Siren and soulmate to the King of Night, Callypso Lillis survived the clutches of Karnon, the mad king, and his twisted prison. But the nightmare isn’t over. Callie wears the physical reminders of her time as a captive, and mounting evidence suggests the Thief of Souls is still out there.When a fae celebration thrusts Callie and her mate, Desmond Flynn, into the Kingdom of Flora, they take their … take their investigation with them. But under the bright lights and striking blooms of the realm, they find there are more immediate issues to deal with. No place is more uniquely savage than the great fae halls, and no amount of bargains can save Callie from royal intrigues.
Fairies play dangerous games. Some want love, some want vengeance, some want flesh, and some want things too unspeakable to utter. One thing is for sure: no one is who they appear to be. Not even Des, who only grows more enigmatic with every passing secret.
But the Kingdom of Flora has its own secrets, from bleeding trees to branded slaves and missing guards. Something is stirring in the land of all that grows, and if Callie isn’t careful, it will claim everything and everyone she loves—and her along with it.
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We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side.” —Kahlil Gibran
What a fabulously awesome tale!!!! This is book two from The Barnginer series. Des has come to save callie from the mad king and the price of kidnapping his mate is death. But before his death he breathed into callie his magic and now she has wings and scales! As callie tries to adjust to her new apperance her bond with des continues to grow and she’s learning theirs more to learn about her mate. But with the death of karnon the mad king the disappearance ‘s haven’t stopped more warriors are going missing,so he couldn’t be the thief of souls. As des shows callie his world and she meets those close to him,their are enemies hiding in the shadows plotting not only his death,but his mates as well ! So many fabulous characters!!! From des right hand Malaki Lord of dreams to Janus king of day. And the bad guys are interesting too,like the green man king and mate to mara queen of fauna. But one of my fave characters is callie’s bestie temprance( temper )she’s one bad ass bitch!! And her one liners and humor is friggin hilarious!!! She’s a very powerful sorcerous who doesn’t take shit!!! When she comes looking for callie she blows a hole thur the night kingdom and takes a fairy hostage and all hell breaks lose!! If she isn’t threatening to gut or mame someone she’s f##king! Love her!!! Awesome twists and turns and it isn’t over yet, it’s only begun as one by one A crack forms along one of the glass coffins, spider-webbing across the transparent surface. Wood splinters down the center of an oak. A devilish child smiles. And then, as one, a thousand upon a thousand eyes snap open. The time has come.
Next and final book in this series Dark Harmony!
This was a great sequel and made me love Des even more. He’s broken, broody, a total bad-ass, and he’s super sexy being even more protective. Callie is a perfect female MC, equal parts sweet and sassy; she really came into her own in this one, and I enjoyed the plot thickening here with the Thief of Souls. These books are equal parts romance and dark fantasy with a horror edge. If you enjoy ACOTAR then you gotta read these! I downloaded book 3 the same day I finished book 2. I’m already 19% into it and loving it!!!!
*dark grin spreads across my face*
So freakingdevilishlywickedly dope! I am amazed by Laura’s writting. I read the book so slowly, just so I could savour the words, the meaning, the moment. Them!
Intoxicating.
When every single word matters!
Wow this was quite the second book. It is full of drama, suspense, and romance. Women dominating, showing their conviction in what they believe, strong friendship they have, and strength against any enemy. The author gives us a picture of the different parts of Somnia which was both fun and sad, we get to learn more about Des and his upbringing. Temper is back and fierce as ever, I love her and want to see more of her and her powers. We get to read about the Kingdom of Flora and all I will say is it comes off as carefree but at the same time harsh and wicked place. Alot happens here during the Solstice. We get to see Des like never before and he is magnificent. Callie shows everyone that she is not to be messed with either and I loved it. Pure evil shows its wrath and strikes down and devastates many. Choices are made, lives lost, evil revealed. I can’t read the next book fast enough.
Oh my, oh my! Be still my beating heart! This one was just as good as the last one!
I loved the action in this one and the suspense. Also, the romance was good too! I especially loved that we were able to see more of the fae world in this book as well as meet some characters from other realms of the fae world. I love the tensions that have been introduced and the mystery that has been added to the one from the first book. The relationship between the King of Night and Callie has gotten stronger not only in feelings but also through them sharing their stories of their past. I loved finding out more tidbits about Des’s life prior to us meeting him. I read this book super-duper quick and the third one is calling my name!
This was a solid follow-up to Rhapsodic. I loved Callypso’s character growth with accepting her fate. There were a few areas that seemed to drag a bit, but they soon picked up again and weren’t enough to deter me.
The author does a wonderful job pulling me into her world, and I’m excited to find out even more about Des’ past and family.
