Double whammy 2 books for the price of one. thoroughly enjoyed both books. really easy to read. Thanks for the opportunity to review

The Cage:

⭐ - 4.5/5 - ⭐

When Amanda is down on her luck and desperate for a place to live, she finds an ad for an apartment that is too good to be true. Turns out, it is, and she finds herself in the middle of a human trafficking ring. In order to survive, she must outwit her captor and submit to him in every way.

Thank you #netgalley and #owlcitypress for the ARC of this book!

✦ Dark romance
✦ Sex trafficking
✦ Multiple POV
✦ Captor/captive

⚠️ - Kidnapping, abuse, sex trafficking, etc
🌶️ - 3/5
💕 - 1/5
👥 - 3/5
🌎 - 3/5
🗡️ - N/A
💀 - .5/5

2 words come to mind when reading this book: Stockholm Syndrome. Amanda falls prey to a man named Connor, who is running an unfortunately successful human trafficking ring. During her 'stay', things go from bad to worse when she realizes Connor might have feelings for her. She uses these feelings to her advantage. However, she starts to thinks that maybe these feelings are reciprocated.

Amanda is an amazing and strong character. I hated that the author leaned so much into the sexualization of a broken mind, but overall, Amanda was incredible. She takes things in stride and is smart every step of the way.

Connor is a messed up dude. Sometimes, the author paints him in a sympathetic light, which is why it's so easy to understand why Amanda might have developed a modicum of feelings for him. But, as he states multiple times throughout the book, he is dangerous. That never changes. No matter how sexy he is.

The book had me hooked from page one. While I don't normally like books this short, it was done very well. Because of the scenes, we didn't need a huge set up for the world, and we're focused on a few important characters, which made character development easy, and the author succeeded in all the ways.

Even though everything is VERY twisted, the spice is SO spicy. Definitely felt mildly guilty for enjoying it as much as I did.

Overall, excellent book. The cliffhanger had me scrambling for the next book and anxiously awaiting the fate of all the characters.

The Safehouse:

⭐ - 4/5 - ⭐

When Malcolm decides to rescue Amanda from Connor, they both know they have signed their death warrant. Now on the run, Malcolm and Amanda must trust each other in order to survive. However, Connor is hot on their heels, because nobody takes what's his.

Thank you #netgalley and #owlcitypress for the ARC of this book!

✦ Dark romance
✦ Sex trafficking
✦ Multiple POV
✦ Damsel in distress

⚠️ - Kidnapping, abuse, sex trafficking, etc
🌶️ - 3/5
💕 - 2.5/5
👥 - 4/5
🌎 - 3.5/5
🗡️ - 1.5
💀 - 2/5

In this sequel to The Cage, we return to Malcolm and Amanda, now on the run from Connor. Things are surprisingly much more tense and twisted this time around.

I loved seeing all the POVs: Amanda, Connor, and now Malcolm. It allowed the readers to truly dive inside all of the characters heads, discover their motivations and thought processes, as well as seeing who they really are. In this, Connor has become truly a devil. In the first book, it was hard to really get a feel for who he was, but this book put all of those thoughts to rest. He is a twisted SOB.

While the spice is about as spicy as the first book, it's much less twisted. Amanda and Connor engage in some consensually steamy moments, which are so hot.

This book is definitely more brutal, as there are deaths, tortures, and mutilations. Beware.

My biggest complaint is that the author REALLY leaned into Amandas post abuse sexualization of herself, which lead to some minorly cringy moments between her and Malcolm.

Overall, and excellent follow up to The Cage. This book is also left on a cliffhanger, although it adds in some new characters. I'm excited to see where everyone's story goes, and more excited to see if Connor finally get his.

Wow! What a disturbing thriller. The Safehouse is one to pick up if you want a wild ride. A five star read.

The Cage and the Safehouse
I have to say that I've never read a book by this author. I thought I would jump out there a give the books a try! I enjoyed the storyline in both books, but I'm not much for the sex details. I think the book would have been great, but with less sex.

I received this complementary copy from the publisher through netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.

I went into this blind and I loved it! I’m also not big into steamy romance, but this got me! I was hooked! The perfect amount of suspense, romance and more!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC of the book. I enjoyed the story and the character development. I was engaged from the very beginning. As a fan of thrillers, I loved this story.
The mystery and intrigue was there and I found myself staying up late to finish chapters.

YES! Danielle Bannister! Fabulous!

I loved The Cage and have been eagerly awaiting the sequel, The Safehouse and it was definitely worth the wait!

