These two broken men grabbed my heart from the beginning and did not let go. Not even when they frustrated me or disappointed me with their secrets.

Carter Haywood is a successful businessman. He is closed off, mysterious, protective, and searching for an easy hook-up to get him off on his one weekend a month he allows himself to take care of his own needs. The rest of his time is spent working or caring for his special needs brother. But his controlled facade hides fears and vulnerability.

Reed Kincaide is a student and bartender who works hard and has goals. He has his own personal issues, challenges, and secrets that he does not share. He feels damaged, unlovable, and his life is ruled by his anxiety. He does not trust easily and does not want to be hurt.

Their initial meeting was passionate and not easily forgotten. So they stumble upon an arrangement of "sex-only one weekend a month". It becomes both the excitement and also the calm in their lives. But the more time that goes by, the more frightening it becomes due to the attachments being formed.

Their secrets are a wall between them. And they both have feelings of insecurity, unworthiness, fears, and abandonment issues. They are terrified to really become vulnerable, trust, or risk being rejected. But as it becomes more complicated, the lines of the arrangement become blurred. And their issues are not going to just go away. So they each have to figure out where they stand and what they can handle.

My heart hurt for these guys. Their self loathing, shame, and fear were so ingrained in them. I got frustrated at their near misses and communication issues. But I loved them both and enjoyed seeing their layers begin to peel back to reveal their true selves. All these guys ever needed was unconditional love, acceptance, and tolerance. But they hadn't had it from the people who shaped them. They didn't believe someone would truly love them and accept all of their baggage. It was a long, confusing road for them to begin to explore their own true needs and those of the other, and take a chance on fighting for a life they never thought they deserved.

I was totally invested in this couple. Their chemistry was intense and all consuming. I was tense and anxious myself. I felt their pain and disappointments. I wanted to soothe them. Every set back broke my heart. And I found myself a bit weepy from the strong emotions and at times joy (and this is rare for me).

I adored these broken characters and slowly seeing their cracks start to get filled. I enjoyed the side characters of Jacks, Helen, Michelle, and Reed's dad. There were some topics that are current and many can identify with. I felt the they were handled respectfully and with good understanding and compassion.

This book was engaging, emotional, sexy, heart wrenching, and inspiring. I did not want to put it down. Their secrets were slowly unraveled to each other while we knew all long since we were privy to both of their points of view. But that was the source of so much tension and misunderstanding. The process of building trust, opening up, and taking a chance was hard for them and a slow process. But I celebrated every bit of growth they showed, and every little bit of happiness they were willing to fight for.

This was my first Felice Stevens book, but she has earned a new fan and I will definitely be reading more from her. I really enjoyed her easy flowing writing style and flawed but likable characters that pulled out so many feels in me.

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Arrangement is my first exposure to author Felice Stevens, and while I found the story a little predictable, the characters and their happily-ever-after made this an enjoyable and recommendable read.

The most important thing in Carter Haywood’s life is the little brother, who has special needs, in his care. One weekend per month is all he allows himself to escape the pressures and solitude of his life, to go out and have fun with whichever guy he ends up picking up. His intentions are never beyond a single night; he doesn’t have the time for a relationship, nor does he feel he has anything to give toward one, because everything he does is for the ultimate goal of making sure his brother is cared for. Then one weekend, he picks up a bartender named Reed Kincaide and cannot forget him. Reed always has feelings of inadequacy because of his ADHD and anxiety disorder. As a result, he rarely allows people to get close to him, yet he too feels the intensity of the weekend with Carter. So when Carter proposes a sex-only, no-strings-attached arrangement one weekend a month, it seems exactly what both men need. But with each passing visit, the intensity increases and Reed cannot settle with just sex any longer. Carter also realizes the attraction between them is growing, but how can he make room in his life without disrupting the needs of his brother?

I am in a bit of a rut lately with the books I’ve been reviewing. I think this makes three of the last four or maybe five that essentially start with what’s intended to be a one-night hook-up. One of my favorite reasons for reading romance is the anticipation of the firsts that happen, the first kiss, first touches, first realization of love, and so forth. So if some of this happens in the first chapter as a result of a totally non-romantic hook-up, it may not necessarily mean it is a bad thing, but it does mean the story has to work harder to hook me in after taking away some of what I like so much. As such, it did take me longer to get into this story. Fortunately, both the characters and their story are compelling. It doesn’t take long to discover that both suffer from the effects of bad mothering. Of course, their past experiences are bad enough that honest communication about it is something neither of them wants to do. And neither believes himself good enough for the other to love. It’s frustrating to read as both of them are so ingrained in this mindset. But for me, the development of overcoming their problems in this respect made up for the beginning being a plot device I’m not particularly fond of.

As far as the pairing itself is concerned, the early hook-up did have a similar effect in my mind as many of the books I have read with that start do: I never really felt the heat of the intimacy between them like I wanted because there is no build. The details of their arrangement, though, means there is a month between their visits, and it becomes clear early on that both look forward to the next visit the entire time they are apart. While this does try to accomplish the sort of build that I crave in reading romance—and it does build the tension as far as their feelings for each other is concerned—it usually doesn’t work for me as well other tropes do. Unfortunately, that’s the case here.

The book also contains a child, Carter’s younger brother, who has developmental disabilities caused again by bad mothering. To be honest, at the beginning of the book, I was under the impression that the child was significantly younger—say, first or second grade—than I realized he is later in the book (he’s more like ten or eleven.) I admit, I was tired during the first reading session I did with this book, so I’m going to assume this is just something I missed as opposed to something she doesn’t make clear. Regardless, children in romance books often make me cringe, as authors often use them to accomplish things in ways that aren’t particularly believable—perhaps this is why I missed the age; my brain likes to hide kids in romance novels because I worry about how believable they’re going to be. Fortunately, my worries were unfounded here. I can’t tell you why the kid turns out to be important, since I don’t want to spoil it, but know that while his role becomes rather predictable as his story is revealed, the author does a good job in both keeping him realistic and keeping him from taking over the story outright.

The Arrangement is definitely an enjoyable and often heartbreaking story with a clear writing style and compelling characters. In spite of my issues with how the novel starts, the author eventually does pull me into the story with a good amount of feels to make up for what I miss out on. And the happily-ever-after is nicely done. I recommend this one, and I’m looking forward to reading another of Felice Stevens’s works in the future.

The author generously provided me a complimentary copy of The Arrangement in exchange for this fair and honest review.