Captive Star by Nora Roberts

Someone had set them both up. Now, handcuffed together, bounty hunter Jack Dakota and bail jumper M. J. O'Leary were on the run from a pair of hired killers. And M. J. wasn't talking--not even when Jack found a gigantic blue diamond hidden in her purse. Everything told Jack the sexy skip he'd been hired to recover couldn't be trusted...everything, that is, but his heart. 

Series: Stars of Mithra #2 | Publisher: Brilliance Audio | Narrator: Scott Merriman  | Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins | Genre: | Source: Publisher | Ratings: 3 Cups

Challenges Read For: Reading Through Nora Roberts

I finally carved out some time to listen to Captive Star, book two in the Stars of Mithra series. It has action, insta-love, and a bit of snark thrown in for good measure.

 

Here’s what’s going on. Jack Dakota has been sent to collection M.J. O’Leary because he was told she jumped bail. M.J. has no clue why Jack is trying to arrest her, but she’s not going down without a fight. After figuring out someone is out to get M.J. and the massive blue diamond her friend Bailey sent to her for safekeeping, the two now find themselves looking for answers while trying to stay alive. As they uncover more information about the diamond of those who are looking for it, they also discover there’s more between them than they thought.

 

I was a bit on the fence about this one. While I liked both M.J. and Jack and enjoyed the fact the action was amped up in this one, it took me a while to get used to the slow Southern drawl that Scott Merriman, the narrator, decided to use for Jack and it kind of put me off the audiobook. It was kind of odd because I had enjoyed the way her narrated the first book in the series.

 

From the start, I liked M.J.. She’s feisty and totally gave Jack a run for his money. Jack, I struggled with and I’m not sure if it was because he came off as the head-up- his-arse type or because of the way the narrator portrayed him. Either way, it took me a while to warm up to him and then he still he had his wanker moments.

 

The romance was 100% insta-love, like in less than 24 hours they were head over heels for each other. Given that M.J. and Jack were great together, I would have liked to have seen the romance develop between them, but this one was super short and that’s usually what you get with the short romances.

 

I’m always up for action in my suspense reads and this one delivers it from the start and I really enjoyed that. The first book in the series, Hidden Star, leaned more toward the investigative side of suspense where this one was more action-fueled.

 

Overall, even though I struggled with the narrator’s presentation of this one, I thought it made a wonderful addition to the series. A little more was reveal about the diamonds as well as the next character and I’m eager to see how this series concludes.

   

Stars of Mithra Series

 

1-Hidden Star

2- Captive Star

3- Secret Star