‘A Strange Hymn’ is book two in Laura Thalassa’s The Bargainer series. This is a continuation on from ‘Rhapsonic’, recommend reading it prior to this.
Des saved Callie from the Mad King (King of Fauna) but the price of kidnapping his mate was death. But before he could save her Callie had magic pushed into to her to bring out her siren, now she has wings, scales and claws. Callie tries to come to terms with her new appearance, whilst adjusting to life as the mate to the King of Night, while trying to figure out who the Thief of Souls is. Karnon is dead so no more females are going missing but males are still disappearing, the casket women still are dead not dead.
I feel that at every turn or chance Callie is sabotaging her happiness and relationship with Des. She has made it clear on several occasions that her life on Earth was dull, lonely, boring and wanted to be with Des. Well now she is with Des and she wants to go back to Earth. Woman make up your mind! Although she irritated me at times I still think she did some major growing in this book, but I think she needs to believe in her mate more and trust him. Yes he has secrets but seriously she knew this from 8 years prior, plus he is know as the “Lord of Secrets”.
Having sad that Des would have to have been the major star of this book. Watching him open up and be a different person to what we saw in book one was awestruck *swoon. You can see the devotion, love, admiration and acceptance of Callie. He is still a major mystery that I can wait to unravel.
Getting to see Temperance (Temper) Callies best friend in all her glory and awesomeness and kicka** was fantastic. Every girl needs one wickedly cool sorceress BFF. Getting to meet Des’ right hand man and friend Malaki Lord of Dreams was exciting, getting a small glimpse into Des’ life was exhilarating.
This book was full of secrets, revelations, mystery, swoon worthy moments, romance and I was absolutely absorbed and addicted to it. I turned each page on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to be revealed next. My nails have now been bitten to the quick but I’m so glad I read this book. Loving this series and can’t wait to see what happens next.
If you thought book one was building a great story just wait! Book2 explodes it. I must say I did see that little twist at the end coming it. It was the only thing that made sense to me. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and can’t wait to start book 3. I’m happy we got some extra Temper on this book too
I’m liking this series more and more and I don’t even know why.
Callie is weird personality wise. She can be super self conscious about her looks and how she doesn’t want to be a victim but always end up being one. But at the same time she’s not cause she spends half the book doing the boom boom and training. Her Siren though it’s super awesome I wish she was out full time. Her interactions with Des are super hawt and spicy. I love her.
Des I can’t seem to figure out if I love or hate. He’s super sweet and caring one second and the next he’s scheming and keeping secrets. He’s too manipulative but with “good intentions”. He’s fiercely protective and powerful. Like a huge peacock flaunting his feathers, he flaunts that body of his to have Callie do whatever he wishes.
I’m really liking the story and the hot scenes are super hawt. I love how their backstories are so similar it gives them a common ground. I jus wish there was a bit more info on how the Otherworld works, there are times that Des just through Callie in the middle of things she doesn’t have a clue about and as protective as he is that kinda out of character.
All in all is a good sexy read and I’m going to read the next one. I need to know how it all ends.
I am loving this series. The characters are wonderful. Ends in a horrible cliffhanger, though. Good thing I’m reading this now instead of three years ago. I would have been very unhappy.
Callie and Des in the Otherworld where things are very different than on Earth. Things get darker and more serious in this second book.
I love the snark of the heroine and I’m still enchanted by the universe Thalassa has created with The Bargainer series. I wish I felt more invested in the characters, though.
The pacing of the story is off at times, particularly when it speeds through moments that could develop more in-depth relationships between characters. Callie and her best friend, Temper, come to mind. Speaking of, I’m not at all a fan of the way Temper is depicted in the stereotypical black girl light. She could be written as much more than a neck-rolling, foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed, angry black woman.
The ending of A Strange Hymn is super duper rushed and messy. Despite that, it leaves the reader needing to know what happens next with Des and Callie, which is what a good cliffhanger is meant to do.
A secret clock ticks down and unknown pieces fall into place as the mystery of the sleeping female warriors and creepy babies expand.
The list of suspected enemies is ever changing and growing.
Des and Callie will have to work hard to out maneuver and stay ahead of their enemies. Playing a strategic and lethal game that even the dead don’t want to miss.
I loved A Strange Hymn. It had many twists that kept me on the edge of my seat, drawing me deeper into the darkness, tantalizing me with it’s secrets. The ending definitely left me wanting more. I can’t wait to traverse the pages of Dark Harmony and see where they will lead.
I am just loving this series. This book takes the series in a much more fantasy oriented direction and I loved expanding the world and seeing the fae centric side of things. I loved how Des and Callie’s relationship developed and how they’re both growing and coming into their own. I really loved how they still had that banter and a wicked undercurrent to their relationship but how it had also grown so much and that they so clearly loved one another, despite both of their faults and flaws. I haven’t just completely devoured a series like this in a long time and I’m loving getting lost in this world.
