Private Games

by Tawny Taylor

Who would have thought a simple board game could change your life. Three women learn it can when they toss the dice, face a challenge or two, and win...love, laughter, and hot, hot sex. Playing for Keeps Maddy Beaudet needs to shake things up a bit, but playing a board game isn't exactly what she considers exciting. Jace Michael has just moved across country to recover from an ugly divorce. Anxious to dive into work with both feet, the last thing he needs is a distraction, but the minute he meets Maddy, his employee no less, and learns about the game she's playing with her friends, a whole different game comes to mind. Master May I? Britt Olsen is shocked when Andre Cruz-Romero delivers a birthday gift, mistakenly mailed to Britt's former home. Unfortunately, what she finds in the box isn't what Britt expected. Then again, neither is Andre. The sexy entrepreneur who sports golf shirts and khaki pants by day wears leather by night. And the room that used to house Britt's workout equipment now holds a different kind of...apparatus...for an entirely different kind of game. A Game of Risk Taking risks is what day-trader Olivia Blake's life is all about. Well, at least financially. Personally is another story. It takes the draw of a card for her to approach the man she's pined over, her older sister's brother-in-law. The minute she does, she wonders if she's made the right decision. EMT Ty Wilcox spends his days rescuing people who toss caution to the wind and get injured or worse in the process. Playing it safe is the only way to live. But after seeing Olivia in a skimpy dress that almost covers her vitals, he wonders if risk is the four-letter word he'd always thought it was.

Genres: Erotica, Romance, Contemporary, BDSM, Erotic Romance, Ebooks, Anthologies

232 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2004

About the author

Nothing exciting happens in Tawny Taylor's life, unless you count giving the cat a flea dip--a cat can make some fascinating sounds when immersed chin-deep in insecticide--or chasing after a houseful of upchucking kids during flu season. She doesn't travel the world or employ a staff of personal servants. She's not even built like a runway model. She's just your run-of-the-mill, pleasantly plump Detroit suburban mom and wife.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank goodness this was free. It's three short stories, and to be fair I only read the first one, but in no way did it encourage me to continue. I just found it silly, and it was sort of like bad chick-lit with random sex mixed in. The characters were completely flat and it was so totally predictable. I hate when someone says they're not ready for a commitment, the other person says OK, and than they want more. I know, it happens and feelings change. But in this case it was a few weeks and she knew from the start she wasn't OK with just sex. And then he goes to one counseling session and realizes he can learn not to cheat and everything is hunky-dorey? No thanks. And the writing just drove me crazy. Every other sentence ended in an exclamation point.

[Heather in FL · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was fun, but not deep. Insta-love for some reason just turns me off. Unless it's paranormal and then there are magical forces at work that nobody can explain, so it's all good. All three stories were insta-love.

In the first one, the Maddy meets Jace, the other owner of the company she works for (he's been on the other coast), at a bar and there are instant sparks. But neither one wants to pursue anything because of her job and his place in the company. Plus, he just got done with an ugly divorce and says he's not interested in anything permanent. He cheated on his ex-wife and is afraid he's destined to be like his father (serial cheater), so he wants nothing to do with commitment. But she's determined... and clingy. By the end of the story, he's seen a counselor (once) and is miraculously cured -- he decides he's just not gonna cheat anymore. So NOW he can be with her and they live happily ever after. It was just trite to me, but still kinda sweet.

Second story was a bit hotter, with the D/s elements. Andre's not a hard-core Dom... Britt's intrigued by the sub idea. He decided as soon as he saw her that she was his future. So he buys her house from her, remodels it, and then they're "reunited" when her mom sends her birthday present to her old house and he brings it to her. There was mention that he didn't want to scare her off by telling her he was loaded, but that never even came up, so that was weird to even be in there. And then he brings another woman -- a lesbian -- in to the scenario, and once Britt allows that to happen, he totally opens up and says they should be together forever? Again trite. I liked it up until that point. Not that I disliked it, but it just kind of sent the story in another direction or something and it seemed out of left field.

