Captured by V. K. Ludwig

5 Stars

This novel was very well written and edited, with no typos I could detect and masterfully written, beautiful sentences. This novel had a very exciting plot and masterful world building that kept me turning the pages. I could not wait to find out what was going to happen next! The characterization and development of the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine was also incredibly well done. I have so much respect for the author for putting that disastrous first intimate scene in between the hero and heroine. That fact that the author was able to get me to buy into and believe these two protagonists' Happy Ever After at the end of the novel after their disastrous beginning, and make me fall in love with this hero after the terrible things he pulled, just shows how masterful of a writer she is, and how familiar she is with the exact right emotional notes to hit at the exact right times to write a fully convincing romance novel. The sci-fi elements were deftly drawn without having a heavy hand, and I cannot wait to read the next novel in this series! This is a new to me author, and I will be looking up her backlist, for sure. I will be buying myself a keeper copy of this sci-fi romance which contains the Fated Mates trope and the Mars Needs Women trope, which happen to be two of my favorite tropes. The stakes in this novel are sky-high, which maintains the excitement of the plot, and the angst in this novel is medium-high to high, but it is not irritating because the stakes faced by these characters are so high and cause or contribute to much of the angst. The world building and plot of this novel rates five stars, and the characterization and development of the romantic relationship between these two characters also rates five stars. This novel ends on a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that is a big plus to this series if the author continues that pattern. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves romance novels with adventure or suspense elements, even if you don't usually read sci-fi romance. This novel is just that good.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.