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Gaming the System #7
For The Taking
So I married my nemesis…
My new life in the States and dream job as a game tester just hit a massive snag. If I don't want immediate deportation on my to-do list, I need help, stat. Quickest solution—marry Lucas Walker, my cranky and oh-so-annoying co-worker. Still, this can work. We’ll have rules and have to stick to them. I won’t think about his muscled arms or how stupid handsome he is even while he pushes all my hot buttons. It’s a marriage on paper only. I need to remember that.
Player two, press start.
When that exasperating Canadian, Katya Ellis, asked for help, I agreed because she was willing to help me in return. She doesn’t need to know it’s in my best interest for her to stay in the country. Nope, this is a business arrangement through and through. Which means I’ll set aside all those involuntary fantasies I’ve been having about her shapely body pressed to mine…
What could go wrong? Welp… as it turns out, just about everything.
My new life in the States and dream job as a game tester just hit a massive snag. If I don't want immediate deportation on my to-do list, I need help, stat. Quickest solution—marry Lucas Walker, my cranky and oh-so-annoying co-worker. Still, this can work. We’ll have rules and have to stick to them. I won’t think about his muscled arms or how stupid handsome he is even while he pushes all my hot buttons. It’s a marriage on paper only. I need to remember that.
Player two, press start.
When that exasperating Canadian, Katya Ellis, asked for help, I agreed because she was willing to help me in return. She doesn’t need to know it’s in my best interest for her to stay in the country. Nope, this is a business arrangement through and through. Which means I’ll set aside all those involuntary fantasies I’ve been having about her shapely body pressed to mine…
What could go wrong? Welp… as it turns out, just about everything.
537 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2020
95 people are currently reading
1731 people want to read
About the author
Brenna Aubrey
46 books2,107 followers
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Smart is Sexy
Brenna Aubrey is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author of contemporary romance stories. Her debut novel, At Any Price, is currently free on all platforms. Her books are on over a million e-readers worldwide. They've also been translated into German, French, Italian, Dutch and adapted into an interactive app game!
She has always sought comfort in good books and the long, involved stories she weaves in her head. Brenna is a city girl with a nature-lover’s heart. She therefore finds herself out in green open spaces any chance she can get. She currently resides on the west coast of the US with her husband and children (both human and furry).
Reading Order
THE POINT OF NO RETURN SERIES available now!
High Risk
High Reward
THE GAMING THE SYSTEM SERIES: available now!
At Any Price
At Any Turn
At Any Moment
For the Win
For the One
Worth Any Cost
It Was Always You
For The Taking
For The Holidays
Take Any Chance
The Gaming The System series is complete
Smart is Sexy
Brenna Aubrey is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author of contemporary romance stories. Her debut novel, At Any Price, is currently free on all platforms. Her books are on over a million e-readers worldwide. They've also been translated into German, French, Italian, Dutch and adapted into an interactive app game!
She has always sought comfort in good books and the long, involved stories she weaves in her head. Brenna is a city girl with a nature-lover’s heart. She therefore finds herself out in green open spaces any chance she can get. She currently resides on the west coast of the US with her husband and children (both human and furry).
Reading Order
THE POINT OF NO RETURN SERIES available now!
High Risk
High Reward
THE GAMING THE SYSTEM SERIES: available now!
At Any Price
At Any Turn
At Any Moment
For the Win
For the One
Worth Any Cost
It Was Always You
For The Taking
For The Holidays
Take Any Chance
The Gaming The System series is complete
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November 3, 2022AVAILABLE NOW!
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2nd teaser!! "I'm not used to you smiling this much. I think I need to be afraid, very afraid."
1st teaser"No hearts would be bruised in the making and breaking of this marriage. Guaranteed."
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SNEAK PEEK: :)
According to the paperwork handed to me by the judge at the hearing I’d just attended, I had less than ninety days to produce a red-blooded American spouse for their inspection—and inquisition—or I was definitely out of the country for a good long time.
I took another shaky sip of my coffee at the Starbucks near the Draco Multimedia campus while bouncing my leg up and down nervously. I glanced over the bullet list I’d scrawled on the back of my receipt. Talking points.
More like begging points, to be perfectly honest.
My phone chimed once again with a text message. I snatched it up, expecting some snarky comment, but it was not from the person I was expecting.
Mia: Hey girlfriend. Just letting you know that we are back on dry land and waiting for our flight home.
Me: However, you are still, technically, on your honeymoon, Mrs. Drake, and you definitely shouldn’t be texting me.
Mia: We’re in the lounge. No time or place for funny business. A still insists on flying commercial when we can.
Me: Mile high club then?
Mia: Uh. No.
Me: Well I at least hope he spent the last 3 weeks making you good and sore.
In response, she sent me the blushing emoji with wide eyes, denoting bashfulness. Let’s just say there’s not a whole lot else to do out in the middle of the ocean on a yacht.
I laughed and wished her and her new husband a good flight. Setting the phone aside, my eyes skimmed the bullet list again and I checked the time, checked the door. Checked the line at the register. Checked the time again. Bounced my knee up and down many times and then crumpled the damn receipt in my hand.
