High Stakes

By: Danielle Steel

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

In this captivating novel from number one New York Times best-selling author Danielle Steel, four successful women play for high stakes in their careers at a boutique literary and talent agency.

Jane Addison is an ambitious young woman with big dreams of owning her own company someday. At 28, she arrives in New York to start a job at Fletcher and Benson, a prestigious talent agency. Eager to impress her new colleagues, Jane jumps right in as an assistant to Hailey West, one of the agents in the literary department.

Hailey is dedicated to the authors she represents, but her home life is chaotic and challenging. After her husband's tragic and untimely death, she was left widowed with three children to raise on her own.

Then there's Francine Rivers, the stern and accomplished head of the literary department. Also a single mom after her husband's affair with the nanny, she has overcome the resulting financial hardships, but only with unbearable sacrifice.

Compared to Hailey and Francine, drama agent Allie Moore's life seems much more carefree and uncomplicated. She relishes her success and loves working with the talented actors they represent - until a passionate relationship with one of her rising star clients threatens to derail her career.

Merriwether Jones is the CFO for the agency. She appears to have it all - beauty, success, and a perfect marriage until her husband's jealousy over her career threatens to blow everything up.

Even though she's a newcomer, Jane quickly realizes that there are damaging secrets hidden behind the doors of Fletcher and Benson. As one of the youngest employees, she has the least power but is also the least willing to accept things as they have been for years. When she puts everything on the line to right these wrongs, the consequences will leave no one unscathed.

In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel tells the story of a group of remarkable women navigating the challenges of balancing their families, their personal lives, and the high stakes of ambition at the top of their game.

©2022 Danielle Steel (P)2022 Recorded Books

Great story

I really enjoyed this book. Its a trailblazer for women’s right. High five to the one with the courage to come forward and not put up with physical or mental abuse.
A very good read.

Superb Story w/ Exceptional Narration

Wow!! A very complex, intense, and gratifying (on so many levels) story!! This book’s content will stay with me for a very long time!

entertaining but not her best

I felt like the book became rushed at the end with rapid fire synopsis of the characters and what was going on and who was with who etc. I wish it had been done in a more elegant and thought out way not just trying to wrap up loose ends to finish the book

on point

beautiful rendering of current events and positive outcomes. thank you Ms Steele you continue to impress me.

Good weekend escape

While standard Danielle Steel fair, I enjoy escaping through her characters from time to time. High Stakes is relevant and kept me engaged start to finish!

Excellent Read

I so enjoyed every moment of this book. The author was wonderful. This book had a story which was realistic and showed the real consequences of bad choices. I honesty enjoyed every moment. The characters were explained so well. You felt like you personally knew them. You will not be disappointed

It's a hit!

This ranks among Danielle Steele's better books IMO. The real world intrigue kept me engaged, and I didn't have a problem keeping the characters straight. The crisp writing style made it fast paced, Only the "too pat" conclusion based on the usual formula spoiled it a little.

Nicely done

The story was very hard to listen too, the first part that is. The solutions part was quite satisfying. Well Done DS

Disappointed

The last Danielle Steel book I read was in 1987 -- that's 35 years ago. I was "underwhelmed" at the time, and haven't read any more of her books since then. This book came up as a daily deal, and I thought "she's been a successful writer for so many years....why don't I try her again?"

I found it to be a general waste. My thinking seems to go contrary to the general public here, but I found the writing to be trite. I KNOW! She's been a successful author for over a generation, but this is my honest opinion. The words that come to mind here are "Harlequin romance" combined with "the Hallmark channel." The characters get together and have exciting steamy sex, go through some relational hardship, and then it's a happy ending for ALL of them.

For instance, one middle-class woman is taken to an upscale restaurant by a classy, handsome character. The summation is "her dinner was remarkable!" I felt like the writing was aimed at adolescents, but the subject matter of the book was adult. (I believe her audience is mainly adult, is that right?) And maybe that's the secret of her success -- she tackled a subject that's been in the news, and people have strong feelings about this subject.

One issue that troubled me a little was that one of the somewhat unlikeable characters had the same name as a successful writer of another fiction sub-category. Why did she pick the name of a rival fiction author? Again, the word "trite" comes to mind -- if you want to pull out ahead of another author, wouldn't it be wiser to write a better book, rather than to use that name on one of the less likeable characters in YOUR book?

Again. I thought I should be fair after so many years of successful writing, and give a Danielle Steel book another chance.
And I was just plain disappointed. I'm only one person, but this is my honest opinion. It'll probably be another 35 years before I read another Danielle Steel book.

Easy listening

I listened to this twice. The first time I was driving and I can’t always focus on a story. The second time I enjoyed it more. I knew the characters and I gathered more interesting details. It was a nice summer book