The Arrangement

June 15, 2019
A newly minted sugar baby falls for her sugar daddy with deadly results in Harding's (Her Pretty Face, 2018, etc.) latest thriller. Welcome to the sugar bowl. Twenty-one-year-old art student Natalie Murphy is happy to be in New York City and away from Cole, the abusive boyfriend she left behind in tiny Blaine, Washington. Unfortunately, Nat has trouble making rent and is close to getting kicked out of her apartment. Luckily, Nat's impossibly stylish school friend Ava has a solution. Ava is a sugar baby: She dates wealthy, successful men who sponsor her upscale lifestyle, but Nat has a few reservations, mainly about sex. Ava explains that sex is only on the menu if Nat wants it. After Nat gets fired from her job, she posts a profile on a sugar daddy website and makes a date with the charming and handsome Angeldaddy, aka 55-year-old lawyer Gabe Turnmill. He tells Nat that he's divorced, but in reality, Gabe sees himself as a martyr who must take care of his wife of 29 years, Celeste, a cancer survivor who gained weight, making her undesirable to poor Gabe. After a few dates, lots of self-recrimination, ignored red flags, and wads of cash, Nat is smitten. It's not the money that has her hooked--it's Gabe, who offers Nat an ongoing arrangement, including a monthly allowance, but when he eventually calls it off, Nat goes off the rails, and Gabe must contain the considerable fallout. Murder is, of course, inevitable. The world of sugar babies and their daddies is fascinating, but weak characterizations render Nat and Gabe, and their supporting cast, as little more than cardboard cutouts, and Nat hits every clichéd beat of the scorned lover rendered psychotically hysterical by a powerful, sociopathic man. A lot can be parsed about arrangements with a built-in power imbalance that allow for predatory manipulation, but that's given only surface-level exploration. More effort is put into heightening the melodrama and engineering soapy twists. A missed opportunity.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 24, 2019
This disappointing melodrama from Harding (Her Pretty Face) finds college art student Natalie “Nat” Murphy, who’s moved from her small hometown of Blaine, Wash., where she had a miserable childhood, to New York City, at her lowest. She’s friendless, close to losing her scholarship, and in danger of being evicted because her roommates are sick of her excess drinking, bringing home random men, and being behind on her rent and other bills. A classmate suggests an option—a website connecting young women (“sugar babies”) with wealthy men (“daddies”), who pay for companionship, but not necessarily sex. Reluctantly, Nat enters “the sugar bowl.” Nat believes she has hit the jackpot with Gabe Turnmill, whose generosity includes giving Nat a new apartment. Nat quickly falls in love with Gabe, and their breakup puts her in a downward spiral of obsession that leads to violence. Nat’s naïveté, however, borders on stupidity, and, given her slovenly habits, the sugar baby angle is a bit of a stretch. The arrogant Gabe, his wallet aside, is no catch. Lifetime movies have more tension and twists than this clichéd novel with its cardboard characters. Agent: Joseph Veltre, Gersh Agency.

May 15, 2019
Naive art-school student Natalie is struggling to make it in New York City. She can't help but notice that her study partner, Ava, lives in a fancy apartment, wears the latest designer fashions, and seems to have a ready supply of cash. Ava introduces Natalie to SugarDaddy.com, a website where she can meet wealthy men willing to pay a hefty monthly retainer for young arm candy. ( Escorts get paid for sex. I get paid for my time, Ava explains.) Natalie signs up and quickly meets Gabe, a married man 30 years her senior. She makes the classic mistake, though, of falling in love . . . and Gabe is not having any of it. When he dumps her, Natalie spirals into an obsession that threatens her friendships, her mental health, and, whoops, someone's very life. Harding's latest is a potboiler that will appeal to readers who enjoy twisty thrillers and are looking for a bit of a soap opera.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2019
A newly minted sugar baby falls for her sugar daddy with deadly results in Harding's (Her Pretty Face, 2018, etc.) latest thriller. Welcome to the sugar bowl. Twenty-one-year-old art student Natalie Murphy is happy to be in New York City and away from Cole, the abusive boyfriend she left behind in tiny Blaine, Washington. Unfortunately, Nat has trouble making rent and is close to getting kicked out of her apartment. Luckily, Nat's impossibly stylish school friend Ava has a solution. Ava is a sugar baby: She dates wealthy, successful men who sponsor her upscale lifestyle, but Nat has a few reservations, mainly about sex. Ava explains that sex is only on the menu if Nat wants it. After Nat gets fired from her job, she posts a profile on a sugar daddy website and makes a date with the charming and handsome Angeldaddy, aka 55-year-old lawyer Gabe Turnmill. He tells Nat that he's divorced, but in reality, Gabe sees himself as a martyr who must take care of his wife of 29 years, Celeste, a cancer survivor who gained weight, making her undesirable to poor Gabe. After a few dates, lots of self-recrimination, ignored red flags, and wads of cash, Nat is smitten. It's not the money that has her hooked--it's Gabe, who offers Nat an ongoing arrangement, including a monthly allowance, but when he eventually calls it off, Nat goes off the rails, and Gabe must contain the considerable fallout. Murder is, of course, inevitable. The world of sugar babies and their daddies is fascinating, but weak characterizations render Nat and Gabe, and their supporting cast, as little more than cardboard cutouts, and Nat hits every clich�d beat of the scorned lover rendered psychotically hysterical by a powerful, sociopathic man. A lot can be parsed about arrangements with a built-in power imbalance that allow for predatory manipulation, but that's given only surface-level exploration. More effort is put into heightening the melodrama and engineering soapy twists. A missed opportunity.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.