Hostage

Hostage swept me up into Stone and Brooke’s world of secrets and lies from the very first page. I was consumed by the violent hunt for mysterious men. Intrigued by sweet innocent yet very broken Brooke. But mostly I was in awe of Stone and everything about him. His character was undoubtedly the stand out. Crafted in a way that shined through and complimented what appears to have been a carefully constructed tale. Every facet of his character was brought to life on the pages in front of me and I appreciated every moment of Skye Warren and Annika Martin’s brilliant storytelling.

Hostage left no rock unturned; no detrimental mystery unsolved which I’m grateful for. The first time I read Prisoner, (Grayson and Abby’s story and the first standalone novel in the series) I found myself with unanswered questions I had hoped would have been addressed before the end of the novel. I’m so glad to be able to say that isn’t the case this time around. Stone and Brooke really brought this series full circle in regards to the major plot line filling the pages of both Prisoner and Hostage. Will we see more of the other brothers in future novels? I definitely hope so. In Hostage and also Prisoner, Skye and Annika divulge enough fragments into the lives of Stone’s brothers to have you craving more of them, that’s for sure.

While I breathed every moment of Hostage like I was right there with Stone and his brothers when they were blood thirsty, or Brooke and her overbearing parents. I can’t say I finished Hostage thinking, “Oh my god! I loved it all!” Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the story in its entirety. I mean, is it even possible to not feel strongly about a Skye Warren novel? I wouldn’t know. Her stories always provoke a lot of feeling from me. BUT… yes, here’s the but. I personally struggled to connect with Brooke and believe in Brooke and Stone’s connection. Shock horror. I know. If it’s one thing Skye Warren is amazing at it’s building an undeniable connection between her characters. This took me by surprise too. I will say this, it definitely wasn’t because of the age gap or the fact Brooke was sixteen when her and Stone first met. I struggled believing in our unlikely couple because I couldn’t fully understand why Stone was so drawn to Brooke. With Brooke, I got it. But early on in the story this wasn’t portrayed with words or actions that led me to believe in Stone’s strong feelings for Brooke.

The only other reason to bring my rating down is I felt the ending was rushed. Maybe I’m being selfish because I simply didn’t want the book to end. I could live in this world with Stone, Grayson and their brothers forever. (Skye, Annika: I’ll take a room at the Bradford, thanks!) But personally, I felt the tying up of lose ends and everything coming full circle, overshadowed the romance and happily ever after for Stone and Brooke as a couple. Everything towards the end happened so fast, rather than unfolding like the rest of the story. And as I said, I’m selfish and wanted more words, more romance and well, just more. But you know what, you might love that ending. And if you’ve read and loved Skye or Annika’s work before you should definitely dive into Hostage because it’s so them. The vivid storytelling. The twisted mysteries. The men you should probably hate but can’t help but love. And let’s not forget their strong women.

Skye and Annika have once again delivered the goods in the form of an unlikely family on a path of revenge and one girl who could change everything for them.

Wowsa, this book was intense! So captivating and dark and brutal and light and thrilling. There were so many elements to this story, the main characters were so interesting and opposite yet perfectly complementary. I absolutely loved it. It was new age, with a very dark undertone yet it didn’t make me cry, which is an absolute credit to the authors. I loved the language, the tone, the crassness. It was brilliant writing that had my pulse racing and had me completely invested.