Rule No. 1: Do not enter the game unless you intend to finish. Once accepted, there is no escape.This is a love story, one that comes with rules, expectations, and dark shadows. One where the man who challenges me the most is cloaked in deception. I had no choice but to accept the terms, nowhere to run once the clock started ticking.Donovan Stone was a man few people dared to cross.He was dark.He … cross.
He was dark.
He was dominating.
He was so silent that you had to watch him closely to begin to know what he was thinking.
He was my boss, and the man I should have run from the minute I walked into his corporate office.
Like any bad decision, it took time for me to see the truth about the game I’d entered, for me to understand that it wasn’t the stalker in the shadows I should fear, but the man who pulled the strings.
I had no choice.
At least, that’s the lie I told myself to forgive my foolish actions.
And while running as fast as I could through twisted mazes and deceitful games, I understood that the Rules of Engagement were now my life.
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Lily White is known for her dark books, written so well they question your sanity. With Rules of Engagement, we see that not only can Lily White write dark, she can also master the Thriller/Suspense book too!!!
Mia has just gotten the dreadful termination notice at her job of 5 years. Kicked to the curb like an unwanted puppy. Having exhausted her ways to come up with the rent that is due, she contacts her parents one last time to see if they will help. Their suggestion, move back home. No Way is she ever going back to the place that left her damaged.
Seeing an ad:
Get paid to play. Starting bonus of up to five thousand dollars. Only serious applicants need apply.
Desperate times lead to desperate risks. Mia needs the money. Mia applies for the job.
Dark Realities
Its happening… Rule after Rule. Make sure you play by them.
Rule No. 1: Do not enter the game unless you intend to finish. Once accepted, there is no escape.
What in the world has Mia gotten herself into besides enough money transferred immediately into her bank account to pay the bills!!!
Read this book word for word. Take in all that’s happening. That is my only suggestion. This book pulls you in and leaves you turning the pages till you are at the end. Fantastic Book!!!
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I Loved, loved loved this book so damn much, definitely one of my favorites so far. I was delighted to finally find such a story that challenged my thinking and my heart.
I had an instant connection with Mia, and I did get her why she is the way she is. I couldn’t make myself like Donovan at first. Apparently, the main character and I were in agreement on this. Eventually, I started to see those small things about the man that made me want him to be saved and loved as he is grown on me gradually. Mr. Donovan Stone is a man not for faint-hearted or week, you would want to hit him with your heals in the soft places.
The twisted faith of the desperate Mia’s decision to play a game made me want to shake her and scream don’t do it. Mia is a woman with complicated past that jaded her and made her retreat into her own shell. How wise, twisted faith is that she found herself working for the Donovan Stone, the man who will break every wall she enacted to keep herself safe. The infuriating male who has no warmth but critique and resentment towards everything she does. And yet their intense work relationship was precisely what mousy however brilliant woman needed. He knew how to press every button until she broke free and discovered what kind of woman is underneath the skin she wore all her life and avoided to have contact. But the question always lingered who is stalking a young woman who has no other choice but works for Donovan and wishes that the warped online game she never started out of despair?
Lily took me by storm with this book. The game aspect will keep you hooked until the end. And guessing who the players are in the romantic suspense.
Tbh, any word written by Lily is my Auto Fave word. This book I was eager to read , cause it’s #LilyLite and I wanted to know how does a toned down, unicorn & Butterflies Lily feels like. The talent is a genius at the end of the day and I was engrossed in the story which has two parallel tracks running. It spans twenty days in the office where Donovan is the Boss and Mia is the Admin assist
Twenty-one days. That’s all it took for me to conform to a life of being stalked. Twenty-one days and I had slipped into a habit of running when nobody was actually chasing me.In twenty -one days , I’d changed in ways that stripped me of the self-imposed cage, and freed me to become a force of nature.
Mia Jennings has been fired from Her job, down to her last pennies she falls prey to a Dark Realities website, opening herself to be part of a sexual fantasy. Albeit a dangerous one . Also in the picture is her new employer -Donovan stone, who is a voluntary mute. He’s completely closed off, arrogant, and a stricter for time & routine, which needless to say is not Mia’ strong characteristics
“That man might as well be Fort Knox for the thickness of the walls he has built around him. He has more secrets than the damn CIA, and those secrets are destroying him, Jackson. Don’t you see that?”
I loved the interaction between Mia & Donovan , his dry sense of humour, his struggles . I liked the brokenness that bound them together
We all cut ourselves off in one way or another, for short periods of time, or for extended periods. Each person is different, and whereas some are able to open their eyes to see light and learn to live again, others, like Donovan and me, become lost. But like two wanderers in the dark, we’d bumped into each other, we’d held hands and found the way out of our grief, our restrictions, our rules that made no sense to any person but us.
