High Stakes by Danielle Steel is an enjoyable escape from life. New York City, the glamour and the reality, romance and heartbreak

This book and the characters in it focused on the Me Too Movement in the workplace. It's about five women of different ages and lifestyles, working in the same literary agency and trying to deal with double standards, sexual harassment, and marital problems.

Jane Addison just moved to NYC after getting a job in a well known talent agency, Fletcher and Benson. She has dreams of owning her own business one day and jumps into reading manuscripts immediately.

Hailey West is Jane's boss. She's a great literary agent and she's dedicated to each and every author she represents. She's a widower with three kids who had to go back to work when her husband died unexpectedly from a heart attack. Everyday she goes to work, she feels guilty for leaving her three kids in the hands of babysitters, but she has no choice.

Francine Rivers, also a single parent, who's main concern is how to make sure her kids have a good future. By doing so, she gave up a piece of her soul.

Allie Moore is the head of the talent side. She's single and loves working with the actors she represents. Her life seems to be drama free. Until she gets involved with an up and coming actor, and their relationship threatens her career.

Merriwether Jones is the CFO of the agency. She works while her husband stays at home with their daughter. But her husband begins to resent her and becomes jealous of her job causing friction in their marriage.

When Jane is sexually harassed and assaulted at work by the co-owner, Dan Fletcher, she won't put up with it like the others have. She immediately calls an attorney and Presses charges. What she never expected to happen was those who spoke up once she got the ball rolling.

A great read!

High Stakes presents us with powerful brave women juggling their very different personal lives with their careers, as well as men who in way or another jeopardize all they are striving for or have built. The tone of this book is unlike Steel’s previous novels, in my opinion. Protagonist women are still the focus, but the writing, content, and overall tone is not like her past books, but I was still captivated and fully engaged. I welcomed the change and am impressed that she can write in different styles. I truly enjoyed this book and loved everything that these women represent. Sure, some not so very wise decisions were made by some, but their grit and ambition were still intact. Triggers such as sexual harassment and abuse are prevalent throughout. I found the pub date to be very fitting - the same day as International Women's Day, a day celebrated across the world to mark the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Though there are sensitive topics, this is an empowering and important read.

Another good read by Danielle Steel. High Stakes follows the lives of several women working at a publishing firm during the Me Too movement. At first I had a difficult time sorting the women and their partners out but then they all fell into place. Kudos to Jane, who was brave enough to disclose what happened to her as she was just beginning to settle into her new job. Each of the women had issues to overcome and their paths were each interesting to follow. Altogether an enjoyable predictable read.
Many thanks to Danielle Steel, Delacorte Press, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this just published book.

I really enjoyed this book. A story of five women who all meet at the company they all work at together. They are all in their own right fierce, career driven and just navigating today's Women's problems while in the workplace.
Great read and timely for the me too movement, love the way it was written about and handled by the characters.
I love reading Danielle's books always uplifting to Women and perfect timing that this book released today March 8th 2022 on International Women's day.
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Delacorte press and the Author, Danielle Steel for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great quick read focusing on several women in a NYC literacy agency and the Me Too Movement. I am glad that Danielle Steel took on this topic. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title.

I'm a long time fan and lifelong reader of DS books but we seem to have a love/barely like relationship. I either love her books or, it seems she's in a funk and they're just off. In her last book and this one, she breaks that mold and she's hot once again!
High stakes is the story of 5 women and their assorted men in (or not in) their lives, their families and their jobs. All 5 work for a prestigious talent agency co-owned by 2 partners. One is a stand up guy and the other an old time throwback of a letch. This book is based around the Me Too movement. A powerful story of bravery and courage, of survival, of a rise and a fall, a fall and the rise. Initially I thought it would be difficult trying to follow the storyline of 5 women, the men in their lives, & their families but it proved to be a non issue and I really enjoyed following these women's individual stories as was as the overall big story. One of Steele's more realistic books lately, one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This book is based around the sexual harassment, Me too, movement. It follows several women working together in the same work place. This book is eye-opening and thought provoking. Five women (Jane, Allie, Merriwether, Francine, and Hailey) all work at a successful talent agency in New York. Each is determined to climb the corporate ladder. Jane Addison has big dreams of owning her own publishing company, but as a new graduate, she takes an entry level job at Fletcher and Benson, a literary and entertainment agency. On her very first day she encounters Dan Fletcher as he begins a systematic approach of sexual harassment. Dan, one of the co-founders and partners in the agency, is well known for this behavior and to the disgrace of his partner and his “victims,” everyone turns a blind eye. The book is a quick, thought-provoking read. I am definitely not an attorney, but my one criticism is the “evidence” against the sexual predator seemed weak. There are a lot of mixed messages about “appropriate” relationships in the context of the work environment – bosses with employees, employees with clients – and the resolution of many of the issues seemed a bit too simple. In my opinion the author could have focused on fewer characters going a little more in depth of the emotional toll and mental impact of the inappropriate relationships as well as the impact of it being one in power.

Thank you Net Galley, the author and Random House- Ballantine for an ARC.

I remember spending summers reading Danielle Steel novels so I was excited to read this one. However, I was disappointed in this just ok book.

I think the message of the book, set in a NYC boutique agency amidst the #metoo movement, is important. I found the writing to be scattered and repetitive that left me feeling bored and detached from the characters. It’s not what I expected from a Steel novel, but it was intriguing enough for me to finish.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Danielle Steeles newest book is an amazing story of four women who work at s literacy agency together. All four of them lead different lives but by working together all of their lives intersect and get changed forever. Danielle Steele is the queen of contemporary fiction and in this readers opinion always will be.

