Captivated by Lauren Dane

Vincenz & Julian and Hannah's book





Captivated (Phantom's Corp 3)
(but book 5 in the Federation Chronicles series)

By Lauren Dane

Book Blurb:
Vincenz Fardelle, exiled son of the Supreme Leader of the Imperialist Universe, has spent much of the last ten years working to stop the threat his father poses. But he’s not alone in his quest. Julian Marsters has lost his best friend and countless others in the war and has made vengeance his only goal.  In each other, Julian and Vincenz find not only like minds, but kindred spirits.However unexpected their relationship, everything changes for Vincenz and Julian when Hannah Black comes into their lives. Having been captured and held in near total isolation by imperialist troops, their immediate response is to protect her.Emotionally shattered but resilient, Hannah rebuilds herself.  Because of the warm safety she finds in the arms of Julian—and Vincenz—she becomes someone harder, stronger and bent on preventing the Imperialists from harming anyone else.For the two men, wrestling with their passionate feelings for Hannah is only the beginning. War is about to send all three into harm’s way and an equally dangerous secret could tear them apart. 

Hopefully I can clear this book series order up if you are a wee bit confused. Lauren Dane has a fabulous series called the "Federation Chronicles". Captivated would be the 5th book. But within this Federation Chronicle series she has a spin off called "Phantom Corps" series. Captivated would be the 3rd book in that series. Okay? Good. Here are my thoughts. 

I adore the Federation Chronicle series. I've followed ever since the first book, "Undercover" (which is super fantastic BTW!!) I had been so looking forward to Captivated because the intended story line captivated me in the previous book, "Mesmerized". I couldn't wait to read about Vincenz and Julian and the mysterious woman Vincenz saved at the end of that book. 

Vincenz is the only living son of a madman dictator. I felt all the burden and pressure on poor Vincenz's shoulders. It weighed heavily on him that his father was the cause of so many lost lives. Vincenz escaped his clutches a few years ago and has been fighting against his father's armies ever since. His guilt is evident regarding all the atrocities and the war is a very personal thing for him. I loved how Lauren Dane wrote in right amount of guilt and didn't let it overtake his character. Vincenz was not a mopey, guilt ridden man but rather a man with a mission to do the right thing.  

Julian had a sad upbringing but he doesn't dwell on it. He embraces the second chance he was given within the Phantom Corps and he loves Vincenz fiercely. Both of these men compliment each other without being too alpha. I felt them both as equals in every sense of the way. What amazing chemistry. Those sparks were equally complimented with sexy and tastfully orchestrated M/M scenes. 

When Vincenz rescues Hannah, she is barely emotionally coherent. Being severely abused by her enemies and left in complete isolation, she needs to learn re-learn how to communicate her thoughts and emotions. What I really liked was that Lauren Dane didn't write that Hannah was to be healed overnight. She created a great medical mechanism which helped the story along in a believable sense. I know that the story is sci-fi but I still need believable situations within that story and I appreciated that thought and creativity that went into Hannah's healing.  

Favourite line of Captivated, "Would you like to go an adventure, Hannah Black?" Whew, talk about a double entendre!

Captivated is an erotic romance but that doesn't mean every other page is sex. There were a few well written scenes and they included a variety of M/M & M/M/F as well as M/F. It was really great to read about the M/F being included because it showcased how much they were falling in love with each other and not just a menage triad team. Love shone through completely. 

Since I have been following these books since the beginning and there had been some amazing adventures I was a bit disappointed with how quickly and abruptly the story ended. Five books in and I felt like "BAM!" it was over. It was way way to easy. I was hoping for more of an intense palm sweating ending. I am not going to release spoilers so I can't go into to much detail but after an amazing sci-fi adventure, the ending lacked creativeness. 

Teasers: Long leather gloves with buckles, cave pool, Julian's T-shirts, even Triads have arguments with each other

Never Enough by Lauren Dane

Gillian and Adrian's book



Never Enough - Brown Siblings book 4

by Lauren Dane

Book Blurb:
Gillian Forrester spent most of her life running from who and what she came from. Until Miles came along. From the moment she held the tiny newborn her older sister didn't want, Gillian stopped running and began to build a life for herself and her adopted son. Now, thirteen years later, as Gillian's sister lay dying, she reveals the father's identity and makes Gillian promise to find him.

Adrian Brown is the epitome of the successful rock star. He's seen and done it all, with few regrets. It takes a lot to shock him but the bombshell that he has a thirteen-year-old son rocks his world. And Adrian is even more surprised when the buttoned-up, elegant woman who's raising Miles snags his erotic and romantic attention.

