Play Me by Tricia Jones

Title: Play Me
Author: Tricia Jones
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60504-833-8
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 157 pages
Buy Link
Author Website
Rating: 4.75 Diamonds
Heat Level: sensual
Reviewer: Becca Dale
Date: January 2010

Sexy Sicilian businessman Raul Niccolo Stregone knows and gets what he wants, and he wants revenge. If that means destroying a hapless innocent along the way, so be it. Nina Avalon is just as determined to thwart his plans to own a portion of her family’s company while protecting her seriously ill father. When her brother Carl insists she step up as his representative in a high stakes poker game, she finds herself in over her head with an arrogant man who just happens to push all the right buttons despite his less than honorable intentions.

Play Me offers a battle of wills from the start. Raul and Nina play off one another with enough sexual tension to start a fire. Though I found Nina’s motivation for sacrifice slightly uncharacteristic for an otherwise strong woman—even she admits that it is illogical—it made me feel for her rather than see her character as flawed. Raul on the other hand starts off as a truly arrogant rogue until his motivation is revealed and his underlying nature comes to the forefront, allowing readers to embrace him despite or perhaps because of his faults. The question becomes will Nina forgive him his mistakes or forever judge him for the way he played his hand. Tricia Jones has written another compelling story that romance fans will embrace. Though the darkly handsome and overly arrogant Raul may be a bit of a cliché Play Me’s alluring tug of war kept me engaged start to finish. Definitely a keeper.