Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Hard Rules

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Wall Street meets the Sons of Anarchy in Hard Rules, the smoldering, scorching first novel in the explosively sexy new Dirty Money series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones.
How bad do you want it?

The only man within the Brandon empire with a moral compass, Shane Brandon is ready to take his family's business dealings legitimate. His reckless and ruthless brother, Derek wants to keep Brandon Enterprises cemented in lies, deceit, and corruption. But the harder Shane fights to pull the company back into the light, the darker he has to become. Then he meets Emily Stevens, a woman who not only stirs a voracious sexual need in him, but becomes the only thing anchoring him between good and evil.
Emily is consumed by Shane, pushed sexually in ways she never dreamed of, falling deeper into the all-encompassing passion that is this man. She trusts him. He trusts her, but therein lies the danger. Emily has a secret, the very thing that brought her to him in the first place, and that secret could destroy them both.
This is book ONE of FOUR in Shane and Emily's story.
Excerpt from Hard Rules (Dirty Money book #1)
His hand curls around mine and he drags it to his knee, and the way he's looking at me, like the rest of the room, no, the rest of the world, doesn't exist, steals my breath. I haven't allowed anyone to really look at me in a very long time.
"Emily," he says, doing whatever he does to turn my name into a sin that seduces rather than destroys me.
"Shane," I manage, but just barely.
"Did you say yes to dinner because you didn't want to be alone?"
I am not sure where he is going with this, if it's about reading me or if he needs validation that I am here for him, so I give him both. "I like being alone," I say, and on some level, it really is true. "I said yes to dinner because you are the one who asked." My lips curve. "Actually you barely asked. You mostly ordered."
"I couldn't let you say no."
"I'm actually really glad you didn't."
"And yet you say you like being alone?"
"It's simple and without complication."
"Spoken like someone who's lived the opposite side of the coin."
"Haven't we all?"
"Who burned you, Emily?"
I blanch but recover with a quick, "Who says anyone burned me?"
"I see it in your eyes."
"Back to my eyes," I say.
"Yes. Back to your eyes."
"Stop looking."
"I can't."
Those two words sizzle, matching the heat in his eyes, and my throat goes dry. "Then stop asking so many questions."
He reaches up, brushing hair behind my ear, his fingers grazing my cheek, and suddenly he is closer, his breath a tease on my cheek, his fingers settling on my jaw. "What if I want to know more about you?"
"What if I don't want to talk?"
"Are you suggesting I shut up and kiss you?"
Yes, I think. Please. But instead I say, "I don't know. I haven't interviewed you as you have me. I know nothing about you. I want to know if you—"
He leans in, and then his lips are on mine, a caress, a tease, that is there and gone, and yet I am rocked to the core, a wave of warmth sliding down my neck and over my breasts. He lingers, his breath fanning my lips, promising another touch I both need and want, as he asks, "You want to know if I what?"
Everything. "Nothing."

  • Creators

  • Series

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      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.

    • Kirkus

      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.

      COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      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.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading