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Still struggling to recover from the deprivation and heartaches of the Civil War, Abigail Kingsley confronts new upheaval when a mysterious, handsome Yankee, who claims to be from the future, unexpectedly arrives in her home. Original.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1997
43 people want to read
About the author
Deb Stover
37 books54 followersAt the tender age of four, Deb Stover declared her candidacy to become the first female President of the United States. She took a detour to play Lois Lane and penned her first Letter to The Editor at age eleven. The Lois Lane gig suited her, but she couldn't bring herself to blow Clark Kent's cover for the Big Story. At a relatively young age, she met and fell in love with her own real American Hero, so Superman was free to continue fighting for justice (seriously, what is Clark doing about the dearth of phone booths these days?).
Considering her extensive personal experience with real heroes (Dad, Superman, Husband), redirecting her passion for writing from journalism to Romance Novels seemed a natural progression. Since publication of Shades of Rose in 1995, she has received dozens of awards for her work, which includes over twenty titles in a variety of languages and formats.
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Deb and her family have lived in five states, but after her Hero Husband's death, she recently made the decision to follow the Yellow Brick Road back to be near her Hero Dad in Kansas. After all "there's no place like home."
Of course, there's still the unfinished matter of her presidential campaign, but first she has many more stories left to write....
For more information, please visit www.debstover.com.
Considering her extensive personal experience with real heroes (Dad, Superman, Husband), redirecting her passion for writing from journalism to Romance Novels seemed a natural progression. Since publication of Shades of Rose in 1995, she has received dozens of awards for her work, which includes over twenty titles in a variety of languages and formats.
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Deb and her family have lived in five states, but after her Hero Husband's death, she recently made the decision to follow the Yellow Brick Road back to be near her Hero Dad in Kansas. After all "there's no place like home."
Of course, there's still the unfinished matter of her presidential campaign, but first she has many more stories left to write....
For more information, please visit www.debstover.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 26, 2014
First, let me say that I am not a fan of time travel but if Deb Stover writes it I am going to read it. I had a hard time getting invested in the book but like always Deb pulled me in. Without giving anything away, I really liked the Catholic Church part of the story and it is always nice when Karma is evident. Fun read like every book of Deb's that I have read.
August 15, 2017
The Bargain by Deb Stover is a time travel romance. I'm a big time travel fan and that with romance makes it very fun. The time travel doesn't happen with a time machine or a knock to the head. It happens with the deal made between a demon and a good hearted man.
The character Mike Faricy is an alpha male character, but I felt that for a detective, he wasn't too bright. I pretty much figured out who he was after well before the middle of the book. He seemed to have a healthy dose of shell shock: one for demon dealing and the other for time traveling. But, when it came to issues beyond that, he seemed to be a few fries short of a happy meal. The only solid explanation of this is his obvious attraction to Abigail Kinsley, but it felt too quick of an attraction.
Abigail Kingsley had a bit more to her than her male counterpart. She was strong, but had a terrible secret that went along with her own vulnerability. However, she never really let this vulnerability take over her. She would do anything for her little boy and being a mom myself, I found this very believable. I do wish she had a bit more gumption, but given her upbringing it made sense.
And now, the best character in the whole book, our demon friend Slick. Slick is a pretty awesome dude for an evil guy. He tricks Mike into a deal, but not really because Mike pretty much decided he would do anything anyways. Slick made Satan an enemy. One must wonder what Slick did to piss the big bad guy off. With various disguises from an old man to a cow to a snake and whatnot, Slick is disturbing in that. I found him the most comical. Though he didn't inspire fear, he did give me the feels for Mike's predicament.
Though I did predict some of what happened, I wasn't expecting the ending as it was. I thought the ending was a bit blah. I don't know, I was kind of hoping for another time travel moment. I am glad that the two end up together (not really giving anything away with that).
Another thing that got a bit boring was all of the inner issues. There was a ton of inner dialogue with both the herione and hero and not enough action. The balance between the two wasn't there. It made it difficult to read every word. I didn't skip any of it, but I can see a person wanting to skim through stuff that they already inferred themselves or the characters said to another character. There needed to be more action, that's all.
