| Gifts for Humans |
Terra Natural's
Natural Deodorant
is 100% petroleum and aluminum free ...
and it works!
|
|
|
|
The Arrangement |  | Author: Cat Grant
Publisher: Lyrical Press, inc.
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 3522
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B00190ERXG
Publication Date: May 4, 2008
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
CEO Eric Courtland has it all, until his wife discovers his affair-can Eric propose a solution to satisfy them all? Eric Courtland loves his wife. But another man also commands his affections. When both wife and lover discover his secret, he rocks them with a daring proposal neither can refuse. Initially their triad is tense and awkward, but growing trust and intimacy lead to a satisfying and worthwhile relationship for all-as long as their unusual romance remains strictly confidential to protect Eric's seat in the US Senate. Blackmailing political rivals, stalking paparazzi, and a serious illness threaten their fragile arrangement... Are the daytime struggles worth the nights of passion and pleasure?
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 The Arrangement July 3, 2008
M. Nix
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Eric Courtland is in love with two people, his wife Ally and his lover Nick. When faced with the possibility of losing one of them, Eric makes a bold proposal to keep the people he loves in his life. Taking such a risk to keep his wife and lover can be devastating to Eric's political career if their secret is revealed. Worst yet, the pressures of keeping their arrangement a secret while personal obligations and careers pull them in different directions, takes a toll on all three of them and it threatens to destroy the life they are trying to build together.
Cat Grant produced a very interesting and enjoyable story. The Arrangement is not just a story about a ménage a trois, it's also a story of three people in three separate relationships, Eric just happens to be the common denominator within the trio. It's quite rare that the three of them were sexually active together. Ms. Grant's characters evoked feelings of compassion and disdain from me, especially Eric. I was not agreeable to how he treated Ally and Nick most of the time. I know he loved Nick, but sometimes his treatment of him was very cold and uncaring, and the sad part was he didn't realize it. Ally rubbed me the wrong way quite often too, but I could tolerate her. I absolutely loved Nick and he deserved much better treatment from both Ally and Eric. If he walked away from the whole ordeal, no one would blame him. There's a lot of heartache caused by miscommunication and personal insecurities between these three. It takes a lot of understanding and patience, especially from Nick, with some from Ally, in order for these three to overcome the hurt and anger and focus on the love they share. The Arrangement is a really good story, I certainly enjoyed it and I'm sure others will too.
Ley
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
Ménage: Something for everyone June 20, 2008
Storm Grant (Toronto, Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having read The Arrangement by Cat Grant (no relation), I can certainly see why it's one of the select few novels Lyrical chose to launch with.
It's a fascinating story---three stories actually---each one a complete and satisfying read unto itself. The writing is powerful and the editing flawless. It's novel length and will be released in print in November.
The characters are engaging. Eric Courtland, is the "centerpiece" around whom everything flows. He's wealthy, powerful, and destined for a career in American politics. He's married to Allison, who would make a great trophy wife, except for her kick-ass personality and inability to take a role on the sidelines. She's wonderfully flawed, and quickly became the character I most identified with. Both Eric and Allison have fiery tempers, where Nick is quieter, more inwardly focused. The twin roles of peacemaker and confessor often fall on him, even when he'd prefer it didn't.
Eric is in love with Nick, and has been for a long time. The kicker is, that Nick and Allison also have a history!
The story tells of their pain at having to chose, and their unusual decision not to. I loved the power struggles and the conflicts, and how three strong personalities must work to maintain a healthy balance in their relationship. Different scenes are written from different POVs; I envy Cat's ability to switch viewpoint at just the right moment. I expected head-hopping, but found only smooth transitions making the story richer. We have a chance to view the relationship from each character's POV. We come to understand their insecurities and concerns without any whiny internals.
I think what I liked best about The Arrangement is that while the triad is the focal point of the story, it's set against a backdrop of the daily minutiae of living: some careers rising while others experience difficulties; the death of a family member; the hounding by the press. Family gatherings are difficult because their relationship must stay under wraps for the sake of Eric's career.
And when it doesn't, well, I was quite surprised at the route Cat chose.
I liked the resolution of each of the three sections. I fell in love with their house in Tuscany, Cat's lush description painting a picture of luxury and privacy I adored.