Third story, aggressive risk-taker Olivia decides to go with her friend to a bar they've never been to. The bartender tried to warn them, but Olivia is determined not to get chased out of a biker bar. And then all hell breaks loose, and they're both hit on the back of the head by something that knocks them out. They come to with paramedics tending to them. Ty happens to be Olivia's brother-in-law -- brother to her sister's husband. Said sister has been trying to play matchmaker with them for years apparently. Anyhoo... things happen, she hops into bed with him... and then spills her guts about where the relationship is going. Freaks Ty the heck out. She's so different from him, he doesn't see how they can meet in the middle. But then he goes on a call to an elderly couple. Yup, they're opposites, too -- could be Olivia and Ty in 50 years -- so Ty decides maybe he should give things with Olivia a chance. And they profess their commitment to each other.

In each of these stories, the commitment professing happens within about a week. You can be in lust within minutes. You might even think it can lead to love. BUT YOU DON'T SAY IT!! Duh. These were sweet, sexy stories, but just not *great*.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I finished it. There are actually three stories in here. The first one ending so quickly and abruptly that I was still wondering what happened. Suddenly she's just okay with the guy who thinks he's a chronic cheater? Because he inherited his cheating gene from his father? Interesting. I think my favourite part of this book was his line - about being afraid to cheat again. That tugged on my heart strings. The rest of it. Eh, it was okay.

The second story was about Andre and some woman he wanted. I can't even remember her name...Andre was hot. The woman was not. Or at least not to me. I liked his dungeon. I categorized it as sugarkink only because it was just sweetly BDSM for me. Nothing intense.

The last story brought it down for me. I liked Ty but Olivia is a not my type. I don't believe in opposites attract and last forever. I think if people have a base foundation of understand and have different personalities, that would be compatible. Personally, I wouldn't want Olivia anywhere near me. She's bipolar. I don't like those highs and lows. Too manic for me. Not my thing. Ty, get ready for some crazy lunacy... Poor bugger.

All in all, this was in interesting read from this new to me author. Yes, it took me forever to get to and read. But I finally did it.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I only read it to fill my sex story craving. I feel like halfway through writing this, she kinda gave up on the whole board-game concept, as it is hardly mentioned in the last two stories. The last story felt completely rushed. Or maybe that was because I was reading the same story but with different characters. Each story went exactly like this:
Woman:"Oh what's this? Private Games? This is silly."
Friend: "TRY IT."
Woman: "Oh fine, if you insist."
-Woman meets an incredibly hot guy because of it and instantly wants him all over her-
-Incredibly hot guy(IHG) also wants her-
-INTENSE SEXXXXIN-
IHG or woman: "I can't explain it but I already love you after that intense sexxxxin"
ING or woman: "Oh me too! Let's plan our life together right now!"
The end :)

The language she used to depict the sex scenes were kinda hot at first but then it got boring to read the same descriptions of a "throbbing cock" or " hot pussy" or "erect nipples". Le sigh. And there were also a few typos (but I don't know if that was only because I read it on my Kindle or not). Oh, and all of the men were kinda unbelievable. ALL of them were well-endowed (and I mean WELL-ENDOWED), chiseled, sexy men but what else were you expecting?

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

*blush* I am a little too emberessed to say how much I liked this book - so I'll just leave it at that :) Great ideas, and fun games :) Definatly learned a few things to teach to my husband :) *Enormous Blush*

The Story lines were really cute though - I kind of think maybe *blush* the 2nd story "Master May I" I believe is the name of it - was the best - it really truely was a new world I had never thoght to explore in - More afraid to really *blush* But after reading this *again blush* there is really a LOT more to the whole DOM and SUB world that I didn't know about - it's not all about pain and pleasure - it's really about *blush Blus Blush* knowing and trusting yourself and your partner ..... It really got me thinking more about *blush* Ok that's as far as I can take this review :D

[john taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually 3 books in one titled:-

1) Playing for keeps.
2) Master may I?
3) A game of risk.

All three books centre upon games that involve challenges which lead to sexual scenarios and BDSM,with a touch of romance thrown into the mix.
I rate it 4 stars for its steamy graphic content,but overall as a 3 in 1 novel,a 3 star rating will suffice.

[Victor Zamora · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really boring book. All the women behave the same and all the men behave the same. They all have the same type of bodies.
I found the sex scenes annoying and greatly exaggerated. Any minor enjoyment I got from reading this was from outside of the sex scenes.

