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High Stakes
Kate Higgins is an ambitious 24 year old, whose goal is to climb the corporate ladder. Emotional entanglements just aren’t on her wish list. When her boss, Shelley, tells her she is in line for a promotion, Kate should be thrilled. The catch is she has to work on a weekend project with her arch rival, Pete Forest. The one who performs the best will get the promotion. Sparks fly, especially from a determined Kate. By Monday morning, however, both Kate and Pete discover that promotion is the last thing on their minds.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2012
52 people want to read
About the author
Robin Thomas
3 books5 followersAlso known as Robin Martin
Robin Martin Thomas has been a writer and a teacher for many years. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in several countries, but now lives just outside Brisbane, Australia. Writing has always been her passion, and in recent years she has written several novels and short stories for adults and young adults.
When she is not plotting stories, she loves reading everything from cereal boxes to long books that she can get lost in. She finds her inspiration in beach walks along the beautiful Queensland coast; an eclectic music collection that includes Mark Knopfler, ABBA and Mozart; and good coffee, without which she wouldn’t be able to function. She and her family are also Star Trek fans, as is evident from The Alien Chronicles series. The first book, My Alien, was written under her maiden name, Robin Martin, and came out in 2016. You can find it on Goodreads here https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... The second book of the series is The Alien Within and is also on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
She has also written adult books, High Stakes and Bonjour Cherie, under the name Robin Thomas and published by Escape Publishing
Robin Martin Thomas has been a writer and a teacher for many years. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in several countries, but now lives just outside Brisbane, Australia. Writing has always been her passion, and in recent years she has written several novels and short stories for adults and young adults.
When she is not plotting stories, she loves reading everything from cereal boxes to long books that she can get lost in. She finds her inspiration in beach walks along the beautiful Queensland coast; an eclectic music collection that includes Mark Knopfler, ABBA and Mozart; and good coffee, without which she wouldn’t be able to function. She and her family are also Star Trek fans, as is evident from The Alien Chronicles series. The first book, My Alien, was written under her maiden name, Robin Martin, and came out in 2016. You can find it on Goodreads here https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... The second book of the series is The Alien Within and is also on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
She has also written adult books, High Stakes and Bonjour Cherie, under the name Robin Thomas and published by Escape Publishing
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 15, 2017
★★★1/2! High Stakes is a quick, witty & well-written novella about two driven co-workers spending time together when vying for a promotion!
“He winked at me and sauntered off to his cubicle. My fingers tightened around the paperweight on my desk.”
High Stakes is brief story about two competitive and driven co-workers, Pete Forest and Kate Higgins, who find themselves in a race for a promotion. The rules set-forth require they work well together so for the first time they are forced to set aside their bantering, competiveness and borderline underhanded behavior towards each other.
Hero: Pete Forest/British/25-30 years/Executive/dark hair.
Four words to describe Pete: Witty, charming, endearing and driven.
Heroine: Kate Elaine Higgins/Australian/24 years/Executive/blond hair.
Four words to describe Kate: Witty, sweet, smart and focused.
What worked for me:
• The dialogue; Their bantering was witty and entertaining!
• The characters were both compelling!
What did not work for me:
• There was no sexual tension, nothing beyond a kiss.
• The ending; Though it left them in a good place it was rather abrupt. That said I feel the author left the door open for a sequel. I would welcome a book 2 with a more pronounced HEA rather than a HFN!
Novellas are difficult to rate because there is not much room for story and character development. Overall High Stakes was quick, witty and well-written, but lacked in steam! As mentioned I would welcome a sequel seeing them further into the future.
“Jeez, the only relationship I wanted with that creep was long distance, preferably with several continents between us because I’d kicked his arse that far.”
***
Hero rating: 4 stars
Heroine rating: 4 stars
Sex scenes rating: N/A
Storyline concept rating: 3 stars
Storytelling skills rating: 4 stars
Story ending rating: 3 stars
************************************************
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Would I re-read this book: No.
Would I read future books by this author: Yes.
August 2, 2015
a bit of a sappy, feel good story, but I loved it anyway. had me smiling & giggling most of the way through. loved the plastic boob apron comment, typical (or maybe that's stereotypical) aussie bloke/dad lol.
February 7, 2013
High Stakes by Robin Thomas is one of Escape Publishing’s latest novella releases. I’m really enjoying the variety in the stories they publish and High Stakes is certainly a unique story in many ways. At 10,000 words it’s classed by the publisher as a novella, but for me it felt like a short story. Written in first person and in a timeline format, Thomas brings a fresh voice to the contemporary romance genre. So easily can first person viewpoint in romance or women’s fiction lend to a character that is self-absorbed and a little ditzy, but Thomas excels at delivering an intelligent, quick-witted and determined young heroine in the form of Kate Higgins.
At 24 years old, Kate’s whole life revolves around her corporate job and outsmarting her competition, the unruly Pom Pete Forest. When her boss Shelley challenges them to get to know each other and work closely on a project, Kate intends to let nothing stop her from landing the promotion up for grabs on Monday morning. It’s survival of the fittest and with Kate’s anger issues, her defensive stance toward Pete and well, frankly her lack of life outside of work she’s pretty sure she can get the promotion in the bag. But when her arched enemy Pete turns out to be much nicer than she anticipated, Kate’s defences break down slightly and pushing her paranoia to the side, she actually warms to him. Not only does she re-assess her opinion of Pete but she also reconsiders her priorities in life.
The way the story is written in a quick succession of scenes and Kate’s quick wit and attitude really sits well against the backdrop of the ruthless corporate world. The author showed the development in Kate and Pete over a short period of time, in a short space of words with just enough suspense and conflict that’s resolved with a very satisfactory happily-ever-after. No word is wasted.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed High Stakes and highly recommend it as a short, sharp and refreshing read by Robin Thomas, an author I’ll be keeping my eye out for in the future.
At 24 years old, Kate’s whole life revolves around her corporate job and outsmarting her competition, the unruly Pom Pete Forest. When her boss Shelley challenges them to get to know each other and work closely on a project, Kate intends to let nothing stop her from landing the promotion up for grabs on Monday morning. It’s survival of the fittest and with Kate’s anger issues, her defensive stance toward Pete and well, frankly her lack of life outside of work she’s pretty sure she can get the promotion in the bag. But when her arched enemy Pete turns out to be much nicer than she anticipated, Kate’s defences break down slightly and pushing her paranoia to the side, she actually warms to him. Not only does she re-assess her opinion of Pete but she also reconsiders her priorities in life.
The way the story is written in a quick succession of scenes and Kate’s quick wit and attitude really sits well against the backdrop of the ruthless corporate world. The author showed the development in Kate and Pete over a short period of time, in a short space of words with just enough suspense and conflict that’s resolved with a very satisfactory happily-ever-after. No word is wasted.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed High Stakes and highly recommend it as a short, sharp and refreshing read by Robin Thomas, an author I’ll be keeping my eye out for in the future.
February 21, 2013
I loved it! Fast, witty and downright entertaining.
March 6, 2013
The plot was nice. But this was really way too short...
September 3, 2013
It was a quickie ;)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews