3 Stars

SYNOPSIS:

Considering she’s a girl who calculates everything, Addie Battes knew the statistical probability of being abducted in her lifetime—too bad she never analyzed the odds of falling in love with her captor.

While stopping at a crowded rest area one summer night, seventeen-year-old Addie accidentally catches a truck hijacking in progress. Desperate to rid the crime of its only witness, one of the thieves kidnaps Addie. Yet surprisingly, when a renegade thief attempts to silence her for good, Addie is saved by the very man who abducted her. Now, forced on board a cargo ship in the middle of the ocean, Addie finds herself surrounded by international smugglers who want nothing more than to throw her overboard.

All except the artistic and intriguing Charlie Hays, whose strange protectiveness convinces Addie to trust him, even when common sense tells her otherwise. Yet, despite her doubt, and his unrelenting temper, their relationship develops into something much more. But, Charlie’s scorned colleague has stowed away, and as he seeks revenge against his coworker, Addie and Charlie are forced to put their new love—and lives—at risk.

MY REVIEW:

Addie Bates is a 17 year old girl who finds herself at a fuel station to grab coffee for her Dad and herself  after dropping her brother off at the military base. While standing in line she has a chance meeting with a mysterious guy (Charlie) after he whispered something over her shoulder about the book she was currently immersed in. Addie a little  taken aback, quickly felt flattered by the unexpected attention and thought that this mysterious guy was, in fact, pretty nice to look at though she couldn’t see his eyes hidden behind the dark shades. With their interaction cut short, Addie gets the coffee she came in for and heads to the exist only to realize that the main exists are a little congested thus forcing the impatient Addie to look for an alternative way out. Finding herself in the back of the fueling station where the trucks are, Addie hears a strange noise and decides to investigate, but what she came across would change her life drastically. In an attempt to flee unnoticed, Addie backs right into the hands of her kidnapper and despite her best efforts at self defense she is thrown into the back of a van.

I originally picked this book to read because the blurb did catch my attention with the indication of romance and kidnapping, so I was excited when I began reading this book. The first few pages were a breeze and then I found myself struggling for a little while to keep reading. I’m not sure if some of the content such as the age difference of both of the main characters or the notion that some of the things that transpired were a little difficult for me to believe were contributing factors but for a few chapters I really just wanted to put this one to the side and move on to my next book.   Despite this lull in reading I continued and I’m glad that I did.

To me the action didn’t pick up until later in the book and I found it much easier to read and very enjoyable. Yes, the romance between Addie and Charlie begins to build as she has come to terms with the fact that she has feelings for the guy who kidnapped her. Charlie as well begins to let her in on his feelings for her as well. But the action that took place on the ship was very enjoyable and downright page turning. This is where I felt the author could have spent more time developing the content and expanding on some of the things and situations that just seemed cut short. I just personally could believe more of a romance building from Charlie’s constant protection of Addie with more  interaction with danger from…………. (I will not give a spoiler) Charlie’s scorned colleague. :-) It’s hard for me to believe that a young inexperienced girl can fall in love with her kidnapper in a few short days. I can understand and believe there is a physical attraction but love………I’m not convinced.

Although I had a few content issues with the book and believe there are areas that need more development and/or explanation, in general it was a good read. The cover did lead me to believe that there would be a fair amount of naked play time between the two, but I was happy that there was no sexual encounters between Addie and Charlie mostly because of the age thing but also because I felt like something was missing in this growing romance. I am a bit curious to read the sequel to see if more content has been added to better develop the plot as well as the romance, and lets not forget the action scenes that should push and pull Addie and Charlie together.

Mz V

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