High Stakes

Written by Danielle Steel

Narrated by Dan John Miller

In this captivating novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, five successful women play for high stakes in their careers at a boutique literary and talent agency.

Jane Addison is an ambitious young woman with big dreams of owning her own company someday. At twenty-eight, she arrives in New York to start a job at Fletcher and Benson, a prestigious talent agency. Eager to impress her new colleagues, Jane jumps right in as an assistant to Hailey West, one of the agents in the literary department.

Hailey is dedicated to the authors she represents, but her home life is chaotic and challenging. After her husband’s tragic and untimely death, she was left widowed with three children to raise on her own.
Then there’s Francine Rivers, the stern and accomplished head of the literary department. Also a single mom after her husband’s affair with the nanny, she has overcome the resulting financial hardships, but only with unbearable sacrifice.

Compared to Hailey and Francine, drama agent Allie Moore’s life seems much more carefree and uncomplicated. She relishes her success and loves working with the talented actors they represent—until a passionate relationship with one of her rising star clients threatens to derail her career.

Merriwether Jones is the CFO for the agency. She appears to have it all--beauty, success, and a perfect marriage until her husband's jealousy over her career threatens to blow everything up.

Even though she’s a newcomer, Jane quickly realizes that there are damaging secrets hidden behind the doors of Fletcher and Benson. As one of the youngest employees, she has the least power, but is also the least willing to accept things as they have been for years. When she puts everything on the line to right these wrongs, the consequences will leave no one unscathed.

In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel tells the story of a group of remarkable women navigating the challenges of balancing their families, their personal lives and the high stakes of ambition at the top of their game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781980032915

Danielle Steel

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Property of a Noblewoman, Blue, Precious Gifts, Undercover, Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus, A Perfect Life, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; and the children's books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.

Reviews for High Stakes

[Heather Abrams · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was my least favorite of the 30 other books I’ve read by D.S.

[firstreader-313058 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this book, Steel examines a group of five women who work for a literary/entertainment agency in New York City. Each woman has a story of how difficult the struggle to have both a successful work life and a successful personal life can be for each of them.While this story has been told before many times, Steel’s characters had such potential. However, she squandered that potential because she constantly told her readers how much each woman loves her job and wants to make her way up the corporate ladder and remain a part of her family. Steel also failed to develop her characters deeply and so they were hard to tell apart. The reader may be taken out of Steel’s story long enough to try to determine which character is in the spotlight. There is a plethora of characters, including children, husbands, boyfriends, etc., all of whom complicate the story and Steel’s readers’ inability to tell her main characters apart.If you’re a Steel fan, you may enjoy this book. However, if you are thinking about testing the Steel waters with this outing, you probably will be better served to read any one of her other books.My thanks to Delacorte and NetGalley for an eARC.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

High Stakes by Danielle Steel follows five women who work at a boutique literary and talent agency. The story takes place during the Me Too Movement. I started reading and was quickly engrossed in the story. It contains Danielle Stee’s trademark writing style. It is a little hard to keep the five women straight throughout the book. It switches between the women without notice. I wish the story had followed one or two women instead of five. I thought Danielle Steel did a wonderful job at handling the Me Too Movement. One man fails to realize that you cannot grope women or demand certain favors. He goes too far with a new hire at the agency and gets a reality check. There is too much foul language for my liking in this story and there are intimate situations (forced and consensual). There is also a great deal of repetition. The same details repeated in different scenes as we go from character to character. I like how Jane handled gropey McGee and that she stood up for herself. She was not going to take his disgusting behavior any longer. It just takes one person to stand up and say no. The ending is predictable, and the relationships are questionable. It sends a mixed message (client with agent, boss with underling, etc.). Of course, when you work all the time, the only place to meet potential dates is at work. I like that we get to see the woman evolve as the story progresses. High Stakes has an ending that will have readers smiling.