Lia Constantine's father is just a simple grocer. His death is a shock and a tragedy to his daughter. So imagine Lia's surprise when Arabian Nights Casino owner Jake Benetti has her picked up and brought to his casino-to discuss her father's million-dollar debt! Of course, she can't pay for such a debt. Even selling her home wouldn't cover the costs even after that rat Benetti decreases the debt by giving her a "discount". One evening, when Jake takes Lia to dinner, he sees her BDSM charm bracelet and decides that he'll forgive her debt in its entirety, but only if she becomes his slave for a month. Can she sell herself in such a manner? And what's more, what's left after her month's slavery is over?

I had a hard time with this story. I found myself wanting to skip over large sections of the story to get to the end, hoping it would get better. Yes. Yes, it did. But the reader has to slog through a lot to get to the point where the story becomes more appealing. The problems I had?

First, Jake has Lia kidnapped and tells her about her father's debt, then pretending he didn't really mean for his goons to throw her into his car against his will. Next, he propositions her to remain with him for a month in a BDSM relationship...and he'll forgive her debt. For a million dollars. It was highly improbable and I had difficulties suspending disbelief, even though he's a billionaire and the money really means nothing to him.

Jake is a widower and found himself finally wanting to live after meeting with Lia, a woman who reminds him so much of his dead wife, but he was so brash, so domineering, so arrogant that I really disliked him and wasn't sure I wanted to see his happily ever after. Through it all, Lia was exasperated by him, but still attracted to him. He'd do something domineering; she'd fume, then would be distracted by his seduction. Because of this, I found myself liking her even less than Jake, if that was even possible, and as the story progressed, while I eventually saw Jake redeem himself in my eyes, Lia did not. I've read other stories by this author and found them easy to read. This one, unfortunately, fell short for me.

Reviewed by: Bella