Bree Dalton (who's 28) and her younger sister Josie are living in Honolulu, Hawaii where they have been working at a hotel/resort for the past couple of months. One night, a worried and distraught Josie wakes Bree up and tells her that she lost a lot of money in a poker game she was persuaded to play with a group of men and she now owes a hundred thousand dollars. Bree is obviously upset but knows what she must do---go play poker with these men and win!

Bree is very good at poker. She and her late father "Black Jack Dalton" had been swindling people for years. But ten years ago, when Bree was eighteen, she met a man she was going to swindle (hero Vladimir Xendzov) and fell for him. He proposed. But when Bree was going to tell Vladimir about her unsavory past as a card-shark his brother beat her to it and Vladimir abandoned Bree and turned her over to the sheriff. After this Bree fled with her sister, quit playing poker, and went straight. But now it seems she has no choice but to play again. Bree goes to the poker game and to her surprise and dismay Vladimir is one of the men there.

Bree wins back the money her sister lost at the poker game. But Vladimir suggests one more game, between the two of them, winner take all. If Bree wins, Vladimir will give her one million dollars. If Vladimir wins, Bree would be his (to do with as he wishes) for as long as he wants her. Since Bree and her sister have been running from the people they owe money to for years, she figures she and her sister Josie would be set for life and they would finally be able to pay off their debts. So she agrees. They play. Bree loses, and Vladimir wins!

Bree ends up being separated from her sister Josie, who gets driven away (Vladimir assures Bree that Josie is safe) and Bree goes/drives with Vladimir to his private palatial Hawaiian mansion where she will be his for as long as he pleases.

Vladimir (who is now 35) resents Bree. He feels he was duped/betrayed by her ten years ago when he found out she and her father were fleecing tourists in Alaska (where she lived) and Bree was about to swindle him too. He didn't realize she was about to tell him all about her past. But his brother told him first. Vladimir also doesn't get along with his younger brother Kasimir and they have sort of been enemies and rivals. As the story progresses Vladimir realizes he has misjudged a lot of people and he tries to make amends. He was overbearing and ruthless at times, but at other times he was quite sweet and sexy. I did like him.

I really liked Bree. She was feisty at times and really stood up to Vladimir. When he said something to her that she didn't like she sure let him know! I enjoyed their sparring. Bree was a very warm heroine and cared a lot about her sister and she saw the good in people. She was drawn into conning people by her late father who was devastated by his wife's/Bree's mother's death which changed him. He turned to drinking and gambling and started taking Bree with him to card games so she learned quite early in life how to con and trick people. But when she fell for Vladimir she vowed to go straight and she did.

This was a romantic and entertaining read. I loved the settings---sunny Honolulu, Hawaii and snowy Russia (St. Petersburg).

Bree and Vladimir had great chemistry and they also had some sexy love scenes. I liked how they learned to trust each other in the end. I really look forward to reading the follow up story with Josie and Kasimir. ( )