MIND GAMES by Dorian Smith

 ADULT CONTENT; This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

BLURB:
MIND GAMES  is about new beginnings, misplaced love and finding one's self between engaged New York, City couple, Michelle Beauford and Brad Albrecht, a newlywed Annellyse Crawford and a love interest Kenji Sakura who finds love in different ways. MIND GAMES is a look into the butterfly effect.  The story is based  on two cities known for their mystery, New York and Tokyo, along with a mind grabbing underground organization
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OVERVIEW:
 Michelle Beauford and Brad Albrecht are the two main characters.  Michelle is an event planner for a public relations firm in New York, City. Michelle is a hard worker, full of determination. She appears to have it all.  Everyone is envious of her. Everyone thinks she has the perfect life, but it is far from perfect. Michelle's life is soon to be spun around. The past is waiting to haunt her and the future is holding on by a thread. This novel follows Michelle through her life and her social circles.

 Brad is a big-shot attorney. He comes from a well to do family of attorneys. Brad couldn't want for anything. He appears to have it all, a beautiful girl friend of five years, a very promising career and on top of that he is handsome.  He cares too much about what everyone thinks.  He only befriends those who he thinks can do something for him.  He puts himself ahead of everything.

In MIND GAMES no body or anything is as it appears. Actions can affect another person so quickly and deeply.  The backdrop of this story is a mysterious and secret organization.  Everyone is full or evil and good, some just more good, and some, more evil.

Brad and Michelle go on vacation to Japan.  While there, she meets a man, Kenji Sakura.  She just flirts at first but he has an obsessive love for her. On the very night Brad is going to propose to Michelle, she is kidnapped by Kenji.  Michelle didn't know, but Kenji held high rank in the yakuza syndicate, Duskai.

The syndicate runs Brad out of Japan after they hung him upside down from the hotel balcony overlooking Tokyo Bay. Knowing she has no choice, Michelle fakes affection.  Then she realizes she is very attracted to Kenji, but she claims to hate him.

Michelle has an accident and suffers amnesia. This makes Kenji very happy.  He changes Michelle into Annellyse Crawford. She soon is to be Kenji's wife. Kenji has been tracked by interpol agent Daniel Thompson.  He had gotten a tip from Brad.  Daniel is after Kenji for another reason also.  The death of his love. Daniel starts to fall for Annellyse, hoping to get Kenji out of the picture so Annellyse will remember her past and stay with him.

Annellyse starts to put together bits and pieces of her memory, she's just not sure what's  real and what isn't.  To add to the turmoil, Annellyse finds out she is pregnant.  She soon realizes she is better off as Annellyse than Michelle.

Kenji corners Daniel and gives him a severe beating, almost kills him.  Kenji will later regret it.  Daniel takes matters into his own hands and attacks Annellyse.  He parades her around, showing her off to Kuskai's rivals.  Finally Annellyse is saved before she can be harmed anymore.  She begs Kenji to put a stop to Daniel.  Instead she  handles the matter on her own and kills Daniel.  What happens now?  Does she pay for killing Daniel or will the syndicate take care of this?  Will she stay with Kenji or go back to the states to Brad.? Will she regain her independence and her strong womanhood?

REVIEW:
Brad was a controlling, self centered, egotistical male. He controlled every aspect of Michelle's life.  She once was a strong, independent woman.  He controlled her every move and she took that as love. Brad may have made love in a strong way, but he wasn't a strong man.  A strong man doesn't need to control any woman or anyone for that matter.  He is strong on his own. He certainly didn't put Michelle on a pedestal and didn't show any respect to his lady. He thought he was the only man that could handle Michelle.  He was wrong.  Eventually Michelle realized it wasn't love he was giving, he was taking it, and everything else Michelle once stood for.

Kenji was born into a life of crime. He always focused on his own needs. He was a gorgeous man, very powerful and successful. Love was something he could possess.... until fate stepped in and he met Michelle.
He always lived by his code of.....     "What Kenji wanted, Kenji took."

This was a powerful book.  It showed the Butterfly Affect and how it affects not just one person but many in a person's life. The book shows how woman can be manipulated and broken down.  It also shows how they can come back to their life when placed in the right situation.  The author did some amazing writing in this book. It showed how powerful one person can be. It can ruin others or it can make them stronger. I believe in this case when Annellyse was with Kenji, she became strong, not like with Brad, where she was a child needing to be led every step.
It was definitely a page turner. One of those books you want to be there, so you can  "reach out and touch someone."  Perhaps not nicely, but you'd still like to. The book was suspenseful with some good romance kicked in.  I'd give this book 5 stars.  A Great Book.

Pick this book up, but don't expect to put it down.

This book was originally published on http://www.mommysreading.com not now...mommy's reading.