Played by the Billionaire

Guide to Love #1

by Alexia Adams

Internet security billionaire, Liam Manning, made a death bed promise to his beloved brother, Marcus, to complete his mystery-romance manuscript. Problem is that Liam’s experience with women is limited to the cold-hearted supermodels he usually dates—nothing like the warm, caring woman depicted in the novel his brother began. So falling back on his hacking skills, he infiltrates an online dating site to find a suitable woman to teach him about romance-regular guy style.

Lorelei Torres was raised by her hard-working mother because her loser father is behind bars. All she wants is an honest man to love and with whom she can raise a large, happy family. After the last contender for her heart turns out to be a lying snake, she decides it’s time she started over. San Francisco is as far from Buffalo as she can get, unfortunately it’s not beyond the reach of her mother’s constant reminders about Lorelei’s ticking biological clock. When her dear parent signs her up with an online dating agency, Lorelei reluctantly agrees to meet her cyber-match. Maybe it’s time an impartial computer chose a man for her.

Can Liam finish the novel before Lorelei discovers his deceptions and, more critically, before she breaches the firewall around his heart?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Billionaires, Erotica, Audiobook, Adult

216 pages, ebook

First published May 19, 2014

About the author

A former world wanderer, Alexia Adams writes contemporary romance stories that reflect her love of exotic destinations and diverse characters and cultures. She currently lives near Vancouver, Canada with her husband and four children and dreams of a world without housework. As a flight risk mom, romance is her escape and she can often be found with her nose in a book, pretending she’s somewhere else. Check out her website: http://alexia-adams.com to sign up for her newsletter for a monthly escape plan and visit her blog on inspirational destinations.

Reviews

[Syndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Played by the Billionaire is certainly a fun vanilla romance. Not many authors can done a great vanilla romance. Because the plot/ banter/ conversation needs to be interesting enough without being boring.

Miss Adams done it right in this book. The combination of the characters, banter/ conversation is fun to read. The characters are loveable and still within boundry of vanilla romance. Not OTT.

I certainly do enjoy reading it.

4 stars

[Gwen (The Gwendolyn Reading Method) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Egads. Did not like her character, did not like the plot, and have I mentioned how much I didn't like the female lead?

[Gabba · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5

Simple, acá tengo anotado otro cortito y al pie: Engaños + sos un mentiroso, pero qué cabalgable estás, ni hablar de tu cuenta = drama, clase b.

Cuánta miércoles he leído este año...

[Becca Moree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well...I finally read it! After reading Miss Guided last week I have been itching to get my hands on Played by the Billionaire. I was a bit nervous. I was worried that I would be disappointed. I mean Miss Guided rocked so very hard that I just knew that there was no way Alexia Adams could pull it off again...no way could she leave me breathless and begging for more...

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Boy was I amazingly wrong!

Some how... some way...Alexia Adams made me tear up, laugh, scream and beg for more. The plot line was unique and flowed so well with Miss Guided. The characters are deep and well developed. The romance flowed naturally and was so super sweet that I couldn't help but want to be a part of it!

Liam was such an ass in the beginning. He just didn't seem to care about anyone but himself and his recently deceased brother. Knowing part of his back story, from Miss Guided, I felt for him. I really did. I get it, he had a shitty childhood...but that doesn't mean you get to treat others poorly...sorry! Over time he grew on me. His behaviors changed and grew to be the man his brother knew he could be.

Then there was sweet Lorelei. Wow, was she dealt a shitty hand in her last relationship...who can blame her for not trusting easily! I loved watching both Liam and Lorelei open up to one another and learn that sometimes, love can solve your problems and help you to over come your fears. You just have to be open to the possibilty!

Needless to say, I highly recommend this book! I am addicted to not only the MCs but the extra characters as well. I so want to know what happens with all of them! :) So go ahead, go over and pick up a copy of Played by the Billionaire and join my addiction!

