The premise of Captive Love by Joni Martins is terrifying. Martins begins the book with the frightening experience of the main character, Lydia, waking up in a strange place with no memory of how she got there. Finding herself bound hand and foot, she struggles to put together the pieces of her recent past. Her first instinct is to attempt to undo the ropes that hold her captive.

In Chapter Two, Martins introduces the kidnapper; the man who has taken her and is now holding her captive. Sam has known Lydia since childhood and has fantasized about her for years. Now he has her in his house and he is convinced they were meant to be together.

What follows is the tale of her captive days, the panic of her friends as they try to find her, and her attempts at escaping the clutches of the man she recognizes. Martins brilliantly gives each character their own chapter, telling the story in the first person. Reading the story from the different perspectives of the characters allows insight into the kidnapper’s mind.

While some of the book is hard to believe and the dialogue is often awkward, the story is interesting and compelling. In many ways, I felt sorry for Sam. Obviously, he is delusional and believes he and Lydia are destined to be together. Lydia wisely doesn’t contradict him. Since it’s a short book I read it in one sitting and was eager to see how and if Lydia would escape.

Along with the story of the kidnapping, there are indications of a growing romance between Lydia and her roommate and best friend’s brother, Rob. As the panic of her friends grows Rob begins to examine his feelings for Lydia more closely.

There is a bit of sexual interaction but nothing too graphic. This is an easy read and the conclusion is satisfying. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a quick book.

Blurb

“When an obsessive admirer takes love to a whole new level, life takes a bizarre turn for 24-year old Lydia. She finds it difficult to adjust to and escape her new circumstances.

Her housemate Rob becomes more and more concerned about her when she does not return home from a night out with her friends and tries everything in his power to find out where she is.

Can Lydia escape the clutches of her obsessed admirer or will she be forced to adjust to living her life according to Sam’s beliefs and wishes?

Books the Friends, family and love series:

This is the debut novel of this writer and weaves together love, suspense and psychological factors. If you like books by Karen Rose, Karin Slaughter and Kathy Reichs (some of the author’s favourite authors), you may wish to check this writer out as well.”

About Joni Martins

Joni Martins was born in the Netherlands and now lives in the United Kingdom with her family. She is in her early fifties and she has so far written and published five books in her ‘Friends, family and love’ series. Four are available in both English and Dutch, the last one only in English. The first book, Captive Love, was published in December 2017.

Joni has always loved writing, but could not act on this while she still was working in her career.
Now retired, she is now focusing on her career as a multi-genre author and loving it.
Joni is working on the sixth book in the series which she hopes will be ready for publication around Christmas 2018. She has several other books planned, both in this series and apart from it.

Meet up with Joni

She would be happy to meet you there. The latest developments regarding her work can also be found there.

One thought on “Captive Love: A story of love, obsession and possession (Friends, Family and Love Book 1) by Joni Martins”

Thank you very much for such a glowing review of my first book Elizabeth. I’m glad you enjoyed the book and I’m grateful you’ve taken the time to read and review my book. Much appreciated.

Joni