Release Blitz ~ Dirty Games by Barbara Elsborg
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
Length: 108,000 words
Blurb
Let the games begin.
When you play dirty, mud gets in your eyes. And when your vision clears, it might be too late to say sorry.
Linton Williams is moving up in life, he’s secured a great job, he’s living his dream - until it all comes crashing down, courtesy of a brother who’s hooked on cocaine and owes money to dangerous people. When Linton’s offered enough cash to pay off his brother’s debts and send him to rehab, he can’t say no.
But there’s a catch. To save his brother from the hell of addiction, Linton makes a deal with the devil. His job? To teach film star Thorne Morrisey a public lesson in humility that might just destroy Thorne’s acting career for good.
When Thorne and Linton meet, sparks fly, and one kiss sets into motion a chain of events that could destroy them both. By the time Linton decides the price is too high, it’s too late. He’s fallen hard. And now he’s trapped between destroying his lover or his brother.
Game over.
4.5 Stars!
I have to say I'm in love with the gorgeous cover for this book, it's definitely drool-worthy and just perfect for the book.
Linton comes back after a 3-month work trip to NYC and finds his junkie brother turned his apartment into a squat. Irate, he throws his brother out, only to receive a receive a visit later that will set a lot of things into motion that will change his life throwing him in for a loop.
Thorne Morrisey is a rising actor, able to charm anyone that crosses his path or most of them at least. His anger issues are getting out of hand, though. His ex is suicidal after their break-up and his ex's brother is on a revenge path against Thorne, recruiting Linton, his employee and his brother's friend, to help him avenge Owen.
Only things aren't always what they appear and some games can get out of hand real fast.
While the majority of times I go for the bad boy character, in this case, my favorite of the two was Linton. He was so dependable, so willing to help his brother and even Owen after all he'd had to go through. I liked that while he felt guilty over what had happened to Dirk and the way his mother had treated him since he was a little boy, he didn't let Dirk walk all over him. Everything he did was to help his brother get out of the abyss he'd fallen into, and while he was sort of pushed into helping set Thorne up, he never intended to hurt him. I liked Thorne, but really, there were a lot of times in which I just wanted to strangle him. He had anger management issues a mile long and really, I was very glad that Linton didn't let him get away with things, making him realize when he was misbehaving. Thorne did grow up on me, though, and I ended up liking him a whole lot more at the end. Linton and Thorne had amazing chemistry and I adored the push and pull of Thorne having to chase after Linton.
One of my pet peeves is when the character that is in the wrong doesn't really apologize, so I was very grateful that this didn't happen in this story and the grand gesture was indeed grand and enough after the big blow-up.
I loved Dirk and Josh and Thorne's brother, and of course, I hated Max and Pascal, and kind of felt sorry for Owen. I wouldn't mind reading more about Owen and see if Barbara Elsborg is able to make me love him.
Overall, this was a pretty damn good introduction to Barbara Elsborg. The writing was really good, engaging and entertaining, perhaps there were some things that were a tad predictable, but there were others that were very surprising. It was a nice blend of fun, hotness and angst that I will likely read again in the future. Very recommendable!
*** Copy provided to the reviewer by the author for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***
5 Stars
Yes, there's Dirty. And, yes, there are Games. And, I've read many, many hot and sexy scenes from this author before, but BE must have been doing her homework like a very, very dedicated student, lol!
Once again, I was privileged to beta this tale for BE, and in my first read, I thought Thorne was a b'stard and that he needed a good smack or few. I am glad to say that I read more of him and into him in my next reads, and I loved the 'fixes' he put in place. I really liked Linton on the first read through (pretty sure that's him on that very lickable cover, lol!) and he got even sweeter in words and deeds with further acquaintance.
So, as the blurb tells you, this is a book with one character forced into a game of deception, and one who uses his acting career - a different kind of game - to maintain a mask and a practiced indifference to things. Except, underneath it all, he's lonely and fed up of being seen as a commodity. Yes, Linton has more secrets than Thorne, and yes, Linton is the more admirable character, but there was good to Thorne, too, in the love that he had for his autistic brother, in what he did for his best friend, Josh, and in the little things that he did and kept free from publicity and for Linton. I ended up liking them both, but I'd secretly wanted some mega-grovelling from Thorne because of the wrongs he did, and boy did BE deliver. I won't spoil this tale for you here, but one of the best bits is after an accident when Thorne's emotions break through and Linton sees him naked in more than just the physical for the first time. Loved these scenes.
There's the normal BE humour that I expect from her tales, and it works so well to loosen up the uptight Thorne. Penguins, pebbles, clouds, mating rituals - it's there, it's LOL and it meant something to the leads - can't spoil this for you, either, but I love the 'special pebble' thing. It's my thing!
ARC courtesy of the author and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.
Barbara Elsborg lives in Kent in the South of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.
After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.
Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they were to write.
https://www.facebook.com/barbara.elsborg
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Once again, I was privileged to beta this tale for BE, and in my first read, I thought Thorne was a b'stard and that he needed a good smack or few. I am glad to say that I read more of him and into him in my next reads, and I loved the 'fixes' he put in place. I really liked Linton on the first read through (pretty sure that's him on that very lickable cover, lol!) and he got even sweeter in words and deeds with further acquaintance.
So, as the blurb tells you, this is a book with one character forced into a game of deception, and one who uses his acting career - a different kind of game - to maintain a mask and a practiced indifference to things. Except, underneath it all, he's lonely and fed up of being seen as a commodity. Yes, Linton has more secrets than Thorne, and yes, Linton is the more admirable character, but there was good to Thorne, too, in the love that he had for his autistic brother, in what he did for his best friend, Josh, and in the little things that he did and kept free from publicity and for Linton. I ended up liking them both, but I'd secretly wanted some mega-grovelling from Thorne because of the wrongs he did, and boy did BE deliver. I won't spoil this tale for you here, but one of the best bits is after an accident when Thorne's emotions break through and Linton sees him naked in more than just the physical for the first time. Loved these scenes.
There's the normal BE humour that I expect from her tales, and it works so well to loosen up the uptight Thorne. Penguins, pebbles, clouds, mating rituals - it's there, it's LOL and it meant something to the leads - can't spoil this for you, either, but I love the 'special pebble' thing. It's my thing!
ARC courtesy of the author and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.
Author Bio
Barbara Elsborg lives in Kent in the South of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.
After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.
Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they were to write.
https://www.facebook.com/barbara.elsborg
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