Happy Wednesday readers! Amanda here, with a review for a book I read during The Reading Rush read-a-thon, The Arrangement by Robyn Harding. I gave Her Pretty Face 2 stars, however, I know people who gave it 4+ stars, so when I saw her new book on Netgalley, I figured, hey let’s give her another shot.

About The Book 📚

Publication Date: July 30, 2019

Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Goodreads Link

Amazon link

My Review

 ›In The Arrangement prologue, we meet Natalie, an NYC art student in her 20’s, who’s calling her father from prison.

“I killed someone.”

Natalie must have been desperate to call her father for help considering he left when she was ten-years-old and they don’t have much of a relationship. In high school Nat’s ex-boyfriend, Cole, broke into her house after she ended their relationship, claiming he just wanted to watch her sleep. This traumatic event has caused her to not want to have a serious relationship with anyone.

Nat’s classmate, Ava, invites her to study together. They go to Ava’s apartment – a penthouse. Nat assumes Ava must have rich parents, but then Ava explains she works as a “sugar baby”. She gets paid a lot of money to spend time with men she meets on a “sugar daddy” website.

When Nat’s roommates Mara and Toni threaten to kick Nat out unless she pays them for the bills, Nat decides to join the “sugar daddy” website, telling herself she’ll go on a few dates to make enough money to pay her bills. This is how she meets Gabe, a lawyer thirty-years older than her.

Gabe’s wife and daughter don’t look at him with admiration the way Nat does. For awhile their arrangement works well, until Nat’s mom calls to say Cole is in NY and is looking for her. Gabe protects her, Nat misunderstands this protection for love and is heart-broken when Gabe breaks their arrangement. Everything falls apart, and someone ends up dead.

  › Likes 😻
• The ending wasn’t surprising, but I can see how others will enjoy the twist.
• Very quick-read. Great summer book.
• It was eye-opening to get a glimpse into the sugar daddy/sugar baby lifestyle.

 › Dislikes
• The cover doesn’t match the story.
• Nat is extremely superficial, selfish, annoying, naïve, and makes dumb decisions.
• I wanted to know more about the side characters.
• Too many unlikeable characters: Gabe is absolutely VILE.
• A lot of telling instead of showing.

 › Final Thoughts
• If you like cheesy mystery/thriller movies with lots of clichés, then I think you’ll like The Arrangement. I really, really wanted to like this one and although it fell short I AM still willing to give Harding one more try. What is your favourite Robyn Harding book?

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

*Quotes taken from an ARC copy and subject to change*

About The Author

“Robyn Harding is the author of several books and has written and executive produced an independent film. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and two children.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/344233.Robyn_Harding

https://www.robynharding.com/

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