Aussie Book Review: High Stakes by Robin Thomas

Book reviews

8 Feb

High Stakes by Robin Thomasebook (novella)Review copy provided by publisherEscape Publishing, February 2013 Synopsis- Kate Higgins is an ambitious 24 year old, whose goal is to climb the corporate ladder. Emotional entanglements just aren’t on her wish list. When her boss, Shelley, tells her she is in line for a promotion, Kate should be thrilled. The catch is she has to work on a weekend project with her arch rival, Pete Forest. The one who performs the best will get the promotion. Sparks fly, especially from a determined Kate. By Monday morning, however, both Kate and Pete discover that promotion is the last thing on their minds.Review- High Stakes by Robin Thomas is one of Escape Publishing's latest novella releases. I'm really enjoying the variety in the stories they publish and High Stakes is certainly a unique story in many ways. At 10,000 words it's classed by the publisher as a novella, but for me it felt like a short story. Written in first person and in a timeline format, Thomas brings a fresh voice to the contemporary romance genre. So easily can first person viewpoint in romance or women's fiction lend to a character that is self-absorbed and a little ditzy, but Thomas excels at delivering an intelligent, quick-witted and determined young heroine in the form of Kate Higgins.At 24 years old, Kate's whole life revolves around her corporate job and outsmarting her competition, the unruly Pom Pete Forest. When her boss Shelley challenges them to get to know each other and work closely on a project, Kate intends to let nothing stop her from landing the promotion up for grabs on Monday morning. It's survival of the fittest and with Kate's anger issues, her defensive stance toward Pete and well, frankly her lack of life outside of work she's pretty sure she can get the promotion in the bag. But when her arched enemy Pete turns out to be much nicer than she anticipated, Kate's defences break down slightly and pushing her paranoia to the side, she actually warms to him. Not only does she re-assess her opinion of Pete but she also reconsiders her priorities in life.The way the story is written in a quick succession of scenes and Kate's quick wit and attitude really sits well against the backdrop of the ruthless corporate world. The author showed the development in Kate and Pete over a short period of time, in a short space of words with just enough suspense and conflict that's resolved with a very satisfactory happily-ever-after. No word is wasted.I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed High Stakes and highly recommend it as a short, sharp and refreshing read by Robin Thomas, an author I'll be keeping my eye out for in the future.Robin Thomas was born in Canada but resides in QLD, so I will be counting her towards the AWW2013 challenge.