Hard Rules A Dirty Money Novel

Lisa Renee Jones — 2016

Wall Street meets the Sons of Anarchy in Hard Rules, the smoldering, scorching first novel in the explosively sexy new Dirty Money series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones. How bad do you want it? The only man within the Brandon empire with a moral compass, Shane Brandon is ready to take his family’s business dealings legitimate. His reckless and ruthless brother, Derek wants to keep Brandon Enterprises cemented in lies, deceit, and corruption. But the harder Shane fights to pull the company back into the light, the darker he has to become. Then he meets Emily Stevens, a woman who not only stirs a voracious sexual need in him, but becomes the only thing anchoring him between good and evil. Emily is consumed by Shane, pushed sexually in ways she never dreamed of, falling deeper into the all-encompassing passion that is this man. She trusts him. He trusts her, but therein lies the danger. Emily has a secret, the very thing that brought her to him in the first place, and that secret could destroy them both. This is book ONE of FOUR in Shane and Emily's story. Excerpt from Hard Rules (Dirty Money book #1) His hand curls around mine and he drags it to his knee, and the way he’s looking at me, like the rest of the room, no, the rest of the world, doesn’t exist, steals my breath. I haven’t allowed anyone to really look at me in a very long time. “Emily,” he says, doing whatever he does to turn my name into a sin that seduces rather than destroys me. “Shane,” I manage, but just barely. “Did you say yes to dinner because you didn’t want to be alone?” I am not sure where he is going with this, if it’s about reading me or if he needs validation that I am here for him, so I give him both. “I like being alone,” I say, and on some level, it really is true. “I said yes to dinner because you are the one who asked.” My lips curve. “Actually you barely asked. You mostly ordered.” “I couldn’t let you say no.” “I’m actually really glad you didn’t.” “And yet you say you like being alone?” “It’s simple and without complication.” “Spoken like someone who’s lived the opposite side of the coin.” “Haven’t we all?” “Who burned you, Emily?” I blanch but recover with a quick, “Who says anyone burned me?” “I see it in your eyes.” “Back to my eyes,” I say. “Yes. Back to your eyes.” “Stop looking.” “I can’t.” Those two words sizzle, matching the heat in his eyes, and my throat goes dry. “Then stop asking so many questions.” He reaches up, brushing hair behind my ear, his fingers grazing my cheek, and suddenly he is closer, his breath a tease on my cheek, his fingers settling on my jaw. “What if I want to know more about you?” “What if I don’t want to talk?” “Are you suggesting I shut up and kiss you?” Yes, I think. Please. But instead I say, “I don’t know. I haven’t interviewed you as you have me. I know nothing about you. I want to know if you—” He leans in, and then his lips are on mine, a caress, a tease, that is there and gone, and yet I am rocked to the core, a wave of warmth sliding down my neck and over my breasts. He lingers, his breath fanning my lips, promising another touch I both need and want, as he asks, “You want to know if I what?” Everything. “Nothing.”

Reviews

Lover of Romance @addictedtoromance

Jun 8, 2024

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
Hard Rules is the first book in the "Dirty Money" series and it slowly introduces the world of Dirty Money to the reader. It starts off with a meet cute between our main characters "Shane and Emily" this is a story that is packed with corruption, secrets and thirst for power and is focused on the Brandon family who are entrenched in things that Shane is determined to get their family out of. This is a story that will start very slow for the reader, and to be honest, I recommend listening to the audiobook or just give it a wide forgiveness range as the story doesn't really get you invested until about halfway, you just need to stick with it and then you will get hooked and won't want to put it down.

First Line
"Tequila and tonic number two," I say, setting the drink on top of a Martina's Casa Napkin for the dark, good looking stranger who'd come in asking for my brother.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Shane Brandon
The Heroine: Emily

Summary
Hard Rules begins with Emily having to go on the run and in secret when she discovers something dangerous but has a set of secrets that could put someone she cares about in danger. Then we have Shane Brandon, who is a wall street lawyer, but came back home to get things in order after his family had a close scare with the law. But his family are entrenched in things against the law, secret after secret, and he is the only one who is determined to keep the business legitimate so they don't end up in prison. But he is playing a dangerous game, and he doesn't know the true intentions of the other players in this game of chess and he will have to play it carefully. But could it be the most dangerous player of all is the one that is closest to him?

What I Loved
Whew! This book was edgy and kept me so interested. There was so much fascination with the build up of the plot and seeing what was happening with the Brandon family and where each player was truly invested. And even at the end of this book you will be even more mystified by the Brandon family and no true answers will be given and I kinda love that. THIS element is what I truly love the most about this author. She really knows how to write such mysterious characters and kept you guessing all the way through.

