V. A Court of Wings and Ruin is NEW ADULT/EROTICA but Goodreads editors won't tell you to include it in the choice awards's Reviews > Rhapsodic

HENRY CAVILL AS DESMOND, THE BARGAINER



SAFE READ RECOMMENDATION
SAFE READ RECOMMENDATION
SAFE READ RECOMMENDATION I don't know about the sequels but this one is safe of OW AND I haven't found anything that suggests OW in sequels, I'll keep looking
Thank you everyone who recommended this book to me and my dear Shari for the safety info. I would've never given this book a chance without the feedback of my trusted friends.

Update and Review 02-24-2019
I wrote a longer review to recommend this brilliant book and lost it! All I can say for now is that this book is safe: meaning no cheating, no ow (sexual activity with other woman) and (view spoiler)[the heroine doesn't wait for hero during the long separation (hide spoiler)] while the older, more experienced hero sleeps around. In fact, it looks as though he was the one who (view spoiler)[ remained celibate while she was "catching up". (hide spoiler)] Nothing graphic with (view spoiler)[ OM (other man) my dear safety gang friends, (hide spoiler)] but in case OM activity after meeting is your trigger, I recommend reading the Amazon sample first. You'll find all the OM activity in the first pages and it's never graphic, (view spoiler)[nothing with OM happens after those initial pages. (hide spoiler)] If you don't like OM and the sample doesn't turn you off you'll be good to go, the rest of the book is really good. Outstanding, beautiful.

I'll add really quickly that I WISH THERE WERE MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS ONE. If you read my review of SPEAK or if you have come across my rants against the way authors feature rape in their "romance" books you'll know that CONSENT IS A HUGE DEAL FOR ME. I'm tired of seeing rape culture messages all over Goodreads when I come here to have fun. I want to thank Laura Thalassa for writing a RELATABLE abuse victim WHO reacts realistic to her experience, someone who doesn't get cured when the "magic" penis gets into action and who isn't defined by what happened to her in her childhood. There are so many times when authors add rape just for the sake of drama and then the victim moves on as though nothing happened and that's unrealistic not to mention dangerous message.

There's also the "hero" is the/a rapist or the rapist is "a good person in other aspects" or "she moved on from the experience". Victims react in many different forms, rapists heroes have nothing to do in books labelled as romance and NO YOU NEVER FORGET WHAT HAPPENED, BUT MANY OF US DON'T GET DEFINED BY THE EXPERIENCE. I though Thalassa handled a triggering subject in a beautiful way, it's never central, it's not there for the sake of creating drama, and it never appears in a way that makes me think it's just there for sympathy.

In this era of "rapists" heroes against which many of my safety gang friends have written angry rants , what Thalassa did makes me love this book more. She did it so BEAUTIFULLY in this first book, that I'm afraid of reading the sequels but I know I will get down to them eventually, maybe right before War (second book of the four horseman series, which is coming out this year) is available.

Desmond is adorable. He reminds me of Rhys at his best which was books 1 and 2 of Court of Thorns series, the character was ruined FOR ME afterwards but he'll always have a place in my heart. Desmond is equally adorable, maybe better because even though Callie is a strong woman he never gets overpowered by her. Callie is a siren with the power to bend men to her will and as a bargainer Desmond pushes the boundaries of what's acceptable and not. If that's not your thing perhaps this book won't be for you but overall, as far as this book goes for me the power balance between those two worked perfectly. He might be older but she's smart and stubborn. I love heroines that aren't doormats.


Desmond (view spoiler)[ fell in love with h when she was a teenager, but he didn't entertain sexual taughts about her until she was old enough unlike many "romances" lately and he left her for all the right reasons. (hide spoiler)] I love that about him. He's also a morally ambiguous King and I can't have enough of morally ambiguous rulers.

So I'm recommending this first book of what seems to be a safe series to all my friends. I'm tired of rapists heroes and unsafe romace, but I haven't read the sequels so I don't know how this will play later so take my enthusiastic recommendations with a grain of salt. I still believe this is a great book, for me this was better than Thalassa's pestilence although most of my friends seem to like Pestilence more.

By the way. If you want to try a first month of a Kindle unlimited suscription which is free Thalassa's books are the perfect choice. You don't need to own a kindle. You only need an amazon account and you can always read in your mobile PC or tablet.

END OF REVIEW

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***UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2ND 2018 BRISBANE TIME***
SAFETY WARNINGS

Although I'm away most of the time I caught Shari Kay's review while browsing reviews and I couldn't ignore it. I'm very busy and can't post as much as before, but I know many of my friends and followers don't like (view spoiler)[ OM (other man) activity of any kind (hide spoiler)] although apparently some of my safety gang pals love when (view spoiler)[ heroine isn't a virgin and she's the one who doesn't remain celibate during separation while hero remains faithful (hide spoiler)] so if that's what you're into by all means put the book higher on your TBR list. I'm only writing to give you all this info and then I'll return to my hiatus.

Apparently (view spoiler)[ Couple falls in love when she's just a teen and he's several years older. Then he leaves and she sleeps around. By the time when the hero returns h is sexually active with OM and she dumps OM immediatly because he turns obssessive. All those years she was in love with H so for her it was only a sexual thing? (hide spoiler)]

OM doesn't turn me off as much as OW as long as the sex scenes with OM aren't graphic. I hate imaging h with OM when I'm rooting for the couple to get together, but I remember that some safety gang pals love when h doesn't wait for H. For me the romance is ruined, but I'll still read as I got the book on my Kindle and I love Thalassa's writing style. If there's a graphic scene with OM please let me know so I'll skip it.

BTW the last book of this series is overdue, I'll need spoilers and safety info on that one. If the ending is anything as Allegiant I'll skip the entire series.

***UPDATE OCTOBER 5TH 2017 BRISBANE TIME***

BACK TO REGULAR PRICE. But still free for Kindle unlimited users.

You don't need to own a kindle to be Kindle unlimited user. You only need an amazon account, which is easy to get.


Previous updates

*****FREEBIE ALERT******
*****FREEBIE ALERT******
*****FREEBIE ALERT******
Update 10-04-17 Brisbane time
Still free. LIMITED TIME FREEBIE. If I were you I'd download this book ASAP. Laura Thalassa is an extremely talented New adult Scifi-Fantasy writer and fans of the A court of thorns series have loved this one as far as I know.

USA
https://www.amazon.com/Rhapsodic-Barg...

Australia
https://www.amazon.com.au/Rhapsodic-B...


ORIGINAL ALERT
*****FREEBIE ALERT******

FREEBIE ALERT


FREEBIE ALERT


FREEBIE ALERT


FREEBIE ALERT
This one is a perman-free for kindle unlimted users but for anyone who doesn't have kindle unlimited you can download free. RIGHT NOW! 10-03-2017 Don't miss your chance!

I got my copy! I'd rather own a book than borrow. AUSSIE READERS INCLUDED!!

Either way you don't need to have a kindle, just an amazon account which is free and easy to get and then you can download and read it FOR FREE. I really like this author and my sources tell me that you get an ACOMAF vibe. Including the sex scenes! This is very new adult as far as I know, but I'm a sucker for New adult fiction that isn't contemporary.

Get your copy

Here's the link for kindle Australia
https://www.amazon.com.au/Rhapsodic-B...

Review to come but overall great read. Safe romance too which is always a plus.
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