The last thing Gillian expected was to find herself getting hot and heavy with a person like Adrian. But as much as she wants to open up and give herself fully to this amazing man, she's afraid the secrets of her past and Adrian's problems with trusting people may keep them apart for good. If love isn't enough can they find the trust they need?

Oh boy I loved this book. In fact I have loved every single one of the Brown Siblings book series by Lauren Dane. If I can peal my eyes away from the cover for a sec, I'll give you my review. 


Ok I'm back but I am still glancing back and forth to the cover as I type this review out. The Brown Sibling books seriously own the best covers. Most of my books are Kindle books but I had to buy these Tradeback books because they are like pieces of art. *pets the pretty cover*

I have loved Adrian since book 1 "Laid Bare". I always wondered what he looked like. In my mind, he grew to have the look and sound  of Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. 

Looking at the cover of Never Enough, I wonder if I wasn't too far off in my imagination. Regardless, drop dead gorgeous and extremely talented. Awesome combo.


This entire Brown series was top notch and Never Enough was the icing. Excellent end as well as a great beginning (in some sense) to a new Lauren Dane book series, Delicious (due 2012). I'm not sure who my favourite character was between the Brown Siblings' series but Adrian has to be one of the top. I was thrilled with the story plot line and I thought it was genius of Lauren Dane to create Adrian a 13 yr old son. The way that Gillian was brought into the picture was equally clever. 

I simply loved that Gillian was not a huge starry eye'd  fan of Adrian's and she didn't put up with any of his crap. She was a responsible, devoted mother and it was extremely evident by their son Miles' well behaved manner that she was a hands on mum his entire young life. 

However I did completely feel bad for how Adrian was told about his son Miles though. He was blindsided and who could blame the man for how badly he initially reacted. Everyone is always trying to take advantage of him and his fame. He needed to be careful.
Now enters Adrian's brother Brody *major swoon* and sets Adrian on the right track. 

The parenting conflicts that were experienced between Gillian and Adrian were as about as real as they come. The merging of families and deciding where to spend holidays was once again expertly woven into a real life situation.

Adrian and Gillian's intimacy set the pages on fire and I loved their filthy dirty talk. It just suit them perfectly. Speaking of talk, I adored Gillian's English accent and literally heard her speak through the pages. 

I just loved the Never Enough and it was so worth the wait. There are still some unfinished business with Adrian and Gillian so I can't wait for the next book series. I want to spend some time later and re-read each book a second time back to back.

   

Mesmerized (Phantom Corp#2) by Lauren Dane

Andrei Solace and Piper Roundtree's book  

Mesmerized (Phantom Corp #2)

By Lauren Dane

Book Blurb:

Andrei Solace delivers death on silent feet as an assassin for the Phantom Corps. Mercenary Piper Roundtree thought she was over him. But against the backdrop of an impending war, their passion is rekindled. Now the lovers must join forces- in more ways than one-to save the Known Universe before the Imperialist enemy hurls it into irreversible chaos.

In the title on Goodreads it reads Mesmerized (Phantom Corp#2). Not entirely sure why because this is the 4th book. There may be a reason but in case anyone is interested let me list the books in order at the end of this post.

I just want to point out that each book in the Phantom Corp & Federation series could probably be read on it's own but I would recommend reading them all from the beginning because they are so fabulous. Plus it would help link all the characters together.

I love this series. Mesmerized was one of the books I was eagerly awaiting for the release. I remember when I was reading "Undercover" one evening and I had to drive my son to an event and after dropping him off I had to pull into a parking lot under a parking lamp so I could continue to read. Yep here I was in a lone parking lot at night sitting in my truck under a light just so I could read more. That's how much I love this series. Lauren Dane has created a cast of memorable characters. You want to cheer for them, cry with them and read every last bit about them.

I am also a huge fan of the female characters that Lauren Dane creates. Piper is another winning. She was so affectionate, loving yet strong and unafraid. She have balls if females can have balls lol

You can really feel the destruction the Imperium (the villians) causes in this book. It made me so sad and you can easily picture the death and sadness. On the complete flip side, Piper and Andrei have such hot chemistry and a great history. It made me wonder why Andrei waited 11 years to come back to her and if his Phantom Corp job didn't lead him back, I guess he'd still be without Piper.

I also like the Lauren Dane takes the time to allow for continuity in most of her books which is awesome because you can continue to peak at the characters from previous books. But most of all, she drops hints on what the next book could be about and by God I hope it will be Julian, Vincenz and Hannah. I know it is called "Captivated" due Spring 2012 (damn long wait)so I must endure and wait


Undercover- Book 1 of the Federation Series

















Relentless - Book 2 of the Federations Series

















Insatiable (Federation Chronicles, Book 3)