The Arrangement

This book was wonderfully written and well paced. Following Natalie's life and narrative to then switching to other characters later in the book was a good way to build suspense and keep interest. I was fascinated by the sugar daddy/baby relationships and how desperation can lead to making decisions one would never normally agree to. The Arrangement revolves around themes of desperation, obsession and infatuation. A great thriller if you are looking for a quick read.

The Arrangement
By Robyn Harding

5 stars

Drama filled murder mystery.

Great plot and storyline that flows well, dragging the reader in, then hooking them until the final pages.

The characters are well developed and mostly believable. The lies and deception reflect life in modern America.

Natalie, an art student in New York City, is struggling to pay her bills when a friend makes a suggestion: Why not find a sugar daddy – a wealthy, older man who will pay her for dates, and a monthly allowance. All that’s required is to look pretty. Sexual favours are optional. Along comes Gabe, a handsome finance attorney. For while Natalie enjoys a wonderful life, until he abruptly ends things, Nat can’t let go. She begins drinking heavily and stalking Gabe and his family. When Gabe’s body is found dead, all fingers point towards Natalie.

This title has been reviewed by This title was provided by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an open and honest review.

#TheArrangement #NetGalley

I love love LOVED this book!
First of all who hasn’t at one point or another thought life would be so much easier with a sugar daddy?

Natalie is a struggling art student, with massive school fees and not enough money for food and rent. When Natalie’s friend Ava suggests she get herself a sugar daddy; An older gentlemen who pays for the company of younger women, Natalie is horrified, there’s no way she would object herself to that. Ava assures her it’s easy money. Sugar Daddy’s pay a monthly allowance to their sugar babies, buy them expensive gifts, take them on holidays and sexual favours are completely optional. Feeling desperate Natalie decides to join only to get herself out of financial stress but there will definitely be no physical contact with any of the men, she’s certain of it. Along comes Gabe, he’s polite, charming and even pretty attractive for an older guy. What starts out as business soon turns to love for Natalie and when Gabe ends their relationship suddenly Natalie feels cheated. What is Gabe willing to do to end the relationship and what is Natalie willing to do to keep it?

The characters in this book had me up and down like a yo-yo I loved them, loathed them and wanted to grab them by the shoulders and shake them. To be honest after finishing the book I’m still not clear how I feel about them but i loved this aspect because it left me feeling like I desperately need to talk it over with someone ( so please read this book ASAP and come discuss it with me 🙏🏼)

Learning about the sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship was entertaining because we are learning about it through Natalie who is a complete skeptic at the start and her thoughts on it are quite comical and also the exact thoughts I would have too!

I really loved this book it was the perfect blend of drama, passion, murder and mystery! Highly recommend!

I love books that transport me into a completely different scene, and Harding’s foray into the world of sugar daddies and sugar babies was a real revelation for me. If you are like me, and haven’t heard of the term before: a sugar baby is a beautiful young woman, often a student, who will date a wealthy older man for a fee. It’s a bit like an escort service, only that the sugar daddy will often pay large sums of money and gifts to his sugar baby for her company. Sex is often involved, but not always. It’s needless to say that this arrangement attracts a fair share of creeps and predators, and that things can go wrong on many different levels. Google the term and you will find a spade of murders related to the whole sugar baby scene.

So when Natalie, a poor art student who has just lost her low paying job in hospitality and can no longer afford her rent in her flat share in New York, enters a sugar daddy / sugar baby arrangement with the confident and rich Gabe, I instantly feared for her. Natalie is a bit of an innocent, a girl from the country who has grown up without a father in her life, and who craves love and stability – probably not the type of girl who is suited to such an arrangement. “Pretty Woman” it is not – for Gabe to pay a princely sum for Natalie’s company, she is expected to perform certain “services” and live up to Gabe’s expectations. Most of all, she is as much a status symbol as a new car, or an expensive suit, and just as expendable when he tires of her. This is never going to end well, is it?

I will not reveal any more about the story, other than to say that it instantly had me intrigued. Harding writes well, and the story moves along at a good pace, setting the scene and building up a degree of danger as we realise what Natalie’s arrangement entails. This was the type of book that made me feel like a tourist on planet earth, because Natalie’s reality was so far removed from my own sheltered life that I often found myself gobsmacked by the things she is experiencing. I could relate to the poor student existence – hadn’t I myself lived on minute noodles in grungy shared apartments in my youth? - but the whole sugar daddy scene was totally new to me. From here, Harding spins a compelling tale that soon ends in someone’s death – the who and how you will have to find out for yourself.

