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Power Play
Cover of Power Play
Power Play
A Novel
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In Northern California two successful CEOs are both indispensable to their growing companies’ futures. Both are brilliant at the power game. But the difference between them is huge. One is a man, the other a woman. In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel explores what that means as she takes readers into the rarefied world of those at the pinnacle of international business and reveals the irrevocable choices they make, what drives them, and how others perceive them. The heady drug of power impacts everything they do.
 
POWER PLAY
 
Even though Harvard-educated Fiona Carson has proven herself under fire as CEO of National Technology Advancement, a multibillion-dollar high-tech company based in Palo Alto, California, she still has to meet the challenges of her world every day. Devoted single mother, world-class strategist, and tough negotiator, Fiona weighs every move she makes, and reserves any personal time for her children. Isolation and constant pressure are givens for her as a woman in a man’s world.
 
Miles away in Marin County, Marshall Weston basks in the fruits of his achievements. At his side is his wife, Liz, the perfect corporate spouse, who has gladly sacrificed her own law career to raise their three children and support Marshall at every step. Smooth, shrewd, and irreproachable, Marshall is a model chief executive, and the power he wields only enhances his charisma and is his drug of choice. And to maintain his position, he harbors secrets that could destroy his life at any moment. His world is one of high risks.
 
Like many women in her position, Fiona has sacrificed her personal life for her career, while Marshall dances dangerously close to the edge and flirts with scandal every day. Both must face their own demons, and fight off those who are jealous of their success. Their lives as CEOs of major companies come at a high price. And just how high a price are they willing to pay? Who are they willing to sacrifice to stay on top? Those they love, or themselves?
 
Danielle Steel’s gripping, emotionally layered novel explores the seductive and damaging nature of power. Success and greed, trust and deception, love and loss—all come to a head in this compelling drama of family, careers, infidelity, and the sacrifices some people make to hold on to power . . . or to let it go.
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Danielle Steel's Prodigal Son.
Praise for Power Play
 
“In peak form, Steel examines the effects of power on the lives of male and female CEOs in this insightful, all-too realistic novel . . . to dramatize just how differently men and women handle corporate power and personal responsibility.”Booklist
 
“Connecting two powerful CEOs through their children’s romantic involvement, the author uses her signature low-key . . . style to examine personal and professional morality. . . . Appealing fare from Steel.”Kirkus Reviews
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In Northern California two successful CEOs are both indispensable to their growing companies’ futures. Both are brilliant at the power game. But the difference between them is huge. One is a man, the other a woman. In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel explores what that means as she takes readers into the rarefied world of those at the pinnacle of international business and reveals the irrevocable choices they make, what drives them, and how others perceive them. The heady drug of power impacts everything they do.
 
POWER PLAY
 
Even though Harvard-educated Fiona Carson has proven herself under fire as CEO of National Technology Advancement, a multibillion-dollar high-tech company based in Palo Alto, California, she still has to meet the challenges of her world every day. Devoted single mother, world-class strategist, and tough negotiator, Fiona weighs every move she makes, and reserves any personal time for her children. Isolation and constant pressure are givens for her as a woman in a man’s world.
 
Miles away in Marin County, Marshall Weston basks in the fruits of his achievements. At his side is his wife, Liz, the perfect corporate spouse, who has gladly sacrificed her own law career to raise their three children and support Marshall at every step. Smooth, shrewd, and irreproachable, Marshall is a model chief executive, and the power he wields only enhances his charisma and is his drug of choice. And to maintain his position, he harbors secrets that could destroy his life at any moment. His world is one of high risks.
 
Like many women in her position, Fiona has sacrificed her personal life for her career, while Marshall dances dangerously close to the edge and flirts with scandal every day. Both must face their own demons, and fight off those who are jealous of their success. Their lives as CEOs of major companies come at a high price. And just how high a price are they willing to pay? Who are they willing to sacrifice to stay on top? Those they love, or themselves?
 
Danielle Steel’s gripping, emotionally layered novel explores the seductive and damaging nature of power. Success and greed, trust and deception, love and loss—all come to a head in this compelling drama of family, careers, infidelity, and the sacrifices some people make to hold on to power . . . or to let it go.
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Danielle Steel's Prodigal Son.
Praise for Power Play
 
“In peak form, Steel examines the effects of power on the lives of male and female CEOs in this insightful, all-too realistic novel . . . to dramatize just how differently men and women handle corporate power and personal responsibility.”Booklist
 
“Connecting two powerful CEOs through their children’s romantic involvement, the author uses her signature low-key . . . style to examine personal and professional morality. . . . Appealing fare from Steel.”Kirkus Reviews
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Excerpts-
  • Chapter 1 Chapter 1

    Fiona Carson left her office with the perfect amount of time to get to the boardroom for an important meeting. She was wearing a businesslike suit, her blond hair pulled back, almost no makeup. She was the CEO of one of the largest and most successful corporations in the country. She hated being late and almost never was. To anyone who ­didn’t know her, and many who did, she appeared to be in total control, and one could easily imagine her handling any situation. And whatever personal problems or issues she had, it was inconceivable that she would let them interfere with her work. A woman like Fiona would never let that happen.

    As she approached the boardroom, her BlackBerry rang. She was about to let it go to voice mail, and then decided to check who it was, just to be sure. She pulled it out of her pocket. It was Alyssa, her daughter, who was currently a sophomore at Stanford. She hesitated, and then decided to answer it. She had time. The board meeting ­wouldn’t start for a few minutes, and as a single parent, it always made her uneasy not to answer calls from her children. What if it was the one time that something was seriously wrong? Alyssa had always been an easy child, and handled her life responsibly as a young adult, but still . . . what if she’d had an accident . . . was sick . . . was in an emergency room somewhere . . . had a crisis at school . . . her dog got run over by a car (which had happened once and Alyssa had been heartbroken for months). Fiona could never just let the phone ring and ignore it if it was one of her kids. She had always felt that part of being a parent was being on call at all times. And she felt that way about being CEO too. If there was an emergency, she expected someone to call her, at any hour, wherever she was. Fiona was accessible, to the corporation and her kids. She answered on the second ring.

