Cover Image: Pregame

Pregame

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** spoiler alert **

β€œπ™Έ πšπš˜πš—β€™πš πš‘πšŠπšŸπšŽ πšπš’πš›πš•πšπš›πš’πšŽπš—πšπšœ, πšŠπš—πš 𝙸 πšπš˜πš—β€™πš 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎,” πš‘πšŽ 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 πš–πšŠπšπšπšŽπš›-𝚘𝚏-πšπšŠπšŒπšπš•πš’. β€œπ™Έ πš‘πšŠπšŸπšŽ πšœπšžπš‹πš–πš’πšœπšœπš’πšŸπšŽπšœ, πšŠπš—πš 𝙸 πšπšžπšŒπš”.”

4,5 stars β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

What do we have:
At one point in Ava's life, everything goes awry: she is left without a job and a roof, so her best friend's offer to take part in a BDSM-themed reality show and compete for a hefty prize seems to her not such a bad idea. However, everything does not go according to plan: instead of her friend Emmett, she is paired with Roman, the owner of the hotel, for which advertising this whole show started and an experienced dominant. It's getting harder to pretend to be a submissive... but was it really a delusion?

Plot:
It is important to keep in mind that The Power Games is a multi-part novel, namely: Pregame, Mind Game, Game Plan, Game Point, and Endgame.

Therefore, no matter how upset I was by the fact that despite the great intenseness of the events of the part (however, this did nothing wrong to the pace, everything was ok), it was still not enough. But it's always not enough for me when it comes to a cool idea and non-cardboard heroes.

In other words, the first part of Pregame could be called "Introduction", since we get to know not only the main characters Ava and Roman, but they also establish a connection between themselves, as submissive and dominant. And that is a very interesting process :)

I really like Ava's general ignorance of all this BDSM stuff, multiplied by filling out the signup form being dead drunk, because I can already see what it will lead to.

”This one is about sex toys, and since I have zero experience with sex, much less sex with toys, I check yes next to everything. After all, toys are good, right? Just ask any five-year-old.”

This part doesn't directly cover the games on the reality show (although there is plenty to do anyway, one word: photoshoot) and cuts off at the most interesting point, so be prepared!

Characters:
Ava can be described as at least cute, somewhat naive, but purposeful and definitely not a "gray mouse". She had many different reasons for accepting the offer from her friend Emmett (also an experienced dominant, by the way) and applying for the show, but I especially liked the moment that she did it to spite her stepfather in order to ruin his reputation. Go girl!!

She is submissive, but is not aware of it. Well, it happens :)

”What kind of girl lets a man whip her with a belt and then give her the biggest orgasm of her life? I sigh. The kind who agreed to pretend to be a submissive on a kinky reality show.”

Before we get to her partner, I have to mention sweet Emmett, because such a sunshine is yet to be found. Seriously, when the situation took an unexpected turn, he, to his own detriment, wanted to be paired with her and go all the way, constantly asked about her well-being, worried about her, and it's so cool, I'm very glad that the situation here does not look like "love triangle" because that would be downright needless, but I would happily read a separate book about Emmett and his love interest. I have high hopes that it will be somewhere in this series (*winks conspiratorially*)

Ohhh, Ro-You can’t shame the devil.-man.

I have to admit, my interest in this book came from two reasons: the BDSM reality show and the name Roman. In Ukrainian, it sounds the same, but after reading this book, I began to give it a double meaning. In a good way.

He, as a person with a strong dominant... what is it, aura, well, not genes, ok, it doesn't matter what, he is all grumpy and serious and instills a little fear. It's like the same chicken soup recipe: it should feel a little bland, but surprisingly, you want more. The only reason I didn't give this book a 5β˜… and gave 4.5β˜… is because I didn't have enough basis for Roman's interest in Ava. Yes, she's kind of an innocent lamb, but she's also sassy in her own way and... is that all? Some reality was missing a little, I guess. And I still don't believe that a guy like Roman would drop everything and fly with her to see the Grand Canyon hella far away for she could trust him a little more (read: surrender??).

But all of the above mentioned does not mean that he is not hot and I will not read erotic scenes without pleasure, because I will.

What did I pay attention to:
Cool idea, not The Hunger Games, but who knows? :)

Spicy scenes:
Hell, it was hot no matter how you look at it, and even those readers (like me) who haven't encountered BDSM in books before will find something for themselves. The reality show hasn't even started yet, but we've already had a bunch of hot moments with a demonstration of the relationship between the dominant and the submissive, because of which you involuntarily start to get involved in this whole atmosphere and understand that there is something to it. I am waiting for the next book and cool challenges, because the scenes from the photoshoot as for the aperitif were promising enough.

"I'm afraid of getting hurt." Her voice is quiet, and I can tell the effort it took her to tell me that simple truth. "I will hurt you, I can promise you that," I said softly. "But you'll want me to. In fact, you’ll beg me for it.”

Conclusion:
Very intrigued, I want to read the second part as soon as possible!

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Pregame is the first book in The Power Games series

Ava, the protagonist of this book, joins her roommate Emmet to compete in The Power Games, a BDSM-themed reality show to ruin her stepfathers reputation. She just has to pretend to be a submissive on the show. When Ava arrives at the venue the show is being filmed at she meets Roman, the owner of the hotel the show is being filmed at. It was actually his idea to film The Power Games. Can he help Ava win?

The book had me immediately hooked. The build up was great and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. The only down part was that it was so short.

Overall, I definitely recommend to read it!

