Laura Thalassa

A siren is reunited with her former flame - a Fae King - as they try and save his kingdom from an evil force who has also been keeping them from their happy ending.

A Strange Hymn (The Bargainers Book 2)

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 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.

A Strange Hymn

Shay Lynn Crace

I really enjoyed watching Des and Callie’s relationship evolve throughout this book. While I enjoyed following along in their lives I found that not a lot of substance occurred until the last 50 pages. I want more descriptive scenessssss. I want the fighting to be more intenseseee! I dont wanna hear “then I let my instincts take over” I want detaillll. Overall was an easy read that I enjoyed for what it was. Dont go into this expecting some insane political war between empires, its mostly teenage angst and face value thought processes WHICH IS A OKAY WITH ME.

Anna

Moonchild

I didn’t felt attached to any character this time the book one made me love the main couple but this one felt like forced content to fill in, I had to force myself to keep reading it I’m not that interested to grab the third one. Wasn’t a disappointment, but I don’t understand the hype.

becky oh

“𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙪𝙨.”

I'm so hot, I need to open my window. And this book was involved in the reason why I'm doing it.

Damn you book, this is amazing. Book two of the Bargainer series, and I'm totally onto the next book. I have read books that were amazing as like this, but it didn't make me want to re-read it again and again. But THIS, is VERY re-readable.

"Turn your gazes to the Lord of Secrets, Master of shadows - Desmond Flynn, King of the Night."

All I wanna say is he LITERALLY took the stars and showered her with them. If that doesn't make you leave your trashy crush then I don't know what will ❤️‍🩹 

Stranded 

"Turn your gazes to the Lord of Secrets, Master of shadows - Desmond Flynn, King of the Night."

All I wanna say is he LITERALLY took the stars and showered her with them. If that doesn't make you leave your trashy crush then I don't know what will ❤️‍🩹 

Erin Cawthorn

I liked this book less than the first but it was still really good and it did have more stuff going on than the first one.

(Bre)anne✨

Kelsey Joëlle

** spoiler alert **
           really enjoyed the extra characters we see in this book. I don't know for sure if Des and Callie are mates. Yeah, I know she has been changed and they power share, but I'm just not buying it...

Yes! Exactly what I needed right now 😍👌🏼

Ann Helen Moen

Jasmine

Ahh I love this series!! I really wish it was longer than a trilogy, but I can't wait for the third book to come out soon. Although, to completely honest I'm kinda happy it's not right now because even though I'm dying to read it I know going to have an incredibly hard time letting go. Des ugh I fucking love him, the more I get to know his story it seems the harder I fall. Des and Callie are so strong together I love seeing them as a power couple. I actually enjoyed the second half of this book more because it felt darker and the stakes are raised significantly. I love having this book completely take place in the otherworld, as far as I'm concerned they can stay there forever because I want to explore more of those islands!! It was awesome seeing them taking on the fauna court and then watching these different courts and personalities as they collided and clashed. The last few pages of this book were so INTENSE talk about a lead into the next book... need to know what happens next but at the same time, I'm not ready!

Elisa Bieg

Another enjoyable read with this lovely!

This one wasn’t quite as smooth as the first — the narration and the storyline felt a little jerky and uneven, and the switch of POV at the end wasn’t entirely well-executed for my personal taste, with Des’ POV not sounding quite as distinctive as it should have, and not quite... fitting to the image the author crafted of Des — missing that edge and strength that we have come to expect of this otherwise well-crafted character.

But it was a fun read — the scenes just as well-set, the dialogue sharper and funnier that the first installment. 
The secondary characters fell a bit to the wayside as we saw more dimension added to the MCs, but I didn’t mind because they came back at the right time — especially Temper, who is my absolute favorite.

I also liked the way the theme of self-esteem and its connection to physical appearance and past traumas was explored for both MCs, and I really enjoyed Callie’s evolution and the moment when she finally finds the strength to stand up for herself. 

There were too many spots where I had to roll my eyes at Callie’s somewhat forced cluelessness, and there was an instance of the cringy P-word used during a sex scene, so that together with my earlier criticism of the narrative flow made me settle on 3 1/2 stars; however I fully intend on keeping reading, because I’m a sucker for smutty fantasy mysteries and I really want to see where this goes!

arwa 

probably not going to read the next book, the plot felt rushed and i didn’t enjoy it too much :/

jenn kause

Only 4/5 because towards the middle I was really falling out of it. The beginning and the end were amazing but somewhere in-between I lost the same rigor to keep reading it (obviously I’m glad I did). 

Can’t really compare it to the first one since I feel they are separate in their plot lines, in the idea that it also takes place no longer on earth. 

Liked the new characters, not sure how Temper got to the Otherworld??? Felt weird but glad she could tag along in the adventures.

Allison Garrett

The second book in the Bargainer trilogy, A Strange Hymn, picks up right where Rhapsodic left off with Callie in the Otherworld with Des. She is now trying to heal from her trauma and come to terms with their soulmate bond. The danger isn’t over for them as the Thief of Souls is still out there and the solstice requires that all faeries come together in a land where humans are seen as slaves. 
	The Good: 
•	Worldbuilding- Much of what I was looking forward to was Thalassa adding to the Otherworld since we saw so little of it in the first book and here she delivered. 
•	Body Acceptance and Empowerment- As problematic as this book was, I appreciated the message of Callie accepting the changes to her body and Des’ encouragement to make herself strong and empowered so as to prevent being a victim ever again. 
	The Bad: 
•	Des- As much as I loved him in the first book, here he was just more irritating than anything. He continuously left Callie then would swoop in at the last second to save her. Not to mention that so many of their issues could’ve been solved if he would just tell her about his past instead of saying vague things like “that’s enough for one night”. Like this girl is your soulmate??
•	Disjointed plot- As with many second books in trilogies, this is more of a connector between the first and third books instead of actually attempting to stand on its own. While the plot wasn’t terrible, I learned very little about the main characters and many of the twists were extremely predictable. 
•	Temper- The way Thalassa writes Temper in this book more than in the first is just absurd. Every other word she says is something about black Jesus or aggressive euphemisms. She has no character and it left me with something of a racist feeling.

Overall, I’m giving this book 3/5 stars because I found it much slower than the first and problematic in many areas. However, I will finish out the series and just hope it improves from here.

Madison Hinz

Really enjoyed the first two books, but I couldn’t finish the series. Truthfully the “Me thinks” thoughts Cali had really ruined it for me. I loved that these books didn’t have the miscommunication trope but I felt like they tried to hard with the super modern dialogue.

Laura

“I am the darkness, his eyes seem to say, and you are my lovely nightmare. And no one will take this away from us.”
#1: Rhapsodic ★★★★☆
#2: A Strange Hymn ★★★☆☆

Grace O'Callaghan

I'm so disappointed in this sequel. After loving the first book I expected to love this one. I can't believe that it took me nearly a month to read!

After the events of the first book, I was completely hooked. I was mostly here for the romance, but was still very much interested in the plot. But this one just dropped the ball. As Desmond and Callie are pretty much together now, I found that I didn't care about them as much. I don't know what that says about me, but they seemed very lovely dovey and there wasn't much plot in terms of their relationship. So when most of the book is them exploring Des's kingdom and them going to this and that party, there's not much to sink your teeth into. The mystery element was kind of there throughout, but it wasn't enough to keep my interest.

I don't know if it was the same in the first book, but the writing was a bit jarring. I think it has to do with the fact that Callie comes from the modern human world. so when you put her in the Otherworld, it seems out of place. I'm not saying modern human characters can't work in fantasy worlds because I've seen this done. But when something brutal seems to be happening in the Otherworld and Callie's monologue is something quippy, it takes away from the severity of the situation.

I feel undecided about Callie as a character. On the one hand, overcoming trauma is a hard and messy process. Although it's realistic, it's not interesting to read about the same journey. 

I think I understood Desmond a bit more in this one. He has a reputation of being brutal and that definitely came across more in this book. 

My biggest gripe with the book is that it doesn't feel like it knows what it wants to be. The first book felt like a fantasy romance: where the romance is the focal point with a fantasy sub plot and setting. But as the two protagonists are together in the sequel, there isn't much romance to route for as there isn't anything keeping them apart. The sequel could've focused on them working together, strengthening their relationship and dealing with the mystery. But instead they went on holiday for a bit, went to some parties, did some training and then the plot happened at the very end.