“You see, it’s like this, Lucas… I need a husband,” I said to the empty chair across from me. I couldn’t exactly call him “Jedi Boy” during a marriage proposal, could I?
No. Dang it. I was forced to be nice to him.
But the second I was nice to him, he’d smell a rat and his defenses would go up.
Several heads turned my way though I was pretty sure they hadn’t heard what I said, just saw me speaking to the chair across from me. I put my face in my hand and closed my eyes, drawing in a deep cleansing breath while the pungent and sugary smell of coffee and pastries permeated my senses.
Who’d have thought that going to Adam and Mia’s wedding would cause so much trouble. No—no it wasn’t the fault of the wedding. Though I was semi-convinced that some bad juju had befallen me when Mia had thrown her bouquet and it had landed on me—tangled into my hair so that it had taken fifteen minutes to pull it free while I shrieked in panic.
I was cursed. It was probably a Caribbean voodoo marriage curse of some kind.
My eyes drifted down to the name I’d scrawled on the fiancé visa application. I needed a husband. Yesterday.
And for some crazy effed up reason, it had to be Lucas.
After asking around to all our mutual friends, I’d confirmed what I had suspected—Lucas was single and available. And we had a documented relationship, if “frenemies” would be a believable enough pre-marriage relationship for the immigration office.
When Lucas finally pushed through the front door of the coffee shop, my stomach dropped to my shoes. He was tall and on the thin side of medium build but with strong arms and shoulders. He was wearing a flannel shirt over his usual work uniform of a t-shirt and jeans. Dark hair worn short and slightly spikey on top. Sleepy brown eyes. Looking at him without knowing how much he rubbed me the wrong way, I’d definitely deem him bangable.
He skimmed the room quickly and found me. I held up a hand and he scowled, beelining it for my table.
Ugh. So he was in that kind of mood. Crud.
He sank down in front of me, eyes narrowing while pointedly extending his hand in front of him to glance at a large, chunky wristwatch. “Okay Cranberry. Like I said in the text, I can give you fifteen minutes, then I’m back at work. I don’t see why we had to do this here instead of just stay at the office.”
I held up my cup. “The coffee’s better here. Can I get you some?”
He shook his head. “That coffee doesn’t have enough caffeine for what my day has in store. It’s Red Bull all the way. Now spit it out.”
Dayum. Dude needed some chill or more Adderall or something. Yikes.
“Well, uh, I—”
He rolled his eyes. “Kat, we’re on a deadline and it’s crunch time. Can you stop the hemming and hawing?”
“I, uh, I need some help.”
His dark brows furrowed over those striking eyes and my heart sped up a bit—but not at all because he was good-looking. Okay, he was handsome but he was so not my type. Nope. I was just nervous about asking him to do this.
“Is this about asking for an assistant again? I don’t even have an assistant. What makes you think—”
I held up my hand. “It’s not about work. It’s… personal. I need something.”
His brows shot up and in spite of himself, I caught a glimpse of concern in his eyes before he quickly hid it, frowning again. “Okay, so… what do you need and why are you asking me for it?”
I fiddled with my coffee cup, popping the top off and on a few times. “Well, I’m asking you in particular because it’s, um, something only you can do for me.”
He looked even more perplexed and to be honest, I didn’t blame him. I was blowing up my own hastily-prepared bullet-points speech. Maybe bullet points just weren’t my thing. I’d been University-trained as a coder. Maybe I should have made an old-school style flow chart instead.
Or I could have just poked out my chest and let him focus on that. I’d caught him looking once or twice, when he thought I hadn’t noticed.
“Yeah so …what I need.”
“Yes?”
“I, uh—” Pop. The lid came off again and I almost spilled the damn coffee. It would have gone all over had the cup not been practically empty.
“Spit it out, Cranberry. What do you want me to do?”
My eyes shot up, my gaze locking on his. I swallowed a grapefruit-sized lump in my dry throat. Damn, now I needed water.
“Well?” he prompted, jerking his chin toward me in irritation.
“I have to get married,” I finally blurted. My knee bobbed up and down and he frowned at me. I could read his response all over his face: How is that my problem?
With a deep breath, grasping at the words to continue, I inexplicably pushed the visa application across the table to him and pointed to his name. “To you.”
He froze, staring as if he didn’t trust what his ears had just told him I’d said.
After a tense minute, his eyes dropped to the form, reading and rereading it, his eyes glued to where I’d written in his name in black ink. Then his gaze returned to mine. He sat unblinking and clearly in shock. I could practically hear the wheels turning in his brain as he absorbed this. And in response, I held my breath until it burned my lungs.
Gradually the look on his face morphed into something unreadable. Like a cross between being told he had a terminal illness and having just been slammed in the nuts by something heavy and metallic.
Well, crap. This didn’t bode well…Maybe I should have led with poking my chest out at him after all.
Continue by reading the prologue on my blog! [Click here to read the prologue]
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More info: https://brennaaubrey.net/books/for-th...
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2nd teaser!! "I'm not used to you smiling this much. I think I need to be afraid, very afraid."
1st teaser"No hearts would be bruised in the making and breaking of this marriage. Guaranteed."
🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗
More info: https://brennaaubrey.net/books/for-th...
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(subscriber-only bonus material available)
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SNEAK PEEK: :)
According to the paperwork handed to me by the judge at the hearing I’d just attended, I had less than ninety days to produce a red-blooded American spouse for their inspection—and inquisition—or I was definitely out of the country for a good long time.
I took another shaky sip of my coffee at the Starbucks near the Draco Multimedia campus while bouncing my leg up and down nervously. I glanced over the bullet list I’d scrawled on the back of my receipt. Talking points.
More like begging points, to be perfectly honest.
My phone chimed once again with a text message. I snatched it up, expecting some snarky comment, but it was not from the person I was expecting.
Mia: Hey girlfriend. Just letting you know that we are back on dry land and waiting for our flight home.
Me: However, you are still, technically, on your honeymoon, Mrs. Drake, and you definitely shouldn’t be texting me.
Mia: We’re in the lounge. No time or place for funny business. A still insists on flying commercial when we can.
Me: Mile high club then?
Mia: Uh. No.
Me: Well I at least hope he spent the last 3 weeks making you good and sore.
In response, she sent me the blushing emoji with wide eyes, denoting bashfulness. Let’s just say there’s not a whole lot else to do out in the middle of the ocean on a yacht.
I laughed and wished her and her new husband a good flight. Setting the phone aside, my eyes skimmed the bullet list again and I checked the time, checked the door. Checked the line at the register. Checked the time again. Bounced my knee up and down many times and then crumpled the damn receipt in my hand.
“You see, it’s like this, Lucas… I need a husband,” I said to the empty chair across from me. I couldn’t exactly call him “Jedi Boy” during a marriage proposal, could I?
No. Dang it. I was forced to be nice to him.
But the second I was nice to him, he’d smell a rat and his defenses would go up.
Several heads turned my way though I was pretty sure they hadn’t heard what I said, just saw me speaking to the chair across from me. I put my face in my hand and closed my eyes, drawing in a deep cleansing breath while the pungent and sugary smell of coffee and pastries permeated my senses.
Who’d have thought that going to Adam and Mia’s wedding would cause so much trouble. No—no it wasn’t the fault of the wedding. Though I was semi-convinced that some bad juju had befallen me when Mia had thrown her bouquet and it had landed on me—tangled into my hair so that it had taken fifteen minutes to pull it free while I shrieked in panic.
I was cursed. It was probably a Caribbean voodoo marriage curse of some kind.
My eyes drifted down to the name I’d scrawled on the fiancé visa application. I needed a husband. Yesterday.
And for some crazy effed up reason, it had to be Lucas.
After asking around to all our mutual friends, I’d confirmed what I had suspected—Lucas was single and available. And we had a documented relationship, if “frenemies” would be a believable enough pre-marriage relationship for the immigration office.
When Lucas finally pushed through the front door of the coffee shop, my stomach dropped to my shoes. He was tall and on the thin side of medium build but with strong arms and shoulders. He was wearing a flannel shirt over his usual work uniform of a t-shirt and jeans. Dark hair worn short and slightly spikey on top. Sleepy brown eyes. Looking at him without knowing how much he rubbed me the wrong way, I’d definitely deem him bangable.
He skimmed the room quickly and found me. I held up a hand and he scowled, beelining it for my table.
Ugh. So he was in that kind of mood. Crud.
He sank down in front of me, eyes narrowing while pointedly extending his hand in front of him to glance at a large, chunky wristwatch. “Okay Cranberry. Like I said in the text, I can give you fifteen minutes, then I’m back at work. I don’t see why we had to do this here instead of just stay at the office.”
I held up my cup. “The coffee’s better here. Can I get you some?”
He shook his head. “That coffee doesn’t have enough caffeine for what my day has in store. It’s Red Bull all the way. Now spit it out.”
Dayum. Dude needed some chill or more Adderall or something. Yikes.
“Well, uh, I—”
He rolled his eyes. “Kat, we’re on a deadline and it’s crunch time. Can you stop the hemming and hawing?”
“I, uh, I need some help.”
His dark brows furrowed over those striking eyes and my heart sped up a bit—but not at all because he was good-looking. Okay, he was handsome but he was so not my type. Nope. I was just nervous about asking him to do this.
“Is this about asking for an assistant again? I don’t even have an assistant. What makes you think—”
I held up my hand. “It’s not about work. It’s… personal. I need something.”
His brows shot up and in spite of himself, I caught a glimpse of concern in his eyes before he quickly hid it, frowning again. “Okay, so… what do you need and why are you asking me for it?”
I fiddled with my coffee cup, popping the top off and on a few times. “Well, I’m asking you in particular because it’s, um, something only you can do for me.”
He looked even more perplexed and to be honest, I didn’t blame him. I was blowing up my own hastily-prepared bullet-points speech. Maybe bullet points just weren’t my thing. I’d been University-trained as a coder. Maybe I should have made an old-school style flow chart instead.
Or I could have just poked out my chest and let him focus on that. I’d caught him looking once or twice, when he thought I hadn’t noticed.