I'm not going to say to much as I don't want to venture into spoiler territory for anyone who hasn't read The Cage first, which is pretty essential, to understand what has lead up to this point, but Amanda has escaped and the drama doesn't let up!

Connor is one twisted psycho, Malcolm is fascinating and Amanda is incredibly determined. A must read!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Danielle Bannister and City Owl for an ARC in return for an honest review.

5 ⭐ 2 🌶

This series has a hold on my dark romance loving heart. I thought this was a duet and the story was ending, however we're left on an interesting cliffhanger and a hint that we're following a new couple as the series continues.

Malcolm and Amanda are so dang cute together. I loved how much he loved her and how bluntly she wanted to get in his pants. I know her feelings are there, but she's so messed up and broken and it was such an interesting take on that kind of character. She is one of the strongest broken "pets" I've read about and I loved her for it.

I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. We have a happy-ish for now situation with Malcolm and Amanda, and a new situation with 2 characters I won't name for spoilers sake, so I'm really hoping the next book is 4 POVs or that we go back to Malcolm and Amanda in the near future.

The Cage
I devoured this .... and my it was Dark and the spice levels were so good. We follow Amanda and start the story when she is running from an abusive relationship and she becomes trapped by Connor. This is one of those plot lines which is disturbing to describe however it was so good to read and can not wait to see what happens in The Safehouse (the sequel). I believe the characters and the way that the relationships develop the way they do but man are they amazing.

The Safehouse
This sequel did not disappoint me at all after I had read book one. The first book left me on a cliff hanger and when I got into this the author had me from page one and read all of this today. I love and hate these characters (some of them at the same time). We continued the story of Amanda and her knight in shining armor Malcolm and their quest to escape from Connor. The way this story ended was not what I expected and the reveal that nobody is who they seem to be. I can not wait for book 3 and I need this now.

Definitely a Five Star series for me

Could not wait to read this book and it did not disappoint. It sure did leave me hanging for more and I can't wait to see what happens next. Highly recommend.

I already read and reviewed The Cage in NetGalley.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #CityOwlPress for the book #TheSafehouse by #DanielleBannister. I loved this second book in The Captive Series and cannot wait for The Sanctuary. Malcolm and Amanda are running against time to hide from Connor, who will do anything to get Amanda back. Malcolm insists that he can keep Amanda safe in the Safehouse. Will Connor find them? Are they safe in the Safehouse?

The Cage and The Safehouse is book one and two by Danielle Bannister.
I enjoyed reading both of these titles.
A very entertaining and well written story.

The Cage:
Wow, this was totally messed up but I couldn’t stop reading. I had so many different feelings about everything going on and how just normal this was to Connor because of the psychological and physical damage his Mother caused. I can’t wait to see what’s next in this story.

The Safehouse:
This picks right up from The Cage, so if you haven’t read it you’ll want to before reading this. This was wild and crazy in all the best ways when it comes to this genre. Connor is crazy and possibly in love so of course that means that he has to find her and kill Malcolm. Though will he and does he trust Amanda and that she wants him and not Malcolm. Regardless Connor wants his property back and he does anything he can in this story.

I thoroughly enjoyed both books…
The Cage was the beginning and about how Amanda comes to be where she is and why.

Conner - what can I say - I didn’t like him but also I kinda felt for him, then I wanted to punch his lights out!

The Cage was well written and the characters were relatable… it kept me hooked to the end and I was so glad that I had the next book as that cliffhanger would have driven up the wall with wanting to know what happened next.
——————————————————————————————-

The Safehouse - was about Amanda, Malcom and Conner!

Malcom was a sweetheart and the kinda person you would love to find after you’ve been through hell… he’s been through his own things but it’s what made him who he was.

I’m not going to say anything more as I don’t want to spoil it for you - but I will say I can’t wait for the next book!!!
——————————————————————————————-

In a way I could relate to some of Amanda’s coping mechanisms (if you’ve not been in those type of situations I don’t think you can really understand fully) and felt they were portrayed really well.

The Cage:
I thought this book had so much potential to be a 5 star. What dropped the rating for me was the in depth detail on the sex scenes.
I think they could have been less detailed and the story more focused on the the kidnapping of the other girls. Definitely more with Malcom.

I would like to see where the story goes with Malcom and Amanda.

The Safehouse:

Well this is Malcom and Amanda’s story. Once again the
sex scenes seem to be raunchy which I understand because of the story line but at the same time I think these stories could of been just as good without them.

I love Malcom and how he is so gentle and loving to Amanda. I do want to read more about them and Kelli.
So I will wait for book 3.