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One man on a mission. One hard-working woman. One bet that’ll make sparks fly…

Mason Falco clawed his way to the top through hard work, killer instincts, and sheer determination. But time is money, and when the owner of a farm refuses to sell the land crucial to making his latest development a success, he’ll do what it takes to convince the sultry, stubborn woman to sign on the dotted line.

Kayla Phillips is holding on by a thread, on the verge of losing the farm she inherited from her grandfather. It’s only a matter of time before she’s forced into foreclosure, but there’s no way she’s selling to Falco. His good looks and sex appeal might work on some women—okay, it works on her too—but she’s not about to sell to a man intent on bulldozing her family’s legacy.A war of words turns into a wager—and Kayla’s only chance to save the farm. All she has to do is prove to the billionaire that he can’t handle two weeks of living the life of a farmer.

She never expected the burning desire she feels whenever Mason’s around. But are his feelings for her genuine, or just a ploy to get what he wants? With her heart and the family business on the line, will she risk it all for love?

244 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2016

1406 people are currently reading
1844 people want to read

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Lori Sjoberg

20 books339 followers
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5 stars
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474 (19%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
Profile Image for SueBee★bring me an alpha!★.
2,417 reviews15.4k followers
Want to read
December 8, 2016
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FREE on Amazon US today (12/7/2016)

Stand-alone book 1.

BLURB:
One man on a mission…
One hard-working woman…
One bet that’ll make sparks fly…

Developer Mason Falco clawed his way to the top through hard work, killer instincts, and sheer determination. But time is money, and when the owner of a farm refuses to sell the land crucial to making his latest project a success, he’ll do what it takes to convince the sultry, stubborn woman to sign on the dotted line.

Kayla Phillips is holding on by a thread, on the verge of losing the farm she inherited from her grandfather. It’s only a matter of time before she’s forced into foreclosure, but there’s no way she’s selling to Falco. His good looks and sex appeal might work on some women—okay, it works on her too—but she’s not about to sell to a man intent on bulldozing her family’s legacy.

A war of words turns into a wager—and Kayla’s only chance to save the farm. All she has to do is prove to the billionaire that he can’t handle two weeks of living the life of a farmer. She never expected the burning desire she feels whenever Mason’s around. But are his feelings for her genuine, or just a ploy to get what he wants? With her heart and the family business on the line, will she risk it all for love?


FREE: https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Souther...


FREEBIES are often good for MORE than one day. I have gathered all my FREEBIES on a special shelf: Kindle-freebies (currently over 600 books)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Profile Image for G.
516 reviews203 followers
March 12, 2021
This was a good standalone. Kayla and Mason were great characters with good chemistry.
Profile Image for Rosie Amber.
Author 1 book147 followers
December 27, 2021
Driven is book one of the Southern Alpha’s contemporary romance series. This story is set on a horse ranch in Florida.

Property developer Mason Falco has one last property to buy in his latest development plans, but the owner Kayla Phillips refuses to sell. Mason goes to visit her but she still turns him down, so he makes her a different offer in the form of a bet.

The longer Mason works on the farm, the more he understands Kayla’s reluctance to sell. And the more he sees of Kayla the more he likes what he sees.

At just under 200 pages this is a quick read. The romance turns up the heat to match the Florida temperatures. A good start to a series and if you like horses then the setting is a bonus.
765 reviews4 followers
July 17, 2021
Didn't finish after page 25. Straightforward writing. Dull characters who always do and say everything you'd expect them to. sometimes I want to ask the authors of these basic stories if they are aware that they can literally write anything they wanted to in order to make the reader engaged and interested. Why just write the first thing that comes to mind? Why not think outside the box? Why not make your characters be unexpected? Make them react in a different way than just what your knee jerk reaction is? Have something interesting or unexpected happen! This just has the same old outline with dual point of view writing so we always know what the other thinks about everyone and everything. *hint: they both lust after eachother but chastise themselves after every romantic thought they have about the other. just like in the last 3 book reviews I've given this week alone! You may like this if you haven't read this same type of book a million times. It’s just a bit over done.
Profile Image for Raine.
2,463 reviews52 followers
July 10, 2016
I was a little worried because the first chapter was kinda boring and I thought it would be this way for the rest of the book. But I was surprised. The book was subtle about Mason's alpha side coming out, but right out of the gate he was an asshole who was arrogant and seemed very self-centered. I loved how he changed throughout the story. He wasn't one of those OTT alpha (which I do enjoy very much!), but his was more brought on because he was falling in love with Kayla and all those possessive feelings that he never felt before.

