5 starsEver had a full emotional rollercoaster ride? One which emotionally drained you and then emotionally fulfilled you to the brim, you have no idea what to do with it? This was exactly how I felt while reading The Barter System.Riya O'Connell sets out to write a dissertation on the Male Sexuality. What turned out to be just surveys became a form of application-based research for her. Through extensive surveys and interviews, she's enlisted the help of eight men to give her more insight on her topic. In return, she'll give them her all. It's a barter after all. Fair trade.What Riya didn't expect was to end up leaving pieces of herself with these men. And in the process, find her sense of self and possibly some closure to the different aspects of her life.The men...they're beautiful. Beautifully sexy. Both their minds and their bodies. If one could have a heart attack while reading a book, this book had tons of those.Shayne's style of writing doesn't allow you to get detached even though it's written from a third person point-of-view. You become Riya. You experience her heartache, sadness, anger and may I say pleasure as well? I cannot count how many times I've bawled, to the point that I scared my colleague when I was reading.There are alot of sex scenes. And I mean a whole lot. Despite the high number, they don't bore you. Each and every one are unique.I will sincerely close the book with a heavy heart. It's taken quite a chunk of my heart.Riya, I'm glad you found your happiness. It's been a pleasure going down that road with you. HOLY WOW! Extreme rollercoaster! Don't let that put you off though as it was most DEFINITELY worth the read! Yes it's a long book, but I LOVE long books! Ten subjects were filtered to be part of Riya's research for her dissertation. Each one is unique and different; from their lifestyles, to their looks, even their racial backgrounds. Each on affects Riya differently except for one small fact: when she leaves a small part of her remains and she finds a way to heal or help them before moving onto the next subject. This part, yeah that part right there! It was so beautifully written, so heartwarming and touching that I cried several times right along with the book. I didn't want to put it down. I didn't want to go to sleep because I didn't want to miss ONE… SINGLE… THING!When she finally makes it to her last subjects I was ready to throw my kindle down, I didn't want another heartbreaking scene. I didn't want to see her hurting again. But I just couldn't. I would set it down, go do something, and seconds later I was running back to my kindle! It took a little to get to the good parts but once it did I was hooked!Can I add a few more stars here!? Just... WOW!
What do You think about The Barter System (2012)?
This is definitely a big girl read with a twist...every storyline wrapped to one big adventure.
—KHoo
I read the entire thing but clearly wasn't for me
—mialovesbooks
