Captured: A Dark Romance by R.A. Frick

Cal trying to start a new life is kidnapped. He finds himself held by a human trafficking family with little chance of escape. Jay a member of the family, has no idea what his mother and brother have been doing all the years he has been away at school but now finds himself prisoner of his mother and brother. Captured is a re-release.

From the blurb:

New Edition features updated formatting and Cover: August, 2023

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Who gets asked to be a model their first day in LA?

Running away from small-town Montana to Los Angeles, and meeting the handsome Jayantha, Cal thinks his luck is getting better. The man with Jay is looking for models, but Cal gets kidnapped and brought far away from his American life and innocent world view. Can Cal trust anyone, or will he have to save himself?

Jay learns his family has secrets of their own: their matchmaking is a front for kidnapping people to sell. He's not sure how to save himself, let alone the innocents they have imprisoned...

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Content Warning: If you like your stories dark and twisty before the romance happens, this book has that in spades. If you like your romance fluffy with insta-love, this is not the book for you! Full content warning inside.

Reedkaye's Review:

Captured is the first story I’ve read by this author. It is so possible that it’s scary.  

Cal wanting to escape the only life he has known, leaves his home in Montana to go to L.A. hoping for a new life. He is approached by a man offering Cal a job acting. Cal has doubts, but goes anyway and is abducted by a human trafficking family.  

The older brother Dru and his mother have been running it while the younger brother has been away at school with no knowledge of what they are doing. When the younger brother Jay is faced with what is going on, he steps in and tries to put a stop to it. Meanwhile Cal and Jay have this attraction. Both are unable to deny it and the issues with this.  

This story moved right along and had plenty of twists to keep it interesting. I will read more by this author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Tatted_book_freak's Review:

As always, the writer lays everything bare, never shying away from true events happening in the world today. This is what continues to draw me to their stories, for the realism and despair that most are oblivious to, but happening right under our noses.     

𝕎𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℂ𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕙 𝕘𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣’𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖.

RA also doesn't shy away from the dominance of their characters. Their explicitly of scenes, never leaving out aftercare, down to the consistency of Jay’s protection of Cal, speaks volumes of how enjoyable a BDSM lifestyle/relationship can become. 

I do wish there were more intimate moments between Jay and Cal, but I also understood the need for their individual development with such a quick story. Hopefully, we'll see these two lovebirds in a future story!!

Rating: 4 Stars

Captured is available to buy as an ebook, paperback, or to read with Kindle Unlimited subscription.