“Yeah so …what I need.”
“Yes?”
“I, uh—” Pop. The lid came off again and I almost spilled the damn coffee. It would have gone all over had the cup not been practically empty.
“Spit it out, Cranberry. What do you want me to do?”
My eyes shot up, my gaze locking on his. I swallowed a grapefruit-sized lump in my dry throat. Damn, now I needed water.
“Well?” he prompted, jerking his chin toward me in irritation.
“I have to get married,” I finally blurted. My knee bobbed up and down and he frowned at me. I could read his response all over his face: How is that my problem?
With a deep breath, grasping at the words to continue, I inexplicably pushed the visa application across the table to him and pointed to his name. “To you.”
He froze, staring as if he didn’t trust what his ears had just told him I’d said.
After a tense minute, his eyes dropped to the form, reading and rereading it, his eyes glued to where I’d written in his name in black ink. Then his gaze returned to mine. He sat unblinking and clearly in shock. I could practically hear the wheels turning in his brain as he absorbed this. And in response, I held my breath until it burned my lungs.
Gradually the look on his face morphed into something unreadable. Like a cross between being told he had a terminal illness and having just been slammed in the nuts by something heavy and metallic.
Well, crap. This didn’t bode well…Maybe I should have led with poking my chest out at him after all.
Continue by reading the prologue on my blog! [Click here to read the prologue]
🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗🌵💗
More info: https://brennaaubrey.net/books/for-th...
SIGN UP my mailing list: http://Brenna.news
(subscriber-only bonus material available)
BUY links:
*Apple Books: http://smarturl.it/FTT-apple
*Kobo: http://smarturl.it/FTT-Kobo
*Nook: http://smarturl.it/FTT-BN
*Amazon: http://smarturl.it/FTT-Amazon
*GooglePlay: http://smarturl.it/FTT-Google
Print : Available SOON
April 10, 2021
3,5 arghhhh due anni per leggere di Kat e Lucas e le aspettative sono state disilluse. Il loro odio/amore intravisto nei volumi precedenti non pervenuto nemmeno per un momento. La storia si è concentrata molto sulle loro situazioni familiari che hanno preso il sopravvento per la maggior parte del romanzo.
May 4, 2021
Questa serie continua a piacermi!
Lettura consigliata a chi ama i romance con protagonisti i nerd, i rapporti odio-amore e i matrimoni di convenienza.
Lettura consigliata a chi ama i romance con protagonisti i nerd, i rapporti odio-amore e i matrimoni di convenienza.
November 17, 2020
God! Seriously loved this book!
"She was the perfect mix of tough tomboy gamer girl and dazzling feminine beauty."
Katya Ellis and Lucas Walker are work colleagues who have a prickly work relationship. When Katya's job is threatened due to legal reasons, she inadvertently puts Lucas on the spot. Fortunately, he wants something out of their arrangement, too. They only have to play pretend for a few months. However, their ruse - and their undeniable and unacknowledged mutual attraction - is sorely tested.
"Something inside me was moving, changing, melting. The walls I'd built around those deep feelings to keep me safe trembled just slightly."
I loved this book hard!!! OMG! Katya and Lucas had hella hot chemistry. All their snarky banter equated to some serious, tense foreplay. I'm telling you that it took a while for them to get to boiling point - but not for want of trying! *fans self* They both had secrets that they were reluctant to divulge but I absolutely adored the support they showed one another. Kat was feisty but sweet and loyal. Lucas was grumpy but had moments of lightness, as we watched them enjoy a game of one-upmanship. I loved watching Kat break down his defensive walls. This was such a hot, amusing, heart-melting read. Totally loved it!
Blog: https://readingwillingable.blogspot.c...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R3VAM4G...
"She was the perfect mix of tough tomboy gamer girl and dazzling feminine beauty."
Katya Ellis and Lucas Walker are work colleagues who have a prickly work relationship. When Katya's job is threatened due to legal reasons, she inadvertently puts Lucas on the spot. Fortunately, he wants something out of their arrangement, too. They only have to play pretend for a few months. However, their ruse - and their undeniable and unacknowledged mutual attraction - is sorely tested.
"Something inside me was moving, changing, melting. The walls I'd built around those deep feelings to keep me safe trembled just slightly."
I loved this book hard!!! OMG! Katya and Lucas had hella hot chemistry. All their snarky banter equated to some serious, tense foreplay. I'm telling you that it took a while for them to get to boiling point - but not for want of trying! *fans self* They both had secrets that they were reluctant to divulge but I absolutely adored the support they showed one another. Kat was feisty but sweet and loyal. Lucas was grumpy but had moments of lightness, as we watched them enjoy a game of one-upmanship. I loved watching Kat break down his defensive walls. This was such a hot, amusing, heart-melting read. Totally loved it!
Blog: https://readingwillingable.blogspot.c...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R3VAM4G...
October 1, 2020
*happy sigh*!!....I absolutely love this series!
There is no denying that the guys (and girls!!) from the Gaming The System series, are my favourite geeks ever!!
This is Katya and Lucas's story....
Katya is Mia's bff and a strong willed, kick-ass, witty, honest, sarky and hot nerd - loved her!!
