoying
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I loved this story
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Very good romance.
