Captivating is the second book in the Elite Protection Services series and features Mac Shepherd's twin brother, Jayne. This book is a lot closer in style and content to the Necessary Evils series and I liked it a lot more than the first book, Intoxicating because of it.

It probably also helped that this had slightly more of a plot and a larger cast of characters. It felt more fleshed out than the first book and more cohesive because of it. And it wasn't quite as dark and intense as the first book emotionally. There were still elements but not so strong that I was feeling it too.

Apart from that, I just really liked the main characters and the relationship between them. Elijah was a bit of a mess but I rated it. I liked his friendships with Wyatt and Charlie.

Shep was hilarious and I loved how him and Elijah were orbiting each other at a loss because they couldn't read one another. The only thing funnier was Shep's conversations with Mac.

“I don’t need to date him. I want him. I don’t need to test him out. I just want him to know I’ve…chosen him.” His brother barked out another surprised laugh. “He’s not chained up in your basement or anything, is he?” When Shep said nothing, his brother’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Is he?” Shep frowned. “What? No. This house doesn’t even have a basement.”

James, Onley. Captivating (Elite Protection Services Book 2) (p. 134). Kindle Edition.

Together, Elijah and Shep were sweet and sexy and just seemed to work. And I loved it. 3.75 stars, rounded to 4. ( )

Wow.

I've now read quite a few of Onley James's backlist, and enjoyed most of them. This one's a cut above. If you've enjoyed James's work, you'll probably love this one. The end is so immensely satisfying if you harbor a need for vengeance against evil people as I do. ( )

3.5

I liked this better than the first book, mainly because of the MCs, but still not enough to give it 4 stars, sorry.

Reading these two books one after the other I couldn’t help but notice all the similarities between them. Maybe that’s the theme of this whole series — spoiled rich boys (admittedly, ones with awful families, who’d been terribly hurt in the past) getting together with solid, protective older guys who don’t fuck around, confronting their past, and getting their HEA (will every couple also get married, I wonder? ( )

Slightly better than the first one, but still lacking ( )

I feel I should apologise for loving this book. Why? Well, it's definitely edgy, not so much in a kink way, but in a dark "I'll happily murder for you" kind of way. A high-functioning sociopath will never be a cuddly teddy bear, and when you get an extremely talented author like Onley James writing their story, well you definitely know you're in for a ride!

I really didn't want to put this one down! Just be warned, while there isn't blood or gore all over the place, it's not a light or fluffy read, nor is it dark and difficult. It is gritty and somewhat confronting, and to be perfectly honest, hard to describe, lol. ( )