Book Review: Captive by Brighton Walsh

Captive
Author:  Brighton Walsh
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin, 288 pages
Expected Publication Date:  March 24, 2015
*ARC received from publisher via NetGalley

From Goodreads:
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.

Review:

Even though this is the typical damaged characters healing each other story, it's combined with a kidnapping plot that kept me entertained.

Madison is a sympathetic character.  She has serious self-esteem issues (hates her body, thinks she's unattractive), and these issues play a crucial role in the plot and who she is as a character.  She's smart and rich, but she's never had any friends due to the fact that her mother's an alcoholic and she had tutors instead of going to school.  She's finally in college but she lives at home to take care of her mother since her father works all of the time.  So it makes sense that when someone finally shows her kindness, even when he's her kidnapper, she would feel a connection to that person.  I felt so bad for her!  And Ghost obviously has his issues and as they get to know each other during the time he's keeping her captive, they realize they actually have a lot in common and they open up to each other.

I liked the dual POV and the fact that we got into Ghost's head too.  Their relationship progresses in what feels like a gradual and natural way even though the captivity lasts maybe a week.  The plot is interesting and well-paced, although I did guess one of the twists early on.  And I appreciated that everything didn't instantly and magically work out.   

I'll definitely be reading more by this author!

Posted by:  Pam