Lucas is the brooding, grumpy, quiet, smart sexy type - and I loved him too 😘
The blurb gives the gist - Katya needs Lucas to marry her so that she's not kicked out of the country!....
I loved these two together, they just fitted so well. The bickering and insults, the grumpiness at each other, the attraction that they try to deny!
It has humour and all the feels 🥰
Thoroughly enjoyed this and most definitely recommend it - even if nerds aren't your thing - you will love these guys!!
*I voluntarily received an arc from the author and this is my honest review.
There is no denying that the guys (and girls!!) from the Gaming The System series, are my favourite geeks ever!!
This is Katya and Lucas's story....
Katya is Mia's bff and a strong willed, kick-ass, witty, honest, sarky and hot nerd - loved her!!
Lucas is the brooding, grumpy, quiet, smart sexy type - and I loved him too 😘
The blurb gives the gist - Katya needs Lucas to marry her so that she's not kicked out of the country!....
I loved these two together, they just fitted so well. The bickering and insults, the grumpiness at each other, the attraction that they try to deny!
It has humour and all the feels 🥰
Thoroughly enjoyed this and most definitely recommend it - even if nerds aren't your thing - you will love these guys!!
*I voluntarily received an arc from the author and this is my honest review.
May 31, 2024
I've been waiting a long time for this story and it didn't disappoint me. It's a long book but it worths the time.
October 7, 2020
For the Taking is part of an ongoing Gaming the System series, but can be read as a standalone book.
Lucas Walker is a hard working game tester at Draco Multimedia Entertainment. He has worked long and hard toward a promotion and the only thing in his way is an impossible deadline he is determined to meet.
Katya Ellis left Canada to come to the U.S. to help her best friend, Mia through her cancer. Turns out she was running from more than that, but no one knows that. Until she is coming home from Mia and Adam's Caribbean destination wedding and immigration wants to deport her for living and working illegally in the U.S. Thinking fast on her feet, she claims Lucas, who works with her as a game tester, as her fiancè. Luckily he plays along.
They arrange a marriage in paper only. Lucas so he can keep his best worker at as many hours as they can push for his deadline and Kat for her green card to avoid being deported. Until work and friends find out and offer to move them in together. Then both their families find out and it turns out Lucas fled from his family too, for very different reasons. Living under the same roof and working together every day is making their love/hate sexual tension harder to ignore. Will they give in to their attraction? Will they share their real stories with each other? Can they make a marriage last that always had an end date?
Lucas Walker is a hard working game tester at Draco Multimedia Entertainment. He has worked long and hard toward a promotion and the only thing in his way is an impossible deadline he is determined to meet.
Katya Ellis left Canada to come to the U.S. to help her best friend, Mia through her cancer. Turns out she was running from more than that, but no one knows that. Until she is coming home from Mia and Adam's Caribbean destination wedding and immigration wants to deport her for living and working illegally in the U.S. Thinking fast on her feet, she claims Lucas, who works with her as a game tester, as her fiancè. Luckily he plays along.
They arrange a marriage in paper only. Lucas so he can keep his best worker at as many hours as they can push for his deadline and Kat for her green card to avoid being deported. Until work and friends find out and offer to move them in together. Then both their families find out and it turns out Lucas fled from his family too, for very different reasons. Living under the same roof and working together every day is making their love/hate sexual tension harder to ignore. Will they give in to their attraction? Will they share their real stories with each other? Can they make a marriage last that always had an end date?
October 6, 2020
I loved this book.
Brenna Aubrey takes us on another great adventure with For The Taking. Lucas and Katya’s story is the latest in the Gaming The System Series. Until this book Mia and Adam were by far my favourite couple in this series, but after finishing this book Lucas and Katya a close second. Each book just gets better.
Both Lucas and Katya (Kat) have a past They are hiding from and a vision for their future. Kat doesn’t want to get deported and Lucas needs help with his dream job. Through a marriage of convenience they find ways to deal with their past and family issues both have all but ignore, while trying to navigate their goals, all with a secret lust for each other that neither one wants to admit.
It is hard to say what I loved about this book without providing spoilers, which I won’t do, so I will just say, this book is a journey. An exciting, emotional journey. It is an emotional rollercoaster. I felt all the emotions. I cried, I laughed, I felt their fears, anguish and frustrations, I felt their love.
Brenna Aubrey’s words made me take this journey with Kat and Lucas, and I loved every minute. I had trouble putting it down when life for in the way.
If you loved Gaming The System so far you will love For The Taking.
If you haven’t read any of this series, I highly recommend it.
Brenna Aubrey takes us on another great adventure with For The Taking. Lucas and Katya’s story is the latest in the Gaming The System Series. Until this book Mia and Adam were by far my favourite couple in this series, but after finishing this book Lucas and Katya a close second. Each book just gets better.
Both Lucas and Katya (Kat) have a past They are hiding from and a vision for their future. Kat doesn’t want to get deported and Lucas needs help with his dream job. Through a marriage of convenience they find ways to deal with their past and family issues both have all but ignore, while trying to navigate their goals, all with a secret lust for each other that neither one wants to admit.
