Review: The Bargainer Series by Laura Thalassa

I was able to read these back to back. Guys, I just BINGED a whole series. I am so pumped. The fact that my Kindle Unlimited sub ends the end of next month, doesn’t really have anything to do with it! haha.

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“People like us are not victims. We’re someone’s nightmare.”

I am blown away by this book. I was seeing this around a lot toward the end of the year. I am so glad that it did not disappoint! I mean.. a siren, fae, bargains, and romance… sign me up! I’m not typically into PNR but it seems that might be changing.

I really loved Callie. She’s been through so much trauma and the way she’s overcome that- to an extent- is quite remarkable. She doesn’t take crap from anyone and even though she’s working in a grey area, I can see how she got there. I love how blunt and witty she is too. She gives Des a run for his money! Besides the fact that she’s a siren and can make people do what she wants, she’s really powerful and a force. It’s interesting that her power only applies to humans though. Makes for an interesting dynamic with Des.

“Secrets are like currency. The more you have, the more powerful you are.”

The romance is swoon-worthy. I absolutely loved the aspect of Thalassa taking us from past to present. We are seeing things play out in present day but then she fills in what happened in the past between Callie and Des. I try really hard not to cringe at the age but I get that we are in a fantasy and she’s considered an adult. Besides that, I love their relationship in the past.

The only issue I had was that the ending felt a little rushed for me. I think there’s a huge twist and it was handled kind of quickly but at the same time there are no answers. I get it sets up for book two but I think there should have been more time there. Not a big deal.. just it felt a bit off to me.

Overall, I loved this book a ton. I highly recommend it if you want a swoon-worthy romance with a kick butt female protagonist. I did enjoy the twists going on too. I was waiting practically the whole book to find out what happened and BOOM! I was not expecting that. I immediately had to jump into book two. I can’t wait to see where these two take me next!

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I am loving this series so much. This book was good but not as good as the first book. There are times that it slowed down in pacing for me. There were a lot of things that felt like it was filler and the other half was just set up for the third and final book. I did enjoy a lot of elements to this book, like more of the supporting characters.

“I pull away from her. “I can’t believe you blew up a portal to the Otherworld.” “Bitch, that’s just called making an entrance.”

I love her best friend, Temper. She’s so funny and doesn’t care about what people think. She literally would start a war to find her friend and that is best friend goals. I really want to see much more of that in the next book! Actually, can we have a prequel of them and their awesome job as PI’s?! I would very much love that!

“I am the darkness, his eyes seem to say, and you are my lovely nightmare. And no one will take this away from us.”

I do like that we see a softer side of Des when it comes to Callie. Although, I’m not sure I agree with his decisions in the end. I do wish that he would open up more about his past because the glimpses we get are intense. I do think the novella might be about that (crossing fingers).

I loved Callie in this book because she never backs down from what she wants or what she stands for. She makes some crazy decision and I don’t know that many people would be brave enough to do it. I did think she was a little naïve when it comes to Des. She would be swept away by some pretty words and she is better then that, I thought.

Overall, this was a bit slower and not as captivating, at times. I did enjoy it though and like where we eventually ended up. I think it set up a lot of things for a pretty awesome conclusion (I hope). The romance is there and the plot was just a bit lacking. I have sooo many ACOTAR vibes. If you enjoyed that series, you would probably love this one! No Tamlin *as of now*!!!

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“I imagine this is how a star feels as it dies, like everything it loves and everything it is, is pressing inwards and crushing the life out of it.”

I really enjoyed this novella. I loved getting so much more of Des’s backstory. I feel like I understand him and his decisions 100 percent better. Getting to know his mom better was a treat because she was amazing. I completely agree that she would have loved Callie. We also get more of Malaki and how he meets him. I was already a big fan of him but I’m an even bigger fan now.

The reason I knocked it down a star is because I didn’t really enjoy re-reading a lot of the later seasons when we get to Callie. It felt a bit redundant and I kind of skimmed a bit there. I do appreciate all the backstory and getting to know Des and Malaki a bit better. I cannot wait to jump into the conclusion!

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I am really happy with myself that I binged this series. It’s my second one this year and I am proud. haha.

Now, lets get into this.. I really enjoyed this series, a lot! It’s dark, intense, and has a lot of romance. I got a lot a vibes from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Maas.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was how Callie came into her own. She really never lets anyone tell her what she can and can’t do. She goes to the depths of hell (literally) for her love. In most of the books you see a lot of the darker side to Des. In this one, we see more of that with Callie and a softer side to Des. I wont lie, there are times that she was a bit aggravating as a character, but I got over it.

“People like us are not victims, he’d once told me. We’re someone’s nightmare.”

There’s a lot more action in this book than the previous. The previous was a lot of set up for this one and I flew through this one because the flow as much better. You finally get a lot of answers that you have been dying for since book 1!

I was really happy with how this ended and I rather enjoyed my time with this series. I think maybe I do like paranormal romance a bit more than I thought I did. haha. There are some plot holed and some things that I didn’t quite understand in the overall scheme of things (like not helping neighboring kingdoms) but not a bad read at all. I’m looking forward to picking up something else by Thalassa! If you like romance and the paranormal, I would definitely give this series a chance!

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