When Greyson and Olivia bump into each other in a coffee shop they have no idea they just sealed a joint fate. Greyson, about to hike the Appalachian Trail for two months, has been targeted by a human trafficker to be taken and sold to one of his employers, and the “Recruiter” instantly wants Olivia for his own collection. The two women will soon be literally fighting for their lives to satisfy the pleasure of the men who control them.

This is definitely an unusual romance, another distinctive tale from Donna K Ford. The real story is the trade in women, mostly illegal immigrants and the poor, marginalised girls who won’t be missed. A cross between a suspense/thriller and an action adventure, the romance is important to our main characters and their personal development but secondary to the bigger plot.

Its fast paced and full of action, the story twists and turns as the women try to survive and learn who to trust. The cast is wide ranging from a seemingly innocent caretaker figure to the monsters who use women for their amusement. The captive women form a strong backdrop to the plight of the main characters and it becomes a collective piece, both in our emotional engagement with the imprisoned women and their fight for survival.

The setting is evocative as always with Ms Ford’s writing, the scenery, or in this case the place the women are held, is used as an emotive tool to heighten the intensity of their plight and the feelings of despair. The emotional intensity of the whole piece is high, from the anger and fear of the captives, through the budding romance and the individual relationships between the women.

In a way the whole seems farfetched, but shockingly is not, this happens, and we should all be aware of it. Ms Ford is once again using her writing to highlight the plight of a group without a voice and manages the difficult task of telling a gruelling story with integrity and without lecturing. In all honesty I suspect it is the “happy ever after” ending which is far-fetched for most of these unfortunate victims.

Well written, exciting and absorbing, this captivated my attention and I couldn’t put it down. My only complaint is that it ended to easily, all wrapped up without a problem. I’m hoping for a sequel, to find out what happens next. Did they really catch the Recruiter that easily and who was Lucile?

Olivia finally finds the perfect woman, Greyson. Already she is making plans for a future. But a scheduled hike along the Appalachian trail goes all wrong and Olivia finds herself a captive of a sadistic man in a female fighting ring. Greyson also becomes a victim of this same man who desires her for his own. Olivia must find the strength and know how if either one of them is to survive.
I found myself staying up far too late on 2 nights in a row to finish this page turner. Well worth every lost hour of sleep.

This book starts like a romance the typical lovey dovey, than moves to sick and twisted I mean so sick and twisted if you have a weak stomach stay away, then good luck putting it down..

When applying for an ARC I don't read other bloggers' reviews of it.

But I kinda wish I had done that with Captivate because I would have spared myself from boredom.

I can't tell you much about anything to be honest. The characters felt very one-dimensional, the budding romance was meh at best and... well, I really was simply bored. I would have struggled on - read: skim read - but having one of the MCs in a possibly very dangerous situation drinking alcohol and thinking about how she needs the whole bottle? Nope. That's so far from realistic that I don't want to know how much worse it'll get. Human trafficking is a very serious and horrible theme. I want it to be handled realistic and responsible.

Before reading Captive I doubted how a Romance could be handled in this situation. But I kept an open mind and gave it a chance.

Last Words: Maybe you want to give it a chance as well. But I'd totally understand you if you don't

This book wasn't necessarily the most exciting book to read, but I still enjoyed it! The romance was nice, but not overwhelming. The tension with plot was also enjoyable. The characters were memorable!

This book wasn’t quite what I expected, but the plot and characters were interesting enough to keep me reading. The book combines Appalachian Trail section hiking, human trafficking and lesbianism into a pretty interesting tale. Thanks to Donna K Ford, Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this advance copy.

Captive is an interesting novel. It starts as a prospective romance between the lead characters, Greyson and Olivia, but transforms so much that the romance becomes secondary. The romantic elements do work in pinning the story together.
The subject matter is tough. I would not consider this a human trafficking story as really, that part of it is secondary in this story. It most certainly is a brutal tale of abduction and slavery. Donna K. Ford strokes a good balance – not too much graphic description, yet enough to let the reader fully understand the situation.
Yet there is also hope, and cleverness, and spirit, and strength through adversity. There are a couple of really, sad moments, but also some uplifting and even humorous ones. The writing is excellent, the plot is well-crafted. I think the book would have benefitted from more back history for Greyson and Olivia, although I can see the author not wanting to take anything from this particular tale.
Overall a very good book that I liked a lot.

