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Hagen #10
It Takes a Thief
From New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper comes the story of a gambler who’s not all he seems—and the woman who teaches him what it means to risk everything.
Jennifer Chantry’s life was upended when her father lost their family plantation, Belle Retour, in a foolish bet. And now that he’s passed away, Jennifer vows to reclaim what’s hers. Falling for a gambler—especially given her father’s weakness—wasn’t supposed to be in the cards. But the dashing, dark-eyed hustler who rolls into town for a high-stakes poker game awakens Jennifer’s deepest desires, even before he offers his services in a bold plan to win back her home.
Dane Prescott isn’t a professional gambler—he’s a federal agent investigating rumors surrounding the scoundrel who swindled an innocent family out of Belle Retour. Used to going deep undercover, Dane knows how to play with other people’s money. But when he teams up with the blond beauty bent on revenge, he learns just how much he stands to lose if he can’t do right by her. Now Dane will need all the tricks up his sleeve to win his biggest score yet: Jennifer’s wounded heart.
Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
Jennifer Chantry’s life was upended when her father lost their family plantation, Belle Retour, in a foolish bet. And now that he’s passed away, Jennifer vows to reclaim what’s hers. Falling for a gambler—especially given her father’s weakness—wasn’t supposed to be in the cards. But the dashing, dark-eyed hustler who rolls into town for a high-stakes poker game awakens Jennifer’s deepest desires, even before he offers his services in a bold plan to win back her home.
Dane Prescott isn’t a professional gambler—he’s a federal agent investigating rumors surrounding the scoundrel who swindled an innocent family out of Belle Retour. Used to going deep undercover, Dane knows how to play with other people’s money. But when he teams up with the blond beauty bent on revenge, he learns just how much he stands to lose if he can’t do right by her. Now Dane will need all the tricks up his sleeve to win his biggest score yet: Jennifer’s wounded heart.
Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 1989
53 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
About the author
Kay Hooper
107 books2,451 followersKay Hooper (aka Kay Robbins) was born in California, in an air force base hospital since her father was stationed there at the time. The family moved back to North Carolina shortly afterward, so she was raised and went to school there.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 24, 2018
"It Takes a Thief" is the story of Jennifer and Dane.
A heroine having distaste for gamblers due to her own past with her father..
A gambling undercover hero..
A bracelet robbery..
Some garter action..
Loads of hidden secrets..
A fabulously supportive mother..
Some deep rooted emotions..
A hero in love working hard to devote his life for the heroine..
Another kind hero in this series ruthlessly devoted and in love with the heroine- mixed with a mystery plot. Liked it!
Safe
3/5
A heroine having distaste for gamblers due to her own past with her father..
A gambling undercover hero..
A bracelet robbery..
Some garter action..
Loads of hidden secrets..
A fabulously supportive mother..
Some deep rooted emotions..
A hero in love working hard to devote his life for the heroine..
Another kind hero in this series ruthlessly devoted and in love with the heroine- mixed with a mystery plot. Liked it!
Safe
3/5
March 15, 2017
Dane Prescott was charming, gallant, a man of mystery and shadows whose smile could make a woman forget her name! Jennifer Chantry was terrified when he caught her with a pilfered diamond bracelet, stunned when he kissed her breathless, and delighted when he helped her escape with her prize! But when her dashing hero turned out to be a professional gambler, she had to resist him. Her father had lost Belle Retour, their beautiful old home, in a poker game-how could she risk loving another man who might cost her everything? Until now she'd never been tempted to stray from say byways...but the promises in Dane's eyes filled her with wild yearning for passion and danger. Dane knew the odds were against Jenny loving him, but he'd dare hell to risk heaven in his lady's arms. He'd never bet everything before, but the stakes were so high. Could he make her believe that a man of honor would never gamble with her heart?
I think I have read this before or something very similar because I knew what was coming before it happened. However, I didn't remember enough to be positive this was the story I read before. So I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but I did like it and there is only one more book in the series so I will be finishing it.
I think I have read this before or something very similar because I knew what was coming before it happened. However, I didn't remember enough to be positive this was the story I read before. So I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but I did like it and there is only one more book in the series so I will be finishing it.
October 14, 2019
Interesting premise
I learned to play poker from my brand new husband. We didn’t have a television. So the poker background was fun.
I learned to play poker from my brand new husband. We didn’t have a television. So the poker background was fun.
January 30, 2020
A short read but full of larger than life characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
library
July 30, 20210
September 17, 2023
Well...
August 3, 2024
Ovakav obrt priče na kraju... 😱 Fantastična letnja knjiga!!
June 14, 2025
Kay Hooper just drops you into the deep end of the pool. I love the page turning action of her Hagen Series.
