Law student Beth Dreymon is out of money and struggling hard. If she wants to finish her degree, she’s going to have to earn some money and fast. When she learns of an exciting opportunity—playing chess with New York’s most elusive billionaire—the offer sounds too good to be true. Reassured the offer is legit, Beth gets her game face on and prepares to geek out…Only, when she steps foot into … foot into Raphael North’s luxurious penthouse, the rulebook goes flying out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. North is beautiful and damaged—a terrible temptation—and he has his sights set on winning Beth over. He’s just a job, though. A job Beth needs in order to make ends meet. If she plans on making her life in New York work, she needs to keep her eye on the prize. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, however, and it isn’t long before Beth finds herself entangled in Raphael’s world of dark desire.
Captor.
Curator.
Lover.
Enigma.
Beth should run from the devastatingly attractive blue-eyed devil, but Mr North has other ideas…and he’s about to make his next move.
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Beth’s friend tells her about a quick way to earn money. All she has to do is play chess with Raphael North, the fifth richest man in America.
No matter how many times she tells herself that she agreed only to end the nightmare of tuition fees, she’s not fooling anyone. She was curious. So she goes, plays with the man and he starts asking her personal questions that she refuses to answer. The guy is rude and cold. She expects that the one game of chess they played will be the only game until he agrees to another one.
Raphael is a guy who knows what he wants and he goes for it. And he has his eyes sit on Beth. All he has to do is convince her, reassure her that it’s okay to fall in love with him.
I don’t know how he was so sure of his feeling for her when he only met her a couple of times (seen a picture of her actually). Or how he seemed to know her better than she did only by reading about her. It seemed unrealistic but this is fiction after all.
At first he seems cold, unapologetic. But he’s doing that as a way to hide. His guilt is making his relationship with Beth hard and Beth doesn’t want to be kept on the outside.
I was hoping to see more of Nate, to see what happened to him when all was done.
A billionaire recluse Raph who after an accident goes into hiding when reading the reason for this, it didn’t make any sense to me considering he was not responsible for the said accident.
A friend of his asks her friend Beth to play chess with him, a paying gig does this sound like a set up because it is upon meeting him he’s very standoffish.
I didn’t feel their attraction I got more of a friendly vibe or employer-employee but he’s the smitten kitten and wants more.
There are lots of things going on in this story. Scorned wannabe lover, BSDM which I thought was unnecessary sort of thrown to make it interesting when, to be honest, the hot dirty sex scenes would have suffice.
At the end, Beth and Raph declaring their love for each other did not work for me. There needed to be more build up to them building a connection. I get the ” you’re hot I’m attracted to you and wanna fuck your brains out” but love? I didn’t feel that at all.
Meh. Not very well developed and the connection between Beth and Raph just didn’t feel strong. In fact, it felt forced. And then the whole D/s thing? Just weird and came out of nowhere. The whole twist too came out of nowhere and was over dramatic.
About the only thing I liked was Nate. Beth, Raph and Thalia were boring and uninteresting. Well, Raph showed flashes of character, but ultimately he ended up being as boring and under-developed as Beth and Thalia were.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book .
Not just a normal love story tables have been turned and unlike Rapunzel this time the man is the one stuck in the tower.
What a man he is, bit of an arse but knows what he wants and goes all out to get it thankfully Beth is fiesty and doesn’t give in to him too easily.
Few twists along the way to keep you on your toes and explain why he is the way he is.
Mr North is not Zeth Mayfair (still my favourite of Callie) never the less a great read and I’m extremley tempted to learn chess.
Loved It! Mr North is an A** but he know what he wants and goes for it. Beth is feisty and doesn’t take anyone’s crap. There are unseen twist and turns that will leave you wanting to keep going to find out what happens next. This book is more fast pase and not as in-depth as most of Callies books but it’s still a great read.
4.5 Stars
I’ve gone and done it!!! I’ve popped my Callie Hart cherry
What a great book to pop it with!!
Beth Dreymon is about to graduate from law school and take her bar exam. Getting out of her little town she grew up in and attending law school has been her dream. Her life wasn’t all sunflowers growing up. She was traumatized at a young age and has carried that with her growing up. Constantly hearing her mother’s voice in her head each time she tried to live her life.
When her best friend propositions Beth with a little side job that will pay big bucks, what poor college gal would turn it down? Beth needs money, Beth isn’t blond and Beth knows how to play chess. It’s a win-win for all.
Raphael North hasn’t left his penthouse home in many years. After serving out his 2-year home detention, he couldn’t find the courage to walk outside his door. Living the life of a recluse, he runs his billion-dollar company from within the safety of his home.
When you pair Beth the soon to be Lawyer and Raphael the billionaire together, sparks fly. Wanting more out of Raphael, Beth decides to go digging. What she uncovers will make your head spin! Do we truly know our friends? Do we truly know who we choose to protect? Do we truly know how is protecting us?
What a great ride this one was!!!
***ARC Provided by the Author***
At the beginning of this book, I liked the story of Beth and Raphael. I liked that she was the “normal” person and that he was the celebrity, the one who people always wanted something from him. I liked that their attraction was not really instant, there was an interest there, and while he was attracted to her, Beth was not immediately interested in him.
At the beginning, I was invested in the story, and I thought it was interesting and I liked the idea that there was a reason, a secret, that he was keeping. You know there is a reason that this man, as rich as he is, needs to hire someone to come play chess with him, that there has to be a point to him not going out to find the companionship.
But, for me, the last 25% of the book was a bit of a melodrama. I didn’t necessarily believe that it was possible that this many things happened to these people. I found myself less invested in the characters the more that happened and I felt like the book jumped from tragic “really big revelation” to “tragic event” and used those, instead of the characters to propel the story.
I am not able to recommend this title.