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

By: Kresley Cole

Narrated by: Kimberly Alexis

Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins

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

MEH! WAS EXPECTING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

OK SO I GAVE IT AN OVERALL 5 STARS JUST BECAUSE IT IS KRESLEY COLE AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HER! BUT IF I AM BEING HONEST....I REALLY WAS INDIFFERENT ABOUT THIS SERIES. I WAITED UNTIL I READ THE WHOLE THING BEFORE WRITING A REVIEW. I LOVE HER IAD BOOKS AND THE ARCANIA CHRONICLES BUT THIS WAS NOT AT ALL WAS I EXPECTED FOR A EROTICA FROM HER. HER IAD BOOKS ARE MORE EROTICA THAN THIS. AND FOR THE RECORD JUST BECAUSE IT IS EROTICA DOES NOT MEAN IT HAS TO BE BDSM ORIENTED. AND HONESTLY I AM NOT AT ALL TURNED ON BY HOMOSEXUALS SO THAT PART WAS LIKE UMMM YUCK!!! I REALLY THOUGHT THAT AT ANY MOMENT NATALIE WAS GOING TO GET KIDNAPPED AND HE WAS GOING TO COME AFTER HER OR SOMETHING!! I JUST KEPT WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN OTHER THAN BAD BDSM MOMENTS. NOT HER BEST WORK AND I HOPE THAT SHE TRIES AGAIN BUT WITH A DIFFERENT VERSION OF EROTICA. BECAUSE IN THE END REALLY THIS WAS JUST A BETTER WRITTEN FIFTY SHADES OF GREY!!!!

I would love a Russian.

If you could sum up The Professional: Part 3 in three words, what would they be?

Sexy, hot, and very suspenseful.

What did you like best about this story?

I love all 3 book. Right when one would end I would buy the next one. I had to know what was going to happen.

Which character – as performed by Kimberly Alexis – was your favorite?

Alex. God she made that man hot.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When he told his story.

Any additional comments?

The only thing I would have changed is I wish they were longer books. ♡

Great story. Great lead alpha male!

Loves this story. What a great romance story, with a dash of danger, a sprinkle of kink, and a while lotta alpha male hotness!

Spectacular

Utterly spectacular mafia read!!! Don’t hesitate to read the entire series as each book is as good as the last.

Excellent narration, good scenes, okay story

Overall, the narrator was excellent, the bd/sm was good, and the story was meh! It is a bummer that this is split into three parts because none of them are stand alones which just means spending more money than getting one book. The scene elements include bondage, Dom/Sub dynamics, praise, punishment, anal play, voyeurism, and exhibitionism to name a few. The story occasionally becomes overdramatic in an eye roll kind of way, but it isn’t enough to DNF the story. I recommend it if you want bd/sm based enteractions- the scene in the club is very nice.

Part 1: This is the introduction of the characters. It’s good and I wanted to continue part 2.
Part 2: This is better than part 1 for spice but worse because of added drama to the story.
Part 3: The best scenes of the series and decent wrap up to the story.

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

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.

'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.

Phenomenal voice acting

Would you consider the audio edition of The Professional: Part 3: The Game Maker, Book 1 to be better than the print version?

Yes, the dirty talking alpha is so much better when you hear it rather than read it.

Wanting more

Why stop? I can't imagine this woman settling for strolling around the city and waiting at home for her man. I'd like to see her take over parts of the family business. Do something. Is she really just existing for a man now?? This kills the entire story!!!! NOT believable!!! NOT acceptable. Would have been 5 stars