The Bargainer Series Book 1
This book combines elements of the real world running alongside a world of mythical beings who live amongst humans and have magical powers. I suppose urban fantasy would cover it. This means there’s plenty of world-building alongside the familiar, but it’s not dumped on the reader. Instead, we have a slow, layering of information.
Calliope is a siren. She’s beautiful and people are drawn to her. She can command others to do her bidding which makes her an excellent private investigator. When she’s a teenager, she kills her stepfather. There’s always a bit of mystery as to why, which the author continues to spin throughout the story.
To help her cover up her actions, Callie makes a deal with The Bargainer. In return, she will owe him a favour, which he can demand to be returned at any time. However, Callie is lonely and keeps calling on The Bargainer, just to spend time with him, and builds up hundreds of IOUs.
The author uses an unusual method of jumping back and forth in time to tell the story. It’s not hard to follow, despite the very short snippets in the past and present that the author uses to build up the history between Callie and The Bargainer (whose name is Desmond). The back and forth doesn’t stop until chapter 23, which is 30 pages before the end of the book.
Des is a complicated character. Not only The Bargainer, he is also the fae king of the Night Kingdom. In the present, he needs Callie’s help to solve a strange and dark mystery that’s threatening the Fae realm. It’s time for Callie to pay her dues.
Des has feelings for Callie from the start, but he tries to cover them up. It’s clear to the reader that Des tries to protect her, even from herself. But Callie’s so lacking in self-esteem, she can’t see the real reasons behind his actions. He’s the type of hero who appears cruel, vicious, and frightful, but with Callie, he’s caring and protective.
I’m not sure how to sum up my feelings about this book. I didn’t like the jumping between the past and present. I found it irritating to have to time jump to learn more about their history, then try to re-settle my head in the present. I’d start to get into the story, then it would jump to something completely different in the other timeline, cutting everything off.
When they finally get it together, some nice and spicy love scenes helped to improve the feels. The romantic plot and sub-plot of dark mystery and suspense were good, but the jumping around detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️
Heat: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