**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

FOR MORE REVIEWS VISIT

[Ginabm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aburrido, predecible y muy lento.
Solo leí los diálogos para terminar rápido

[Twin Sisters Rockin' Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall Rating: 4 Rockin’ ★★★★

It doesn’t matter if you run a multi-billion dollar corporation when your brother on his death bed asks you to finish his book you do it. Regardless of what is required of you to accomplish his last request, so you don’t know anything about romance, you just do the research. It can’t be that hard, after all you are the CEO and Chairman of IWC Security and the king of internet security.

“Marcus was writing a mystery novel with romantic elements. The hero is an everyday guy who gets caught up in some intrigue. Along the way he meets a girl and falls in love. The mystery bit I can write with no problem. Marcus outlined his plot on that one. The romance element is another thing…”

Liam has several problems the first being that he is known as a player and his character requires that he write about an everyday kind of guy. The second problem is that he is well known and there are pictures of him everywhere. Third he has to find someone that has no idea who he is so that he can have interaction that is not basis. So Liam decides to join an internet dating service and find someone new to the area for his little experiment. He finds Lorelei and decides he needs to observe her before starting his plan.

Liam took a long swig of his coffee, hoping to drown the niggling sensation of pending doom in his stomach. “There she is.” David swiveled and nearly fell off his chair. “Her photo didn’t lie. I’ll say it again, my friend. You are so screwed.”

Liam wears a full beard and few of every seen him without it so he decides to shave, good disguise. Even his best friends can hardly believe how different he looks without the beard. He also needs to find something to drive other than his Aston Martin maybe a Ford or Toyota Corolla. What about his personal chief and his penthouse apartment?

“I can see now why you grew the beard. You’re broken.” Excuse me?” Liam ran a hand over his now-bare chin and cheeks. The smooth skin felt weird under his fingers. “You’ve got a dent in your chin and a hole in your left cheek as well, definite defects. When this is over you’d better grow the facial hair back as soon as possible.”

Margery is working at the bakery that she runs for the pack. She is swamped when Rex walks in and grabs an apron to help with the crowd. When she demands to Lorelei is an event planner that just transferred from the Chicago area to San Francisco. She agrees to try internet dating at her mother’s insistence and goes on a blind date. Her date does not arrive but is approached by the man of her dreams, totally drool worthy. They start a conversation and soon he asks her to have dinner with him. Lorelei doesn’t know but this is all part of Liam’s plan to do research on how to romance a girl and she is his guinea pig.

He leaned back in the seat and let a self-satisfied grin cross his face. Tonight had gone exceptionally well. And he had a date for tomorrow. If that went anywhere near as smoothly as tonight he’d have this romance sewn up and the book finished within the month.

Liam has no idea how to be a normal guy but he had asks Lorelei to let him be her tour guide! Lorelei talks Liam into riding a bus, the metro and eating street food.

“Of course, Liam. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.” “Lady, I haven’t been comfortable since you said the word ‘bus’ first thing this morning,” he grumbled.

The more Liam finds out about Lorelei the more he wants to find out. Liam past haunts his future and Lorelei’s past makes her not want to trust men. He continues to ask her out on dates for his research until the night she kisses him and has an anaphylactic reaction to his M & M peanut habit.

“Can’t breathe,” she managed to gasp out. Panic surged within her. She pulled out of his arms and stumbled to the kitchen…”EpiPen, bag.”

Liam agrees to go to a charity function with Lorelei and she finds out who he really is. Will Lorelei give Liam another chance? Will Liam realize that his relationship with Lorelei is more than a way to research romance for his brother’s book?

Hero –Liam Manning : 4 stars
Heroine –Lorelei Torres : 4 stars
Steam: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Cliffhanger: No

Would I recommend this book: Yes! I really enjoyed this book. It was full of humor and witty conversation. If you enjoy books that explore the journey to true love, this book is for you.

Would I read other books by this author: Yes! I will read more books by this author.

***Received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

Played by the Billionaire
Alexia Adams

[Fos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook

Liam and Lauralei

The internet security part wasn't central, so no real Geek 👓

Good story, the mother storyline was, however, totally annoying.

[Linda Educate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

Played by the Billionaire was a great short story. It cover it all from mystery, comedy, too romance. Once you start you won’t want to put it down. A must read.