It is hard to say what I loved about this book without providing spoilers, which I won’t do, so I will just say, this book is a journey. An exciting, emotional journey. It is an emotional rollercoaster. I felt all the emotions. I cried, I laughed, I felt their fears, anguish and frustrations, I felt their love.
Brenna Aubrey’s words made me take this journey with Kat and Lucas, and I loved every minute. I had trouble putting it down when life for in the way.
If you loved Gaming The System so far you will love For The Taking.
If you haven’t read any of this series, I highly recommend it.
October 3, 2020
‘For The Taking’ is the latest book by Brenna
Aubrey, and it features all my favourite characters from the Gaming Series. I devoured this book on almost one sitting and found it incredibly addictive, and I was unable to put it down.
I love the tension, the chemistry between Katya and Lucas, and the whole ‘will they or won’t they’ drama. It was absolute perfection and I am so excited to see what other books Aubrey writes in the future.
The book is about Kat who is in desperate need of a Green Card and manages to rope her straight faced boss Lucas in on the charade. Lucas is adverse to marriage so sees it as ‘no big deal’, as long as his rules and terms are obeyed. Unfortunately once the cat is out of the bag, one lie turns into another and before long they are completely embroiled.
This book reminds me of a combination of The Proposal and Just Go With it combined. I love the uniqueness of the characters, the in depth world of two gamers and it screams originality. Kat is a heroine I could get on board with as she isn’t overly girly, but she also isn’t completely tomboy. She is passionate, fierce and also has this soft vulnerable side to her.
Lucas is also incredibly endearing, he is a rock that slowly needs to be chipped away at, but I adored his storyline and his history, and the way in which he has overcome it all. His feelings for Kat are always on fire, and his passion and possessiveness is enough to get any romance lovers heart going.
The perfect read for those who enjoy gripping stories, and those wanting to find a new author.
Aubrey, and it features all my favourite characters from the Gaming Series. I devoured this book on almost one sitting and found it incredibly addictive, and I was unable to put it down.
I love the tension, the chemistry between Katya and Lucas, and the whole ‘will they or won’t they’ drama. It was absolute perfection and I am so excited to see what other books Aubrey writes in the future.
The book is about Kat who is in desperate need of a Green Card and manages to rope her straight faced boss Lucas in on the charade. Lucas is adverse to marriage so sees it as ‘no big deal’, as long as his rules and terms are obeyed. Unfortunately once the cat is out of the bag, one lie turns into another and before long they are completely embroiled.
This book reminds me of a combination of The Proposal and Just Go With it combined. I love the uniqueness of the characters, the in depth world of two gamers and it screams originality. Kat is a heroine I could get on board with as she isn’t overly girly, but she also isn’t completely tomboy. She is passionate, fierce and also has this soft vulnerable side to her.
Lucas is also incredibly endearing, he is a rock that slowly needs to be chipped away at, but I adored his storyline and his history, and the way in which he has overcome it all. His feelings for Kat are always on fire, and his passion and possessiveness is enough to get any romance lovers heart going.
The perfect read for those who enjoy gripping stories, and those wanting to find a new author.
April 19, 2021
Voto libro: 4.5
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Per leggere la recensione in blog cliccare qui:
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October 14, 2020
I read and reviewed this book voluntarily.
I loved Lucas and Katya.....
She needed her green card to stay in the country, he didn't want to lose the person on his team that would help him get that promotion.
No one was ever supposed to know. It was a secret between them, the witness they didn't know and the person that married them.
But you know how it goes, secrets they get out; what happens then everyone finds out and both Lucas and Katya have to really pretend to be married? This is one wild ride as you meet the family's and the 2 grow closer while faking it. They both have secrets in their past that haunt and follow them. Will they be able to help each other get past them or will they just get to their expiration date and go back to the way it was?
Yet another great read in the Gaming the System series....
I loved Lucas and Katya.....
She needed her green card to stay in the country, he didn't want to lose the person on his team that would help him get that promotion.
No one was ever supposed to know. It was a secret between them, the witness they didn't know and the person that married them.
But you know how it goes, secrets they get out; what happens then everyone finds out and both Lucas and Katya have to really pretend to be married? This is one wild ride as you meet the family's and the 2 grow closer while faking it. They both have secrets in their past that haunt and follow them. Will they be able to help each other get past them or will they just get to their expiration date and go back to the way it was?
Yet another great read in the Gaming the System series....
October 3, 2020
I've read this series from the beginning and have loved every book. This is one of those series that pulls at my heartstrings and makes me hope the characters can get past their demons to have a chance at HEA. This is also a series you should read in order to get the most out of it. This is Lucas and Kat's story. I've loved Kat's character from her early days as Persephone with Mia, Adam and Heath. She is tough as nails... on the outside... with a secret that could take everything she's worked for away. Lucas has his own demons and is determined to never fall again... he's got a very sturdy wall built around himself. Despite that wall, he comes to Kat's aide when she needed him most. They are very competitive and bicker often. What could possibly go wrong with their plan to keep it temporary and go back to "normal" when Kat has green card in hand? All it takes is a little (a lot of) family drama and all bets are off. I'm wondering when Heath will get his story, or perhaps Julia, Lucas' sister... definitely looking forward to seeing what comes next in this series. Brenna Aubrey has confirmed her place as one of my favorite authors.
