• The Professional: Part 3: The Game Maker, Book 1

  • By: Kresley Cole
  • Narrated by: Kimberly Alexis
  • Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,152 ratings)

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The Professional: Part 3: The Game Maker, Book 1  By  cover art

The Professional: Part 3: The Game Maker, Book 1

By: Kresley Cole
Narrated by: Kimberly Alexis
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Publisher's summary

He makes the rules…

Mafia enforcer Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan's loyalty to his boss is unwavering, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, tantalizing redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Sevastyan will do anything to possess her as well - on his own wicked terms.

Rules are made to be broken…

PhD student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sevastyan before the professional hit man whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. With every day she spends under his protection, she falls deeper under his masterful spell.

Are you ready to play?

Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest - and most forbidden - fantasies can come true…

©2014 Kresley Cole (P)2014 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about The Professional: Part 3: The Game Maker, Book 1

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Get the complete book, skip the serial format

Overall I really enjoyed the entire Professional “series” and thought Kresley Cole’s writing was excellent. However, I didn’t enjoy the way this book was released in a serial format. In my opinion it made the story too choppy and created unnecessary cliffhangers. If there is a spin-off of The Game Makers, I will wait until the entire book is released. Otherwise, I thought the overall story, narration and writing were excellent.

4 stars

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A delicious BDSM!!!!

I was initially very upset at Audible to have broken down a book into three parts and so after reading the first book, I did a search and found-out that was how the books were released. This is one story cut up over three books and each short enough that all would have made one book of about 12.5 hrs total but the readers will pay for three books. This May though the book will be released as one, so if you can wait it may be best to pay one credit rather than about $18 for all three. Great story but I really like how witty Kresley Cole is. Wonderful one liners are throughout the books. A definite 5 stars.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

What FSoG Should Have Been...

First of all, I loved this book! And make no mistake, even though there are 3 parts, parts 1, 2 and 3 add up to one book. It's not a trilogy. It's not 3 separate books. It's one book broken into 3 parts. The conclusion to the book comes in this instalment, which is why I'm writing my review here.

I don't know if Kresley Cole wrote this book before or after the BIG FSoG phenomenon happened, and I don't really care. Chances are though, it was published, and published in this 3 part serial version, because of the FSoG craze, perhaps trying to make it look like a trilogy. While I generally avoid all the BDSM books that have came out since, I will read anything KC writes, so here I am.

I wasn't a big FSoG fan. I found the heroine too immature and the hero a bit too stalker-ish for my taste. To each their own. This book, however, had a smart heroine who knew her own mind, a hero who was dangerous, handsome, loyal to a fault. He was just sex on a stick with a cherry on top, and loads of hotter than hot scenes that nearly melted my headphones.

In some fascinating way, even though Natalie is the submissive, it really reads as though she has all the control. When Sevastian buys clothes for her, it appears thoughtful, not controlling. Even though the story is being told from Natalie's point of view, it's Sevastian's pain you feel the most. At no point does KC let her hero venture into real "jerk" behaviour, but she keeps his razor sharp edge throughout. He's domineering and possessive and all that stuff, but in a perfectly perfect way. KC nailed this one.

I do wish this hadn't came in a serial form. After reading other reviews, I chose to wait until all 3 sections were available and purchased to start reading them (thanks reviewers!!), since I get frustrated with cliff hangers. So for me, it was less frustrating, and that's what I'd recommend to others as well. Or, as others have noted, wait until it's released on one volume, which I'm sure it will be eventually.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Superb ending with epilogue

Kresley Cole's writing is superb as I was emotionally tired right along with Natalie when it came to their relationship. I do not know how many times I was begging for Natalie to run away from Sevastyan and find her self because in reality I needed her to do just that so I can have a bit of piece of mind with her. Now that they are together it is a one sided relationship. He expects her to give and accept him the way he is but not vice versa. He is emotionally unavailable. He has always had one night stands and has never been in a relationship or know how to love. All he knows is she is his weakness and he can not let her go. This all goes back to his past and let me tell you once that was revealed I was jealous that Natalie got to be the one to sooth him. All I wanted to do was jump in my kindle and be the lover to take away his pain. His past broke heart and made me understand why he is emotional unavailable and why he does not drink.

Their journey to HEA is raw, dark, mixed in with some BDSM. There was no teasing, leaving me hot and bothered like Part 1 and Part 2. No this is truly a full blown erotic and scorching-panty changing. Loved every minute of it and thought Kresley Cole did a sexy job with her first erotic novel.

I do have one complaint I really wanted the airport scene to go the other way. I really would of love to seen how that played out if it did. I was shocked the direction it took because I really thought it was going to go another way. I could not justify dropping my rating down a star because of this. I still loved how it went as is flowed nicely through the novel.

Sevastyan has skeletons in his closet that when one in particular came out I was freaking Mouth- Drops-Open shocked. I am hoping that this turns into a series because I really want to know more about Masksim and I think it would be kick butt. Kresley Cole you will never read this but if you do, I am begging you turn this into a series.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So sad to see it end!

This entire series is really awesome... I loved the whole mafioso thing...

I think this book is my least favorite out of the three... I really didn't like Sebastian's background... and Natalie actually made me upset with her antics during this book. I like the ending and I really hope there are 3 more books about Sebastian's brother... that would be totally interesting...