Did I mention, too, that the sex is hot? At first it's between two at a time, but as they grow to trust each other, a little sharin' and carin' sneaks in. ;-) My favourite scene is one in which Allison plays blatant voyeur, getting off while she watches her boys make love.
The sex is organic to the plot, never feeling "shoehorned in" or intrusive. It's not pages of graphic detail, but it's certainly not closed door either.
I enjoyed reading The Arrangement and highly recommend it; it'll be $4.40 you won't regret spending.
Brilliantly Written December 11, 2008
Lex Valentine (Orange County, CA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Cat Grant does not write simple characters. Each one is multi-layered and she reveals them the way a flower opens its petals in the sun, with an inexorable tension that keeps you reading until the very end. I found myself disliking Eric and his arrogance while still being drawn to him, much the way that Ally and Nick are. He's charismatic and sexy, you want to let him have his way. There were moments where I wanted Ally and Nick to spurn him, but beneath Eric's commanding exterior lies a man with vulnerabilities. Without that, neither Ally nor Nick would have stayed with him.
For me, this story was about the layers to each character, the things that the author reveals to us about them. She writes with a skill so refined you never realize how she has sucked you into her story until you reach the last page and say, "WOW!" Her sex is hot, especially her M/M scenes. What's even hotter is her peek into the lives, heads, and hearts of people who have something other than the conventional happily ever after.
This is a must read for anyone who wants something that is non-formulaic and intensely erotic. It's a brilliant story and I highly recommend it and Strictly Business as well.
4.5 Bookmarks from Wild on Books! September 8, 2008
Natalie S (Nashville)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Eric Courtland, CEO and senator wannabe, is a man living two lives. One life he shares with his new wife Ally, and the other, with his long-time lover Nick, whom he met in college and can't get out of his system. Eric must be content with seeing Nick on the sly because as a Senate hopeful, Eric can't do anything that could cost him the election. He knows that what he is doing is wrong and is torn between breaking things off with Nick and telling Ally.
The decision is taken from him when Ally, a reporter, inadvertently realizes that the way Eric is acting is suspicious and can't help but investigate. What she finds almost tears apart her entire world. Not only is Eric having an affair but he is having an affair with a man who just so happens to be her ex-boyfriend Nick from college. Ally is devastated but unwilling to give up on her marriage and when she hears Eric's plan for the three of them, she can't believe her ears. Not only does Eric want to stay married to Ally, he wants to continue to have a relationship with Nick - AND he wants Nick and Ally to agree to work on a relationship together.
Through it all, Nick, is a constant in both Ally and Eric's lives. The man he is yearns to be able to claim Eric before the entire world as well as Ally, who he has grown to love and care about. Nothing in life is easy but Nick is not giving up on the two people he loves.
I liked how THE ARRANGEMENT was put together. The mini novellas inside THE ARRANGEMENT kept the storyline flowing and gave the reader hints as to what was coming next. The compilation of the different times in the three characters lives helped make the novel a breeze to read but also kept the plot realistic and eye catching.
The characters of THE ARRANGEMENT are very complex. Allison, Ally as she is known, has known from the beginning of her marriage that Eric, her husband, was not head over heels in love with her. However, that did not stop Ally from falling in love with Eric. My heart broke when she found out about Eric's affair with Nick and the author portrayed Ally's emotions so realistically it could have been anyone there in the pages of THE ARRANGEMENT striving to live with shattered illusions. I really liked Nick's character and had a harder time with Eric. Nick's emotions and feelings were on the surface; you knew what he was thinking. If Nick was upset, you knew he was upset. If he was in a loving and playful mood, then the reader could tell because of his actions and his facial expressions. All Nick wanted was for Eric to love him. While Eric did love him, of that I am certain, Eric's feelings were more intense and harder to grasp. I felt that Eric came across as selfish more than once, but then he would do something so sweet that I forgot I was supposed to be mad at him. Evidently he got to me too because that is the exact same reaction Ally and Nick had every single time Eric upset them.
While emotions rang high and their lives were not perfect, Ms. Grant's ability to make this relationship realistic worked. The fights, the laughs, and the sensuality were near perfect. If I could have changed anything in the book it would have been how the three interacted in the bedroom. I wanted both men to be with Ally at the same time, but after having read THE ARRANGEMENT in its entirety, I have to agree with Ms. Grant's decision to write the relationship the way she did. Bravo.
