The Captive: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Betania Breed Book 1)

The new, revised version of The Captive by Jenny Foster is definitely an improvement. I liked the flow better, enjoyed the enhanced relationship between Cassie and Khazaar and just felt that the overall book had a better cadence.

The characters in this book are just… WOW! They are multifaceted in a very realistic human way. None of them are really good, in fact, some of them are downright terrible. But no matter how awful they are, they are all sympathetic at some point in some way. I found myself thinking one moment “oh! This is my favorite character!” and the next thinking “you’re evil and reprehensible” about the same character. Even a Sethari character – someone from a species that literally sucks the energy from humans as a source of sustenance – becomes likable. I found myself not knowing who I was really routing for, or what outcome I really wanted. This was what I loved most about the book, and what kept drawing me back.

The story isn’t necessarily “us vs. them,” or anywhere close to being that simple. Everyone has their own agenda, and it’s each one for themselves. Communication is terrible, as even alliances are tentative and filled with mistrust.

Cassie, the main character is being manipulated by three men who, in their own way, are in love or infatuated with her. None of them are emotionally healthy, so their “love” for her isn’t either. One wants her for the genetics behind her secret talent in order to be a ruler, and the other two want her for themselves as well as to use her powers for their own purposes. They abuse her power, but their motives are understandable at times.

It’s full of political intrigue, and there are a couple of situations where the best solution is an obvious one, but the mistrust, pride, and differing agendas make them all refuse what would be best for everyone. So many characters are so unstable, that one wonders if it is a result of the trauma they’ve been through, or the genetic manipulations they’ve undergone.
—–Detailed Review with Spoilers—–
Cassie’s character instantly endears herself, when she gives the president who has repeatedly sold them our a nice little “FU” in public. She becomes the main interest of Khazaar, the leader of the group to whom she is being sold. He’s very off-putting and insulting to Cassie, and his attempts to influence her mind make her reject him. But since their minds connected, Cassie can’t stop thinking about him. They know each other without having known each other for a day.
It’s hard to see what Cassie sees in Khazaar, because we don’t see much of him. What we do know is that he is part of a highly stratified society of conquerors – not exactly the humanitarian type. It doesn’t help that he acts like an overgrown child. I never actually come to see what sparks the attraction between the two of them, as their interactions are minimal, and almost entirely sexual only. We don’t see enough of him or their interactions together to see him as someone Cassie should love at all. The fact that he also withholds any details of their plans from her throughout the story further distances the reader from liking him. It makes it look as though Cassie is just an object or prize for him, rather than an actual partner. There were points where I found myself thinking she might be better off with Zeyliv, just because we get his back story that adds a great deal of compassion for his character and cause. And Zeyliv is still pretty deplorable, so that says a lot.

Hope is granted in the form of Khazaar’s rival Vasul – he’s far kinder to Cassie, and when a people’s revolution begins, he is behind it. But none of this is out of the goodness of his heart. He derides Cassie’s people, offers the other women a bleak future at best, and only wants her because she’s the key to more power. And the people’s revolution was just a means of doing the dirty work, as he immediately imprisons all of them, and then partners up with the Sethari – a species that has tormented Cassie and her people for decades.

Cassie bargains with Vasul for the lives of the others, while also planning an escape with those imprisoned. She influences a Sethari who is pretty low on the totem pole to assist her. Things go wrong, probably because Khazaar never included Cassie on the details of the plan, and they crash. Everyone around her is dead, and the planet she’s stranded on is a brutal and deadly one. Zeyliv, the leader of the people inhabiting the planet, retrieves her and takes her to his home. Cassie learns that she is not the only survivor, but is not allowed to know who or how many survivors there are – just that they will likely be sold as slaves or made to work in the mines.

Zeyliv quickly learns of Cassie’s talent and makes her use them to his benefit. Unfortunately, all of her actions end tragically. Cassie hopes she might be able to find allies with his two wives, but while one is rightfully beloved, the other clearly has nothing but malicious motivations. When Zeyliv’s infidelity of his second and primary wife is revealed (and that her son isn’t biologically his), resulting in her death, the entire community blames the consequences on Cassie. It doesn’t elaborate enough on this culture to lead us to understand WHY she is blamed, because it’s clear to the reader that she isn’t the one who committed the adultery, isn’t the one to reveal the secret, nor is she the one who carried the execution. Either way, she is hated by the entire community and will only be protected if she remains in Zeyliv’s good graces.

Zeyliv comes up with the most disturbing punishment – Cassie is to replace the wife he lost and she has to give birth to a son. Since Zeyliv has been infatuated with her, but can’t actually come out and say it, this is his fraked up way of attempting to draw her to him. This is further complicated by the fact that there is a spark between the two of them, no matter how much Cassie also dislikes him. Zeyliv’s first wife is infuriated. She has idolized Zeyliv and wants him for herself. Anyone who comes between them is to be eliminated. In her mind, he is not an individual with agency; any woman he is attracted to isn’t a result of his choice, but rather the fault of the woman.

When Zeyliv discovers Cassie is still determined to be with Khazaar, he comes up with a reprehensible ultimatum. She can free 6 of the prisoners. She will be presented with two at a time, and has to decide who will be freed and who will be sold into slavery. When we learn of Zeyliv’s past, we see that he was forced into a similar situation. When they were imprisoned and genetically altered, they had a chance of escape, but only for so many of them. Zeyliv had to decide who was strong enough to escape and who had to be left behind. Those left behind included his wife, who he killed to spare from more torment. All of his actions, including the most reprehensible, on Betania have have been made with the motivation of going back to save whoever was left. Here, the reader is drawn to two conclusions: Zeyliv wants to have Cassie’s genes in his son, because it will likely be the next generation to liberate the others. If his son has Cassie’s special talents, it would give them the advantage. The other is that the reader begins to wonder if Zeyliv is doing this as some sort of attempt to get her to understand him. He wants her to love him, but maybe he thinks she can only love him if she is as emotionally ruined as she is? There is a spark between them, and he thinks they can bond other this?

Zeyliv is in denial about his relationships, and it contributes to his downfall. When the prisoners stage their escape, he is distracted by Cassie, enabling his first wife to stab him, letting the prisoners escape, and getting Cassie out of their lives forever. The other details behind the escape attempt are confusing. Where did the lightning come from exactly? But the promise of more excitement comes when scientists discover Cassie has conceived twins – with different fathers (Khazaar and Zeyliv) Not only that, but they begin to share genetic material while fetuses, resulting in them each gaining more and more in strength. What will this mean for the future, and to what lengths will people go to use these two for their own nefarious purposes?

Being given as recompense for something isn’t really a great way to start a relationship but Cassie also isn’t your regular woman. When it is determined she is most ideal for Khazaar she gets paired with him. She is instantly attracted to him and even though she is a strong woman with strong opinions she soon realises that Khazaar is her best chance of survival. Khazaar is initially quite cold but is soon drawn to Cassie more than just physically. But their road is fraught with danger. This book offers you a lot, action & adventure, romance, steam. All over a very well told tale with characters that draw you in.

Alien warrior and Earth female romance. There are some slightly hasty and awkward plot in terms of how characters fall in love and little vague backgrounds of characters. Still, it was fully engaging until the end and look forward to reading subsequent novels. The book has little bit of everything, romance, trials, some steamy sex scenes.