The Power Play Series by Avery Barris

Three years ago, Mara Bennett walked away from Julian Mercer. Now she has to negotiate with him. Julian Mercer built his reputation on control. Control of deals. Control of billion-dollar negotiations. Control of every room he walks into. What he never managed to control…. …was Mara. Now a high-stakes acquisition forces them back across the same table. Mara is the strategist protecting Caldwell Holdings. Julian represents the rival firm determined to dominate the deal. Old history... moreThree years ago, Mara Bennett walked away from Julian Mercer. Now she has to negotiate with him. Julian Mercer built his reputation on control. Control of deals. Control of billion-dollar negotiations. Control of every room he walks into. What he never managed to control…. …was Mara. Now a high-stakes acquisition forces them back across the same table. Mara is the strategist protecting Caldwell Holdings. Julian represents the rival firm determined to dominate the deal. Old history. Old rivalries. And a tension neither of them has ever truly resolved. Every meeting becomes a battle of leverage. Every negotiation pushes them closer to a line they once crossed—and never forgot. But as corporate pressure builds and outside forces threaten the deal, one truth becomes impossible to ignore. The most dangerous move in any negotiation…. …is trusting the person who already knows how to break you. The Rival Agreement is Book Two in The Power Play Series, a billionaire workplace romance series featuring:. • commanding alpha executives. • brilliant heroines who refuse to be intimidated. • enemies-to-lovers tension. • slow-burn chemistry. • high-stakes corporate power struggles. • emotionally guarded rivals forced to work together. • a guaranteed happily-ever-after. Start the series withThe Deal Between Us and enter a world where ambition is currency, control is everything, and love is the one negotiation no one walks away from unchanged. less

Caldwell Holdings didn’t lose control. But in the world of billion-dollar power plays… control is never permanent. Sloane Vale built her reputation on precision—of judgment, timing, and the ability to move through the most powerful rooms without ever losing her edge. What she understands better than anyone…. …is that once a structure shifts, it never shifts back. Now the war surrounding Caldwell Holdings has changed. Not louder. Not more obvious. More dangerous... moreCaldwell Holdings didn’t lose control. But in the world of billion-dollar power plays… control is never permanent. Sloane Vale built her reputation on precision—of judgment, timing, and the ability to move through the most powerful rooms without ever losing her edge. What she understands better than anyone…. …is that once a structure shifts, it never shifts back. Now the war surrounding Caldwell Holdings has changed. Not louder. Not more obvious. More dangerous. Because this time, the pressure isn’t coming from outside. It’s coming from within the system itself—through governance, influence, and the quiet mechanisms that decide who gets to remain… and who gets removed. Elias Quinn has always understood how power works. Control of structure. Control of risk. Control of outcomes no one else sees until it’s too late. But control becomes impossible…. …when the one person he refuses to lose is the one person the system is trying to force out. Sloane and Elias are no longer operating on opposite sides. They’re inside the same negotiation. The same structure. The same escalating pressure. And this time, walking away isn’t an option. Because in high-stakes corporate warfare, power isn’t taken. It’s negotiated. And the closer you get to the center…. …the more everything costs. As pressure builds across Caldwell Holdings, Vale, and the market itself, the line between strategy and loyalty begins to collapse. Because the most dangerous move in any negotiation…. …is refusing to choose. The Executive Negotiation is Book Five in The Power Play Series, a billionaire workplace romance series featuring:. • commanding alpha executives. • brilliant heroines who refuse to be controlled. • rivals forced into high-stakes alliances. • slow-burn tension that finally ignites. • high-stakes corporate power struggles. • emotionally guarded professionals facing impossible choices. • a guaranteed happily-ever-after. Start the series with The Deal Between Us and enter a world where ambition is currency, control is everything, and the most powerful negotiations are the ones that change everything. less