Bargains and Betrayals by Shannon Delany

This is the third novel in the 13 to Life series by Shannon Delany.

My review of #1: 13 to Life.
My review of #2: Secrets and Shadows.

At the end of the second novel, Jess was forced to go to an asylum because her father thought it was best. After she's been with Pietr, things have gotten a little wild, dangerous, and downright scary. Her father doesn't know that Pietr is a werewolf, so he thinks it's Pietr's bad influence that is causing her distance.

So now Pietr and Jess are separated. She can't leave and he's not allowed to visit, but both are trying hard to get back to each other.

At the asylum (Pecan Place), Jess finds out that the asylum is not what it seems to be. Many of the patients aren't fully...human... and they keep taking Jess's blood, even though they don't take any other patients blood.

Turns out that they are part of the CIA force that is after the Rusakova's for their werewolf gene and found out that Jess's blood is part of the cure. So they devised a plan to get Jess there to have unlimited supply of her blood to use for multiple experiments.

Meanwhile, Pietr is not only trying to find a way to get Jess out of Pecan Place, but also to save their mother, who is trapped underground in a glass cage for the past 2 years.

But with becoming the new alpha and having to make decisions, he has to decide how far he is willing to go in order to save both women that he loves.

It may be too much for Jess to handle when she gets out of Pecan Place and finds a new Pietr standing in front of her.

Will both characters be reunited again? Can Pietr save both women without losing Jess in the process? Or will everything start to crumble between Jess and Pietr? Read Bargains and Betrayals to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Oh Jess and Pietr. At least in this novel they are trying to get back together instead of pushing each other apart!

I thought this was a great installment to the series so far. The reader got more information and a new place to hate (Pecan Place) but also learned more about the curse and how to cure it.

Also, this book was very unique compared to the first 2 books because there are two point of views!

One is Jess, like the first two novels, but the other is Alexi (Max, Cat and Pietr's older, adoptive brother) so we get more perspectives throughout this novel.

So, yes, we progressed more in this novel with figuring out about the Rusakova family, seeing Pietr became the alpha he was meant to be, and might see some struggles for all characters and new developments start to happen.

I would say that I liked this book better than the second because the characters were trying to get to each other rather than keeping their distance. I'm not sure if there will ever be a book for them where it's all lovey dovey, togetherness, so I'm accepting that fact and enjoying what I'm reading.

Now, off to the 4th novel!