I really enjoyed this book and this was a first time author read for me. I'm moving on to the next book right away especially since it is out on KU.
Profile Image for Deb Hanson.
1,364 reviews15 followers
July 3, 2017
Amazing story of heat, battle of wills and laying everything on the line!

Driven
Lori Sjoberg
🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐

And BOOM, just like that I’ve found me a new favourite author. Sometimes you pick up an Amazon freebie that blows your mind – welcome Driven. With was everything I love and more, as a 1st time reading anything from Lori I’m blown away and it certainly won’t be my last.

One bet, that’s all it took, but millionaire and business owner Mason Falco is about to put everything on the line with a hot headed woman whom doesn’t cower to his alpha ways. Mason has met his match with Kayla Phillips. Mr Falco, doesn’t lose ever, and he’s not about to start now, but this frustrating woman will not bow to demands of selling her farm. But a bet has both Kayla and Mason with everything to gain and everything to lose. For him, a simple 2 week stint as farmhand will have her handing her farm over to his company for the development that he has worked so hard for.

The Phillips farm has been passed through family for generations, but with sky rocketing bills, her sister in college ready to graduate and a history meaning she can’t perform with the horses as she would like. Selling would mean she would be debt free, and could open another smaller farm elsewhere, but guilt over its history makes her make the stupid bet. So now Mr Falco is going to be a farmhand. With his designer jeans, tight-fitting tees and expensive boots, Mason heads to the farm. This is where the fun begins.... Kayla is not going to go easy on Mason, she gives him everything to do. Assuming he won’t even last one day, she is more than surprised when he backs up for a 2nd day.

Despite her hate for him, he also brings out feelings she’s never felt before. Knowing she must stay away from him, it’s only a matter of time before his little looks and dominant ways have her walls crumbling. In a small time frame Kayla will discover another side of Mason Falco, a sweet, gorgeous and considerate man with a past and a passion. She funds that his feelings towards her aren’t one sided and crazily crosses that line... The one that can and will destroy everything. Pushing him away was never an option, but one night turns to more and more lines are blurred, Kayla funds herself on the cusp of losing everything including the man she has fallen for.

Will Kayla lose everything including her heart to Falco industries, and its ruthless leader or can she beat Mason at his own game. One thing is for sure, someone will lose everything they fought for while the other will get everything they wanted. Question is who is more Driven to win the ultimate bet?
433 reviews1 follower
August 20, 2016
First, let me say if you are not a fan of this type of book, then don't read it. It is a romance after all, and at some point the main characters are going to have sex.
This review contains spoilers!
Two strong willed people fighting over land they both want. Our heroine is fighting for her home: one that has been in the family for generations. She has an established business, and she loves the place. Our want-to-be rich hero wants the land so he can build more and become richer. Who would you side with? A bet is made: if Mason can survive as a ranch hand for a week, then he gets to buy the farm. If he loses, he pays off the mortgage and won't try to buy the land again. What could possibly go wrong? Lots, apparently. That's where the story really takes off. Details of ranch life are detailed and correct as far as I could tell. We learn more of the backstories of both Mason and Kayla. And slowly the cutthroat businessman does become the hero. Unfortunately, that's after he has broken Kayla's heart. You'll have to read the book if you want to know the ending. I, on the other hand, am already looking forward to the next book in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews129 followers
Want to read
February 6, 2025
💝 FREE on Amazon today (11/24/2017)! 💝
Profile Image for Heather.
165 reviews3 followers
April 17, 2016
Two competitive, spirited people who come from different starts in life. Neither of them is broken although both have experienced hardships. The beauty of this book is can they find enough common ground to build a future.