October 12, 2015
Twisting Toward Conclusion of the Series
"You're a thief."
"Now, that's the pot calling the kettle black."
FINAL DECISION: A good contribution to the series, this book begins the final storyline of the series. Dane is the highlight of the book. He makes a great hero and his true identity and mission is twisty and surprising.
THE STORY: Jennifer Chantry is caught with a stolen bracelet in a place she shouldn't be by a man who pulls her immediately into a kiss. What she ends up realizing is that Dane Prescott used her to hide his own thievery. Dane is a professional gambler, sometimes thief and sometimes information broker. Jennifer doesn't want to be attracted to him (although she is) because her own father gambled away the family home. Dane doesn't need the complication of falling in love right now, but he is helpless before the sweet spitfire Jenny.
OPINION: I love this book. Each of the books in this series is a bit over the top. I do love the twist that is reveal in this series regarding what and who Dane actually is. Dane and Jenny have such a sweet relationship that I love seeing them together. They are not as dramatic as some of the previous couples in the series, but there is some drama regarding Dane's gambling. This is one of the books where the storyline is somewhat better than the romance, but the romance works here as well. Jenny is somewhat less developed than Dane as a character, but they have a nice connection that centers the book. This book is better as part of the series. I enjoy the overlapping storyline so much that the romance just adds to the book rather than being the central motivating factor of why I read it.
WORTH MENTIONING: This book begins the final storyline of the series.
CONNECTED BOOKS: IT TAKES A THIEF is the ninth book in the Hagen series. This book can be read as a standalone but is much better read as part of the series. It is closely connected with the following book ACES HIGH.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4.25 stars.
"You're a thief."
"Now, that's the pot calling the kettle black."
FINAL DECISION: A good contribution to the series, this book begins the final storyline of the series. Dane is the highlight of the book. He makes a great hero and his true identity and mission is twisty and surprising.
THE STORY: Jennifer Chantry is caught with a stolen bracelet in a place she shouldn't be by a man who pulls her immediately into a kiss. What she ends up realizing is that Dane Prescott used her to hide his own thievery. Dane is a professional gambler, sometimes thief and sometimes information broker. Jennifer doesn't want to be attracted to him (although she is) because her own father gambled away the family home. Dane doesn't need the complication of falling in love right now, but he is helpless before the sweet spitfire Jenny.
OPINION: I love this book. Each of the books in this series is a bit over the top. I do love the twist that is reveal in this series regarding what and who Dane actually is. Dane and Jenny have such a sweet relationship that I love seeing them together. They are not as dramatic as some of the previous couples in the series, but there is some drama regarding Dane's gambling. This is one of the books where the storyline is somewhat better than the romance, but the romance works here as well. Jenny is somewhat less developed than Dane as a character, but they have a nice connection that centers the book. This book is better as part of the series. I enjoy the overlapping storyline so much that the romance just adds to the book rather than being the central motivating factor of why I read it.
WORTH MENTIONING: This book begins the final storyline of the series.
CONNECTED BOOKS: IT TAKES A THIEF is the ninth book in the Hagen series. This book can be read as a standalone but is much better read as part of the series. It is closely connected with the following book ACES HIGH.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4.25 stars.
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December 16, 2024I really enjoy this author normally and I get the demands of this genre in the time period this was written but please give me more than an hour of some kind of interpersonal interaction real time before BOTH mc fail (not a typo) irrevocably in love. One star for the lol character twist that I saw coming but liked anyway. I'm here for a cheesy breezy rom but this was just not even a little believable :(
February 5, 2017
I love Kay Hooper! She is one of my favorite authors ever, but this book lost the mark for me a little bit. I'm a fan of insta-love, but this one baffled me. They met, they loved each other, which I guess is insta-love, but I guess I didn't get the emotion behind it like I'm used to. I really wanted to feel the love between them, but I just had a hard understanding it, if that makes any sense. Regardless, I love Kay Hooper and I'll continue to read her stuff:)
April 5, 2014
Dane is most certainly more than meets the eye. And his little nightingale can see more in him than he can afford to allow her to see. The game of this gambler/thief will require much more than trust. Honor.
November 10, 2016
Žádné velké drámo se na 196 stránkách neděje, ale Panství Edenbrooke je mnohem horší... A jak to boduje. Takže za mě neurazí/ nenadchne. Přečíst v případě, že fakt potřebujete vypnout mozek a věřit na pravou lásku. Více v mé recenzi na http://www.channach.com/kay-hooper-to...
May 13, 2009
This is a fun book. It reminded me of watching an old "caper" movie.
December 19, 2016
Vydat jako první desátý díl série, kdy je po pár stranách zjevné, že autorka počítá s tím, že znáte hrdiny z předchozích dílů, je hloupé.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews