Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa – A Book Review

Posted November 16, 2019 by Booksandblurbs in Fantasy, Reviews, Romance / 0 Comments

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Rhapsodic

(The Bargainer – Book 1)

by Laura Thalassa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantasy Romance
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down and Dirty

This is an engrossing and emotional whirlwind that captivates as much as it entertains. Free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

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.

Thoughts on Rhapsodic

Engrossing

This felt like a slow seduction, pulling me softly through a narrative that wove from past to present and sang a fae song I couldn’t help but hear. It was soft and romantic, yet somehow so incredibly dark – even if there was nothing outwardly brutal or blatant in horror. It was the whispers, the background plot that taunted and teased around the romance that chilled, and made this book truly unforgettable.

Favorite Lines

Ten points to Slytherin for the creepy answer. (45%)

“I don’t make the rules, cherub, I just bend them.” – Des (65%)

Does he feel it too? Or am I simply making fairytales out of smoke and shadows? (69%)

Pros:

The slowburn feel of connection.
World building, it’s subtle yet precise.
I adore Temper.
Thief of souls….. that is a villain worth fearing.
That cover… wow!

Cons:

Callie is older now, yet still painfully naive and oblivious.
Minor editing issues, very minor.
I would have liked the romance to drag out a bit more, even though we know what is going on long before Callie wakes up.