Kayla is an equestrian rancher who is refusing to sell her land that has passed down through the generations. She was an elite jumper until she had an accident that she fought her way to recovery. To see her today, you have no idea the struggles she went through just to walk again much less ride a horse and run “the farm”.

Mason is the owner of Falco Enterprise and is wanting to buy Kayla’s farm. He has been trying to find every button to push to get what he wants. He knows what it takes to get to the top since he and his brother were foster children who aged out of the system.

While Mason is trying to get Kayla to concede, one conversations spiraled out of control with neither of them willing to back down. The bet was born, Mason must spend two weeks working on the ranch. If he wins, Kayla sells him the ranch at the current proposal, if she wins, Mason pays off her current mortgage and leaves her (and the farm) alone.

The fireworks fly in this book and you won’t want to miss a moment. This was the first time I had read a book by Lori Sjoborg and now I’m anxiously awaiting book two.
Profile Image for Susan.
347 reviews
June 26, 2016
The family farm meets big city development. Kayla, her sister Louise and her brother Carter inherited the family farm when their parents passed. Now Kayla and her sister Louise are trying to stay afloat running the farm while Carter is away in the military. Kayla is hoping that through the riding lessons she teaches and the sale of her trained horses she will be able to keep the farm. She made a promise that it would stay within the family and it is taking everything she has to keep that promise. Kayla is contacted by Mason a self made multi-millionaire developer has purchased the land on either side of her farm and has now set his sites on acquiring her land too so the land can be developed into housing.
Kayla and Mason make a bet that if he can last 2 weeks working the farm then he can purchase the land, if he doesn't last the full 2 weeks then she wins and gets to retain her farm. This story is full of mixed feelings between the characters and a strong dedication to principles. I loved both main characters and the supporting characters were well developed as well. I look forward to reading about the next sibling “Carter” in “Fractured.”
Profile Image for Birgit.
1,326 reviews17 followers
June 23, 2017
I expected a normal romance story, very predictable: struggling farm/ranch owner holds out against the rich guy who wants to buy all the land and build some shopping centre on it, they bet that he couldn't hold out two weeks on her farm - and the rest, as they say, was history.
Yes there was all that, but also more: very sympathetic characters with some quirks and personal baggage playing into their reactions, and with a depth that was surprising; side characters that were as interesting as the main ones; a good plot and storyline; a good fluent narration style, with humorous elements - in short, a great story which I enjoyed reading very much.
And yes, I will try and get more of this Southern Alphas series, and of the author.
Profile Image for Lindsay Brooke.
100 reviews9 followers
August 3, 2017
I liked this book. It wasn't fantastic but it was sweet & I liked the characters. By chapter 2 I was grinning and ready to know where this story would go.
Profile Image for Kirsty Lyon.
247 reviews6 followers
April 12, 2016
WOW....I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was a little slow to start off with, but after a few pages I was HOOKED and couldn't put it down. You see the relationship building between Mason and Kayla and you hope that they end up together but the sparks fly between them and it leads you on a great story. No cliffhangers and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
54 reviews1 follower
December 5, 2016
This was a super cute, quick read. I loved the equestrian elements. I cant wait to read the subsequent books to find out what will happen with the other characters. I really like this type of series when the books can be read as stand-alone but its far more fun to read the whole series and get to know each character.
Profile Image for Laz the Sailor.
1,795 reviews80 followers
March 10, 2018
This was a fine story about a rich guy and a young woman who are at cross-purposes at first, and then not so much. It was well written, with lots of sexy "I want to but I shouldn't" scenes.

