The Deal

Arranged, Book One

By: Stella Gray

Narrated by: Sebastian York, Elena Wolfe

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

On my 18th birthday my father, the senator, gives me the gift he thinks every little girl dreams of.

The man of my dreams, and the wedding to match.

Stefan Zoric is heir to an elite worldwide modeling agency. Practically a prince.

My arrangement is simple, as far as sham marriages go.

I give him my virginity, behave as the perfect wife and he'll pay for the college degree my father found irrelevant.

But I don't want to be the perfect wife.

I want him to want me the way I want him.

I want him to confide in me.

But Stefan has secrets that he holds close, dangerous secrets.

And soon I'm wondering what kind of devil have I made a deal with?

©2019 Stella Gray (P)2019 Stella Gray

I can’t stand a weak woman...UGH

This story could have been so much better. I hate that the main character was written so utterly pathetic, weak-willed, and with no kind of backbone at all...it literally made no sense to me. When I was 18 I knew ZERO 18yr olds that just rolled over and accepted how they were treated by their parents or significant others. The main lead had zero fight in her, and basically did whatever she was told (i.e. just shut up, sit there and look pretty). I’m sorry but when most young ladies reach 18 that’s when we are REALLY feeling ourselves, and like to believe that we are adults and are capable of making our own choices and decisions; but clearly not this character she is like a child and incapable of handling her own life. That is such a terrible way to write a woman (young or old) in 2019. Side note...I do love the two narrators, always have, always will.

Big disappointment with triggers. Be warned. Don’t waste your time.

Very hard listening thru to the end of this story. I stopped several times but went back to it because the reviews had been so good—I kept expecting it to get better but it never did. This story is set in today’s time in Chicago and is about: 1) fictitious Senator who grooms his daughter to be subservient to men and refuses to pay for her college education because she doesn’t need that to please a man; 2) the dad arranges her marriage and springs it on her at her 18th birthday party; 3) marriage is to wealthy man whose family runs a “modeling” agency... ok, you know where this is going, right; 4) the man she marries is emotionally withholding and abusive.... A lot of time wasted listening to this. I wish listeners would just be honest in their evaluations and not be swayed by an author who requests a favorable review. Then it cuts off at an odd point so the author could produce and sell 2 books. Waste of time.

Boring PG13

Where do I start. The narrator Sebastian York has about 4 chapters and the rest was Elena Wolfe. So if you like Sebastian York get another book. This book to long to get to anywhere. The only reason I listened to this book was because it was in the romance package. I am glad I didn’t buy it. 😔

Enjoyed it but cliffhanger warning

I enjoyed this book for the most part but I wish it would at least let you know if the other books are out yet and give you informed about when the next book comes out

Really???!

The Story: Less than one star

The Characters: She is a childish, immature, irrational, so-called "intelligent" girl-child, he is a cold hearted, controlling, angry, emotionally, and sexually abusive a$$!

The Problem: Why oh why do women get all wrinkled about the '#me too movement' in one breath, then praise emotional and physical control and abusive physical and sexual manipulation in literature in the next???!

The Feedback: All the men in this book treat the women in this book as possesions that are less than... All the women in this book encourage and teach each other to be doormats... really? There was TOO MUCH whining from the female lead about almost everything, TOO MUCH physical sexual domination and borderline sexual abuse from the male lead. Some of the positive reviews of this book are unbelievable, and not in a good way.

The Narration: I love Andi Arndt/Elena Wolf and Sebastian York but this story was way too much!

JUST NOPE!!!!

Romance

This girl has no backbone. She just let them push her around. Did not like that Stefan treats her like a whore for God's sake he got a fing vergin. He is a grade a a-hole who doesn't deserve her. I won't be purchasing the other books in this series. All the men in this story are ass holes.

What a waste of talent.

Don’t bother with this book. Tory is pathetic her step mother is pathetic and I would say it sets the women’s movement back centuries but that is a massive understatement.

Not sure what to think....

Has this story held my interest...yes. However, I am just a little upset. Had I known that you would have to wait for another book to come out to get more of the story I would have NEVER used a credit. I read nothing showing this story would be in multiple parts. I would really like to know the conclusion of this story, however, I will not keep watch for the next book. If I see it when it comes out, fine. If not, that’s ok too!

Frustrated

I tried to like the book, really I did. All I have to say is doormat and nieve.

Another book that isn’t a full book, but it’s more than a novella.

The story is not riveting but it is entertaining. Took me a while to finish as I wasn’t drawn in as I have been with the buttons series or 50 shades.

It’s also not dark like those two stories so likely harder to draw the reader in as far.

My real dislike of this book is it seemed to simply drag on and on. It was like the author was trying to stretch the book out to more than one book, rather than having a book that need more than one volume to be told. I could tell you all about the book in one line. Nothing surprising! I knew what was coming at every spot, it was predictable and just blah. But entertaining enough, if you find yourself waiting on the next great novel to fall out of some authors mind. That’s where I often find myself. And this was something to listen to/read while waiting.

It's quite a deal!

What happens when you turn 18 and find out your parents have arranged for you to be married? Victoria finds herself in this position at her birthday party, meets her soon to be husband Stefan and makes a deal that he will pay for her college. But is it worth the education? This story had me sucked in, wanting to find out what made these characters tick. Tori is innocent and naive, yet she holds a self confidence that lets her deal with anything Stefan hands her. Stefan is the one that I am most interested in finding out about. Older than Tori, he makes this deal to be able to take over the family business. But there seems to be more to him than meets the eye. He has secrets I want to know. I am enjoying these two as they very slowly get to know each other. Their passions for each other are high, but I am not sure it's going to be enough to keep their marriage in tact. And the cliffhanger just makes you go and load up book 2! It's a great start to this series.

Elena Wolfe and Sebastian York are such a great team, there is nothing I can say that will tell you how really amazing they are. This book features more of Tori's story, and Wolfe provides every emotion an eighteen year old could have. She adds some ferocity to her as the story moves on that I love, letting us know she is maturing. York has a couple of chapters, and you can tell by his narration that he is holding back. I can't wait to see what these two bring next.

Gripping read

Wow can’t believe how this story has played out. Young woman look to live her own life but forced by her father’s dominating behaviour into a marriage that she she did not want but agreed to in the hopes to finally have a life she wanted. Gripping read can’t wait to see how this story plays out.

Very annoying story

Narrators great but the story is dreadful. I didn't finish it; wish I hadn't bought it.

Excellent!!

So I think this gonna be one of those books you either love it or you hate it and there isn’t much middle ground...as many arranged marriage tropes tend to go.

This particular one is not one where both parties agree to get along for the sake of however this marriage will benefit them. Heroine is sold off from her father to this anti-hero. He’s demanding. He’s alpha. He’s controlling. ....and I gotta say, I dig it. 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

Beautiful Narration, difficult to get into

I was very excited for this book because I am a huge fan of Elena Wolfe and Sebastian York's dual narration. They were definitely the high point of this book. 90% of the book was narrated by Elena Wolfe, and I definitely could have done for some more SebYo, but what are you gunna do?

The story was a challenge for me to get into. The acceptance of women's positions as less than men, submissive not only in the bedroom, but in life, was extremely frustrating to me. The way that all the female characters acted like their only purpose was to support their men and independently they had no value was infuriating. At least Tori had the drive to pursue academia, but when her step mother gave her advice and that advice was degrading and devaluing I lost it. I found myself yelling the car radio when listening because the heroine acted like she didn't have any control over her choices for most of the book, and then when she realized she could make her own decisions, she acted like a petulant child. I also found the story slow, and not as in a slow burn, but it just dragged on. I figured out some of the key plot twists hours before Tori (the heroine) figured it out in the book. The ending was a predictable plot twist, and I will probably still listen to the next book in the series, because I have a tough time leaving things unfinished.