Reviews

An Arrangement of Love by Kenya Wright

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adistraction's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Meh

theblackstepford's review against another edition

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Narrator was awful. Couldn’t do it.

arkwen452's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An arrangement of love book, one in the chasing love series by Kenya Wright, I find will surprise most readers. Marketed as a billionaire obsessed with this young employee that he wants to join his harem of women that he has an arrangement with on his estate will surely surprise readers with elements of wooing, begging, financial, struggling, complicated relationships, and a very strong subtly built, psychological element that we see carried throughout the relationship not only between Chase and Jasmine but also his relationship with Dawn, Lucy and Wendy.

No one is more surprised I think in this book than Chase says to his reaction to Jasmine being in his life. I want to say that from the beginning underneath the chases self assurances confidence and he wanted to please Jasmine, but also develop a connection with her. He is attracted her physically, but any Look of hers or doubt she may have cause him to question and pause his actions. While this book is over a decade old and the arrangement that Chase has with Wendy, Dawn and Lucy may seem outlandish I do not think it is all that unusual.

In fact, there are several people in a polyamorous relationship that are healthy and thriving and have been thriving over the years. With that being said, I think an arrangement of love really explores is the potential of toxic relationships developing in polyamorous relationship.

While I did not like Dawn's character in the book, her and belief in having therapy for all of them specially after the deaths of the three women that came before Jasmine I thought that was smart. Especially for all of them to get along, both mentally and emotionally within their arrangement. Likewise, I found that Jasmine coming in with her own rules and means of compromise was also smart because that protected her going into this relationship.

Polyamorous is not for everybody who can't share their love so openly without fears and self doubt. And this doesn't reflect what is in a real polyamorous relationship. However, I thought it was a fair interpretation. The example of this was with Lucy's character. Her relationship with Chase was not physical and she has a traumatic past but I do believe that since she is Asexual, the arrangement worked well for her.

In the end, I want to actually see Chase's character have a real character arc and find out the truth about the deaths of the three women before Jasmine came along and who has put a target on her back.

Content Warnings

thatsmetiffany's review against another edition

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3.0

Ok, so somewhere in the middle she lost me with this but, since I had gotten to the middle, I chose to continue. I got to the end and it did get somewhat better than it started. This story is about Jasmine a well-educated but poor biracial woman who somehow catches the eye of Billionaire Chase. Who, let us be honest, is a spoiled brat and has heavy weight stalker tendencies, and a majorly possessive personality, and not the cute possessive either. Like full on, someone should be very concerned, possessive. Anyway, he stalks her, wants her to be his girlfriend, joining the ranks of his two, yes two, current girlfriends and is fiance...his freaking fiance. But only he is allowed to date others, the women are only to be with him. He wines and dines her (she's obsessed with food), she resists for a while and even comes up with a few rules of her own before she agrees. Well, for some reason Jasmine is different and Chase treats her different and the other women in the arrangement don't really like that. She gets a couple of threats that vaguely resemble those of three of Chase's previous girlfriends who all die after being involved in the arrangement. Murder, mystery, drugs, food, booze and sex are all present. I honestly think Jasmine was on some special type of stupid for agreeing with that whole situation in the first place, even with her conditions in place. I literally got angry and had to vent to a friend when Jasmine said yes. I absolutely hate that Chase was allowed so many freedoms, but he wouldn't allow them the same freedoms and he also dressed and styled them to his tastes. There was so much that I just could not agree with in this book. However, it did slowly get to be more interesting and I do plan to read the next in the series to see where it's going. It crawled it's way back from getting no stars because Jasmine actually never accepted the situation and to her credit, she tried as best she could to get away from Chase but, when the guy is obsessive, possessive, and rich, how much can you really do to get away from him?

shaydelayed's review against another edition

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5.0

This book! Usually a synopsis like this would send me running for the hills, but something about this one wouldn't let me write it off. So, I went in fully prepared to dnf if things went in a direction I couldn't get with. I am soooooo happy I gave this book a shot! I loved it and I can't wait to continue with the rest of the series.

africreole's review against another edition

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4.0

It could not be me!

If this were me, the story would have ended at the interview. I would have gotten up and walked out, job be damned. Jasmine should have known then something underhanded was going on. My personal business is just that, my personal business. At least Jasmine had the sense to make Chase grovel behind her. If he wanted her he'd have to earn her. Chase never had to court or chase a woman before and he was intrigued by Jasmine. She introduced him to new experiences in his life. She defied all of his preferences and rules and that really captivated him. All it took was one taste of Jasmine and his nose was wide open in love with her and she was falling for him against her better judgment. They were hooked on each other but neither one was the sharing kind. And Jasmine definitely was not going to share Chase or be a part of a harem. She tried her best to stay away but Chase found a way to hook her back in.

Who I really felt sorry for was Vivian and Troy. This is why there should never be secrets in a family. I did not feel sorry for Chase's harem, they made their choice and Dawn is kind of OCD crazy controlling. I don't understand why she is Chase's fiancee. There seems to be no love at all between them.

Kenya wrote a very original and Imaginative story full of mystery. It kept my attention from beginning to end. The end left me hanging with the cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers!!!!