Captivated
By Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield
Blurb:
Secret aspiring comedian Autumn Reynolds is a girl gone...not wild exactly. More like lazy. Since her boyfriend abandoned her in New York City for a bunch of improv groupies she’s had two priorities; sucking the nitrous out of whipped cream cans and making sex comics about her mysterious landlord.
Blake hates people—and sunlight—with good reason. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself lusting after his upstairs tenant, a sunny, Australian people pleaser down on her luck. Turns out his ability to terrify with a single scowl comes with an advantage. Autumn seems to like it. A lot. As evidenced by the prisoner-captive comic Blake was never meant to see.
As they embark on a three-date arrangement the rules are clear; filthy, ground breaking sex, no feelings or commitment required. When chemistry is this strong, though, attachment follows. As Blake and Autumn attempt to negotiate their New York romance, their prior histories and secret dreams come to the foreground. How long can these polar opposites remain Captivated, when all signs point to disaster?
Buy Links:
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Ir6pDj
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2wSBfPR
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2rUBhBd
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2Iu5z8S
iTunes: https://apple.co/2GfqAON
Nook: https://bit.ly/2ImTRZR
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2GfqsPj
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40030532-captivated
REVIEW:
3.75 stars
****
Captivated is co-written by Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield. I have enjoyed everything I have read by both of them and this book is no different. It has their trademark kinkyness, emotion and humor.
This is Autumn and Blake's story. Autumn is living in NYC, having moved there from Australia to live and work with her long time boyfriend as he tries to become a comedian. But she is left at loose ends when she finds out her guy was cheating on her and actually a pretty big jerk. She doesn't know whether to stay in the city that she hates, where she is a veterinarian and has not met any friends, or to move back home, feeling like a failure. She also secretly dreams of being a standup comedian herself. In the meanwhile, she has an attraction to her landlord, Blake, who lives in her building. She draws comics of herself and him in sexy situations and she accidently gives one to him, thinking it was a scrap paper with her bank details for the rent. That sparks a conversation where they discover they have a similar kink. Autumn wants to be stalked, captured and "forced" into sexual situations. So begins a relationship of sorts, where they are dating but also acting out these scenarios. As their feelings grow for each other, Autumn must decide whether to take a chance on love and life in New York City, or to give up and go home.
This story was really original and interesting. There is a bit of a Beauty and the Beast theme, with Blake being the grouchy, shut-in beast and Autumn, the sunny beauty. I liked the writing, humor, and sexiness. I didn't mind the stalking kink. All of that was good. I do think the pacing was a little off, with the beginning being a little slow and the end a little rushed.
I liked Autumn and Blake. Autumn was funny and cute, without being OTT silly. Blake was the strong, silent type and also practically a hermit. I needed a little more communication from him. He talked very little. We know from his inner thoughts that he adored Autumn and thought she hung the moon. But neither of them have any idea, right up until the very end, that the other person liked them because they don't talk about it. It made it hard for me to fully connect with their romance because of that. I do think they loved each other. I just wanted more discussion and more of a comfortable, relaxed, letting their guard down, feeling between them.
Still, I did enjoy this book. Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield are two of my favorite authors. I liked this book, even if I didn't like it as much as either of their books written solo. I had a different voice and emotion than either of their writing normally, which maybe is to be expected. But I do hope they try to write together again and maybe work out the kinks. I will still read and enjoy everything they write. I look forward to more from both of them in the future!
This is Autumn and Blake's story. Autumn is living in NYC, having moved there from Australia to live and work with her long time boyfriend as he tries to become a comedian. But she is left at loose ends when she finds out her guy was cheating on her and actually a pretty big jerk. She doesn't know whether to stay in the city that she hates, where she is a veterinarian and has not met any friends, or to move back home, feeling like a failure. She also secretly dreams of being a standup comedian herself. In the meanwhile, she has an attraction to her landlord, Blake, who lives in her building. She draws comics of herself and him in sexy situations and she accidently gives one to him, thinking it was a scrap paper with her bank details for the rent. That sparks a conversation where they discover they have a similar kink. Autumn wants to be stalked, captured and "forced" into sexual situations. So begins a relationship of sorts, where they are dating but also acting out these scenarios. As their feelings grow for each other, Autumn must decide whether to take a chance on love and life in New York City, or to give up and go home.