Harding has obviously done her research and states in her author’s notes that she had interviewed several sugar babies prior to writing this novel to be able to give her story a solid background. This really shone through for me in believable characters that were easy to relate to. If I wanted to spark a lively debate, I would read this in a book group, as the mere term sugar baby / sugar daddy would have some of my peers’ blood boiling!

All in all, this was an intriguing, original and compelling mystery that had me glued to the pages. I would have been just as happy to leave the ending shrouded in a bit of mystery, but other readers not similarly inclined will be happy to hear that it all wrapped up nicely and all is explained in the final reveal. I now need to read the author’s other books, in particularly HER PRETTY FACE, which has been on my wish list for a long time!

I really liked this page turning book. Natalie is an arts student who is sharing a very small apartment with 2 other girls, she has a part time job but is struggling to make her rent payments on time. One of her fellow students who is always well dressed and seems to be quite well off tells Nat that she has a 'sugar daddy' that pays her to be available whenever he wants and pays her well for that privilege. She says it's an arrangement, and she does not class herself as a hooker. Nat takes this on board and very quickly meets Gabe who is a wealthy lawyer and although much older than her she eventually comes to think of him as he boyfriend. He spoils her and treats her exceptionally well, but doesn't tell her that he is still married. He also has a teenage daughter who is fragile and he spends his weekends with. All is fine until Gabe's situation changes and he abruptly ends the arrangement. Nat is furious and truly believed that their arrangement would lead to a permanent situation. What follows is a story of obsession, lies, stalking and eventually murder. No spoilers here. Interesting that the author did research into this type of situation to find that sugar daddies & sugar babies actually exist!

This is the first of Robyn Harding's books that I have read and I found it fast-paced and intriguing - a great example of domestic noir - I will definitely read her other titles!!

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the complementary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Wow Robyn Harding - way to make me stay up way too late to finish a book! I started this in the afternoon and had to finish it so it was a late one for me...but absolutely worth it. The Arrangement has that pull that just makes you want to keep turning the page, needing to find out what is going to happen next. Oh how I loved this book and can't recommend it highly enough. When you have read just the first chapter you will understand why I could not put it down! Believe the hype in the book people - it certainly lives up to all expectations.

Natalie is an art student in New York City on a scholarship and working in a bar to try to make ends meet. But New York is a expensive city and she is struggling. Then a friend suggests that she becomes a sugar baby and herself a wealthy sugar daddy. At first she is sceptical but when her circumstances change she decides to give it a go - just for a while until she pays off her debts. And then she meets Gabe - an older, handsome and rich lawyer. Things go well and soon she finds herself falling in love with him and making an "arrangement" to be exclusive to him. Things are finally turning around for her and life is pretty good. Until quite suddenly Gabe ends their arrangement and dumps her. Nat is heartbroken and hits the drink and starts to stalk his family. What will each of them to for the other one? Hold onto your hat, you are in for a bumpy ride with this one - and I could not love it more. And how pretty is the Australian cover! Love it!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Australia for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Natalie is a student who is doing it tough. She has no money and rent is over-due, uni fees are looming and she has hit rock bottom. A friend introduces her to the world of Sugar Daddies and she thinks it could be the answer to all her financial worries.

She meets Gabe, 30 years older, good looking and with enough money to solve her problems. Natalie begins this business arrangement with good intentions of keeping it all strictly business but quickly finds herself falling for him but Gabe has secrets. He is still married to his wife and is not divorced as he had let Natalie believe.

He breaks things off with Natalie and she is devastated. She can't let him go and begins a trail of obsession and deception.

This plot sucks you in and before you know it you are up through the night reading that last chapter.

#netgalley #RobynHarding #TheArrangement

I was hooked from the first chapter. It had sex, obsession, envy , revenge. It was a great thriller. The title suited the storyline. It was engaging and had lots of suspense. It was a fast read for me simply because I didnt want to put it down. I actually disliked the main character but it didnt change the way I felt about the book.