    “Mom?” Alyssa used the voice she only used for important events. A fantastic grade, or a disastrous one, something seriously wrong at the doctor, like a positive test for mono. Fiona could tell that whatever this was, it was important, so she was glad she had taken the call. She hoped it was nothing serious and sounded concerned.

    “Yes. What’s up?” she answered in a subdued voice, so no one would hear her on a personal call as she walked down the hall. “Are you okay?”

    “Yes, of course.” Alyssa sounded annoyed. “Why would you say that?” It never dawned on her what it was like being a mother, and the kind of things you worried about, or imagined, or how many things could go wrong, ­really bad ones. It was Fiona’s job to be aware of all those things, and be ready to spring into action when necessary, like the Red Cross or the fire department. Being a mother was like working for the office of emergency services, with a lifetime commitment. “Where are you? Why are you talking like that?” Alyssa could hardly hear her. She hated it when her mother whispered into the phone.

    “I’m on my way to a board meeting,” Fiona answered, still speaking in a stage whisper. “What do you need?”

    “I don’t ‘need’ anything. I just wanted to ask you something.” Alyssa sounded mildly insulted at the way her mother phrased it. They weren’t off to a good start, and Fiona wondered why her daughter ­hadn’t just sent her a text, as she often did. She knew how busy her mother was all day. But Fiona had always made it...

About the Author-
  • 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 Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus, A Perfect Life, Power Play, Winners, First Sight, Until the End of Time, The Sins of the Mother, 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; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s book Pretty Minnie in Paris.
Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    December 9, 2013
    Through shrewdness and hard work, Fiona Carson has shattered the glass ceiling at a Palo Alto, Calif., tech company, NTA (National Technology Advancement), but that's not the only thing that sets her apart in the boardroom. What makes the intensely private 49-year-old CEO and divorced mother of two truly unique, as shown in this biting critique of the corporate gender gap, is her unwavering commitment to both job and family. Prolific bestseller Steel (Winners) elevates an otherwise formulaic tale of love, ambition, and loyalty by drawing a pointed contrast between Fiona's search for romantic happiness and that of duplicitous Marshall Weston. The San Francisco captain of industry keeps his 30-year-old mistress Ashley and their twin daughters in a house in Malibu, while maintaining appearances with his wife, Liz, and their three children in Marin. Marshall's thoughtless fling with an employee sets off a chain of events that exposes his double life, forces Ashley and Liz to re-evaluate their loyalties—and threatens the one thing the corporate titan loves above all else: himself. Steel expertly handles a well-paced morality tale while creating three starkly different heroines who share a common moral compass.

  • Kirkus

    January 15, 2014
    Steel's (Winners, 2013, etc.) latest contemporary romance targets the integrity of corporate executives. Connecting two powerful CEOs through their children's romantic involvement, the author uses her signature low-key, easy-to-read style to examine personal and professional morality. Fiona Carson and Marshall Weston have made it to the tops of their games with a lot of sweat equity, and both are respected leaders, but that's where the similarities end. Fiona is an accomplished divorcee and the mother of two well-balanced college students. She makes accessibility to her son and daughter a priority and rationalizes that she doesn't have room in her life for a man since her work and her children keep her busy and happy. When Pulitzer Prize winner Logan Smith, an investigative reporter, contacts Fiona for a story he's working on, she sees him as a good match for her older sister, Jillian. After all, Jillian's a psychiatrist who's working on a book about women in power, and both Jillian and Logan believe successful women in the business world conduct themselves very differently from their male counterparts. Marshall seems to exemplify that difference. While Fiona's a concerned parent and a by-the-book executive who would never compromise her principles, Marshall's actions reflect his questionable ethics. Married for 27 years to the same woman, he's been a decent provider to his wife and three children, and on the surface, he appears to achieve a perfect balance between family life and corporate duties. But looks can be deceiving. His eldest son despises him; his daughter's on a dubious path; and Marshall's hiding a secret life that threatens to harm the reputation of his company, destroy his marriage and damage others who depend on him. When he's forced to make an important decision, Marshall's loyalty to his company and loved ones is tested. Standard, appealing fare from Steel.

    COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  • Booklist

    January 1, 2014
    In peak form, Steel examines the effects of power on the lives of male and female CEOs in this insightful, all-too realistic novel. Divorc'e Fiona Carson has only two priorities in her life: her two children and her corporation. Other than those focuses, her life might as well be spent in a convent. Her concern at the moment is finding the person on her board of directors who is leaking sensitive information to the press. CEO Marshall Weston is her opposite. He splits his out-of-office time between his two families: his wife and his three nearly grown children and his mistress and their seven-year-old twins. Marshall is able to keep all the balls in the air until a cancer-surviving former employee claims he bedded her and then fired her, and she's ready to tell her story to the press. Suddenly Marshall is on the denial trail, trying to keep his private life from imploding. Steel forthrightly juxtaposes the private lives of Fiona and Marshall to dramatize just how differently men and women handle corporate power and personal responsibility.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

  • Kirkus Reviews "In peak form, Steel examines the effects of power on the lives of male and female CEOs in this insightful, all-too realistic novel . . . to dramatize just how differently men and women handle corporate power and personal responsibility."--Booklist "Connecting two powerful CEOs through their children's romantic involvement, the author uses her signature low-key . . . style to examine personal and professional morality. . . . Appealing fare from Steel."
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