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    The Pretender: Games People Play
    Unavailable
    The Pretender: Games People Play
    Unavailable
    The Pretender: Games People Play
    Ebook336 pages5 hours

    The Pretender: Games People Play

    By HelenKay Dimon

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Sexy, emotional, funny . . . Dimon gives it all to her readers.” —New York Times Bestselling Author Jill Shalvis

    They say it takes a thief to catch a thief, and Harrison Tate is proof. Once a professional burglar, he now makes a lawful living tracking down stolen art. No one needs to know about his secret sideline, “liberating” artifacts acquired through underhanded methods. At least until one of those jobs sees him walking in on a murder.

    Gabrielle Wright has long been estranged from her wealthy family, but she didn’t kill her sister. Trouble is, the only person who can prove it is the sexy, elusive criminal who shouldn’t have been at the island estate on that terrible night. She’s not expecting honor among thieves—or for their mutual attraction to spark into an intense inferno of desire.

    Under the guise of evaluating her family’s art, Harris comes back to the estate hoping to clear Gabby’s name. But returning to the scene of the crime has never been riskier, with their hearts and lives on the line.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateDec 26, 2017
    ISBN9780062692191
    Unavailable
    The Pretender: Games People Play
    Author

    HelenKay Dimon

    Helenkay Dimon spent the years before becoming a romance author as a . . . divorce attorney. Not the usual transition, she knows. Good news is she now writes full time and is much happier. She has sold over thirty novels, novellas, and shorts to numerous publishers. Her nationally bestselling and award-winning books have been showcased in numerous venues, and her books have twice been named "Red-Hot Reads" and excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine. But if you ask her, she'll tell you the best part of the job is never having to wear pantyhose again.

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    Reviews for The Pretender

    4/5

    16 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The Pretender had a great start--Harris, who is someplace for slightly less-than legal reasons comes upon an almost-murder scene that quickly becomes a homicide; partly because of his actions there an innocent woman comes under scrutiny but he can't come out and clear her without implicating himself--really, I'm not sure what Ms. Dimon could have done there to make me less likely to be able to put this book down in the first few chapters! Harris and Gabby and both highly likeable, and the isolated island setting and the mysterious things that kept happening kept the tension high.But...A little further in--around 50%? 66%?--the story started dragging a bit, and I had a hard time exactly pinpointing why as it was more of a general feeling. Too much backstory exposition dragged out over too long of a time, drawing focus away from the more present danger? An intimate relationship that went too fast considering the lack of trust the characters had at the time and the danger at least one of them seemed to be in at the time? I'm not sure, all I know is that at some point putting the book down and doing something else became easier than I would have liked. Still, I did enjoy how the mystery ended and their HEA was sweet--overall this was a good read, even if I wasn't riveted to the page every single minute.This one worked well as a standalone--only two of the other series characters really play a part; the focus is heavily on Harris and his island mystery--and it definitely has me interested in picking up both earlier and future series books. I'm generally a big fan of Ms. Dimon's writing--even if this one won't make my favorites list, I do enjoy the characters she's peopled this series with.Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B-I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
    • 3/5
      I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

      Harris has changed his ways to become a Robin Hood thief but his latest mission has him embroiled in a murder.
      Gabby is the rich girl no one wants to feel sorry for and when her sister is murdered, even her uncle thinks she could be to blame.
      Harris knows Gabby isn't guilty but he can't reveal himself, however, with help from his friends he's going to work to clear her name.
      Old secrets and new attractions will be exposed.
       
      "You ever make a mistake and feel like you'll probably spend a lifetime trying to fix it?"
       
      Third in the series, Games People Play, we have Harris the art thief as the star. I haven't read the others in the series yet but I didn't have a problem following along. There are obviously past characters, Harris' "boss" and future stars, Harris' friend Damon but each relationship was fleshed out enough to provide a good understanding of the group's world.
       
      As with most of Dimon's books, the story is full of danger, mystery, and sex. I thought this started off intense and grabbed my attention right away with a murder that leads to a tightly controlled whodunit. The story takes place on an island with only a handful of characters. Our hero and heroine's characters start off a bit in the shadows as Harris' background takes a while to be revealed and Gabby's past and motivations are kept hidden in favor of extending the mystery. I felt Gabby's story was dragged out for too long and her past reveals had me, as the reader, feeling a bit lost in terms of her character. While getting to know the characters felt stagnant and hidden, their attraction for one another felt too swift. It was hard for me to get into their first sexual encounter because of how leery they still seemed to be with one another and how I didn't really feel like I knew them yet.
       
      As I mentioned, this is a tight intimate story with only a handful of secondary characters that are mostly red-herrings to keep you guessing until the end. Gabby's uncle plays the out in front villain but as the story goes on, he feels pushed to the side and starts to feel more like a villainous outline rather than a fully filled out character. There are three other characters that shadow the sidelines until the end where the mystery suddenly speeds up and our villain's reasons and motivations are thrust forward. Harris' friend Damon plays a good sized role and he has next hero written all over him.
       
      Having this set on an island provided a sense of danger and the small cast kept the mystery intimate. Gabby and Harris' attraction feels a bit sudden and their sex scenes start to take over in place of depth and moving along the mystery side; the middle drags. However, if you're looking for some sex and mystery, Dimon never fails to deliver.
    • 3/5
      Gabrielle Wright has spent the last 14 months trying to cope, not only with the death of her younger sister Tabitha, but also trying to find a way to prove that she didn't kill her. Now Gabby has been called back to the house where her sister was murdered because the items located there are finally going to be appraised and sold. Gabby's Uncle Stephen is also there and takes every opportunity to blame Gabby for Tabitha's death. Harrison "Harris" Tate barely escaped seeing who murdered Tabitha, but his reason for being at the house that night was to steal a painting that he was trying to reappropriate for the family of the original owners after it was taken by the Nazis in World War II. He has spent the last 14 months keeping an eye on Gabby, planning to step in if she is arrested, but now he and his friend Damon will go undercover and may be able to prove what really happened the night that Tabitha died.

      The Pretender does a good job developing the main characters by showing the torment that they have experienced in their lives and the effect that their backgrounds have had on recent behaviors. The addition of Damon as Harris's best friend adds humor to the story and softens Harris's character. The story is narrowed a bit by the limited setting of the island where Tabitha's house is located, but overall, a decent mystery with a well developed romance.