High Stakes is the latest by Danielle Steel--this time set in the world of publishing in NYC. In the story we meet multiple characters inside the agency and learn a bit about their home lives. The story quickly starts to center around the #MeToo incidents at the agency. As is typical in Steel novels, resolutions and love both come quickly to our characters. I enjoyed the more current setting, the fact that not all the characters were deeply privileged, and that the story moves along quickly. If you enjoy Steel, I enjoyed this one more than some other recent novels of hers. One improvement would be when telling a story with multiple leads to limit it to 3 leads as it can be confusing to have as many leads as this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

High Stakes by Danielle Steel is a moving "Me too!" novel that lays all the misery out in the open of even those of us who have never experienced a "Me too!" moment to share. Jane Addison was experiencing her fist job past getting her Masters. It was not exactly what she wanted but it was close and it paid well. It had helped that her father knew the owner/manager. All the other agents were women, too, and interesting. Some she liked, some not as much, but all were professionals. She was in the literary division which is where, after reading a book, the agents decided if it had a future or not. She got the opportunity and she was good at it. The only fly in the ointment was Dan Fletcher, the other owner and a dirty old man. She warned him but he had been treating women this way for so long, he ignored the warning. The lawyer did not.

This is a timely book but probably not as accurate as it should be because there was a lot of falling in love, and with people at work, people who should not have been together at all. That being said, it was a good book with excellent characters. It made me feel as if there were people out there who could fall in love without behaving inappropriately. The characters were good: all different ages and backgrounds. There were divorces, too, because sometimes a divorce is the only answer. That was sad, as well, in some of the cases. In some of the cases, it was time. Danielle Steel can take any topic and make a romance of it. That is why we love her. She can also take timely topics and make them relatable. She has done that here. Good book.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of High Stakes by Delacorte, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #netgalley #delacorte #highstakes #daniellesteel

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Hands down one of my favorites by @officialdaniellesteel so far! This book shared the reality of life, love, & careers. A handful of young women who are trying to become something in the career world while dealing with everyday life issues. It takes just one person to speak up and for others to follow.

Francine spent years of being tortured and abused while being a career focused mother.

Allie is a wild child that loves her career & strange men.

Hailey is a driven working widow with young children to care for.

Jane is a young, goal driven woman just starting out in the workplace.

Merriwether is a hard-working mom with a husband at home trying to become a writer.

Each of these women lives with a purpose and strive to find happiness!

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

Another great book from Danielle Steel but this one might be best to have a warning label. This book is very much wrapped up in the Me Too movement and deals with sexual assault in depth. For some this may be too much but I think Steel wrote the story really well.

The characters are so well defined that even though there are a lot we learn quickly who is who and why they are integral to their storylines.

There is a lot to each woman’s story and this is not a feel good beach read. It is intense but a story that needs to be told.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of five women in a literary agency and how they cope with double standards, sexual harassment, marital problems, and abuse. It is set during the height of the "me too" movement and shows how each woman deals with these issues.

The newest employee, Jane, comes from a life of privilege, is not worried about losing her job, and is not about to take sexual harassment and abuse. When she stands up against a boss who won't take no for an answer, she knocks over the first domino, and an avalanche follows.

What was made most evident when the abusive actions of one of the bosses at the firm are brought to light is that other people in power knew or suspected and did nothing. I think that is a true representation of what goes on in these situations in real life. In my opinion, the abuser's business partner who turned a blind eye to it all is just as guilty and should have been prosecuted too. Although this is a strong story with a good message of women banding together and fighting back, I feel Ms. Steel wasn't hard enough on the business partner in this novel.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone interested in women's fiction and the "Me too," movement.

I received a free copy of this book from Random House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.

Danielle Steel writes another wonderful story. High Stakes is a very modern story bringing together women who each have their own story. This is a very enjoyable story that provides a needed escape from real life. I highly recommend.

This is a Women's Fiction that took place during the Me Too Movement. This book covers hard to read topic, but I think the writing in this book does it well. This book follows five women, and my biggest problem in this book is that we follow to many characters. I wanted to get a closer look at just a couple of the characters instead of following so many characters. I do think that this book shows the Me Too Movement very well. This book made me think a lot about things. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Delacorte Press) or author (Danielle Steel) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Danielle Steel is one of my go to, auto read authors, especially when I want a quick read. A lot of her books are light reads in terms of topics. This book deals with a pretty heavy topic and one that is all over the news in today's society. I really struggled with the rating of this book. It follows the typical Danielle Steel formula...a lot of character buildup and descriptions at the beginning, not a whole lot of plot happenings, and a pretty quick ending/resolution to the story. I really do wish that she would build more depth to her stories, instead of churn out so many books each year. I feel like a lot of her books have great potential but they just feel surface level. I felt this way about this particular book of hers. While it dealt with a pretty intense topic, I felt like things happened fast, and things really didn't happen much at all (if that makes sense). I loved that this book took place in the publishing/talent agency world, but I didn't really care or the characters. It was a quick read, but I found myself struggling to stay engaged and interested though much of the story. This was not my least favorite of hers that I've read, but it also wasn't great.

I enjoyed this story of 5 women working in the high profile, fast paced literary/entertainment field. Quite an insight into that world. Also a story of a few men who work in the same agency and a few men who are part of the lives of the 5 women. Lots of topics touched upon here, Me Too movement, female bread winners, older woman/man younger woman/man relationships, and professionalism in co worker's relationships. Loved the many situations/life events the characters went through. Lots of thought from both sides of the coin. Loved the ending!

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.