The Bargaining

Kili is desperate to escape her situation at the palace. She’s a sex slave and is willing to do what it takes to get away. She’s tried a couple of times to escape, and has always gotten caught before she got very far. This time she can’t fail, because if she does it will mean death. She has a plan, and it involves the new prisoner that has been brought in to be tried for a crime. To that end, she has gotten herself punished again so they will make her go and service the prisoner. She’s hoping that the man will accept her bargain of helping him escape if he takes her with him.

Since he’d been captured, Deacon has been pacing his cell and trying to figure out a way to escape his prison before his friends come back to rescue him. He just got them out of this place, and he doesn’t want them coming back in just to get him. While trying to figure out how he’s going to accomplish this feat, his meal comes, along with one of the slave girls that this planet is so famous for. Something seems a little bit different about this one, and when he finds out what she wants, he can’t help but admire her and try to help her out.

What a wonderful story! I really got into both characters in the book. I really liked Kili because she is so defiant in her own way and doesn’t really dwell on her circumstances, just how to change them. I thought it was really different that she was not a miraculous virgin after being a sex slave for so many years, making her a character that you can really sympathize with. Kili is a tough, resilient woman who tries to stand on her own two feet despite her situation. Deacon is a terrific guy, whose outrage at the way women are treated on that planet comes across as genuine. I was cheering both of them the whole way, and could see the growing love for each other in spite of being together for such a short time. The sex in the book is awesome; Kili’s enjoyment and wonder that it is unlike what she had experienced before brings a different element into it. I couldn’t put down The Bargaining, and after this fantastic story Christine Warren is definitely on my! auto-buy list.

Reviewed by: Julie