Book Review: Bargains & Betrayals, BK #3 in the 13 To Life Series

By: Shannon Delany

Published by: St. Martin's Griffin

Released on: August 16th, 2011 TODAY

Source: ARC from publisher to review

4 stars- I Really Enjoyed It

Purchased from: St Martin's Griffin| Amazon| Barnes & Noble|

Locked away at Pecan Place, Jessie finds her situation to be even more dangerous than she feared. While she struggles to maintain her sanity and discover answers about the group that seems less and less like any legitimate government agency, Pietr fights to keep their relationship alive. But very aware that his mother’s time is running out, Pietr makes a deal he doesn’t dare tell Jessie about. Because the deal Pietr’s made could mean the death of far more than his tenuous relationship with the girl he loves.

Picking up right where Secrets & Shadows ended, Shannon Delany throws readers into a book full of action, emotionally intense scenes and a book that has an edgier, darker feel to it. Strap your seat belt on and hang on for this book's wild ride. Bargains and Betrayals was nothing I was excepting. There's a lot more at stake, a lot of twists, and along with Jessi's point of view, there's another character's pov of who helps in telling a story that is so perfectly fitting for a third book in a series I have really enjoy.

There's a lot of things I liked about this book and some things I missed, like Max's fabulous one liners. I missed Jessi and Pietr's daily interactions in the beginning of the book, but Shannon more than makes up for that in the second half of the story. I liked the way Shannon threw in a lot of self doubt and gave Pietr's character and journey that takes him to the darker side as he struggles with doing what's right and doing whatever he can to save his Mother and Jessi, even if that means he has to make a bargain with the devil figuratively speaking.

I was pleasantly surprised with the character growth of Jessi. She became such a strong character, as she not only has to stay strong and level headed for her own sanity, but she's the only one who can give Pietr the support he needs. Her love and unyielding faith in him helps him through some of his more darker inner battles. I really felt that Jessi finally grew into the character I had hoped she'd become. It's not that I didn't like her in the first two books, because I did, but I felt that she wasn't the strong character I had hoped she'd become. I really feel she's finally become the stronger character in the series. She's switched roles in a way with Pietr and Max who I always felt were a source of strength, and now they've become the ones who need someone else to rely on to help them through the battle they face emotionally.

With all that happens in Bargains and Betrayals, I like that Shannon isn't afraid to test her characters, and break some of them even more. I like that she doesn't give her story line a fairy tale feel to it and she keeps it raw, and realistic. With everything that happens I'm left wondering how much more Pietr and Jessi can take. There's so much that Shannon throws into this story that I didn't see coming. There's twists and turns, betrayals, and bargains that are made that effect each of the characters in one way or another. Though Shannon wraps up some of the previous story's lose ends in such a wonderful, twisted way, she also leaves me wanting more answers.

The tables have been turned and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Destiny and Deception to find out how everything is going to end. There are some mentions of sex and a very tactfully written scene between two of the characters. I'd definitely recommend this to readers 14 yrs and older.