[Shannon Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute.

I like how the drama wasn’t too drawn out. I did like the surprise from Marcus at the end. It was very sweet and typical of an older brother

[Monica Cardoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some promises are made to be broken.

This is my first read by Ms. Adams and I have I loved her writing style. I love when I’m so in tune with the characters that their emotions are felt while reading. When I read a synopsis about a billionaire are a scheme that they come up with because they need to fulfill a promise or maybe make their parents see that they were able to find a good girl that would marry them it’s a must read. This storyline was unique and the situation that Liam was in was sad but he was lying to a woman to get what he needed then he would drop her once he was done. Was he not thinking about her feelings and how bad this was going to hurt her or was he just so blind by fulfilling his brother’s dying wish?

William “Liam” Manning lost his brother one month before he had a brilliant idea of hacking into a dating web site and looked for a woman that he could romance. He found the perfect woman, she was a looker and she had no family that she would want for him to meet. I could not believe his way of thinking at the beginning of this story he was so self absorbed that I didn’t like him. I totally get that he couldn’t trust women because of his childhood but not every woman was like his mother.

Lorelei Torres was a woman that trusted with all of her heart and that got her into trouble. He left her previous job or should I say that they ran her away because of an incident that happened at her job. Some men can be jerks and the man that she was seeing was a totally asshat. I could not believe that he had the nerve to do what he did. Now she is in a new state in a city that she has not really explored. That is until she meets a handsome guy after her dating website guy didn’t show up. The moment that she looks into Liam’s eyes there is instant chemistry.

Liam and Lorelei go out on a couple of dates and they are perfect for each other. They share stories about their parents and Liam ends up find out the truth about one of his parents. The one thing that Lorelei always tells Liam is that she hates lies and also she hates crimes. He was second thoughts about just leaving her but something tugs at his heart. Only that the secret that he is not William Manning ends up coming out but he has a story that he ends up covering the truth and she falls for it. He still has his plans of dumping her and he is already coming up with plans for it not to be too painful but can he go through with it.

Played by the Billionaire was an interesting read that had my emotions all over the place. As I said in the beginning I really didn’t like Liam because he was not being considerate to Lorelei’s feelings and how what he planned could really hurt her. I do have to say that I was hooked on it because of that and I wanted to know how far he would actually take it. Then there is Lorelei, she was a sweet woman that needed to protect her heart. She should have followed her heart the moment that he declared he didn’t want a family. Yet how could she resist such a charming man. I did enjoy Ms. Adams writing and how she was able to make it all come together. He had major graveling to do. The chemistry between the both characters is hot and steamy. I love how considerate he was when he no longer ate peanut M&M’s because of her allergic reaction.

I totally recommend this read.

Received ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an Honest Review

[Barmybelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I thought this book had a mixture of interesting yet not over the top plot and a heartwarming romance between two lonely souls. I enjoyed reading it.

Geeky, handsome and single by choice, Liam feels obliged to do as his brother asked and finish the book he was writing. This is completely out of Liam's comfort zone, especially regarding the subject of romance. He takes his brother's advice that he can only write about what he's experienced and finds himself a woman to date. Lorelei has just moved to San Francisco to a new vacancy at work and to escape the embarrassment of a failed relationship. Her mum is determined for her to find love, telling her "you know what they say about women over thirty....they are statistically more likely to get murdered than married" (I hope not!). She unwittingly meets Liam and becomes part of his scheme to learn about love.

We're very neatly and subtly given information about the both Liam and Lorelei's pasts, their childhoods, past partners and work, enough information to form a picture of each character and why they are the way they are.

Lorelei has not had good experiences with men "each and every one had turned out to be a liar and a loser" and because of this I felt really bad for her knowing what Liam was doing. He avoided lying to her as much as possible, skirting around the truth, but maybe lying by omission. Liam is a good man, kind, generous, liked by employees and friends so why would he use a woman just to experience dating and love and not think about what it would do to her? He does think about the consequences of his actions but never dreams she would fall for him as he's 'unloveable' he's been told; women only want him for his money and she's not going to know about it with his ruse she there's no risk.