I loved this book as much as I did the first. It’s hard to not love Des and Callie. Callie has insecurities about her new appearance but Des loves her the way she is. There is just something about them that draws you into their story and have you rooting for them from beginning to end. This story is full of suspense, romance, laugh out loud moments and so much more. It’s about time we get to find out exactly what Temper is and she makes her debut in a eye catching way and show stopping way. However, I wish I got to see her use more of her powers in this book especially when it came to Callie and what happened with her at the end of this book. I was waiting for Temper to show up at the end and blow stuff up when an unexpected blast from the past made himself appear. Allies are forming, a war is coming and I’m excited to see how everything turns out. I hope I get to see Temper in action with Des, Callie and Malaki.
I broke down and purchased the other books in the series since they were so cheap on Amazon, and yes, I confess I wanted to see how the author resolved things. Book 2 further strengthened the bonds between Callie and Desmond as soulmates even though I felt a bit like a voyeur as I skimmed through some of their extracurricular activities.
So A Strange Hymn is the second book in this fantastic series.
We are back in the Fae world with Desmond Flynn AKA The Bargainer and King of the night and Callypso Lillis the human siren and Desmond’s love.
We begin this story right where we left things previously.
Here we have the aftermath of Callies kidnapping and subsequent escape and also her reaction to her new body wings, claws and scales which was an addition I also loved.
Callie finds herself now a permanent resident of Otherworld residing with her fae mate Des as her new body accessories make it difficult for her to return back to the human world.
now In the fae lands and here to stay as his mate and queen.
This second book in the bargainer series is much more focused on the relationship between Callie and Des and I loved this aspect completely.
It’s also very apparent throughout this of the depth of feeling between these two lovers.
I take his face in my hands and silence him with a kiss. This love between us is bigger than him, bigger than me. “From flame to ashes, dawn to dusk, for the rest of our lives, be mine always, Desmond Flynn,” I whisper against his lips, reciting the same words that first took him away from me. They still hold the same wonderful, fearful power they did when I first spoke them, even after paying my tithe for them. Des draws me closer, pulls me in tighter. I keep forgetting that beyond his cockiness and power, there’s a part of him that’s vulnerable, unsure. I said those words to him seven years ago, but seven years is a long time to go without hearing them—an eternity for two soulmates. I feel him shudder against me as he responds, “Till darkness dies.”
“When I close my eyes, all I see is the shape of your face and the brightness of your smile. You are the stars in my dark sky, cherub.” That isn’t at all what I expected to come out of his mouth. My heart, I’m finding, is simply not big enough to hold everything I feel for this man.
So this instalment is set in the world of the fae and also more heavily features Callies best-friend Temper, her dramatic arrival further throws things into disarray.
Then there’s the summer solstice held in the Flora court that Desmond and Callie have been invited to.
So it’s off to Solstice for the whole Night Court where it’s apparent that Callie has a target on her back not just because of her humanity.
The mystery of the sleeping warrior woman and those creepy-ass kids is still prevalent throughout all the Fae kingdoms and suspicion is rife, with each faction believing and suspecting each other of secrets and lies.
There is also male Fae disappearing and there are fingers pointing directly at her mate.
We get a bit more of an insight into The Bargainers past, as he finally opens up to Callie, we get to realise just what has shaped this Fae king into the man or Fairy he is today.
it also becomes apparent why fairy and supernatural alike fear this Dark Fae king as we are given true demonstrations of the strength of Des’s Power as he struggles with his need to shield and protect his mate from those who would do her harm.
Solstice expectations: everyone shall set aside their quarrels for this week, hold hands, and sing kumbaya. Solstice reality: everyone shall come within an inch of death at least once. Fairies everywhere in the room begin to panic as darkness cloaks our surroundings. I feel the breath of a hundred different types of magic trying to illuminate the room only to be snuffed out by Des’s power. Along the walls, I hear the sound of plants rustling. It takes several seconds for me to realize that they’re withering, dying. “Before there were plants before there were animals before there was even light, there was darkness,” Des says, his voice silky smooth. “From that darkness, all of our deepest desires and most secret fears were born. And I know all of yours. Perhaps I should share them
Des is a total babe, He is badass to the bone, totally fairy fangirling here.
So as events finally convene we are at last given some answers only for other questions to rise in their place.
And as we are given closure we are also left anticipating the next instalment of this addictive series,
I for one can’t wait to sink my teeth into it.
Give this a go, this is such a fabulous series that I highly recommend.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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Great continuation of the ‘Bargainer’ trilogy! Fans of ‘Rhapsodic’ will not be disappointed. I can only hope the author doesn’t make us wait too long to wrap up Des & Callie’s story.