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 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… (meer)