The twist at the end is a suiting conclusion to the story.

[Tory Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-done interfering family members are the greatest, even if they don't get much (or any) actual screen time. That was certainly the case in Played, and what makes it even better is that there was interference from both families, not just the hero or the heroine's.

Liam - hehehe. He knows nothing about romance/love and knows he knows nothing. Determined to finish his now-dead brother's unfinished romance novel (a death-bed promise), he falls back on the skills he does have. I found it amusing the lengths he went to (derailing an intended date, hacking multiple websites, etc.). It's adorable, and strangely enough, I actually didn't find anything he did to be weirdly creepy or anything like that.

Lorelei. Oh, man, did she get dealt a heavy load. Her mother. OMG, her mother was hilarious. Not just signing Lorelei up for a dating service online, but the threats to come out and help Lorelei get a man?! I adored Mama.

This was a great book from start to finish. I didn't have any problem with Liam's lie to Lorelei, nor his problem actually 'fessing up to the truth. Normally I do, but Ms. Adams played the story out so well, I never disliked the set-up at all. And when Liam has to grovel (let's face it, I love seeing men grovel) to make up for his lies...I totally fell in love with him (assuming I hadn't already). He really goes above and beyond, and I'd absolutely forgive him if he did something like that.

That's not to say Liam didn't deserve to be tossed on his butt for lying the way he did - he definitely did deserve to suffer. But I also admired him for finding a way to make it up to her.

Five gargoyles and I look forward to reading more in this series.

Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Sheila Majczan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For $.99 cents and just wanting something light and fluffy this book fit the bill: pure escapism - beautiful heroine on the rebound, handsome rich totally naive billionaire and friends, family and acquaintances pushing from both sides to have these two find love.

Although in the real world one would totally be scandalized that Liam/William would hack a dating site, cancel the prearranged date between two subscribers I was able to forgive this crime as it afforded the hero a chance to meet Lorelei, our heroine. Liam's totally out of touch with what a true love consists of, although he has dated, but he judges women as only allured by his wealth. Plus his experience with his mother and the nature of his job have been barriers to allowing any desire on his part to form a real and lasting relationship. He only seeks a chance in this manner due to a promise to finish writing a romance novel. A promise his dead and loving brother forced him to make at his end.

Lorelei in a forced move to San Francisco due to the scandal created by her affair with a married man, a man who fooled her and whom she thought she was on track to marry, is leery and mistrustful of all men but in trying to evaluate Liam and his intentions misses his lies due to his ability to clean up files, photos and posted identities on the Internet.

This novel has a few sex scenes, more of what lures them into bed and what happens the morning after. There are side romances with friends as well as some interference from such as well as from mothers. All together a pleasant afternoon's read.

[PATRICIA GARZA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esperaba más del libro. Siento que faltó historia y el desenlace fue algo apresurado. Hubieron varias situaciones familiares en las que la autora pudo haberse extendido. La trama me pareció regular pero lo que no me gustó fue algo que pasa casi al final, en donde él hizo lo mismo que hacía con sus otras chicas con las que salía y ella a pesar de todo lo aceptó. .. entretenido pero no lo que esperaba.

SPOILER--- No me gustó que al final el usara la misma cosa que hacía con sus anteriores parejas cuando las terminaba. Las llenaba de regalos o de un viaje para "compensar" la ruptura. Aquí en éste caso él hizo lo mismo, le pagó un viaje para ella y su amiga dos semanas y ella aceptó!... en dónde quedó su autoestima para aceptarlo? no se, me decepcionó que hubiera aceptado el viaje.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC received via NetGalley

This is one of the most enjoyable billionaire/rich guy romances I have read so far.

[Nothing Like A Good Book!!!! wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT...

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liam butuh seorang wanita utk membantunya menyelesaikan novel almarhum kakaknya. Terpilihlah dari daring online situs jodoh, Lorelei, yg lugu-lugu gimana gitu yg kepengen pny anak banyak. Lorelei jg pny riwayat gak mengenakkan saat difitnah merebut laki orang. Saat Lorelei mengetahui Liam bukan pria biasa tetapi biliuner dan tidak menginginkan anak, bagaimana akhir hubungan mereka?