October 14, 2020
These two are so sweet together and by Joe do I see some of my traits in Katya...It may have started out as nothing more than a timely convenience for Lucas but to get a deeper look at these characters is so refreshing and the emotions you go through with these two...almost seems like a normal day for me lol.
If you havent jumped on bored yet with The Gaming the System series, do It!! You won't regret it, it's one of my favourites...and this book has made me love it even more.
Brenna you always know how to speak to my geeky nerd side with your stories and I love you for it. Until next time Aby x
If you havent jumped on bored yet with The Gaming the System series, do It!! You won't regret it, it's one of my favourites...and this book has made me love it even more.
Brenna you always know how to speak to my geeky nerd side with your stories and I love you for it. Until next time Aby x
October 12, 2020
I couldn't put it down! Katya and Lucas work together and enter a marriage of convenience when Katya is threatened with being sent back to Canada. This story is funny, entertaining, emotional and ultra-steamy with plenty of slow burn sexual tension. I really liked that the author brought up some very real issues of today - immigration, substance abuse - in a realistic and compassionate manner. Finally, being Canadian, I appreciated the Canadian references -it's not often I come across books with Canadian characters. This is the first book I've read by Brenna Aubrey, and I look forward to reading more.
October 7, 2020
This was such a great book, I loved Kat and Lucas's banter, their relationship and their story! It was such a fantastic read!
October 8, 2020
Entire series is fantastic.
I love the very real issues the author addresses while weaving her love stories. Life isn't always rainbows and unicorns and she gives you real life problems that our hero and heroine have to overcome.
I love the very real issues the author addresses while weaving her love stories. Life isn't always rainbows and unicorns and she gives you real life problems that our hero and heroine have to overcome.
October 1, 2020
Video game tester Katharina Ellis needs Lucas Walker to marry her if she doesn't want to be deported for working in the US illegally. The handsome but annoying Lucas agrees to marry Katya, even though she knows he hates her, and the feeling is mutual. Katya and Lucas agree to get a divorce after she gets her green card. This can only go one of two ways ... they kill each other or they just need to **** and get it over with but how will it all end?
For The Taking is an emotional rollercoaster ride filled with banter, drama, intrigue and steam.
For The Taking is an emotional rollercoaster ride filled with banter, drama, intrigue and steam.
October 2, 2020
Brenna Aubrey’s “For The Taking” book 8 of the series “Gaming The System” could be read as a standalone, but personally I loved each and every one of the books in this series and would highly recommend reading every one of them. Katya and Lucas’s story is a marriage of convenience arranged between two co-workers that prove that love and hate is a very fine line. A true romance that starts out as enemies to lovers and is filled with feelings the cross that line of love and hate in so many ways until it ends with a HEA that will stay with you like all of Brenna Aubrey writing does.
October 14, 2020
Loved it
Wow. I really enjoyed this book. Even though they got married for the wrong reasons. They were in love with each other forever. Got married and had issues but true feelings came out. Great book
Wow. I really enjoyed this book. Even though they got married for the wrong reasons. They were in love with each other forever. Got married and had issues but true feelings came out. Great book
October 14, 2020
This book, this series, it’s perfection. I loved every second of Katya and Lucas’ story is so perfect,
I loved their banter and the chemistry between them is phenomenal.
I will always recommend this series to anyone and everyone.
I loved their banter and the chemistry between them is phenomenal.
I will always recommend this series to anyone and everyone.
October 11, 2020
BRENNA. DID. IT. AGAIN. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
For the Taking is an absolute gut wrenching, beautifully written love story! This book will definitely pull at your emotions. The ending is everything I needed it to be! Thank you Brenna for blessing us with Katya and Lucas’s story. 💞 It was nice being back in the Gaming Series with all the characters that we love! Can’t wait for the next installment 🌟👏🏻💖
For the Taking is an absolute gut wrenching, beautifully written love story! This book will definitely pull at your emotions. The ending is everything I needed it to be! Thank you Brenna for blessing us with Katya and Lucas’s story. 💞 It was nice being back in the Gaming Series with all the characters that we love! Can’t wait for the next installment 🌟👏🏻💖
October 11, 2020
Warning: some scenes may be too sexy to read in public. Brenna Aubrey is the queen of unrequited sexual tension...and then she turns the heat up when she allows her couple to finally come together via her skillful, steamy, romantic, arousing writing.
I’m easy when it comes to the marriage-of-convenience trope. So when Canadian Katya Ellis must marry to stay in the United States and in the gamer quality assurance job she loves, she proposes a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back” Green Card deal with cranky but incredible hot co-worker Lucas Walker. Soon they both get more than they bargained for as the secrets unravel in this next of the Gaming the System series. Aubrey brings her A-game with “For the Taking”—there’s so much delicious, irresistible tension in bringing these two unlikely lovers together for their own causes, only to fall in love, and find their happily ever after.