The Bargain wasn't as good as Maid Marian and the Lawman, but it was a nice quick read and a great break between young adult and apocalyptic books. If you're looking for a quick romance without too much thought, this is a good book to read.
The character Mike Faricy is an alpha male character, but I felt that for a detective, he wasn't too bright. I pretty much figured out who he was after well before the middle of the book. He seemed to have a healthy dose of shell shock: one for demon dealing and the other for time traveling. But, when it came to issues beyond that, he seemed to be a few fries short of a happy meal. The only solid explanation of this is his obvious attraction to Abigail Kinsley, but it felt too quick of an attraction.
Abigail Kingsley had a bit more to her than her male counterpart. She was strong, but had a terrible secret that went along with her own vulnerability. However, she never really let this vulnerability take over her. She would do anything for her little boy and being a mom myself, I found this very believable. I do wish she had a bit more gumption, but given her upbringing it made sense.
And now, the best character in the whole book, our demon friend Slick. Slick is a pretty awesome dude for an evil guy. He tricks Mike into a deal, but not really because Mike pretty much decided he would do anything anyways. Slick made Satan an enemy. One must wonder what Slick did to piss the big bad guy off. With various disguises from an old man to a cow to a snake and whatnot, Slick is disturbing in that. I found him the most comical. Though he didn't inspire fear, he did give me the feels for Mike's predicament.
Though I did predict some of what happened, I wasn't expecting the ending as it was. I thought the ending was a bit blah. I don't know, I was kind of hoping for another time travel moment. I am glad that the two end up together (not really giving anything away with that).
Another thing that got a bit boring was all of the inner issues. There was a ton of inner dialogue with both the herione and hero and not enough action. The balance between the two wasn't there. It made it difficult to read every word. I didn't skip any of it, but I can see a person wanting to skim through stuff that they already inferred themselves or the characters said to another character. There needed to be more action, that's all.
The Bargain wasn't as good as Maid Marian and the Lawman, but it was a nice quick read and a great break between young adult and apocalyptic books. If you're looking for a quick romance without too much thought, this is a good book to read.
May 13, 2013
I really wanted to like this book, I really did. Abigail Kingsley is a great heroine. A victim of war and violence, she still has an inner core of strength and determination that carries her forward through the difficulties of surviving post Civil war Mississippi and caring for her son and friend. Mike Faricy is a present day Natchez, MI detective who has just lost his best friend and brother-in-law to an ambush from a criminal gang headed by drug kingpin. In desperation Mike makes a deal with a devil's minion to turn back the clock so that he can save his friend. But devil deals are tricky and instead of being sent back 1 day to June 19, he is sent back to a different June 19 in 1865. He can't kill the drug kingpin, but he can kill his ancestor.
"The Big Misunderstanding" is an infuriating plot device to keep potential lovers apart in fiction. The infuriating part is that a 5 minute honest conversation would clear up this weak plot device. Mike finds out in the 2nd chapter that Abigail is: a) a properly brought up Southern belle b) just barely survived a war involving two armies fighting back and forth across her county c) is unmarried and d) has a two year old son. Gee, Mike. You're a detective. Take a wild guess how she got pregnant? Gee, Mike. How might this affect her reactions and decisions that anger and irritate you so much? I figured out all the major plot "twists" (including how to resolve the dilemma) by the second chapter.
The writing is good. The story is diverting. Mike and Abigail are an interesting couple to root for. If that is enough for you and artificial plot devices don't drive you crazy, then give this a try.
"The Big Misunderstanding" is an infuriating plot device to keep potential lovers apart in fiction. The infuriating part is that a 5 minute honest conversation would clear up this weak plot device. Mike finds out in the 2nd chapter that Abigail is: a) a properly brought up Southern belle b) just barely survived a war involving two armies fighting back and forth across her county c) is unmarried and d) has a two year old son. Gee, Mike. You're a detective. Take a wild guess how she got pregnant? Gee, Mike. How might this affect her reactions and decisions that anger and irritate you so much? I figured out all the major plot "twists" (including how to resolve the dilemma) by the second chapter.
The writing is good. The story is diverting. Mike and Abigail are an interesting couple to root for. If that is enough for you and artificial plot devices don't drive you crazy, then give this a try.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews