Hard Rules (Dirty Money, #1)
4.5 "All is Fair in Love and War" Stars
Lisa Renee Jones what a way to start off a series! Especially a first read into this author. I will admit that the blurb is what sold me on this book. Any time I hear "Sons of Anarchy" I'm like-- "JAX!" So when we meet Shane Brandon smart, sexy, ruthless lawyer with a conscience. You have to wonder where the reference comes from. But when we start reading more into the story we see that Shane is trying to become the head of his family's empire, Brandon Enterprise as soon as his father retires and is trying to make the company straight with their dealings and remove the corruption within (Dirty Money?), though certain situations are making it difficult to make his move to success. One of the bigger issues he has to face is his older brother Derek. Derek has his own agenda and has aligned himself and the company with a new and improved steroid enchantment drug that is non-detectable through medical testing and his partnership with a certain group that is sure to catch the attention of law enforcement. But the complications surrounding this drug are more than Shane can bargain for. (See the correlation? Jax was trying to do good, family got in the way, big war broke out.) Yeah, that's what you get here with Hard Rules.
More complications arise for Shane when he runs into the sweet, determined, mysterious, Emily. He cannot get her out of his system after there encounter. He needs more. She stirred something deep within that kept him wanting more. But Emily has secret hidden that go beyond the surface. She running from something and he can see it in her eyes. But in his world of ruthlessness and the family war going on, maybe Emily could be one to ground him. "This night, somehow, she's become the light in the darkness that is my fucked-up family." Emily is running, hiding, trying to live life how she wished she could. But her demons are closing in and there is one man in her path that she cannot have. Cannot let into her life or her heart, but that's exactly what is happening. He's so good at breaking walls and forgetting what troubles surround her, she knows that her secrets can one day be the way to destroy what they have built, but she's not ready to let go. Not without a fight and being the person Shane needs to be by his side. "Suddenly he is beside me, his arm draping my shoulder, dragging me closer, his big body sheltering mine from the cold, and my chest hurts with the silly idea he's protecting me. No one protects me." Everything about Shane I loved. His smoothness, calculated plans, the strength to not back down. Not even with his family. He is a force to be reckoned with and highly underestimated. But he has his sweet, roughness, the strength to protect what's his and fight before he goes down.
I loved the intrigue that LRJ wrote. The story line is complex so you have to pay very good attention to the details. Every character is hiding a secret and some type of scheme to get what they want. Everything is a blend of suspense. And when things start to get to the wire, you're a bundle of nerves trying to figure out what is going to happen. And CAUTION! When you get to the end... CLIFFHANGER!
But I enjoyed every minuet of it.
