Review: Hold Me Captive...Forever

Hold Me Captive...Forever by P.G. Van
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hold Me Captive… Forever is another of those books where I spent a good deal of time deciding whether I was to round my rating up to four stars or whether I was to round it down to three stars. If I’m being honest, it’s one of the hardest debates I have had in a very long time – and even having made my choice, a part of my brain is still arguing that I should have gone for the other option.

You see, there were times when I positively adored this book. However, there were also times where I wasn’t as engaged as I would have liked to be. When it was good, it was really good. When it was sitting in the mediocre territory, I felt as though it pulled the feel of the book down. This, in part, may be a reflection of my reading preferences. I am positive many will adore this book, but for me it wasn’t quite all I had hoped to be.

I’ll start with the best bits, before explaining why I opted to round down.

The book was so addictive. It was a one-sit read – once it pulled me in, I could not put the book down. From the very first page, you’re left wanting the details of how things will play out. It’s a story that wiggles in deep, gripping tight enough to threaten suffocation. I can assure you – you will be addicted to this one.

It’s not just the need to see how the story plays out that will have you addicted – the characters really pull you in. At first, I was a bit unsure. However, as the story progressed I came to really enjoy their interactions. The banter was a lot of fun – not just between our leading characters, but also with the side characters. It was a lot of fun to watch the interactions between the entire cast.

Then, for those who are looking, we have the wonderful steamy scenes. As much as I enjoy steamy scenes, I have a massive love-hate relationship with them. They have to be done right for me to enjoy them. Fortunately, the scenes in this book work in well with the overall story and play a purpose rather than simply being there to play out a fantasy scene for the author (trust me, I’ve read plenty of them and such scenes can totally ruin the flow of a story).

Now for what caused the big ‘how many stars to give’ debate.

First off, it’s the predictability. From the very start, I managed to work out who the bad guy was. I found myself debating a little bit at first – I was questioning whether it would be a Stockholm Syndrome story or whether it would be a case of her captor being the hero making questionable choices – but within a couple of chapters I’d worked it out. I kept expecting to be shocked, for something to convince me that I was wrong and it was all part of some twist I hadn’t worked out, but I managed to work things out with ease. I prefer a lot more guesswork to be involved with my romantic suspense books, hence my disappointment here.

Another element is how I felt as though the characters were a bit all over the place at first. It almost seemed as though a single personality could not be decided upon, which really threw me for a while. I understand the whole hot and cold behaviour, yet this felt like complete personality changes for me. Once the story was flowing, things became solid – but at first I was unsure as to what kind of people I would be dealing with.

Overall, however, I was thoroughly addicted to this one. A large part of me really does want to round up to a four star rating, yet the little voice in the back of my head is saying to stick with the three star rating. That little voice, however, is also telling me to pick up more of the author’s work as there are very clear four-star possibilities to be found.

Well worth the read for those looking for a quick escape.

View all my reviews