Menurut saya novel ini terlalu sinetron konfiliknya, karakternya, plot ceritanya. Gak menggugah rasa ingin tahu saya. Dan solusi konflik gampang-gampang banget. Tokohnya terlalu hitam dan putih alias baik ya baik banget sampai gak masuk akal. Yg jahat ya jahat banget sampai ajaib juga menurut gw.

[Ashante Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet but slow

Liam & Lorelei: slow burn. Liam is a billionaire at a security company. Lorelei is a party planner who's new to town. after making a deathbed promise to his brother, Liam sets out to find someone to have a romance with. the catch is, it'll be totally fake... for him. so he sets his sights on Lorelei. what he didn't expect was that she would be the perfect woman for him in his real life. the story was good. I found Lorelei to be extremely uptight and a goody two shoes and it was very annoying. however it did seem that when she was with Liam, she let go just a little. it's a sweet love story but I didn't really feel any chemistry between the characters.

[Uchatadara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romance check. Comedy check. Melodrama check
Paket komplit novel ini setimpal dengan waktu gue yg terbuang lol. Gue paling suka David yang kehadirannya selalu ada di bagian tersedih sekalipun yang bikin batal sedih. Kedatangannya didepan pintu dengan membawa kertas "aku masuk dengan membawa kedamaian" sukses bikin gue terbahak. Padahal Liam lagi mellow banget ditinggal ceweknya.. Kadang sahabat memang serese itu kalau kita punya masalah. Yang pasti novel ini bakal gue baca lagi suatu saat nanti

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Liam and Lorelei are interesting, relatable and vulnerable characters that drew me in. Both have been hurt by people in their past and it’s interesting how those experiences affect these characters as adults and in their romance. The story and characters are interesting. I wish that some of the threads had been wrapped up either in the story or in an epilogue. I enjoyed many of the secondary characters and found that they added to the story.

[Atika Mayangsari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selalu tertarik dengan tema cerita yang berhubungan dengan menyamar. Yah, walaupun pas baca novel ini sudah bisa nebak ceritanya bakalan gimana.

Seenggaknya nih novel versi terjemahannya agak lebih sopan dari novel Harlequin pada umumnya karena nge-skip adegan xxx-nya. Lumayan bikin diri ini anteng. Haha

[Yacita Aditya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kok gini amat ya ceritanya. Mengecewakan. Flat. Seperti nulis diary aja. Konfliknya saja begitu mudah dipecahkan.
Memang sih sedari awal udh ketebak cara yg akan ditempuh Liam demi menyelesaikan amanat kakaknya. Gitu juga dengan respon Lorelei. Kirain bakal out of the box. Eh ga taunya persis dugaan.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The boom started off different. Liam thought that if he could trick someone into dating him in order to know what love is for the rest of the romance book his late brother wanted him to finish. He went about it all wrong, but was still able to find love. Not a typical romance since he hid his wealth and tried to make sure people did not know he was rhe CEO of a company.

[Patty McKenna Van Hulle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A GOOD ROMANCE BUT NO STEAMINESS

This romance had a good storyline & lots of great characters. Secondary characters also helped to build-up the tale. I personally prefer lots of NAUGHTINESS, but Mizz Alexia uses a closed door policy. She gets my score of 5 fingers up & 8 toes for this billionaire romance.

[cindysbookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just a little too plain for me. I would have like for there to be a little more plot. It did have its cute moments but was more of a palette cleanser for me. It was short and sweet which was good.

[Sarah Ayu · Rating 5 out of 5]

a bit slow romance, but still awesome end. How each plot can describe a feeling of COLD LIAM, and naturally telling how warm & sweet of LIO .

[Allys · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encanto! fue simplemente hermoso...

[Laura M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un hacker o cracker? Un sexy billonario que entra en su propio juego y cae redondito ♥

[Mercedes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio- book was just ok. I didn't like the 3rd person narrative. The plot line was cute. No smut. Ending wasn't great. Gave it 3 stars because it had potential to be alot better.