Betting Hearts

by Dee Tenorio

He's never lost a bet in his life but she's playing for keeps! Cassandra Bishop's boyfriend is back. Only problem is.she doesn't want anything to do with him. Or his new fiancie. What the confirmed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599982579
• ISBN13: 9781599982571
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Samhain Publishing
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Fun and flirty

Downloaded this on my Kindle this past weekend based on a friend's recommendation --- and loved it! Cassandra is a great lead character, desperate to prove her ex boyfriend wrong. This is a solid friends to lovers story that will leave you itching to pick up another book by this author.

Cute story of a tomboy

Cassandra Bishop (known by all as just CB) is one of the guys. She plays poker with the guys and works for her family's landscaping business. She's been comfortable with her life until she runs into her ex-fiancé Luke with his new fiancée Sally. But wait a sec - Luke left town and left her a letter telling her he was leaving her because he was gay - what's he doing with Sally? CB's run-in with Luke turns nasty - especially when he tells her that she's too much like a guy and not feminine enough for a man. That run-in with Luke gets CB thinking about her life and what she wants out of it. She decides that she wants is to be treated like a woman. She also wants to be known as Cassie and wants a guy to treat her as if she was special. And she needs all this to happen in a couple of weeks so she can wow Luke at his wedding. CB decides that she needs someone to help her in her transformation - who better than her best friend - Burke Hallifax? Burke Hallifax loves his friend CB just as she is and really doesn't want her to change at all. The last thing he wants to do is make her "womanly" - he really doesn't like change at all. But he's finding that he's very attracted to Cassie. This is a cute story, though I thought Cassie was a little extreme - at 28, she's never worn makeup, read any 'girlie' magazines, needs to watch old movies to figure out what's feminine and so on. Burke was very cute as the guy who suddenly has his eyes opened to his old 'friend'. Secondary characters, like Hayne, Cassie's brother add a lot to the story. If you expect this to be a "hot" novel (as this is published by Samhain), you'll be disappointed. The steaminess factor is really no hotter than a Harlequin novel - and maybe even less than that.

Let's hear it for the tomboys!

Cassandra Bishop, otherwise known as CB doesn't have the faintest idea how to be feminine. She's a rough and tumble sort of girl who's not afraid to get her hands dirty, inhale her food in public, or even throw a punch if it's warranted. Her ex-fiancé's, Luke, reappearance in town has her doubting her own appeal and feminism. After all, he supposedly left her because he was gay, now here he is with a woman who reminds CB of a Pomeranian and insisting that CB is just too masculine acting to be considered womanly. CB is determined to prove him wrong. She's enlisting her best friend Burke to help with the transformation. Burke Hallifax has been a friend of Cassandra's for a very long time. Hayne (CB's brother), CB and Burke often hung out together. She's always been his buddy. So why would she think that he can help her find her femininity? To make matters worse, he's suddenly seeing her as more than just a buddy, there are curves he never noticed before. But there is no way that he is going to have any part of changing her into a "woman." Breaking Luke's nose should have given CB a small amount of satisfaction. After the way he'd deserted her a year ago he did deserve some retaliation. His derogatory comments about her lack of feminine behavior really hurt. CB does what any self respecting woman in her position would do - gets drunk. Then she proceeds to visit her friend Burke to ask him if he'd have sex with her if she asked. At three-thirty in the morning, the last thing Burke feels like doing is arguing with a very drunk soaking wet woman who resembles a drowned rat. While he did tell her that no, he would not have sex with her, he still forces her in out of the rain and has her sleep it off in his guest bedroom. After sobering up a bit, CB explains about Luke being back in town and breaking his nose. When Luke drops off an invitation to his wedding to the Pomeranian, CB makes the big decision that she is going to prove that she can be feminine and do so with more style than his little blonde with the double-D's. Burke claims he can see her femininity so he should be able to help her bring it out, right? He's refusing to help but Cassandra has a plan. The weekly poker game is tonight and CBandra's determined to win. Since she's the dealer, she gets to pick the game. Tonight's game is five card stud, aces high, favor game. Showdown rules. Cassandra needs a date to Luke's wedding, and she needs someone to show her how to be a woman and she's dead set on Burke fulfilling both roles. Let's hear it for the tomboys! Cassandra is such a fun character. She's bold and brash yet still girly, but not in a makeup and high-heels sort of way. She wants to be loved and get married, even have kids but Luke's cruel comments push her into a deep-seated need to prove to everyone including herself that she is a woman. Burke loves Cassandra just the way she is, her changing forces him to realize that she is desirable and he's always been

Clever, sweet romance

I just finished reading the sweetest love story. Betting Hearts, by Dee Tenorio, is a best friends story, which I love, and this one is so emotional, you just squirm right along with the hero, Burke. Cassie is one of the boys. She works in a nursery, plays poker and hangs with her brother Hayne and his best friend Burke, who is als her best friend. She's content with her life until her former fiancé, a snake from the lowest level of hell, returns to town. He's left her weeks before her wedding, leaving a note that he was gay. Only now he's back with a woman, planning another wedding, claiming Cass isn't woman enough. So she decides to transform herself into a girl, and she gets Burke's help to do it because he's the only one she feels safe with. Burke has been warned away from Cassie by her brother, and he's never had to take the warning seriously till Cassie shows up on his doorstep, drunk and needy. Now he's trying to protect her from her rat-fink fiancé, his own unworthiness, all the while fighting his attraction. Watching Burke suffer as he becomes aware of Cass's attributes is priceless. He's just stunned she's a girl. The reader feels his struggle, his longing. And when he has to come face to face with the rat fink and defends her, the reader falls in love with him. The sexual tension is thick as, well, as the heat here in SA. The love scene is fulfilling and heartbreaking. Secondary characters are great and real, twists of phrase make you smile (and wish you'd written them) and the last scene is fabulous.

Rising start of romance

Betting Hearts was the freshest romantic comedy I've read in months. The sexual tension sizzles, the romance makes you sigh and the characters live on in your mind long after you turn the last page. I'm already looking forward to Ms. Tenorio's next book.