This story was really original and interesting. There is a bit of a Beauty and the Beast theme, with Blake being the grouchy, shut-in beast and Autumn, the sunny beauty. I liked the writing, humor, and sexiness. I didn't mind the stalking kink. All of that was good. I do think the pacing was a little off, with the beginning being a little slow and the end a little rushed.
I liked Autumn and Blake. Autumn was funny and cute, without being OTT silly. Blake was the strong, silent type and also practically a hermit. I needed a little more communication from him. He talked very little. We know from his inner thoughts that he adored Autumn and thought she hung the moon. But neither of them have any idea, right up until the very end, that the other person liked them because they don't talk about it. It made it hard for me to fully connect with their romance because of that. I do think they loved each other. I just wanted more discussion and more of a comfortable, relaxed, letting their guard down, feeling between them.
Still, I did enjoy this book. Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield are two of my favorite authors. I liked this book, even if I didn't like it as much as either of their books written solo. I had a different voice and emotion than either of their writing normally, which maybe is to be expected. But I do hope they try to write together again and maybe work out the kinks. I will still read and enjoy everything they write. I look forward to more from both of them in the future!
Excerpt:
“Ms. Reynolds, you were telling me why you chose to draw me into your sex-picture.”
Several beats passed as her gaze dipped to his bare chest and traveled the length of him, top to bottom, side to side. “I really hope you won’t be offended, but you’re rather large and spectacularly intimidating and I’ve always had a-a…wish.” Her chest rose and plummeted, her words puffing out like little gusts. “A fantasy, really. To be jailed. Kept prisoner. Your likeness is sort of reminiscent of someone who could—not would, just could—do that to me.”
The blood running through his body rose a thousand degrees in temperature. “It turns you on. The idea of me holding you captive.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, but not before he caught sight of her stiff nipples poking through her t-shirt. “I guess you could say that. But—”
“Do we fuck, Ms. Reynolds? In that little head of yours?”
A squeak left Autumn and he watched as her thighs pressed together. “Um, maybe? I mean yes. Regularly, I’m afraid.”
Unbelievable. They’d barely exchanged a word since she moved in, yet they’d been mentally screwing each other’s brains out from two floors away. “Do you still want to know the face I made when I saw the drawing?”
“No. I mean yes. I mean…it was a good face, right?”
Blake advanced on her, cataloguing everything. The way she backed up, then steeled her spine and attempted to hold her ground. The way she shivered and glanced at the door. Her very real apprehension forced him to make a decision. “Go home.”
Her expression was the physical embodiment of a record scratch. “Wait. What?”
“Go home, Fun-Size.” He took the drawing out of his pocket and offered it to her. “I don’t hold scared little girls prisoner, even if I look like I do.”
Author Bios/Social Media Links
Tessa Bailey
Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.
Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.
She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eleven years and six-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.
Website: www.tessabailey.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessabaileyisanauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TessaBaileyAuthor/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mstessabailey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6953499.Tessa_Bailey
Eve Dangerfield
Eve Dangerfield has loved romance novels ever since she first started swiping her grandmother’s paperbacks. Now she writes her own unapologetically sexy tales about complex young women and gorgeous-but-slightly-tortured men. Eve currently lives in Melbourne with her sister and a zen-like rabbit named Billy. When she's not writing she can usually be found drinking, dancing or making a mess. Often all at once. Calling her an author will get you kissed*
*circumstances are subject to change.
Website: http://www.evedangerfield.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evedangerfield/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evedangerfield/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Eve_Dangerfield
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14427168.Eve_Dangerfield
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