Captivated by Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield

Sweet Lord Almighty.  This book is heaven.  This book is perfection.  This book is thigh-quakingly good.  The minute I read the description for Captivated on Tessa Bailey’s Facebook page I knew I had to have it, so I did what I rarely do and I one-clicked the heck out of it.  And then I forgot about it for a little bit until low-and-behold last night the beautiful masterpiece simply downloaded itself onto my Kindle and I thought, “Yes, this is what my life has been leading up to.”

Then I binge read it today while the baby I nanny napped and a little while the baby was awake and trapped in her jumperoo, and maybe a little while the baby snacked on some string cheese, and the last twenty pages while bouncing the baby on my lap.  Addicted.  Couldn’t put it down.

Read the description and see if you feel that same tingle of ‘yep, this is a must-buy, must-read’ that I did: 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?

Review:  I didn’t even realize at the time of downloading that Captivated is a work by Tessa Bailey (a favorite author of mine) and Eve Dangerfield (a familiar name, yet I haven’t read anything by her before).  The two couldn’t have created a more perfect novel together.  There was absolutely none of the ‘who wrote this part?  Whose idea was this scene’ shit that sometimes happens when two authors collaborate.  There was nothing but harmony between the covers of this book.

So, the most wonderful surprise is that the description doesn’t tell you mention the insane amount of kink between these pages.  There’s a stalking fetish, a prisoner fetish, some nice pleasant dominance, some voyeurism, exhibitionism… and more.  If you are a fan of vanilla sex then I implore you to look elsewhere for your reading, although if you’re a fan of Tessa Bailey and/or Even Dangerfield then I have to assume you’re not really one for vanilla anything.

Autumn is such a wonderfully quirky character without being too over the top about it.  Every time she opened her mouth I found myself laughing.  And I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to create a character who longs to be a stand-up comedian and have that come across via the writing, but both authors did a wonderful job with it.  Autumn is the embodiment of all women who wave the feminist flag but like a little choking in their sex life every so often.  She makes women who have that secret kink feel normal about it, rather than ashamed.  A very special character.

And Blake.  Well, I’m not even sure what to say about him.  Perfecto.  A big, hulking mass of man who is down to tie up a girl but still wants to take her out to dinner and make her feel loved.  I mean, what’s better than that?  He’s the kind of hero that will carry over into your dreams and make you never want to wake up.  Thee alpha male we all dream about.  Totally swoon-worthy.

These two authors need to collaborate more often because it was the most flawless blending of story-telling that I’ve ever come across.  It’ll be a while before this book leaves my brain and the second it does I’m going to read it again…and again…and again, because Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield have created something incredible.  Pick up your copy today and you will absolutely not be sorry you did.