THE ARRANGEMENT is available via digital or print from Lyrical Press. The prequel to THE ARRANGEMENT, Strictly Business, is set to be released this month and I am looking forward to seeing what happened in Eric's life to make him the man he was in THE ARRANGEMENT. Cat Grant is now officially on my reviewer radar!
***Natalie S. Courtesy of Wild on Books***
The Arrangement by Cat Grant June 3, 2008
Elisa (Italy)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Well, this is for sure a book which tests a lot of my "no no no" in romance. First of all it's a menage, and well, I don't like a lot menage: maybe it's my jealousy nature, but I always feel like one of the three in the menage is an intruder. Plus the story starts with a cheating, even if really the story is a bit more complex.
Eric and Nick were at college together. For what we know Eric is bisexual and Nick was in love with him since forever. They had a clandestine relationship which lasted through the first marriage of Eric (with a woman of course). But Eric has political aspirations and a gay lover is not a thing he could have and so he broke with Nick and married another woman, Ally, another former college mate and also a former girlfriend of Nick.
Eric was honest with Ally, he doesn't love her, but he likes her, and being him a very wealthy man, he could help her career. But he was not honest with her regarding their marriage, better he was not "straight" about it: since the first week after their honeymoon, Eric started again to see Nick. When Ally discovers the truth she also realizes that she doesn't want to see her marriage broken, and accepts to share Eric with Nick, and sometime, also to share Nick. But they don't have a real menage, with Eric living in Washington and Ally and Nick in New York, and when they are all in the same house, most of the time they sleep in separate rooms, with Eric changing beds as he likes.
Of all the three characters I like better Nick. Actually I think he is the only one who has real and deeply love feelings. He is in love with Eric since forever, Eric was his first love and the first man (even if it is not said I think Eric is the only man for Nick). He tried to move on their relationship, he tried also to marry, but he realized that he couldn't do that to another woman, since he will always love only Eric. And so he contents himself with bits of life, what he can rip off from Eric's official life, only to be again and again punched down and shielded away.
Ally is a woman with self consciousness problems. She doesn't consider herself at the same level of Eric or Nick, she knows that they have something before her and since they continued it also after her marriage, she somewhat imagines that she isn't enough for her husband. Plus she is not fulfilled with her work and so she suffers a lot from the workaholic behaviour of her husband. She is not even satisfy when she has not one but two men for her.
And in the end there is Eric. He is the only reason both for Nick than Ally. They lean to him for everything, his word is law. He is a very commanding man, even if he is not physically the stronger (actually Nick has the body of an former football player, and instead Eric is long and lean), when he is in bed with Nick, he has the upper hand. Eric has an aloof behaviour and a frozen heart: his parents had a very bad marriage and he learnt to not trust love. It is not that he can't love, only that he thinks that other people know that he loves them without him giving a proof. And the proof is not a material thing, he is plenty of capable to buy things, but he is pretty reluctant with feelings. Actually when you drag him by force in front of the truth, he is able to understand, he is not dumb, but it's not his first impulse.
I don't know if feel content that this is not really a menage, since there aren't scene with multiple partners (there is only a scene where Ally witnesses to Eric and Nick making love) or not. Given that I don't really like menage, maybe it's better, but on the other hand I feel Ally like an intruder and when Eric and Ally make love, I always feel like they are cheating on Nick. I feel Eric and Nick being a real couple, they were together before and Eric was really free and comfortable only when he was with Nick... I have the feeling that, when he is with Ally, he is playing a role, the man in control, the man who must never fail. Probably since Ally needs a man like that.
And so, always the same question... I like this book? It's not an easy answer. Probably yes since, first I finished it in only one night, and this means that the book is easily to read and flows smoothly, and second since it made me think, on the characters and on their behaviour, and this means that they arrive to me. All right maybe of the three characters, I really like only Nick, but, well, why do you have to like all the characters of a book to like a book? A character could be imperfect if it suits the story, and, well, without Eric and his total imperfection, the book would have no reason to exist.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. | |
![Dead Moon Rising [The American Heroes Collection] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting)](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B003VTZTUI.01._AA75_PU_PU-5_.jpg)