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Writing: 5/5
Character Development: 5/5
Spice: 3/5

Warnings: BDSM, Sex

Themes: BDSM, Competition, Quick Read

POV: Dual POV

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great start to The Power Games series and I can’t wait to read part 2! The build up of Ava’s story and her mysterious past made me not want to put the book down. The way Ava and Roman interact with each other is my favorite part. They are still trying to figure each other out but I can tell this is going to be one of those amazing, drama filled relationships I love reading about.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a steamy story where the main character is a strong female who is learning about who she is and an alpha male who would love to show her how.

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This was another addition to a saturated market that did not provide anything knew. Like it's predecessor, this did not portray the community positively and the agreements/boundaries that were made were immediately crossed.

Anna - sorry, I meant Ava - is a 22 year old shy student who happens to be a virgin. She is convinced by her roommate to join this competition when she is in need of a place to stay.
There is a brief scene of her doing research but it's clear that she did not practice or think it through.

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Pregame is the first book in the Power games series and has a fast hook. We are initially introduced to the main character Avalon, who goes by Ava, who is living in New York with her roommate Emmett. It is revealed that she has just graduated university and had a job lined up which was unfortunately revoked due to unknown reasons however Ava has her guesses. This leads to the introduction of her mother and powerful stepfather; I am interested in how the author develops and further introduces their storyline in relation to Ava later in the series.

As a consequence of losing the internship, Ava is struggling with what she should do over summer. and that is where Emmett brings up the Power Games. I really enjoyed the introduction to the Power Games and their move to Las Vegas. As the games get started, we are introduced to our male lead Roman who has serious chemistry with our female protagonist. They have some cute moments along with spicy towards the end of the book and I am very excited to see where their chemistry and relationship go.

As I said I enjoyed this book and the writing was quite decent, the one downside was that some scenes were quite short such as the trip Ava and Roman took. Nonetheless I am interested in seeing where the author takes the characters and series as the books develop

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This is the first instalment in The Power Games series.

Ava's future is thwarted by a figure from her past, leaving her homeless and penniless in New York for the summer. Her best friend, Emmett, comes to the rescue by enrolling them both in a new pay-per-view reality challenge show. It isn't anything Ava has been exposed to before but, lacking other options, she decides to compete. The winners receive one-million dollars but along the journey to get there Ava might find herself a prize she longs for more.

I found the dialogue initially a little stilted but this quickly altered and, with it, I got sucked into the storyline. Ava, as our first protagonist, was easy to root for. She felt authentically created and I could empathise with her struggles, even if most of them still remained unknown to the reader at this novel's close. There is a darkness in her past that has her fearful for new experiences and I believe these are going to make the next series instalments less light-hearted as these are more closely focused on.

I clearly didn't read the synopsis well enough as the emergence of a second protagonist took me entirely by surprise. Roman was a lot harder of a character to understand, but that was entirely the point. He remained closed off and aloof to both Ava and the reader and I am eager to continue on with the series to see his walls shatter and his softer side exposed. I'm sure it's lurking in there, somewhere! He too has an as-of-yet unknown trauma he is attempting to deal with and I hope both he and Ava can confront their demons together.

The game element of the novel hadn't really begun, as indicated by the title, but all that was explored had me so eager for more and ensured this a series I continue on with, as soon as the next instalment is released. I'm excited to know more of the characters and the challenges they are invited to compete in.

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Wow what a great read. I wasn't sure if this was going to be good but my doubts soon faded and I couldn't put the book down!

It's similar to 50 shades of grey so not for the fainthearted

Emmett convinces his roommate Ava to take part in the Power Games. If they win they could win a lot of money.
But Ava is inexperienced and is annoyed when a hansom guy named Roman wins her at the auction, instead of Emmett.

Will Ava be able to go through with it and win?

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My mind is blown! I need more! Amazing storyline with characters who I definitely want more from. While following Ava and Roman through the competition I’d still love to see a bit more of Emmett. The multiple POVs if probably my favorite part. Multiple POVs add so much to the story so I’m glad this one fits the bill.

The one disappointing part was the fact they had no female doms and male subs for the show. I would have liked that aspect to be more equal opportunity. I understand the ease of having the contestants set up this way, but the story would have felt more complete with both.

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This book delves into the world of sub/dom with an inexperienced main character, and has a BDSM style game show. This is very erotic and I can't wait for the rest of the series. The possessiveness and the sexual scenes are very hot.

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Wow completely different to how I thought it would be!
Chemistry and a whole lot of BDSM!
NOT my usual genre but I loved it!
More more more please!

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What a delightfully naughty read, I have been left wanting to know more of what happens between Ava and Roman and Emmett.

Just wish this book could have been a little bit longer!

Will be trying to check out the sequels from this author!

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This is not my usual genre..
I’m not really sure how to review this other than to say I was hooked from the first chapter. I’m intrigued by Ava’s backstory and definitely happy to get to know Roman better!
While BDSM is not something I have any real knowledge about, I enjoyed the storyline and it’s definitely steamy. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next instalment 😊

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This is the first book I’ve ever read that reads the way this one does. The book explores a little kink even 5is early in the series, but managed to show the importance of consent in the BDSM community and safety as well. This author clearly knows their stuff. Not only that, the amount of backstory with the FMC is wonderful yet still leaves you wanting more, and the MMC is a mystery, albeit a HOT mystery. The chemistry between the two is enticing and keeps you coming back for more. Knowing that the FMC has never done anything in the way of D/s relationships before, or really relationships at all, just makes it that much more tantalizing. She responds to him in ways only a sub with a wonderful Dom would ever be able to. Although Emmett seems to genuinely care for her as her best friend and confidante, I don’t think he’d EVER be able to elicit the same responses from her that Roman so easily is able to. I’d love to see more of Emmett’s back story as well as Roman’s and can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I am well and truly hooked.

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