The story is very unique, very engaging , somewhere I felt it lacked the punch to make it a LilyStamp book. Knowhatimean ? I have certain questions and i have certain feelings
But hey ! It’s Lily, so I’m her die hard stalker and will follow every word she writes.
4 “21 Days” stars
5 Stalker Stars!
I loved every suspenseful moment! It’s a Lily White book, right? Yet, this was not a dark novel in comparison to her others. I went in totally blind, only saw a few teasers and such, I wanted the full experience with a blindfold on. Now that we got that outta the way.
Hex Yes. I wanted to swallow all the words. You know how you read so fast, wanting to get to the final moment of clarity, you think you might be missing a clue. Yup, I re-read parts to dissect meaning, only to come up short. Did I not taste the deliciousness because I was so fast at devouring? God, I didn’t, couldn’t stop reading.
A romance that slaps. It’s not your ordinary story, yet, some of the moments are endearing. Closed off characters filled with intrigue. I wanted to unwrap them like Christmas morning. The thing is, I didn’t know who would take the final slap. I LOVE THAT! I don’t want all the answers, I don’t every answer wrapped in pretty paper. I want to tear each piece of tape until it’s revealed.
This book held a dark gloom of uncertainties. Something that makes you uncomfortable and anxious. It’s a mystery from start to finish. The writing is phenomenal, weaving the story into a slave of conclusions. I was held with chains and loved every suspicious moment.
When Mia Jennings unexpectedly finds herself in great financial trouble, she made a rash decision to participate in a dark fantasy game for the sign up bonus.
Rule №1: Do not enter the game unless you intend to finish. Once accepted, there is no escape.
Signing up for a stalker fantasy, Mia quickly realises that the money does not compare to loosing her sanity.
On top of being on edge, looking over her shoulder and afraid of her own shadow, her new boss, cold and rude Donovan Stone, proves to be of an even greater challenge.
I do not want to delve too much into the story afraid of giving away the ending.
Lily White did not disappoint, again. I just love reading her books. IMO this was not a dark book but I did had a ominous feeling throughout the story keeping me engaged.
It wasn’t until the end that I realised that there was no explicit sex, but please do not let that put you off.
I highly recommend reading this book!!
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2216677797
An office romance with dark desires and a twisted game of rules.
The rules of engagement are simple: follow the rules.
Mia lost her administrative assistant job and in an act of desperation accepts two jobs. One job requires punctuality and organization. While the other was set in fear.
Overall:
The premise of this story was built upon a game, yet the game didn’t play out how I imagined. I still enjoyed the story. I was taken off guard with Donovan Stone’s character. He was an interesting charismatic man with some fascinating personality traits.
Mia was an insecure woman, yet a firecracker in the office. Mia was a fiercely competent administrative assistant with many superior skills, so when her boss fired her after serving five years with his company she found herself in a desperate situation to accept a job that had her questioning her intelligence.
The game was always in play, yet it seemed to be on the back burner when faced with Donovan’s advances. I would’ve liked more suspense and a sense of danger. Donovan’s character dominated the storyline distracting my attention away from the rules and the game.
You think you know, but you have no idea!
I thought I knew who it was right along with Mia, then boom it isn’t who you thought it was.
Mia who has worked her butt off gets fired from her current job. As she sulks she sees this online add. It isn’t just any add! She does something she thought she would never do. She agrees to play a game, just not any game. A game where you don’t know what’s going to happen.
The same day she signs up for the game she snags a job, with a major douche bag. Well later on he isn’t such a douche.
Lily kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t want to cook dinner, didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to know who was playing the game with Mia. Then I was flabbergasted, when it was revealed who the person was. Like OMG!!!
Great read!!
Lily White proves that her written skills are beyond outstanding, known for her very dark taboo’s reads this one is different, not dark at all but in Rules of Engagement she plays with your mind and the twisted games that unfold are epic!!!!.
Donovan Stone – This man made me angry, made me laugh and made me think perfect husband material in a twisted, go check in rehab way!
Mia Jennings – Seemed a weak minded lost woman who started to play a dangerous game but the game taught her how to fight back.
A must for lovers wanting more than your standard love story this is a psychological romance that you will not be able to stop reading until the end game.
Sometimes these secrets are welcoming nuances, little tidbits of information that confirm your suspicions or correlate to some truth you’ve believed you’ve known for a long time. But sometimes, those secrets are shrouded in shadow,…..