All in all, I down graded this book a star, but it was still worth the buy, credit or sale.

Narration was great, just like the other two books....

Great series K.C.!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

FINALLY THE DRAMATIC CONCLUSION

As Sevastyan and Natalie's sexual attraction and demands builds it now involves a BDSM Club, voyeurism and a Dom/Sub relationship but, as their unhealthy romance continues, Natalie is desperate for more.

She's fed up giving everything to Sevastyan only for him to become more moody, broody and quieter and she knows there's secrets he's hiding, somethings going on and a dark background that he's not willing to share. So she's pushed to take a dramatic step which forces him to delve deep in order to finally give her his heartbreaking history together with all the answers she wants.

It was intense, very hot, passionate, romantic in parts and touching as Natalie's perseverance unearthed secrets and new characters which finally enabled them to move forward to get their HEA. I did find Natalie's continual swing through "I want him, I love him" and "I'll do anything for him" to "I can't go on like this" a bit repetitive but understandable. Yes, we all know he's very charismatic, sexy, good looking and totally infatuated (who wouldn't like that) but poisonous old wounds and memories had to be shared before a healthy equal partnership could be formed.

Worth a credit? It was under my $10 rule but I would have spent a credit on this listen, despite it only being 3.5 hours long, to finally get the ending to their complex love story but I would also have enjoyed these 3 books more if they could have been incorporated into one book. I don't understand why KC split them like this because this one lacked action but I do hope the series continues with the other surprising new characters.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Review for all three books of The Professional.

This book is not for everyone. First off I don't like BDSM, mild forms are acceptable such as tying up, spanking, even exhibitionism from both partners. The rest I don't want, being whipped has no appeal to me. I almost didn't read this series because of this. But I love Kresley Cole so much that when the semiannual sale happened I got all three books to this story. And with my fingers crossed I proceeded to enter into KS's new world. Admittedly this book has some hot parts, but some of the sex was too over the top for my style, mostly in the third book. Since I knew what this book was about before I bought it, I went with it anyway. I will not be getting the next book, there was just too much unpleasant sex for me that I will invest time in the second. I hate that one of my favorite authors was sucked into this new craze of writing about this junk, what is really annoying is that everybody is acting like it’s a new and exciting thing. Well it isn't on both fronts. As usual Kresley Cole style of writing flowed well and the story came alive, I did like the Russian part and the romance of the story. Overall hard to rate I didn't like the BDSM, but the writing does pull you in. Narrator was really good, she does a really good Russian accent.

On a side note I was not impressed with the fact that this book was split into 3 parts and as long as this story is the only book KS comes out with that is cut up I will forgive her. I think it is just another way for the publishers/ authors to rip off fans.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wow a Hot and Heavy Exciting conclusion !!

Any additional comments?

The final installment in the first book of The Gamemaker series is an excellent end. Part two concludes with Sevastyan and Natalie in a club. We don’t know what, but we know something major is about to happen, and WHEW grab a fan, you’re going to need it!

I feel for Natalie throughout this part. She is trying to connect with Sevastyan; trying to make an actual relationship out of what they have, but he isn't budging much. Closed off and unyielding, this is part of what makes Sevastyan so very sexy. However, it also makes him incredibly frustrating. I sympathized with Natalie and could really understand her frustrations and upsets. We know there is a reason behind Sevastyan’s silence, but that doesn't make it much easier when you don’t know WHY. Fortunately for us and Natalie, Sevastyan will open up. It just takes a pretty good bit to get him there.

We go from Sevastyan sharing his past, and he and Natalie working on it to the epilogue where they have returned to Russia. Sure all the major points are mostly wrapped up (although not all) there is plenty to go on to stretch this out into another book. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of authors writing more books “just cause,” but this one really could have used it. There are so many points in the epilogue that really needed to be delved into more in my opinion.

Those minor points aside, this is an excellent series. It is gritty, blazing hot, and has a story and characters unlike any other. Cole is not afraid to step outside the box, and she does not pull any punches. I really hope she continues the series, and I believe there are many interesting characters to choose from.....

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

'A' for effort

I'd read somewhere that The Professional was Kresley Cole's first attempt at adult erotic romance, and for that I give her an A for effort. She always has great characters, and wow, her imaginative sexcapades in the stories are ear melting! Let me not forget the great narration--I was totally digging the narrator's Russian accent. The biggest drawback is that it was broken down into these mini-stories. The first one was a great opener with action, lust, humor, etc. and then books two and three were a bit more mellow, even with the action.

This third installment was focused on where the relationship between Sevastyan and Natalie was heading and working through their kinky love play. It was a bit light on the storyline and somewhat anticlimactic, but in general, I liked it, and I hope KC graces us with more stories in this genre.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

SO Worth the Wait! Awesome Ending to Steamy Story

Kresely Cole does an awesome job again with writing the 3rd part of the Professional. Part 2 left me hanging and wanting more and this was worth the wait! From the beginning to end, the book capitvated me and this part 3 left me in a temporary haze and I had to stop working to catch my breath. Very Hot and Steamy! All of KC's books are an automatic download for me. I love to hear happy endings along with a little kink.

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