Basically if you couldn't tell, I'm not picking up the rest of the books.

Georgiana.aysha

A lot of not consensual things happen in this book .
“ you are mine “ every five pages, mate this mate that, my head hurts. 
Asking your mate about his past is wrong apparently, asking for him to explain things is also wrong. Her friend is saying “ bitch “ and “ girl “ every time she ends a sentence still hadn't changed. 
I just didn’t like it , I only read it because I want to finish my reading challenge.

Aayusma Aryal

4.5 stars. cutting .5 bc i got bit bored in the middle but the whole kidnapping mystery kept me on edge and intrigued a lot. I don't have any complaints about those racy scenes either lmao I've read worse so.. also i saw what happens with Callie's mortality at the end.

Hannah

Anastaciya

The only thing that makes it bearable is listening to the audio version at double the speed

Moon Child

** spoiler alert **
           UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME! Bring on the virtual tomatoes that will inevitably be thrown at me.... 

I loved Rhapsodic... I love Des in Rhapsodic ... but I did not love this book. I wanted to love this book... I tried REALLY hard to love this book... I literally bought it within minutes of finishing Rhapsodic.... But it is just plain ole not on the same level as Rhapsodic... Ugggh.

It's not a bad book. To me, this book is every other urban fantasy romance which is disappointing because of how refreshing Rhapsodic is. I gave it 2 stars because it was a major letdown compared to Rhapsodic. I think I've written a variation of that exact sentence 14 times in my review below.... Sorry not sorry. 

The really fun light underlying vibe of Book 1 was completely lost in Book 2's forced melodrama, overly dark tone, weird relationships and semi-inappropriately timed sex scenes. Every so often I felt the tone of Rhapsodic fight through, but.... not really. 

Des is great. But every so often in #2, the sudden HYPER INTENSE seriousness felt borderline Edward Cullen-esque (creepy craycray). And, let's get real: Temper would probably agree with me. 

Speaking of Temper... The relationship between Callie and Temper felt a bit forced from the beginning which bums me out because she could have been a really cool character. It didn't matter in #1 because she wasn't much of a presence. Their friendship was convenient and meh and felt truly forced and silly in Book 2. The book would probably have been the exact same without her because she really didn't move anything along... Nothing cathartic happened because of her hanging around. She just kind wandered around banging her bff's man's bff... and drinking. 

Ok, can I also mention my frustration with the consistent use of the magical "loosening of clothing"? The characters are perfectly capable of disrobing themselves every so often and it's boring to read that so much (just saying).

Will I read the 3rd book when it is released? Yes, because Des. That is all.

Angelique Cather

This is the second book and the Bargainer series and I don’t think it quite lives up to the first book. It is fairly slow-paced and my brain often wandered to other things while I was reading. I will say that there was a fair amount of world building. Des takes Callie on a tour of his realm and all the different islands that he commands. She also takes a trip to the Flora realm so we as readers get a slightly more comprehensive look into the different realms. Over the coarse of the book Des starts revealing more about his past which I really enjoyed reading and it answered some questions that were brought up in the first book. This book does not fix any of the problems with Temper’s character. She has the potential to be a more dynamic character, but she is still just a side character who pops up on occasion to help Callie and then fades back into the background again. I was really hoping she would have a bigger role in this book. Overall I thought this book was ok.

Cori McCarthy

Okay, this series is seriously so addicting! This will be my shortest review yet! All I can say is there is more romance, magic, and world-building in this book than there was in the last. 

I got me wish from the last review, and we got to see a lot more of our side characters! This book had some major world-building, and that had to be my favorite part. It was the one major thing I felt the last book was lacking, and this book sorely made up for it! I strongly urge you to pick up this trilogy, because it is unlike any series you have read before! 

“I pull away from her. “I can’t believe you blew up a portal to the Otherworld.” “Bitch, that’s just called making an entrance.”
Laura Thalassa

Final Rating: 4.5/5 Stars⭐️

A Strange Hymn (The Bargainers Book 2)

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