Tender, thoughtful moments in this quick paced love story that I think is as good as Aubrey’s book that started this series, “At Any Price.” Not to be missed.
I read an advance copy via NetGalley.
I’m easy when it comes to the marriage-of-convenience trope. So when Canadian Katya Ellis must marry to stay in the United States and in the gamer quality assurance job she loves, she proposes a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back” Green Card deal with cranky but incredible hot co-worker Lucas Walker. Soon they both get more than they bargained for as the secrets unravel in this next of the Gaming the System series. Aubrey brings her A-game with “For the Taking”—there’s so much delicious, irresistible tension in bringing these two unlikely lovers together for their own causes, only to fall in love, and find their happily ever after.
Tender, thoughtful moments in this quick paced love story that I think is as good as Aubrey’s book that started this series, “At Any Price.” Not to be missed.
I read an advance copy via NetGalley.
October 4, 2020
Long, anticipated wait for this book and incredibly worth it. Katys snd Lucas’ story is sweet, spicy and engaging. The chemistry between these two just jump off the page. You get their secret marriage story along with their own secrets and dysfunctional families. They end up being each other’s biggest support when needed most. Brenna’s books are always well written with a plot that seems to move at the perfect pace. With this one (as with all her books), you get a romance but you also get so much more. Rich character development, engaging storyline and visits with many of the friends we love. I’ll read every book she writes if they continue to be this good.
October 9, 2020
Just finished reading for the taking. What can I say another amazing book by the amazing brenna.
Kat and lucas story is beautifully written has you fallen in love with them right from start and watching there story and there love develop you cant help but root for them both for the happy ending they both deserve.
100% recommend reading you won't be disappointed
Kat and lucas story is beautifully written has you fallen in love with them right from start and watching there story and there love develop you cant help but root for them both for the happy ending they both deserve.
100% recommend reading you won't be disappointed
October 10, 2020
Another great addition to the series. I love Brennas stories and I really enjoyed getting a look at how the other characters are perceived by people not currently in their circle
October 8, 2020
Brenna doesn't disappoint. The characters are always intelligent and interesting. Careers are important to them and their struggles are relatable. Katya and Lucas were great! Cant wait for the next release. Well done Brenna
October 3, 2020
This book was an icing on the cake to this series! Katya n Lucas were so wonderful together, dayum, they were next in line to April n Jordan being my fav couple! Kat n Lucas had intense gripping sexual tension n chemistry n their scenes together along with their hot banter just set the book on fire! 💥🔥 This series is one of my top fav n wil always be! 👌👏 April, Jordan, Mia, Adam, Jenna, William, Katya, Lucas n Heath will remain evergreen characters! Will miss the Dragon Epoch video game setting which I had become so fond of! Love all the way! 💃🆒📚🔟⭐💖💚💙💛💜❤
October 6, 2020
By far my favorite book of the series. I’ve loved them all but there is something about this one.
October 18, 2020
*Note: I was given an advanced readers copy (ARC) of the book for my honest review. This review may contain spoilers*
At this point, all I can say is that Kat & Lucas are currently fighting Liam & Jenna for my top favorite couple in the entire series, and that's saying a lot. Keep in mind that I have loved every single book that Brenna has written. We waited a bit for Kat's story, but it was WELL worth it. I loved everything about this story. I got this book as an ARC from Brenna, but I would have paid much more than the cost that the book is listed for. You got to see all of the characters from the other stories from this series, so that was a super nice touch. I loved how they both healed each other, and how even though he was grumpy for a good part of the book, you could still see that he truly cared for her. I am about to start reading it again, to be honest, that is how much I enjoyed it. (And by the way Brenna, I now have that song stuck in my head, thanks! ;P )
At this point, all I can say is that Kat & Lucas are currently fighting Liam & Jenna for my top favorite couple in the entire series, and that's saying a lot. Keep in mind that I have loved every single book that Brenna has written. We waited a bit for Kat's story, but it was WELL worth it. I loved everything about this story. I got this book as an ARC from Brenna, but I would have paid much more than the cost that the book is listed for. You got to see all of the characters from the other stories from this series, so that was a super nice touch. I loved how they both healed each other, and how even though he was grumpy for a good part of the book, you could still see that he truly cared for her. I am about to start reading it again, to be honest, that is how much I enjoyed it. (And by the way Brenna, I now have that song stuck in my head, thanks! ;P )
October 23, 2020
This was an absolutely breathtaking, heartbreaking read for me! This wasn't my first experience reading this author's work, as I previously read High Risk and High Reward, but I've never read any of the Gaming the System books until this one and now I'm asking myself where I've been all this time!? OMG, this was such an emotional read for me -- it had everything I look for in a contemporary romance. And anyone who knows me knows I love the fake marriage genre and this was the best! Katya and Lucas were such likeable, relatable characters that it was easy to wish and hope for their HEA. Their journey is not an easy one, but so well worth it. Obviously, I have to read the other books in this series because I need to meet Adam and Mia and Jordan and April! This book had some thought-provoking moments that brought tears to my eyes and warmth to my heart. I loved it and can't wait to read more from this author. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.
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