Even though the romance is slowly built and it will take a while to get invested...once you become invested, then you will get hooked. Once I was hooked, I was so in tune with these characters and wanted to cheer them on. There is such a deep connection that these two have with each other, and I did love the mystery behind the heroine. Even though part of the story is from her POV, you still don't know what is happening with her or what her TRUE motivations are and I kinda love that it was written like this. Normally you see exactly where the heroine is coming from. But in this book, its a complete mystery and you have to wonder what she is doing with Shane and if she is a enemy or friend and it only builds up the tension that is building between them.

What I Struggled With
The first half of the story will be a struggle for some readers. Even though I was completely into the plot with the Brandon family, the actual romance between Shane and Emily is hard to become invested in. But if you stick with it, its worth it in the end. I almost did DNF this book, but I switched to the audio and I highly recommend going that route because the narration really pulls you into the story if physically reading it isn't quite doing it for you. Now keep in mind you probably won't become invested in the romance plot until about 50%....but once you get hooked, you will NOT want to put it down. The only thing that I would recommend being better is having a beginning that was more addictive in getting the reader to be tugged into the romance side of things here as I can see some readers DNF this book over it.

Narration
This narration is done by Jeremy York and Grace Grant and these two made a great pair. I am not sure I have listened to York with this female narrator but I enjoyed it quite a bit. She really balanced it well with Jeremy York and I did love seeing Jeremy York doing the male POV in this story to be honest. And I am also glad it had Jeremy, because he can always pull me into a story if I am struggling with it otherwise.

Overall View
I found Hard Rules to be a interesting but captivating read that once you are invested, will addict you like the best romantic drug in the business. You will be pulled different directions, be battling with your conscience and not knowing which way to turn which makes it a great mystery you can get behind!

Favorite Quote(s)
"It's time for some rules?"
"Rules? What rules?"
"Hard rules. And hard rule number one is, no more lies."

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Dark Romance
Character Types: Alpha Male, Lawyer
Themes: Danger/Suspense, Secrets, Secret Relationship, Meet Cute
Tropes: Mistaken Identity, Protector

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A blend

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
Maggie Cole
Willow Winters
Meghan March

Song This Book Inspires
Outnumbered by Dermot Kennedy

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

Narrators:
Grace Grant
Jeremy York

JoLee@cozysundayreads

Jun 26, 2022

Rating: 3 Stars - Liked It "Wall Street meets the Sons Of Anarchy" grabbed my attention. Sadly Hard Rules over all did not do that. I was all ready to meet this messed up Brandon family and get sucked into their crazy family drama. Everybody in the family business as their own agenda and not sure who to trust. I did enjoy the family and Shane's secretary more than the couple. I would get excited anytime any of the other family members had any page time. Even though I did enjoy the family I still feel like the plot with them was missing something. The beginning was a slow start but I was still able to enjoy getting to see how Shane and Emily met and get a little of the bickering with the family. But from there nothing really moved forward except the relationship with Shane and Emily. As I connected with them in the beginning I was losing that connection as the story moved along. There were no ups and downs or no wow moments with them. Emily is still a mysterious character. There are hints here and there that she is up to something or running away from someone or something. I did feel like both characters had the same tone of voice and no personalities. There were at times I thought I would see a different side of Shane a more darker side but he would revert quickly to himself. I feel like she made him more at ease with what is happening with his family. I really do not know why they like each other or what attracts them to each other. Readers get to get the scoop on what is going on with the family business and have to say it was boring and long at times. I enjoyed getting the info but for me less would of been enough. Written in dual 1st POV and loved that it was not repetitive. The last 20% was amazing and felt like a whole different tone with the characters that I wanted through out. This did feel like a set up with lots of fillers for the series. Lots of unsolved answers and more questions which I am sure will be solved in book 2. Nothing I am anxious to read right away but I am sure as time goes by if I get curious I can see me reading book 2 for my answers.

Chantale@canadianbookaddict

Sep 15, 2021

I have been a fan of Lisa Renee Jones for a few years now and I have read and reviewed a lot of her book. Every time I hear she has a book coming out I just have to get my hands on it and read it right away. As soon as I received Hard Rules I read it . I couldn't read it all right away but I wanted to because this book is so darn good. I was hooked from the very beginning and I really didn't want to put it down . Hard Rules is book 1 in Lisa Renee Jones' new series called Dirty Money. I do highly recommend this book.

Cat Imb@thereadingcat

Sep 13, 2021

Rachael Stromberg@rachxel

Sep 1, 2021