This was a great read and I love how characters really draw you into the story. Olivia and Greyson journey was very emotional .This story was loads of drama and suspense. I'm looking forward to reading the next book by this author.

This read and its characters really draw you into the story as we watch Greyson and Olivia’s journey. The story is fast-paced with loads of drama and suspense. Entertaining and emotional read.

Let me add my "WOW" to everyone else's. I have read every Donna Ford book and love her writing style and her stories. This wasn't what I expected at all, but I was blown away. I live in the area in which this book takes place, and thinking that this type of thing could be going on in "my neck of the woods" is deeply disturbing. She handled the story and the emotions exactly as she should have. This is a book that will take a few days to digest before I read another. Fantastic.

This is a read about abduction and human trafficking. You know it is coming but you are unsure when the abduction is going to take place. The topic is unsettling, scary, and unfortunately, a reality. The violence was shockingly tough to read but the care and protection the women showed each other was a good counter. I appreciated the self talk of both Olivia Danner and Greyson Cooper as they processed their situation and life. In addition, I thought the self-talk was appropriate for this type of story because the hardship was so mean and cruel. It was also interesting and creepy to read the self talk of the recruiter. The ending was quick and lacked closure in relation to the other women, the recruiter, and the main characters which was in my opinion, a bummer.

I have read and enjoyed Ms Ford’s books so when I got the chance to read ‘Captive’ I didn’t hesitate. I’m sure many will enjoy this book but for me it was just a little too dark. I can’t feel I can give it a true review because I find it difficult reading anything where the plot involves human trafficking. I’m sure that if you don’t mind this kind of book you will probably enjoy this one very much. Ms Ford knows how to tell a story, keeping you interested from the beginning. Looking forward to her next offering.
eARC via NetGalley

Wow...... This book is absolutely mind blowing. What started off as a slow building romance story became something that I wish did not happen in our world. But unfortunately it does. I just don't really know what to say to do this book justice. I know five stars is not enough.

I went through so many emotions while reading this book. Many people don't know that this goes on in their own back yard. It's scary. I agree more books should be written to bring the public's attention to it. It doesn't just happen abroad.

It's powerful, it's mind boggling. It made me laugh and it made me cry and so damn angry.

It won't be for everyone. But YES I would recommend this book.

*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2495323339

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R34A6CM1M131CT/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This was horrible. I mean, it was great, but it was also intensely horrible.

It's the story of Greyson and Olivia. They meet when the literally collide. But, then they go their separate ways. Except that's not quite how it goes.

They both get taken, although in definitely different ways. And then they both wind up captured by a slave fight club. And then they're thrown together as well.

Of course, this is a lesfic romance, and so while going through hell they also get closer. and that was interesting since I thought Ford kept a balance with them vs. their situation pretty well.

The characters were all really well crafted and all so unique and some of their stories were intense. I did feel like we only got a quick look at their lives, etc. But, what we got was intense.

That was the word that was always on my tongue as I read this book. Intense. At some points it was so unrelenting that I had to put it down, but I also had to pick it back up because I very much needed that happily ever after ending.

As I said, it was horrible, more specifically the topic, but how it was written about was really good and even with its theme I definitely thing it's worth a read.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books.

A reasonable thriller dealing with very tough issues. It had a good pace and a splash of romance, lacking with the plot in places, but overall I liked it.

Greyson Cooper is being stalked by the ‘Recruiter’ but she has no idea. When she bumps into Olivia spilling coffee everywhere, the Recruiter finds himself another target - this one more to his own personal liking.

Let me start off by saying that this book was quite a thrill ride and that at no point was I tempted to quit reading it. I wasn’t blown away by it either. I think it’s really difficult to combine a romance with human trafficking and do them both justice, and certainly not in about 250 pages. The romance aspect of it had some really lovely moments but was lacking chemistry. I was quite relieved by that because I never fully understand how characters can be in violently traumatic circumstances, battered black and blue and still have a raging libido.

