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A review by brittbritt76
The Bargainer: The Complete Series by Laura Thalassa
3.0
** spoiler alert ** This series was an interesting one and, oddly, I can't decide if I like it or not.
I came upon it because of Insta, all of the popular book accounts were raving about how amazing the plot was and how steamy it was.
The plot was okay. I enjoyed how the first book was written; how it constantly jumps between the present and the past and how the reader is slowly let in on more and more information and you can see how she's struggling with her current predicament vs what she believes to be true regarding her past with Des. I enjoyed the suspense that created for me. The second book wasn't as strong for me, but I still enjoyed it. I liked being able to see more and more of the Fae kingdoms, and I really enjoyed how the main villain becomes more and more seemingly unstoppable. The novella was by far my favorite part of this series because of the insight it lends you into Des and his past. But the last book was a bit of a struggle for me. The ending of the series was a bit lackluster. The Villain is hyped up so much in book 2 and most of 3, and the way that he is defeated is such a blow over, in my opinion. Like, I get it. "True love' yadda yadda yadda... But it was so easy for her to beat him when it came down to it. I really enjoyed the story, so the ending was so disappointing when it was a solid meh.
And then there were the steamy scenes. And, it's not that it didn't have good sex scenes. It's just that they weren't great. I didn't feel like there was any wind up to them. It was just like: oh were flirting/teasing, oh now we're kissing, oh now were fucking. There was almost never any foreplay, which is necessary for most women to have a good time. (You try going down a water slide without the water and see how it feels). Additionally, it was weird how some of the sex was portrayed. Callie reacts to Des going down on her by saying that she's never done something "so very, very dirty" before in her life. However, in the sex scene before (or maybe a couple of scenes before) they had anal sex. (which, I mean, at least to me is much "dirtier"). And, unless if I'm misremembering (because it has been a hot minute since I finished the book that I'm writing this), I'm almost positive that she's given him a blowjob. So like, double standards much?
Overall, I did enjoy the books for the most part. And they have a lot of sweet moments, like his proposal and the sentiment of "until darkness dies" and stuff. I just had some issues that were, personally, very difficult to overlook.
I came upon it because of Insta, all of the popular book accounts were raving about how amazing the plot was and how steamy it was.
The plot was okay. I enjoyed how the first book was written; how it constantly jumps between the present and the past and how the reader is slowly let in on more and more information and you can see how she's struggling with her current predicament vs what she believes to be true regarding her past with Des. I enjoyed the suspense that created for me. The second book wasn't as strong for me, but I still enjoyed it. I liked being able to see more and more of the Fae kingdoms, and I really enjoyed how the main villain becomes more and more seemingly unstoppable. The novella was by far my favorite part of this series because of the insight it lends you into Des and his past. But the last book was a bit of a struggle for me. The ending of the series was a bit lackluster. The Villain is hyped up so much in book 2 and most of 3, and the way that he is defeated is such a blow over, in my opinion. Like, I get it. "True love' yadda yadda yadda... But it was so easy for her to beat him when it came down to it. I really enjoyed the story, so the ending was so disappointing when it was a solid meh.
And then there were the steamy scenes. And, it's not that it didn't have good sex scenes. It's just that they weren't great. I didn't feel like there was any wind up to them. It was just like: oh were flirting/teasing, oh now we're kissing, oh now were fucking. There was almost never any foreplay, which is necessary for most women to have a good time. (You try going down a water slide without the water and see how it feels). Additionally, it was weird how some of the sex was portrayed. Callie reacts to Des going down on her by saying that she's never done something "so very, very dirty" before in her life. However, in the sex scene before (or maybe a couple of scenes before) they had anal sex. (which, I mean, at least to me is much "dirtier"). And, unless if I'm misremembering (because it has been a hot minute since I finished the book that I'm writing this), I'm almost positive that she's given him a blowjob. So like, double standards much?
Overall, I did enjoy the books for the most part. And they have a lot of sweet moments, like his proposal and the sentiment of "until darkness dies" and stuff. I just had some issues that were, personally, very difficult to overlook.