Make a deal if you dare.
Blurb: "Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem,
one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years she's been collecting a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she's received. Only death or repayment will fulfill the obligations. Only then will the beads disappear.
Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He's a man who can get you anything you want... at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects.
But for one of his clients, he's never asked for payment. Not until now. When Callie fine the fae king of the night in her room, a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye, she knows things are about to change. At first it's just a chaste kiss- a single bead's worth- and a promise for more.
For the Bargainer, it's more than just a matter of rekindling a romance. Something is happening in the Otherworld. Fae warriors are going missing one by one. Only the women are returned, each in a glass casket, a child clutched to their breast. And then there are the whispers among the slaves, whispers of an evil that's been awoken.
If the Bargainer has any hope to save his people, he'll need the help of the siren he spurned long ago. Only, his foe has a taste for exotic creatures, and Callie just happens to be one of them."
Wow. Just wow. This book... ahh! This book is amazing!
Ok, before we dive in to how much I love this book (It's a lot), let's go through how it's set. We begin by diving headfirst into this book, which means I couldn't get enough from the first sentence "There's blood on my hands, blood between my toes, blood speckled in my hair." BAM! I was in! Goodbye world, I'm off! Sigh Now the whole book is set between the past and the present, in fact the first chapter is set in the past, with how Callie and the Bargainer meet in the first place. Usually I can find the constant switching tiresome, but this did one of two things: Gave us a glimpse into how their relationship formed- whilst making you fall in love with the characters- and breaks up any highly emotional parts (past and present). I loved the switching for this reason.
Now our Callie is an abused child, but she's no victim. Laura Thalassa made her real, vulnerable and she struggled as a teen, but she made her strong and real. Callie is someone who has been through horrors, but has came out the other side stronger. The past scenes show that journey, while making you truly fall in love with the Bargainer (and Callie!)
The Bargainer is a fae king of the night and he loves to make deals. But you better pay them back if you don't want to suffer... or die.
The story begins in the past and we flick through it to the present, constantly switching until the last few chapters. The story begins truly with the Bargainer returning to Callie's life, seven years after he disappeared, no longer answering to his calling card, something he did every time he was called from her, usually moments after the last word was said. Shocked, Callie knows he wants to collect repayment and they go about collecting it, from requests such as a kiss to mundane tasks. Finally he reveals that he needs her help to solve the mystery of the women in the caskets. They go on to try to solve them, Callie using her Sirens voice on the humans in the Bargainers land, a voice (and part of her) the Baraginer loves.
The Bargainer (yes you learn his real name, but I won't spoil it for you) is clearly interested in Callie, but he is the Bargainer- a secret keeper- and he can't just be clear about his desires at the start, instead playing Truth or Dare, for a bead to be removed, sometimes ignoring the option chosen regardless. This is how we see a peak into how our characters are feeling. Something that made me fall head over heels in love with them.
The Bargainer is incredibly protective of Callie, and anyone who passes her will be dealt with, and it's never gentle. Callie knows this from experience.
Now I don't want to give away too much of the book, so here's my thoughts: Amazing character development, brilliant plot and the ending? wow. I couldn't pick up the second book because I had to process what I had just read. The ending going round and round my head, invading my dreams and my first thought of the day.
Do you want a book boyfriend who is fierce, darkness incarnate, passionate and just? Then read this!
Do you want a book girlfriend who is tortured, fierce and lovable? Read this book!
And if you aren't looking for any of those, then read if for the romance, amazing plot and freaky as f**k kids! Shudder!
This book made me swoon and cry! And I'm not too proud to admit it!
The next book in the series, A strange hymn is sitting on my bed waiting for me to read it... So I'm off; I've got a date with a Fae King and a Siren!
<3
Have you read this book? Will you? What did you think?
#romance #laurathalassa #thebargainer #bookreview #bookboyfriend #bookgirlfriend #fantasy #darkness #fae #faeking
Comments