Lily plays with your mind while she plays with her words. I found myself on the edge of my seat with this sophisticated and intricately plotted read. She feeds you tidbits of information, just enough to think you know what is going on, then she spoon feeds you just a bit more and you really don’t know if you really do know what is going on. Let me tell you, YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS STORY!! All her secrets are shrouded in shadow!
Rules of a game, rules of a relationship – rules outline limitations and restrictions. When those rules are broken the freedoms that can be accessed is liberating and compelling. Mia and Donovan have and encounter many rules; some are rules about personal limitations, others are rules about social restrictions. Will they abide by the rules or defy them?
This is a suspense drama, and may be in no way the normal dark perverse you get from Lily, but the psychological elements within mesmerizes the reader from start to finish and will leave your jaw flapping in the wind!! This is unquestionably a recommended read from this reader!!
4.5* Rule Breaking Stars!!
*Have you read the rules?
*Do you understand the rules?
*Do you accept the rules?
*Be careful what you are agreeing to.
Lily White knows no bounds when she sits down to write a book. She can write the darkest of dark, to suspense, to a certain type romance/love story with her own spin on it.
We follow Mia Jennings and Donovan Stone through a sort of battle of wills. Even though Mia starts of as a timid mouse I loved seeing her character grow and evolve into a feisty woman who eventually found her voice and was heard.
Donovan Stone, a dark, silent, brooding man who commanded every room he walked into. He was a complete ***hole at time but I also found myself having a bit of a giggle at some of the antics he got up to.
Towards the end I found my heart rate pick up and I couldn’t read the words fast enough to find out just who the ‘Predator’ was. Of course there are bread crumbs along the way but in true Lily style there are many and had me second guessing myself many times.
I was hoping for just a bit more grit with the ending as I felt it was slightly soft but it didn’t take anything away from the story
Playing the game was a life changer.
The story of Mia is a moving, suspenseful psychological thriller. You have to closely pay attention as you gain clues to the game Mia is playing.
Was it fulfilling a fantasy or facing her reality?
A t-w-i-s-t-e-d, suspenseful, thought provoking and moving story!
It affirms “desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“But desperation has a heavy price. It’s a toxic poison that makes you do things you would never normally do.”
Mia’s circumstances affirm that “desperate times call for desperate measures.”
This story was phenomenal. The writing was riveting, as my attention was held captive from beginning to end!
The characters were well developed but for me, hard to like, and that’s one of the things I liked about the story. The author has done it again with this thought provoking “not dark” read. It makes us question what we would do if we were in similar circumstances, and question who are the real villains.
Whether it’s a tragic love story or just a sick fantasy game, you decide.
I didn’t give it 5 stars because after the suspense and the build up, the ending felt rushed.
4.5 stars!
This was a great book. It is definitely a departure from her usual writing, and she handled it brilliantly. I guess a good author can write anything, as proven by this book. I made the mistake of starting it in the evening, and I had a really tough time putting it down and going to bed. It is an addicting and clever story. Definitely not something you have read multiple times before. The main characters are all interesting and engaging, and it was impossible to predict where the story was going to go. To guess who might be the bad guy. I am keeping this vague as I don’t want to do any spoilers. I definitely recommend reading this book.
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Rules of Engagement weren’t that dark as I expected from this author. In spite of that, I still enjoyed it. What I like about this book is the element of suspense; the thrill of not knowing what’s going to happen next. It will get you hooked to the story. Moreover, I absolutely like the transformation of Mia from a timid woman into a fierce one. Donovan, on the other hand, maybe an a$$ in the beginning but as you learn what happened to him in the past, you’ll be able to understand why he’s like that. But, he can be a charmer when he wants to be one. Overall, it’s a great book I proudly recommend to anyone if you haven’t read a book by this author. It’s worth it!!
Fantastic book
This has to be one of my favourites from Lily I was on the edge of my seat while reading I could not put this book down.
Just when I thought, this story was going one way Boom! It went another, twists and turns were good. This is not Dark Book from Lily but don’t let that stop you reading if you are a fan of Lily you are going love this one.
I do not want to go into details of the story I think you should experience it for yourself.
It starts with a game, one that has rules …
Rule No. 1: Do not enter the game unless you intend to finish. Once accepted, there is no escape.
It is a love story but with twists and turns, it comes with rules and Mia has no choice but to accept the terms.
I loved the characters, I loved the writing, and I loved the story… Such a fantastic read…
I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author to review for Stephanie’s Book Reports.
