ARC Review – Capture & Surrender (Market Garden #5) by L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov

Capture & Surrender is so much more than a love story, it’s a life story and I highly encourage everyone to read it. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures

Description:
Ever since his partner died, Frank has resigned himself to staying single. He wards off the loneliness by spending time with friends on the paintball field and running his high-end brothel, the Market Garden.

After one of his most lucrative rentboys quits, Frank is thrilled when a gorgeous replacement walks through the door. A former US soldier, Stefan is hot, bold, and perfect for the Market Garden’s clientele, especially those with a thing for camouflage and drill sergeants. He’s perfect for Frank, too, except Frank has a rule about not getting involved with his own rentboys.

During a frisky game of paintball, Stefan makes it clear that he doesn’t care about the rules. Not the rules of the game, and definitely not Frank’s refusal to get involved. He captures Frank on the field using stealth and cunning, and makes it clear that he’ll do anything to keep a hold of him off the field too.

Review copy provided for an honest review

From the very first book in the Market Garden series, I was pretty much hooked. I loved seeing an atmosphere like this come to life before my eyes and believe me these two authors write great visuals for the mind. The last book took on a more personal note when one of the Garden’s leading rent boys ends up in a steady relationship. This book focuses on the Garden’s owner, Frank, who we’ve seen from time to time in these books and I’ve always had the feeling there was way more to this man. In Capture & Surrender, we find out there’s a lot to Frank and this is one of those stories that is hard to forget. You’ll be ripped apart and put back together several times, much like Frank. This is a nitty, gritty, down and dirty story and it’s one you absolutely don’t want to miss. Even if you haven’t read any of the other books in this series, I encourage you to read this one. It opened my eyes and made me see that prejudice happens even in places you don’t expect it and acceptance and understanding come in many forms. While there is a lot of sex and some D/s play, this story is so much more than that and I have no doubt you’ll find yourself every bit as caught up in Frank’s journey as I was.

Frank has a rule when it comes to his business, he doesn’t get involved with the rentboys who work for him but when Stefan walks through the doors and up to his table, he has no idea how much his life is about to change. Stefan is an American and former soldier trying to make a living but he’s drawn to Frank and he’s not one who gives up easily.

Most of this story takes place outside of the club and with a paintball club that Frank is a member of and one of his best friend’s owns. I found it to be entertaining and quite intriguing and loved all the tactical moves as well as the “rules” for this particular club. Frank invites Stefan along because he figures it will appeal to his military background and he proves to be more than worthy of being there. But during the play bets are made, rules are changed and eventually Frank who is always a referee finds himself captured by Stefan.
Because I really, really don’t want to give away the main plot line in this story I’m just going to say that both Frank and Stefan have lost someone very close to them. While Frank is considerably older than Stefan that isn’t an issue but things from Frank’s past and his current situation has him continually pushing Stefan away. I must hand it to the younger Stefan, he doesn’t go quietly and he refuses to give up. It was so easy to get caught up in both of these men’s lives and their pasts which aren’t pretty and have left them with some major bruises. However, it was also very easy to see the absolute need they have for one another and to relish in the fact that they both seemed to understand how important they became to one another in a short time.

There’s not much more I can say other than I was blown away by this story, these men, and their plight. I appreciate the authors so much for bringing to light a topic that isn’t easy to discuss or understand and treating it with the respect it deserves. Capture & Surrender is so much more than a love story, it’s a life story and I highly encourage everyone to read it. You won’t be sorry and I have no doubt it will absolutely make you think and feel.