H. M. Ward

This is going to be my review of The Arrangement series, since it is impossible to read a single book/installment and get anything worthwhile out of it.

I read my way through the entire series (plus Damaged, Life Before Damage, & Manwhore series). I’d like to say that it is really freaking annoying to have to pay $2.99 per book for 23 installments to get the whole story. Couldn’t they give a volume deal?

Anyway, this is the story of the eldest Ferro brother, Sean, who has been acquitted show more of the murder of his wife and child, broken ties with his family, stepped down as heir to the billion dollar family empire and let his personal demons consume him, and Avery, orphaned and broke college coed in desperate need of money.

This book was written via reader input as to the actions and choices of each character. Hopefully that is why I found Avery such an childish, whiny, delusional, selfish, spoiled, inflexible, petulant, destructive little shit.

All the other characters I enjoyed, found their behaviors relatively believable based on their backstory, their wound & lie, and plot.
But Avery was a mystery to me. Emotionally, socially (and sometimes intellectually) she seemed to be frozen in her early teens.

Spoiler-ish - She constantly compares her heartbreak over her parents’ death to Sean’s over the death of his pregnant wife. Sorry. No. Circumstances were very different firstly. And by the time people reach adulthood (18-19 ) a lot of us have experienced parental loss. It may be too soon, we grieve, but it is the natural order of things still. Nature assumes as adults we are moving on to our own lives, spouse, children. Which is what Sean grieves. His child’s life ended before it’s begun. Against natures plan, harder to reconcile.
Also the fact that she believes there is greater pride to be found as a call girl earning money than being Sean’s mistress and letting him pay her tuition and buy her things.
She keeps calling herself a call girl, whore etc tho she has only EVER had sex with one man - Sean. She hasn’t completed any of her other jobs. I think we need a ruling on whether she actually deserves the title of call girl.
Other ‘little’ things - she is constantly beating her fists on mens chests. Petulant much?
A dark, sexually twisted billionaire you’ve met for paid sex likes you, wants try to have some sort of relationship with you. What do you do? Agree to try out a situation for a set time period and if it works, can be fixed or give up? Or do you demand he marry you, a house with white picket fence and kids?
So self-centered, drama queen Avery ends up letting people around her die like flies while she contemplates every injustice life has ever tossed her way.
I wanted someone to torture her a little for the way she allowed Marty to suffer so much before finally killing him. Of course, if she could stop ruminating on every time someone has hurt her feelings she might have seen him for the friend he was and avoided killing him altogether.

Basically, she reminded me of my own spoiled, clueless, self-centered daughter when she was 13 ( without the sex and murder).

But I really loved the books. Next favorite series so far Life Before Damage show less

This is the first book I have read by this author. While Sidney annoyed me by always being so freaking fragile, I also bought the story line because she was so damaged. As more was revealed about her past the more understandable her behavior became. I'm not an overly critical reader. I don't mind formulaic stories and the typical HEA plots, so when something is a little different it rocks the boat a little. I enjoyed this book enough that I am eagerly awaiting the release of book 2 in the show more series and that I am also reading another book/series by H. M. Ward called The Arrangement. Definitely worth the time! show less

I loved Jack, I loved Abby, I loved their story. I did not love the surrounding story. The whole idea of her being a preacher gone Robin Hood was just unbelievable. There was nothing about her that made me convinced she was a preacher. Nothing. I think that the book could have been longer and delved further into the characters and why they became the people they were. That would have made it much more believable. It had a lot of potential, because the love between Jack and Abby was show more awesome...it just didn't go all the way. show less

I enjoyed the characters in this book. They worked well together and their chemistry was palpable and full of delicious, zappy sparks. The damage for Peter and Sidney is woven in seamlessly, and I liked the pace at which it spilled out.

Their interactions ranged from playful to steamy to tense, which was fun to watch as their friendship and romantic attachment grew over time, all the while not leading to sex by the end. Their attraction is complicated by the fact that's he's a professor at show more her college and she's his TA. Oops. If only they had known that BEFORE he peeled off her bra and familiarized himself with the contours of her mouth.

I am a fast reader and swallowed this in an hour and a half. I was not a big fan of the end. I thought the cops should have been brought in, but then there'd be no sequel. Minor blip: the spelling of the main character's name constantly changed throughout. By the guy on the cover, I was also expecting a male POV. Not a big deal, I liked Sidney's voice and the writing style, I was just a bit taken back when I first tore in. show less