Welcome to Rules of Engagement from Lily White. Once you start reading this book you will understand just how fitting the title is. This is a romantic suspense novel and might contain some things that are disturbing to some individuals. It is however not a dark book.
This is a love story. One that comes with rules, expectations, and dark shadows. A story where the man who challenges me the most is cloaked in deception. I had not choice but to accept the terms, and there is nowhere to run once the clock starts ticking.
Donovan Stone was a man few people dared to cross. He was dark, dominating and silent. So silent you had to watch him closely to begin to know what he was thinking. He was my boss and the man I should have run from the minute I walked into his corporate office. Like any bad decision, it took time for me to see the truth about the game I had entered,for me to understand that it wasn’t the stalker in the shadows I should fear, bu the man who pulled the strings. I had no choice. At least that is the lie I told myself to forgive my foolish actions. And while running as fast as I could through twisted mazes and deceitful games, I understood that the Rules of Engagement were now my life.
I devoured this book. I actually did not want to put it down when I absolutely had to. I fell for these characters hard. My heart went out to Mia so many times. She is a young girl in the city who is suddenly let go from her job. She didn’t see this coming and was struggling to make ends meat before she was let go. She absolutely has no one to help her. Her parents will just tell her to come home and that is the last thing that Mia is willing to do. Desperate to find a job and to keep a roof over her head and the power on she applies for many jobs and at the same times sees and add for Dark Realities who are looking for game players. Desperate but not desperate enough yet to try this avenue out she waits to see if anyone will interview and hire her. However when it becomes clear that she doesn’t have any prospect for a job and the bills are not going to pay themselves she enters the website and signs up. Rule One: Do not enter the game unless you intend to finished. Once accepted, there is no escape. Choosing the only option she is willing to even consider her bank account is filled with money and she is able to have breathing room. Just Mia’s luck though a job offer comes through to her from her interview with Donovan Stone. He didn’t even consider her and was not impressed the day of her interview so the email catcher her off guard that he is willing to give her two weeks to see if she will work out as his assistant. This is the beginning a tale that will have you guessing every second of the book and it will keep you one the edge of your seat. However with that said inside all the things going on is a beautiful love story. One that stole my heart. This is the tale of Donovan and Mia. A man who is the head of a computer software company and does not utter a word and the girl who has such low self esteem and for good reason. Two broken souls that are in desperate need of companionship and love. I loved watching these two pull each other out of their shells and even though Donovan doesn’t talk I promise you that you don’t need him too. You can literally feel at times his emotions pouring from the pages. You do not want to miss this book.
Lily White never fails to write a book that I don’t like. With Rules of Engagement she has stepped out of the box you usually expect her books to be in and gives us a tale that is both heart breaking and so beautiful. It is a love story for the ages. One that you will feel in your very soul and never forget. However don’t let that fool you. You will be one the edge of your seat second guessing everything you think you know until the very end.
Another good read by this author. Wonderfully constructed characters with complexity and dimension. Both had damaging events in their lives that formed them into “perfect for each other” lovers. And they finally got there after some mental gymnastics. Suspense and mystery that wasn’t too hard to solve.
I loved the concept behind this story because in this day and age it is not to far fetched. This could be someone’s reality and that is scary to me!
Lily wove together a spectacular story of suspense and romance!
This is my 2nd book by Lily and between the two this is my favorite so far. Lots of twists and turns and an ending I kinda of expected but was still surprised. Lily’s writing is one of a kind!
I got pulled into the mystery, suspense and thrill of a ride by Author Lily White.
Her writing as always is what I love.
She gets soo dark and deep into her characters minds and it pours out to the pages that I felt I could not turn fast enough.
Loved the twists and turns of the main characters Mia and Donovan.
Their personalities came to life and boy did I love , hate and go on the ride with them thru this story.
Awesome book of love that will leave you wondering if you could follow the rules?
Go One Click & find out!
Three inch high heels were not invented by a woman….
This is my first book I have read from this author, and dang is she goooood! I love a good romantic suspense and boy did Lily deliver!
This story of Mia and Donovan is amazing, with twists and turns and just when you think you know what’s going on, you get a smack across the face and an “A-HA” moment! Just what a good suspense should do!
The romance between these two characters is phenomenal! Literally no spoken words are needed to see this relationship develop between the two of them! The push and pull between Mia and Donovan was electric and and so sensual! To see the character development and how Mia came into herself was fantastic! The angst of Donovan will make you want to love him harder! I will never think of hand holding the same way again!
This story will keep you guessing until the end! I cannot wait to see what this author has in store next!