Rating: 4.75 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel
After his partner’s death, Frank never thought he’d end up in another relationship. He has good friends, enjoys running the gentleman’s club Market Garden, and spends his weekends refereeing a rough and sexy paintball game. But with his unpredictable health and having been through losing a loved one himself, Frank has no plans to get involved romantically with anyone again.
When Frank’s newest rent boy walks through the door, however, Frank is totally blown away. Stefan is all of Frank’s wildest fantasies rolled into one. Former military, hot and sexy, with just that right amount of cockiness, and a domineering edge to push all of Frank’s buttons. But Frank has a rule against getting involved with his rent boys and he knows getting together with Stefan would be a mistake. With Frank’s health, the age difference, and the fact that Stefan works for him, it is clearly a bad idea.
Stefan doesn’t share this point of view however, and the younger man sets out to pursue Frank, thrilling him at the same time he is wary. But Stefan is exactly what Frank wants, and he can’t hold out forever, even as he continues to worry being with Stefan is a bad idea. Stefan is very clear that what he wants is to be with Frank, but Frank must decide if he can put his fears behind him and be open to a second chance at love.
This is the fifth book in the fabulous Market Garden series, and Voinov and Witt once again give us a wonderful story. Capture & Surrender is a perfect mix of romantic and incredibly sexy, while at the same time giving us characters facing real problems and navigating their way along. I was drawn in immediately and this book kept me captivated and excited the entire time.
First off, the authors cleverly use the backdrop of the paintball game to create the tension of predator and prey. Frank’s game involves high stakes play where the winner gets the spoils in the form of submission from the captured players. When he brings Stefan along, Frank finds himself mesmerized watching Stefan capture his prey and enjoying the spoils of victory as Frank watches. And when Stefan turns his sights on Frank, things are even more intense as Frank revels in the sensation of being wooed and ensnared by the sexy young man. The authors manage to maintain that tension throughout the book, with a low level thrum of sexual energy on every page.
I also really loved both Frank and Stefan. Frank is older, and though he hasn’t given up, his health is always in the back of his mind. After losing his partner and making it out the other side, he doesn’t feel like he can get seriously involved with someone else. I loved seeing Stefan revitalize Frank and bring back that spark. Stefan understands what Frank went through with Andrew, what Frank is going through with his own health, because Stefan has been there himself. So with Stefan, Frank can finally let go and open himself up in a way he can with few others. They are amazing together, so sexy and intense, but the caring and the tenderness between them is also clear.
My only real quibble here is that frequently we get Frank’s thoughts interjected into the story and they are not set off in any way typographically. I kept getting confused between his mental asides and the regular text of the story. Setting his thoughts off in italics or some other sort of identification would have made this a lot clearer.
Overall I really loved this story and it is one of my favorites of this excellent series. Hot and sexy and romantic with some poignancy as well, it is a great book and one I definitely recommend.
P.S. I am assuming this is obvious based on the fact that Stefan is a rent boy, but there is sex outside the primary relationship in this story, both by Stefan and by Frank (though Frank’s is before they really get together). Frank’s hookup includes a threesome.
Cover Review: Oh, I love this cover. It didn’t strike me as much before reading the story, but the mask just evokes so much of that sexy predator and prey vibe that we get throughout the book. It is the perfect image to capture this story.