But it wasn't special.
Profile Image for Cynthia.
3,201 reviews100 followers
December 15, 2019
Family

This was a great story of Kayla trying to to keep her family horse farm going with help from her little sister and her brother is away in the Marines. Mason wants the farm for his development but she won't sell, so he goes to her we one job and places a bet with, but it means hard work.
Profile Image for Laronda.
965 reviews5 followers
March 20, 2023
Interesting story

This was a mellow, low angst read. The story line wasn't new but the characters were interesting as many appeared to not be what they seemed. I kept waiting for the flip. But nothing did, so low angst. But still a good read.
Profile Image for Frances Hernandez.
744 reviews5 followers
March 18, 2018
Farm love.

This book had sat on my TBR list since 2016, and I'm so glad that I finally read it. The meeting of Mason/Kayla was combustible at the beginning, and when Mason puts a bet on the table, love begins to built. Love triumphs for this couple even thru all the obstacles they must overcome. Beautiful angst throughout the story.
Profile Image for Gwendolyn Leeder.
103 reviews2 followers
September 28, 2021
Mason Faldo has always worked hard and clawed his way to get where he is. Kayla Phillips has been left her grandfather’s farm and promised him that it would always stay in the family. But Mason wants the land as he has been purchasing all the other land around the farm as he is a developer. But Kayla’s not willing to sell at all. She has horses she owns trains and riders that come for lessons. Then the bet happens and who knows how it will turn out. Their chemistry is off the charts…is that going to come into play or will they keep their distance? Definitely recommend this book by Lori Sjoberg!! Happy reading 😁
1,216 reviews
May 19, 2021
Mason and Kayla's story was a delight to read and extremely entertaining. The plot provided so much potential for mischief and mayhem and definitely did not disappoint. The characters were strong and believable and the tranquil farm setting was outstanding. I loved everything about this story. An Absolute Keeper!!!!!
Profile Image for debturk1970_bookvibes.
1,847 reviews18 followers
October 25, 2017
I really enjoyed the ease of this book. It's light, romantic & sexy. It taught me about horses, which I found fascinating!!

Mason & Kayla are both the eldest siblings & take that responsibility seriously. They've both been coloured by their pasts but one finds it easier to let it go than the other!!

This is a 4 star easy read sexy romance. Great side characters & I look forward to the other books in the series!!

Debbie, 1970, UK
1,353 reviews38 followers
April 6, 2016
Mason Falco is ruthless: he needs the land where Whispering Oaks Equestrian Farm sits, for his property development, and he’s going to get it. He’s on his way to meet the owner and make her a final offer. Kayla Phillips’s farm is her life; she promised her grandfather that she would keep it in the family, but the business is not bringing in enough money, and Kayla even has to work part-time as a bartender to make ends meet. Mason never expected that recalcitrant owner to be so enticing, and even though the infuriating man threatens Kayla’s life, she cannot help but be attracted to him. But still, business is business, and Kayla makes a bet to try to delay the inevitable.

DRIVEN is Lori Sjoberg’s first full-length contemporary romance and the first book in her new Southern Alphas series. Ms. Sjoberg’s knowledge of horses, riding and everything that happens on an equestrian farm is extremely impressive, and those passages are simply glorious, so eloquent and vivid. I also enjoyed very much the family relationships, whether Kayla’s or Mason’s, especially since their respective family histories couldn’t be any more different. DRIVEN is very well written, it flows well; it’s a quick and pleasant read with a terrific ending, and I’m looking forward to the following books.


I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Janice.
880 reviews
November 24, 2016
A Review of Driven by Lori Sjoberg

Stubborn vs Determined - 5 stars

This is the first book I have had the pleasure of reading by Ms. Sjoberg. It has a really good storyline and very strong characters, both primary and secondary. Enough that I can hardly wait to get my hands on the next book in this series. Kayla inherited the family farm from her grandfather, but she is holding on by a thread, due to the loans that her grandfather had to take out when she had a very serious accident years before. Mason wants to buy the land that her farm sits on to build a huge development complex and her piece of land is the lynch-pin that everything is hanging on.

