Series: Captive #1
Author: Brighton Walsh
Released: March 24, 2015, St Martins
Format: EGalley
Pages: 288 pages per Goodreads
He’s the most dangerous man she’s ever met…and she’s falling in love with him.
Madison Frost is desperate to escape her life. Daughter of a prominent businessman, she has everything a girl could ask for. Except for a family who’s present in her life, and anyone to talk to outside the four walls of the prison she calls home. Madison dreams of one day leaving her life behind. She never thought being kidnapped is how it would happen.
Now she’s being held captive by a man who’s as frightening as he is sinfully gorgeous. Enormous, muscular, and filled with secrets, the man they call Ghost is an enigmatic mercenary, and Madison is trapped with him. She doesn’t know who hired him or why, but the more time she spends at his mercy, the more she realizes he’s not what he seems. Beneath his rough exterior lies an unexpected gentleness and a heart as broken and battered as her own.
But as Madison lets down her walls, Ghost holds tight to his, hiding secrets that could destroy everything.
Oh, I loved this book! I'd been holding onto Captive for a while. I'd read other books by Brighton Walsh, and I really enjoyed those - but I didn't believe she could go dark. Guess what, she can!! Granted, this book isn't as dark as some others I've read, but it definitely was taboo and wonderful.
Madison is pretty smart. So smart that she graduated high school early and entered college early. So she doesn't exactly have a lot in common with her peers, since she is a few years younger. Add on top of that her secret home life that isn't all it's cracked up to be. Her mom has some very serious issues, and it makes Madison not want to let anyone in for fear of seeing the truth. Her family is wealthy, and her father is well known in the area for being somewhat of a barracuda in the business circles. So they have an image to uphold, and absolutely nothing should tarnish that image. That's a lot to put on a young girl.
He was too much. Too large, too tall, too muscled. Even completely silent, he screamed.
One day, on the way to meet her driver, Madison is taken. She wakes up in a cabin with a scary man who calls himself Ghost. Ghost is scary - and freaking hot. There are immediate sparks between them, but hello - kidnapper and kidnapped - there's no room for attraction in this equation. But now Madison and Ghost are isolated in this cabin, and something has happened to make their stay longer than anticipated. That leaves a lot of time for things to happen.
I loved them both. We get to see both of their points of view, so it really rounds it out for me. Madison is mature beyond her years, and Ghost admires what he considers naivety in Madison. They talk, they share things. They get to know each other as people rather than criminal and victim. That really is dangerous in itself, forming that connection.
Things get hot (and bothered, hello sexy!) But not just that, it's the intensity of the situation that amplifies everything. And when things get scary and all hell breaks lose, it's exciting. I absolutely loved both of these characters, and how well they meshed together. If you want to go on the light side of dark, I'd definitely read Captive.
Brighton Walsh spent nearly a decade as a professional photographer before deciding to take her storytelling in a different direction and reconnect with writing. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children.
Previous Posts on Fictional CandyBuy It!
