Rhapsodic (The Bargainer, 1)

Viviene

Deep Longing

"I love how authentic this story is in every way possible. The story doesn’t feel rushed and is very easy to follow. The backstories within the chapters were very helpful and gave so much perspective. Callie is a Siren who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and others. Desmond is a fairy king of the night court and is deadly in every sense. Callie called upon Des when she needed him the most and he came through. I love the dynamic of their relationship and is looking forward to book two. This world is fascinating and I loved the meaning behind Des wings and what he means to Callie vice versa. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys world building stories. I gave this book 5 stars because the story was well told from the beginning all the way to the end. The plot was interesting and kept my attention. ["

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January 19, 2026 Verified Purchase

DonnaC

4.5 Addictive Stars

"Rhapsodic (The Bargainer #1) by Laura Thalassa 4.5 stars!!! “‘Bargainer, I would like to make a deal.’” I am not a huge paranormal reader, I leave that side of the blog to my mum, but sometimes I get the itch that I need to scratch. I love a paranormal read with the best of them and when one of my trusted reader friends recommended this one, I had to dive in. Laura Thalassa is a new to me author and she will not be a stranger. I fell in love with this authors voice, she charmed me like the siren in the story she was telling and this was one of those books that I couldn’t put down. “Seven years is a long time to wait, especially for someone like me. A word of caution: I’m not leaving again.” Callypso Lillis is a siren and in the world of the supernatural they are a rare commodity. Now a bounty hunter of sorts Callypso uses her gift to extract the truth from the unscrupulous and even the evilest of hearts are not immune to her charms. Through flashbacks to her past though the reader soon learns that her life was not always so charmed. As a child, Callypso went through a lot, culminating in a night that will haunt her forever, a night so horrific that she had no choice but to call on the services of “The Bargainer.” “I am the scariest thing out here. And if anything tries to touch you, they will reckon with me.” “The Bargainer” is the King of the Night, a man with insane powers and who never does anything for free, you call The Bargainer, you owe and The Bargainer always collects. Callypso should have been frightened of him and yet he showed her compassion, The Bargainer went above and beyond and so the unlikeliest of friendships was born. Callypso called on The Bargainer a lot and for every call she was rewarded with another bead to her bracelet and at the last count she owed The Bargainer a lot...until one night he just disappeared. Callie is now older and wiser and seven years later, The Bargainer has come to collect. “A fairy doesn’t show his wings to his betrothed…A fairy shows them to his soulmate.” I have to say I loved everything about this book, the relationship between Callie and The Bargainer was extremely well written, totally captivating and utterly believable. The friendship built between these two when Callie was a teenager was beautiful to read and it is this base that makes their relationship in the present all the more rewarding for the reader. Those past chapters meant so much to this story and whereas sometimes I find time jumps irritating, I found myself itching for these chapters just as much as the present. “I didn’t fall for Des because he was handsome, or because he knew my secrets, but because he stuck around when I was least lovable. Because he was a man who didn’t try to take anything from me even when I lay next to him, but instead gave me peace and comfort. Because each one of those nights he saved me all over again, even if it was from myself.” The paranormal story surrounding these two was extremely well written and totally engaging. The air of mystery, suspense and intrigue was prevalent and all my thoughts were of course…. wrong. I was appreciative that the author did not rush this story and I more than appreciated the extra length to give this story the heart that it deserved. I was captivated from the very beginning, drawn inexplicably to our Lord of the Night and all his charms. I was glad that the relationship between “The Bargainer” and Callie was at the forefront, this was a great foundation to what I can fast see becoming a highly addictive series. With these two a formidable team and the Politia and the other worlds desperate to keep them apart I can see more battles on this couples horizon. Bring on A Strange Hymn…I definitely need this sooner rather than later. A fantastic first book in what I hope will be a longgggggg series. “I’ll be at your side,” I promise, “till darkness dies.” ["

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March 14, 2017 Verified Purchase

Lindsey Mucherino

So good I didn't just read it twice, I read it tree times.