The captivity and trafficking aspect was sanitized barring a few violent incidents. I struggled with the lack of realism but I also realise that to portray trafficking in any realistic kind of way would remove this novel entirely from the romance genre. The recruiter lacked depth and wasn’t sinister enough to sustain an environment of terror. Time and healing were also an issue for me. Authors often forget the harm they inflict on their characters and have them moving about freely a day or two after being severely beaten.

Olivia was given a lot more grounding as a character in terms of her family, her background, her aspirations and her fears. Greyson was harder to get a handle on because she came across as much more reserved and a bit of a loner. I did like them as a couple though.

So, overall, it’s a gentle romance and a reasonable thriller with good pace and I’m still not sure they should be in the same book.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Cheryl Strayed's "Wild" meets Fight Club in this intense story that follows two women who have been kidnapped and placed in a human trafficking ring. Greyson and Olivia don't know who to trust or even if they can trust each other. If they can make it out of their prison alive, where will that leave them in regards to a relationship? Is it even worth dreaming about?

Donna K. Ford created an immensely dark and disturbing story here. I was just talking to my wife yesterday about what makes women an easy target for predators and how dreadfully close I fit that mold. Maybe that makes this story way to f***ing real for me. But then if you take a close look at Greyson, a butch lesbian, who doesn't seem to fit that same mold, and realize she was preyed upon too...that's even scarier. Either way, this book had me racing to the end. I needed it to end...

I can't remember ever having read a thriller with lesbian main characters, so of course I had to get my hands on this. I will advocate for these books as often as I can, but I also feel like I'm a little bit harder on them. I need these stories to feel authentic; you can't just throw two women together and call it LGBT friendly. So that said, Captive did it's job. It gave me the lesbian characters I crave with an authenticity that is desperately needed in this genre, as well as a thrilling experience while flipping pages as quickly as I could.

Donna K. Ford did something here that should not be over looked. I really hope to read more from her in the future. Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

First time I’ve read this author and I really enjoyed her writing style. The story was perhaps a bit unlikely but putting that to the side I thought it was unique and kept my attention until the end. I would of perhaps wanted a stronger feeling of attraction between the woman but that’s nit picky:-) would read this author again.

It’s rare that I stumble over so many emotions and opinions after reading a book. Captive is a truly astonishing book that will take you on a gut-wrenching and terrifying journey as we witness Greyson and Olivia kidnapped and forced into a female fight club. As unbelievable as that sounds, there’s nothing to scoff at here as truth is always stranger than fiction and human trafficking is a real problem that all cultures are prey to and comes in many different forms. The author deftly weaves their terrifying ordeal, and fortuanately, there are no rape scenes or sexual assault other than a few nasty leers from a guard or two. I don’t think I would’ve been able to survive either Greyson or Olivia tarnished in that way. They are strong and resilient women that I grew to care about deeply and worry over desperately. And desperate is their situation. The suspense is built masterfully and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story, thankfully, does not end abruptly with their rescue. The author chose to spend significant time during their recovery from the ordeal and it was a relief to be able to heal along with the characters. This is a very unique suspense-thriller I won’t soon forget.

Human trafficking is a major problem, not only within the United States, but the world. Sadly, it has been increasing over the years. I applaud the author for bringing this topic to the forefront of her story. It was not an easy task, but it was effectively accomplished.

I liked Greyson’s gutsiness and determination of never giving up or giving in…just play the game to survive until an escape opportunity presents itself. Some of the characters- who have been held captive for a longer duration- seemed to accept the reality of their life. This was quite understanding since they were literally beat down, physically and mentally.

However, aside from the human trafficking plot, and not to give anything away, I felt there were a few unanswered questions and unresolved issues that needed to be dealt with before the completion of the story. Those missing parts, unfortunately, took away from getting a higher rating. Yet, I do feel this is an important topic that needs to be explored, discussed, and debated... so for that alone I do recommend this book.