When the sparks fly between the two of them, who will survive the eventual flames? I don't want to give spoilers, so pick this one up as soon as you can. It is well worth the purchase and the time to read it. I'm looking forward to reading Carter's story, to find out who broke his heart and caused him to join the Marines and leave his family. Ms. Sjoberg has a very good style of writing and making the character believable.

**Honest review voluntarily provided for purchased product.**
Profile Image for Ree.
2,510 reviews53 followers
June 20, 2021
Falco Enterprises wants the property that houses Kayla Phillip's farm, but she refuses to sell. Hoping to "knock" some sense into her, Mason Falco decides to pay her a visit. After a wager turns into an extended stay for him, Mason finds himself working hard, not just on the farm, but for Kayla. Convincing her - a woman who doesn't trust easily - to give them a chance might be his hardest battle outside the boardroom yet.

Kayla is struggling to keep her head above financial waters with all the costs associated with running the farm handed down to her. Though Mason Falco's financial proposal sounds too good to be true, it's the invitation in his eyes that keeps her up at night. Mixing business with pleasure has never sounded this good before.

I liked this read. Lori Sjoberg is a new-to-me author, but I definitely like what I've read so far. I like the Phillips family, and can't wait to read more.
Profile Image for Sherry.
9 reviews8 followers
September 4, 2016
Lori Sjoberg is one talented author and I have loved everything I have read by her. Driven is no exception.
Mason is a developer who just needs Kayla to sell her farm so he can get started on his latest project. Kayla wants desperately to keep the farm that has been in her family for generations. It all comes down to a 2-week wager. Neither were expecting it to become more.
I really loved the chemistry between Mason and Kayla. The passion between the two exploded right off of the pages. And who can resist a hot and sweaty Mason? From the beginning, I kept wondering who would win the bet and in the end was pleased with the outcome. I didn't want this story to end but I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Happy reading!
Profile Image for Baca Buku.
571 reviews2 followers
March 5, 2021
Romance? What romance?

It wasn't instalove, thankfully, but the "romance" appeared suddenly. No build-up to it, not even any words of love until the last page. In fact, there was really nothing to move the plot along. The one event that seemed to head towards a conflict or mystery turned out to be a dud. However, one very minor character in this book appears in the next book in this series and plays a bigger role in causing conflict there.

This book was just a collection of one cliché after another . The MCs were dull - although Kayla has a great job.

3,121 reviews
April 27, 2023
Sexy

Kayla owns and runs an equestrian ranch that had been in her family for hundreds of years. Kayla and her sister work it while their brother is in the marines. A company has been trying to get her to sell but she refuses. Mason was in foster care and has worked his way to the top. He owns his own company and is wanting Kayla's land to build on it. So they come up with a bet... Mason works for two weeks on the farm and she'll sell it. If he doesn't make it, he'll pay off the mortgage. What neither expect is to fall for each other. Until a misunderstanding just about tears them apart. Will Kayla forgive Mason and live happily ever after?

First story in this series. Sex. Enemies to lovers. Horses. Great story that I absolutely loved.

* FREE AT TIME OF POSTING *
Profile Image for Jennie Fortna.
2,532 reviews29 followers
May 20, 2016
Two people from different walks of life...one trying to save her ranch and the other trying to buy it.

Mason tries every trick in the book to get Kayla to sell her ranch and move her equestrian training and therapy ranch to another location. She is one determined woman but so his he, so during their war with words, they somehow end up making a bet... for two weeks he must work on the ranch. At the end of the two weeks...if he is still there she will sell the ranch but if he leaves before the end of the two weeks he will pay off her mortgage and leave her alone.

Who is more determined to win???? or....will they both win????
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