Prisoner by Annika Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
★Book Basics★
Genre: – Dark Romance
Series: – Book 1 in the series.
Love triangle? – No
Cheating? – No
HEA? – err…yes, although it feels maybe more like a HFN for me.
Would I read more by this author/or in this series? – Yes
Rating – 3
★Review★
I have read “Dark” and like Dark romances, indeed Skye Warren’s Wanderlust, I could consider darker than this, with more non con/dub con elements.
And I did enjoy this book, but there was something, and I cannot put my finger on, that I did not like.
It is not necessarily the non con/dub con of which there is some -she is drugged the first time he has sex with her although this sort of thing made it difficult to see why in just a matter of a few days later, she is all up for staying with him.
But, the heroine is very young at 19 or so, yet seemingly dresses like a sex kitten librarian to teach at an all male prison! Ofc she does.
The first half I enjoyed, it was tense and gritty and how Grayson enters the story is great. But then his character seems to change, not that I mind a character opening up and letting some of his vulnerability show, but it felt to much of a character change here. He turned into a bit of a whiny man child, seeming a lot younger than he did in the first half of the book.
I think the issue I have is it needed to be longer, explore more in depth the connection the 2 main characters had, not have a 19 year old girl be all “ok you drugged me and slept with me but I may love you and want to stay with you”. It made it seem a very much Stockholm syndrome situation and even at the end, I got the feeling when that girl comes to her senses she is off.
But, because who ever said things are simple, I did find myself liking Grayson and feeling for him and his friends. (although when they got to that hotel I did almost expect them to be vampires for some reason! Abandoned hotel, a group of “brothers” holed up inside with a load of weapons!) His back story is tragic, and while that felt a bit unresolved for me, even if he does get some form of revenge, I assume if this series continues, that will be an ongoing theme.
So, all in, it is 3 stars, I did find myself almost reluctantly rooting for Grayson and and Abigail, but it could have been so much more. Too much tell and not enough show, and a lot of drama chucked in, at the expense of exploring a difficult and tense relationship. Parts of it felt a bit clumsy and clunky.
But, I would read more in the series.
Amazon Uk Link: Prisoner (Criminals & Captives Book 1)
The Romance Reading Brit 