"Yes that's right I read this book three times. and I've read the other two books in the series twice. I've never written a review before but since i have indeed read it three times i thought it was time. First I just want to talk about how much I love this book. Rhapsodic hooked me from the very first page. It is such a unique story from beginning to end. I honestly loved the going back and fourth from past to present, I know some can get annoyed by that, but I loved being able to get glimpses of how Callie and Des met and how their relationship blossomed. Now I did see some reviews saying this story is very similar to ACOTAR.... The similarities I saw were more with the characters and the world the characters lived in. But I will tell you right now that Rhapsodic is its own story. I read Rhapsodic before I read ACOTAR. Rhapsodic is the reason I even read ACOTAR. Because I loved it so much I wanted to read another book that was similar. And now the Bargainer series and the ACOTAR series are my all time favorites!! Now the characters. I love every single character in this book. Each one was so different, with such different personalities. I loved Callie's best friend Temper. I do wish she had a bigger role. . Next is Callie. I adored Callie. Her snarky "i don't give a shit' attitude was one I could relate to a lot. LOL She did get on my nerves a couple times, but never enough for me to ever dislike her character. Then there's my Des, my emperor of the evenings stars. (yes i called him my des, because i called dibs) Oh how tragically beautiful Des is. I love everything about him, from his rock and roll vintage tshirts and leaher pants to his cute little fondness of tiny espressos. Des is the man of every woman's dream, or at least he should be. He's funny, he's dark, extremely handsome, will beat the shit out of anyone, but will treat the one he loves with such gentleness. I mean if I wasn't happily in love then i'd be out searching for a Des of my own. So yeah.... Rhapsodic is my very favorite book. I cant wait to see what books Laura has in store for us. I've read some of her other books, but this one is by far her best work in my opinion. ["

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June 17, 2019 Verified Purchase

Miss Read

Good, but like a mid-range knockoff of Maas

"I'm a sucker for fantasy YA and adult romance, and this was sort of a cross between the two, so it worked for me. The plot was good, pacing was fine, and world building was decent. The problem is that Rhapsodic seemed a little too similar to Sarah J. Maas' Faerie Courts series. This was like a decently written fanfiction. It had it's other failure, too - mainly in the characterization department. For instance, other than Desmond, NONE OF THE CHARACTERS IS DESCRIBED. We're given no visuals. At all. Oh Temperance (the best friend) is mentioned once as having an afro and her speech patterns lend her a distinctly Foxy Brown impression, and Eli (the werewolf ex) is described as tall and broad and growly. But that's it. Nothing really useful. And worse, not once is Callie, the MAIN CHARACTER described in any other way than pretty. She talks about her skin glowing and her siren voice is described, but nothing to actually give the reader visuals on who these people are. Added to that, the characters' personalities were rather flat, although Callie was fairly rounded. But even Des was a little confusing. Why all the faded metal band shirts? It doesn't fit anything about him except that they're mostly black. It isn't even sexy, giving more of an impression of something Beavis and Butt-head would wear. Last, I found it confusing that the flashbacks (aka the PAST) are written in present tense, and the present is written in past tense. What is the that trying to achieve? Honestly, I did like the story a lot, enough to give this 4 stars, maybe even 5. But it's blatant similarity to Maas' work keeps it from ever reaching past 4, and the lack of character building brings it down to 3 stars for me. ["

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June 13, 2020 Verified Purchase

Nuin Giliath

Creative and well-developed modern fantasy

"This book has so many great qualities that I almost bumped the rating to 5, but it is really close at a low 4.5/5. First off, I will state that I really dislike the cover. After reading the book, I get the symbolism, but I still do not care for it. That said, I loved how the story started and the past/present story lines were implemented beautifully. Through the past, we see the development of the relationship between Callie and the Bargainer – from strangers to a lonely, naïve girl and the fairy who merely tolerates her to eventually friends. Meanwhile the present-day chapters take place seven years since they last saw each other and deal with a love/hate dynamic morphing into a romantic relationship. During the first present-day chapter, we’re tossed into a modern, urban setting with two supernatural women who work as private investigators – Callypso “Callie” Lillis and Temperance “Temper” Darling (which by the way - ridiculous name, but I liked her as a character). Callie is a siren with a traumatic past and uses her abilities to manipulate the “bad guys” into doing/saying whatever she wants. I wished this section had been longer only because it was just so interesting! There are only snippets of information regarding the paranormal world and its influence on the human one. We aren’t even told what kind of supernatural Temper is (although I believe that is supposed to be dealt with in a later installment). I thought Eli’s role was lacking, but I did appreciate the further world development that his character brought with the werewolf and supernatural police aspects. Shortly after being introduced to Callie, we meet the Bargainer. From the very first moment, he exudes such power and mystery that you are instantly drawn to want to know more. As Callie gets to know him (both in the past and present), we see his sly, mischievous, and even humorous sides. Seriously, I laughed out loud a couple of times during the dialogue between these two. I loved these two characters together regardless of the time period – both when they were getting along and when they weren’t. I also loved the concept of the Bargainer making deals then coming to collect. In the present, the Bargainer has come to Callie in order to ask for her help in solving a mystery within the Otherworld. This provided some intrigue and very creepy scenes as well as an opportunity to glimpse a supernatural realm. Again, it’s just a small sampling. At the end, there is some semblance of resolution, but it’s really not satisfying. I suppose that’s to be expected with a trilogy. Also, I really hate the word “mate” and the fact that every fairy-related paranormal romance novel feels the need to include this trope. Overall, I felt this was a strong story with well-developed characters and relationships. I’d love to see some future world building and more inclusion of the secondary characters in subsequent books. ["

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July 17, 2018 Verified Purchase