[Sandra Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A OKAY! Where can I find this game, hehehe! These guys were kind of quirky, but the three stories were good.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is certainly better than "Wild Knights," but I don't understand how this author gets five star ratings. Her writing is amateurish at best and the sex scenes are barely enough to be called erotica. Three stories linked to a board game, although the third story barely registers the existence of the game. Some so-so erotic scenes, but the lack of depth in the stories and the flat characters make it more like a plot thrown together as an excuse to write sex scenes. All of the female protagonists seemed weak and needy (and not just in the sexual way) despite the author's attempts to make them seem strong and independent. This, and the fact that the protagonists were practically sprinting to the altar after a single roll in the hay, really disgusted me with the story lines. And everything rolled up perfectly into a neat little package at the end of each story; I'm all for a happy ending, but this was almost cliché. Grimm could have written a better happily ever after than this author.

I'm not expecting my trashy romance novels to read like one of the classics, but for crying out loud, how can people rate this four or more stars?

[Alexandra Rolo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quando acabo de ler um livro que seja pesado não estou pronta a digerir de imediato outro que seja assim e por isso vingo-me em contos da amazon, e como já sabem, por norma são porno.

Private Games pertence à Ellora's Cave e é composto por três contos: Playing for Keeps, Master May I? e A Game of Risk.
Nos três temos algumas coisas em comum: um jogo de tabuleiro para mulheres, gajas boas e desesperadas (ainda que não o admitam) e tipos bons que com jeitinho passam por armários.
O primeiro é o único que gira mais em torno do tal jogo enquanto que o último é uma espécie de romance estranho onde o jogo faz poof e deixa de ser o tema central.
Como já é hábito desta colecção e desta autora temos muitas cenas de sexo bem descritas, se o resto do texto fosse assim tão bem elaborado...
Esta foi uma leitura grátis da kindle store, mas se estiverem com vontade de gastar dinheiro em papel inútil podem sempre adquirir o paperback.


in: http://livrosportodolado.blogs.sapo.p...

[LadyH95 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read. It is actually comprised of three short stories - "Playing for Keeps", "Master, May I?", and "A Game of Risk" - that revolve around an internet purchased board game called "Private Games". Each story is about how a woman steps out of her normal routine or out of her comfort zone and how it enhances her lift. Of course, each story has a HEA ending. The endings, to me, seemed a bit rushed. It was like 90% of a build up and then all of a sudden a bow was put on it to finish the story.

Enjoyable - not something I would re-read. May find other books by this author.

I read this on the Kindle version. As normal with these books, it did NOT have an active table of contents. The editing / proofreading and formatting were better than most.

[Nikki Wilde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maddy and her two friends just got a board game off of the internet. It's full of challenges that get them out and meeting new people. Maddy's first card is to go to a bar and get the name and number of the sexiest guy there. She happens to stumble upon Jace. Jace is recovering from a divorce and never wants to be in a serious relationship again. Maddy can only go along with no strings for so long.

This story was alright. I enjoyed it. Although, I thought Jace's fears were irrational and annoying. One other thing I didn't like was Maddy's friends argument. I didn't quite understand it and it didn't seem to ring too true of friends.

That being said it was a good start to the rest of the short stories.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 out of 5. While I usually don't purchase or read collections, I was drawn to this for some reason--the stories sounded interesting, I guess. The writing was quite good and the stories embraced some important issues about people, their interests, their outlook on living and loving. I think the early development of each story was good and I found them to be very readable and enjoyable up to a point. I felt that each story ended prematurely and at a point that I felt could have been easily a place to expand the story, the characters, the development of the plot. All that being said, I still enjoyed the collection and am only giving it a lower rating because I think the writer sold herself short. She has the beginnings of three very good longer works.

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ambivalent is the best way for me to express how I felt about this collection of short stories. There was so much promise in each story, but I ended up feeling slightly cheated at the end of all three. I wish there was more character and plot development that a short story format just didn't allow. Some characters moved so quickly from one extreme of emotion to another is a very brief period. The game theme would have been more effective if the story followed the same three players rather than three totally different groups of people we had to be introduced to in each of the stories.

I didn't hate this collection of stories, but I didn't love them either. After tomorrow, I probably won't remember much details on any of the plots and that should say quite a bit.

[~ Stephanie Lynn ~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the first story, a woman meets a hot guy at a bar and realizes that he is her absentee boss who is recovering from a divorce and is afraid of commitment.

