The Devil's Bargain

Deal with the Devil, Book 1

By: Carin Hart

Narrated by: Mari Bee, Jon Brattin

They say the devil doesn’t bargain. I’m here to tell you that he does—but sometimes the price is still way too high.

Ava: I’m in trouble. Deep, deep trouble. I never meant for it to happen, but my ex is dead—and I’m the one who pulled the trigger. Whether he deserved it or not, whether anyone will even miss that jerk, it doesn’t matter. Joey is dead, and I have to figure out what to do before I get caught with a corpse on my hand.

Enter Lincoln Crewes. After the way we ended, I swore I would never turn to him again. But we were kids then, and in the 15 years since I’ve seen him, he’s gone from a scrappy fighter to one of the most powerful men in Springfield’s seedy underbelly. If there’s anyone who can help me right now, it’s Link. With his power, money, and connections, I could put this all behind me.

And all he wants in exchange is my soul…and my hand.

Link: Ava, Ava, Ava. She’s the one who got away. The reason I’ve built my entire empire, and the only person I’d burn the whole entire world down for. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that’s my life story right there. I wanted to show her that I could be the man she wants—the man she deserves—and by doing so, I became the worst thing for her. I became the devil.

So I kept my distance, though I always kept my eye on her. If I can’t have her, I could at least keep her safe, right? Wrong. She nearly got hurt, and it’s all my fault. When she comes to me, she has no idea that I’m responsible. I’m not about to tell her, either. This is my second chance. My do-over. Ava is mine again, and no matter what I have to do to keep her, I will. Even if I have to force her to marry me in exchange for my protection. But who will protect her from me?

©2023 Carin Hart (P)2023 Carin Hart

Predictable...

This book is a sound bite of something between books. he spice is maybe a 1 star, and the plot is predictable. It's entertaining if you're looking for something to listen to in the background as you go about your chores.

good but could've been better

My biggest pet peeve is when the audiobook doesn't match the actual book. there are multiple points in this audiobook that don't match what is written. sometimes it's just a word or two, but near the end of the book like the last chapter really it skips paragraphs and I find that frustrating.

Had potential

This book had potential but the narrators killed it for me especially the main characters. He sounds more like a movie announcer than a character in a book. The storyline it self kept repeating itself as well. I won’t be listening or reading any others in the series.

Plummeting Plot

Plot was disappointing. It grabbed my attention on a TikTok with a promising plot, so much could’ve been done with it. Not much was.

Cheesy Smut

This was just painful to listen to. The voice actors were awful. The story was boring and predictable. No depth to the characters, or story, whatsoever. Just terrible from A-Z. I only finished it because it was for our monthly book club. Just plain garbage.

The 3rd person

Over all this book was pretty good. It delivered the over obsession mod boss husband. And give you the dark brutal boyfriend that is sweet just to her. But I had a hard time look over the facts that he referred to himself as devil.

Meh

For a MMC named Devil there's already any hell or sin in this book. The FMC was super whiney. She’s either crying about it or trying to act tough then crying about it.

Wish there's was more about what happened with Devil and Ava in their past; so much potential for this to be a great mafia stalker novel!

Overall a meh read, don't expect much

Loved the actors but some of it was wrong

I loved the book and the actors and listening but I read along while listening and I’m noticing that the actors don’t follow the book. Lines are changed and some of what they say is completely different from the actual book.

Booktok recommended…

Listening to the sound bite on TT, I thought that this was a nice short re-ignition romance. Between this and several other recommendations from TT, I’m slowly beginning to think that I should steer clear of romances in general now. Like what is with short romances and bathroom sex scenes? I have read less smut in ELLC for crying out loud.

Also do women really want a man that blackmails them into marrying them just three hours after being sexually assaulted? Then consumating the marriage in an animalistic rut? Anyway. The narrators were pretty good. Just wish I didn’t waste a credit on this book.

Please Add Trigger Warnings

Storyline was good as far as possession partners go. But a trigger warning for CNC would have been nice.