No. DNF

I’m tapping out at chapter 12. This book is boring, rapey, and the plot is full of holes. “At least you grew a vagina-“ is one of many lines so cringe it breaks the fourth wall completely, pulling me right out of the story. The story is not believable at all, settings are under-explained, and characters are underdeveloped. Our main characters are both insufferable, and themes of forced female compliance are commonplace. I find myself getting confused between “then” and “now” switches, because the author apparently was too- the way characters spoke to/ interacted with each-other “then” vs “now” wasn’t consistent. I found myself confused 2 chapters in because things were so under explained I had no clue what was even going on, some characters weren’t described well, or at all- causing me to “read blind” and basically character build for myself. You have to fill in so many blanks with set and setting. Very little action happens, most of the book feels like drawn out “quirky” chatter and mindless flirting between the two characters. With some breaks for mild plot development.
This reads more like a sex fantasy of the authors, or a fanfic, more than a well developed novel, and finishing it feels like a chore. Audiobooks are expensive, and readers nowadays expect more from the experience. This does not cut it, it sounds so harsh, but it’s bad enough that I’m actually annoyed with myself for trying to stick with it for 12 chapters.

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4 people found this helpful

Professional victim

The Good: I love stories with strong women MC and I loved that she found that within herself and her bestie. The voice actress for this did an awesome job for Desman’s role, I was drooling for him. I’m a sucker for a Brit accent 🤤
The bad: too much SA, could be trigging to one’s mental wellness
The Ugly: MC is a professional victim always waiting to be saved or die. I keep waiting for her to put on her big girl pants and save her damn self. But I never happens. Not reading the next book. No matter how sexy I found The Barganier.

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4 people found this helpful

Great story

This is a great book and ai greatly enjoyed it and am happy to see it get traditionally published. While I’m glad the author took the opportunity to fix her somewhat racist portrayal of Temper, I did not like this narration as much as the original one, and I worry that’s gonna cripple this a bit. Not to say this narrator wasn’t good, but many who purchased it already read the entire series in someone else’s voice, so re-reading it in a new voice but the character voices are wrong or the inflections are off, it makes it all the more difficult to listen to. Desmond’s character suddenly having something like a British accent was also jarring. I get the narrator making it her own, but the original set the bar really high, and this version tries to make the leap like a cat jumping off the counter and losing traction, leading to an awkward tumble.

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4 people found this helpful

I miss the old narrator :(

The new one is pretty good, but the old one made the story come alive. The story requires wit and a certain level of sarcasm, this version is slightly lacking.

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3 people found this helpful

I miss the original

I had this series before Thalassa had it redone and it’s been a favorite, one I go back to relisten to often. I love the story. It’s my favorite of Thalassa’s work and Des is just everything .

The performance isn’t bad. I prefer the original narrator, but this one is good nonetheless, although I do wish they’d skipped the British accent. But that’s my personal preference and doesn’t at all mean the narrator performed badly. My real problem with it is the production is so bad. The sound is grating. It sounds like it was recorded through a paper tube. It wasn’t equalized properly. I listened to other thing by this narrator and the production is good, so this isn’t normal. Whoever did the editing/mastering on this did a poor job and it’s distracting. I’m super bummed but it’s likely I won’t go back this as a favorite to relisten to. It’s so distracting when the original was so well done and the sound on this is so poor, especially for Blackstone production.

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2 people found this helpful

Stupid, Boring, dnf

I am usually so forgiving with this kind of book, but my goodwill was tested here. I tried to give it a real chance and forced myself to get 2/3 though. My #1 gripe is how the author uses childhood SA as a plot point without giving the topic appropriate seriousness. Obviously she has no knowledge about real victims or their trauma. It turns me off so much to have something like that used as a cheap way to make your story edgier.
besides this, the story is just so blah. Almost nothing happens, the romance is so weird and forced, the world-building is patchy at best, and the "characters" are empty shells. Seriously who is Cali supposed be? She has no personality, and no motivations. I can say she like macaroons and hates her step-dad besides that, who knows? I don't even really know what she looks like.
Overall very disappointed don't waste your money.

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2 people found this helpful

Just an okay-ish fantasy romance

Rhapsodic is the first book in the Bargainer series by Laura Thalassa, and was my first read from this author. I have heard The Four Horsemen series is good but I found this book first so decided to give it a go. I have been in the mood for fantasy romances so I jumped into this one.

Sooo, I thought this was okay. The first half much more so than the last half of the book, I actually felt like I was reading a completely different book the last bits than how the first part of the book was. 😅 This just never really grabbed my attention, I wasn’t invested in the heroine at all and while the hero was more entertaining, it just wasn’t enough to want to continue the series.

We first meet Callie, the heroine, in the prologue. She’s about to be 16 and her stepfather is dead so she panics and calls out for the Bargainer to help her out. We then jump to 8 years later, Callie is a siren (with the abilities to compel and glamour) and works as a private investigator as well. We find out in the 8 years since first making a deal with the Bargainer that Callie has gone on to make 322 unpaid favors/deals with him. Desmond is the hero, the bargainer she has made deals with over the years. We see through flashbacks, which happen pretty much every other chapter of the book, the first time they met 8 years ago and all of their history after that moment and how she accumulated all of her bargains with him. She learns secrets about him and gets closer to him than anyone has in a very long time/ever. Desmond hasn’t been in Callie’s life for the 7 years but know he’s back in her life and turning her life upside down.

The hero was entertaining, I liked seeing his code of ethics explored and seeing these morally grey characters/situations. The pining was good! And he calls her “Cherub”. Like I mentioned, the last bit of the story really lost me and I was not invested or caring as much as the first half. I don’t plan to continue the series.

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1 person found this helpful

Couldn’t finish

I really thought that this had a good potential for an outstanding mystery. But instead, it just kept going on and on and on about their relationship just barely mentioning the mystery. Plus, the style of going back-and-forth between eight years ago and the present day started to drive me nuts. When the bargainer explained what was going on in his kingdom, I thought great we’re finally getting into it. But I was disappointed because it went right back to talking about their relationship. I finally stopped listening in chapter 11, still not getting to the mystery.

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1 person found this helpful

Loved it - something different

So good. I really loved it. Something different and interesting twists that keep it interesting. Starting book 2 now!

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ummm

it is ok bit draggy. it is some glad I didn't pay for and got for free

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