In the second story, a woman begins a relationship with the guy who bought her house and finds out he is into the master/slave sexual lifestyle.

In the third story, a daredevil day trader begins a relationship with a risk-adverse EMT.

While I enjoyed the sex scenes in each story, they were held back overall by the author's desire to present a perfect HEA. A HEA for a couple that has been on a handful of dates shouldn't be a long-term relationship -- that's just weird. As a result, the endings felt rushed and contrived.

[Mr. Granger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted so much to like this more than I did, but after reading it, I was a little confused about why Ms. Taylor didn't follow through on the theme of the book.

This was a perfect chance to play through an imaginary game and follow what happened with a few different women as they played the game. It could have been a fun ride, but instead what Ms. Taylor gave us was three different stories only related by the fact that the main characters each started the story playing the same game. Honestly, it wasn't enough of a tie in.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Private Games was something I snagged off Amazon without ever reading the description. I didn't realize that it was three different stories, but I'm glad I didn't know, otherwise I would have overlooked it completely. I loved that the entire set of stories was tied together by one board game, even if it wasn't completely obvious from the beginning.

I wish the stories were brought out to full length novels. They would hold up well to being longer. I will definitely be looking at more things that Tawny Taylor has written, if there is anything.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was comprised of three different short stories that were supposed to be evolving around a board game. In my opinion, though, the only time the board game was really mentioned was in the first short story, and even then, it seemed like it was awful trivial. After the initial short story, it almost felt as if the author gave up on the story and was only writing for the sex. I was very disappointed with the way the author continued on in what could have been a creative and very interesting writing collection.

[Dalia ;)* · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Playing For Keeps (2 stars)
Starts out weak then it gets really hot and sexy; fast and then when story should be picking up it ENDS! So I guess it was ok!

*Master May I? (3stars)
Ok this was hotter. So this book is doing a little better; but once again as the story is getting good it ends!


*A Game of Risk(3stars)
Ok once again this was a good quickie and that's about it!

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Private games. It was sexy and it was funny. I just didn't love it. Candace comes across as a bully half the time, the heroine is weak and the hero comes across as a bit of a man whore, although an honest one since he does state upfront that he is not looking for a relationship, he just wants to get laid. Can't hate him fr being honest and upfront, even if we want to slap him for thinking this is appropriate conversation to have with your employee.

[Sebrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are 3 different stories here to read, all revolving around this 'game'. I liked that the stories weren't too long, but still gave the reader the info needed to get inside the characters minds.
Some BDSM involved, and if you like erotic, this is for you. Although this was a free read from Amazon for Kindle, I wouldn't have minded purchasing it one bit.

[Beck · Rating 1 out of 5]

3 short stories where you have to suspend your incredulity to get anything out of the story. I would class them as fluff. The first story wasn't too bad but the 2nd & 3rd got worse. If you want a very quick read where the happily ever after occurs in less than a week in a story line then read this book.

Originally posted on Amazon.com

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three short stories revolving around one theme. The leaps in character behavior are enormous, probably why I'm not a huge anthology or short story fan, but the characters are fun and the plots entertaining.

[Nell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag. The blurb and first story led you to believe the three stories would be about the three women in the first story - they aren't. Parts of it were quite well written but the sex descriptions were repetitive.

[Spynonu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a big fan of short stories but these were entertaining enough.

The first story is big on humor. Cute

The second a little hotter with more a of a BDSM angle.

The third back to silly romance.

Good for rainy day reading.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book with three short stories. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Master/ Sub story but the other two were great. Overall I liked the theme of complete trust in your partner. That is missing in so many relationships now.

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible book. Sorry. There wasn't any substance at all to this book. The story line didn't flow and I didn't believe in the romance or the passion between the characters. I'm glad this was free book because I would have been so upset if I would have bought this one.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three short stories that feature three different couples that meet at an excotic location. Felt a bit rushed in each story. There were some interesting exchanges between character's that were pretty well thought out. For example, a man talking with his therapist to understand his motivations.

[Imjstgr8 · Rating 2 out of 5]

SIGH.. not what I expected.. It had so much potential but it fell flat in the end. Each story seemed to get worse. The game seemed like it was an after thought in the last two stories.. I was disappointed.. I gave it two stars for the romantic aspects...

[Kara Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish.