Title: Rhapsodic(The Bargainer #1)
Author: Laura Thalassa
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2
Type: Series – Book 1
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Magical World
Primary Characters: Callie, Desmond
Narration: Limited third party
I picked this up on random. Plot is good; however, the initial semblance of characters to my favorite series “A court of thorn and Roses” made this book a sort of turn off to me. Its not the same, its way different. My opinion may be because I picked it up soon after reading “A court of thorn and roses” and similarities were too high.
This is the first book in “The Bargainer series”. Book alters between earth and the other world along with some scenes of past and present. Plot begins with Callypso “Callie” Lillis, a teenage siren making an impulsive deal with The Bargainer. Fae Lord of Night uses his magic to help her with certain situations. Callie and the Bargainer form an unlikely friendship. As Callie grows into a young lady, going to college and entering her early adulthood, the Bargainer is her closest companion and only friend.
Some events lead to them being separated. Now, after 7 years the Bargainer has returned to collect his debts. In the other world something is wrong. Female fae warriors’ bodies are turning up in casket along with the child in a condition of not dead or alive. Male warriors are missing. To unfold this mystery Bargainer needs Callie’s help.
The high-level plot is solid and I feel like there was so much potential. Storyline for this book was underdeveloped. Nothing really happened almost till last 30%. Book took a different unexpected, rushed & random turn in the ending. I could appreciate their characters, nothing really grabbed me and made me adore them.
Additionally, a lot of the descriptions were weak and some of the dialogues were way cheekier than my preferred taste. And the mystery about the missing women was not given much scrutiny to the plot. Magic system wasn’t explored well. World building is not consistent. Writing style is ok ok.
Overall, enjoyable one time read. I would definitely pick up next book to unfold the mystery of women in casket and those silent children.
Source – Free in KU
Buy link – https://www.amazon.in/Rhapsodic-Bargainer-Book-Laura-Thalassa-ebook/dp/B01M4K3DUH/
Blurb as per Amazon
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 repayment. Not until now. When Callie finds 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 an old 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.
Meander - Read & Roam 