Hard Rules

June 20, 2016
Seduction, lies, and secrets dominate the first Dirty Money contemporary from Jones (the Inside Out series). Shane is a lawyer, and a formidable man in all areas of his life. He and his family are used to getting what they want, when they want it—and now Shane has to save the family legacy from his own relatives. Emily is hiding from her past, and from herself. She finds herself without a job, but not without hope. A fateful meeting in a coffee shop throws the two of them together for what promises to be explosive sex, then turns into much more when both are least expecting it. High-octane romance set above the glittering lights of Denver is enhanced by the dominance of a powerful man and the cunning sweetness of a woman who isn’t cowed or swayed by his wealth. The somewhat repetitive prose and lack of answers to pertinent questions are balanced by a fascinating mystery and characters with distinct voices. Agent: Louise Fury, Bent Agency.

June 15, 2016
First in a new contemporary romance series that brings together two powerful families on opposing sides of the law.Shane Brandon thought he could build a respectable life as an attorney, far from his rich but ruthless family. But when his father becomes ill, Shane agrees to return to Denver to help run Brandon Enterprises. He's determined to root out the corrupt deals his brother and father have struck and save the company without sacrificing its moral core. Shane "doesn't do relationships," but when he meets Emily Stevens in a coffee bar, he can't resist her sexual and emotional allure. Emily is on the run from her own troubled family, especially her brother Adrian, who runs the Martina drug cartel with terror and violence. Shane needs a lover he can trust, and Emily is full of secrets, but their connection is intense and irresistible. In a refreshing departure from the usual controlling billionaire boyfriend, Jones (Demand, 2016, etc.) has written a complex hero who struggles to maintain difficult family relationships while making moral compromises that he hopes will lead them out of the dark. He unselfishly cares for Emily, and while he makes the usual alpha gestures at control, she holds her own, resulting in a fairly egalitarian, and very romantic, relationship. Emily is less well-developed, in part because her history and background are mostly withheld in this installment, the first in the Dirty Money series. Sometimes the pace drags, the result of too much of the tortuous internal monologue to which an alternating first-person point of view is prone. But breaking up Shane and Emily's love story into multiple books allows Jones the space to create interesting antagonistic secondary characters instead of flat foils.Angst-y, sexy contemporary romance with big emotional and financial stakes set against the backdrop of two dynamic families. Sure to leave readers desperate for the next installment.

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August 1, 2016
Emily Stevens is on the run in the first novel in popular romance-writer Jones' new Dirty Money series, hiding from something that brings her to Denver. There she meets Shane Brandon, who is back in town against his better judgement to try and save his family's empire. Shane and Emily meet over a botched coffee order, which leads to what is supposed to be a one-night stand. Shane doesn't do relationships, and Emily is not about to let her guard down long enough to form any attachments. The inner workings of Brandon Enterprises are falling apart, and Shane enlists Emily's help to find out what his nefarious family is up to. Soon, he and Emily find their sex-only agreement is breaking down. Jones reveals just enough of Emily's background to leave readers hanging on to find out more, and they will have to wait for the next book, as this one ends on a cliff-hanger. Sexy, powerful, and full of twists and turns, this series opener is perfect for fans of tales of romantic suspense and high-finance intrigue.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)