I will start by saying that since Goodreads does not give the option for 1/2 stars I was generous when I rated this next installment of the Arrangement series by giving it 1 star, I don't even believe that it deserved that much. Much like the last 3 books that have been released in this series, this latest one was just as much of a disappointment if not more. I know some people reading my review will comment as to why I continue to read them. I will say it is mere curiosity at this point. This series has gone so far off course and has become so ridiculous that I have to see where HM Ward it taking it. I wonder if she has an outline. Or does she just sit down one day, write 80 or so pages and upload it. I also wonder every time I look at the 5-star reviews, are the readers that provide those ratings actually reading the same book that I am. Are they honest reviews or are they "fluff" reviews. I am always honest when I read and review a book but I don't know if others follow the same thinking. You can like an author, you can like some of the books that they have written and not enjoy them all. This is definitely one of those times. I loved this series when it started, and I always waited patiently for the next one to come out but they have gotten so insanely ridiculous that I no longer anticipate their release like I once did.
How the characters have changed throughout this series is so strange to me. Not one has stayed true to the initial character that they started out as. I know that characters need to grow but these characters aren't growing, or redeeming something from their past, they are changing completely which leads me to believe that the author has somehow forgotten how she started them off in the first place. Marty is a perfect example. He was a loyal friend, who was supposedly gay that later turned out to be faking that because he never corrected Avery when she assumed. He paid for her time once as a call girl, but it was never explained where he got the money as he was supposed to be a struggling college student. Now we find out that he is actually a member of the mob and he is loaded. That he was supposed to get close to Avery to gather some proof that her mother supposedly hid that could bring an entire crime family down. Absurd. We also find out that everyone close to Avery is in on this, all trying to get the information she supposedly had (but only actually found in book 16), even Mel. Why would Mel offer Avery the opportunity to have a job with Black in order to make money so that she could stay in school if her sole purpose was to get close to Avery in order to get her hands on the proof. Doesn't make much sense. She could have just been her friend like she was in the beginning books and done the same thing. Sean has changed so many times throughout these 17 books that I have whiplash trying to figure out which character he is going to be. Now the reader is back with the nasty Sean who cares about no one but himself. He wants to take over an entire drug empire? Come on. They don't even do such things in gangster movies, I feel like I am reading the script from General Hospital or Days of Our Lives instead of a New York Times Bestselling series. How this series even made that list boggles my mind to this very day.
The idea that Sean's shooting, his stay in the hospital and then his kidnapping was all a big hoax so that they could keep Avery safe was so unrealistic that I actually turned back the page when this was revealed to make sure that I was reading it correctly. That Marty was in on the whole thing in order to keep her safe? And after everything, giving her the ring, telling her all that he has, he is now saying that the entire thing was all a game so that he could get his hands on this ledger. The fact that Peter has been such a huge character in these last two books still doesn't sit well with me. His story with Sydney was told how much he hated his family that he changed his name from Ferro, I cannot see him coming to the rescue here. And where is Sydney during all of this? They are always together or so it was written in his books. I have said it before and I stand behind it, tying all of the series together, after the fact is only a way to boost the sales of the other series. It almost forces you to read them so that you can better understand what the hell is going on in this one, but even having read them, you will never understand because these books no longer make any sense. After 17 books the reader is no closer to a resolution, there is no end in sight to this cash cow that HM Ward has created. And I have no doubt that these books will continue to be published with the story taking more turns then make sense so that she can continue to make money off of them. I am glad that this book was lent to me because I refuse to pay for this attempt at writing. I would highly recommend that NO ONE starts this NEVER ENDING HORRIBLY WRITTEN series or you will be sucked into a vortex that you can't escape from.