"MAFIA CAPTIVE" by KITTY THOMAS - REVIEW

Mafia Captive by Kitty Thomas

SYNOPSIS:

Faith Jacobson was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After witnessing a mob hit, she’s only moments from death when Angelo Raspallo decides to give his brother an unlikely gift.

Leo has avoided involvement with the family business, but it doesn’t make him a saint. He’s troubled and ashamed by his darker sexual desires, one of which is to own a slave. But when his brother throws Faith at his feet, repainting the scenario to make Leo the hero rescuing her from certain death, his moral fortitude will be tested. If Faith were kinky, it would be easy to live out his fantasy, but she’s not. Not even a little bit. Even the mildest spanking sparks terror in her that Leo can’t bear.

The gift soon becomes a burden as he fights with himself over how to handle the addition to his home. He could release her, but his brother doesn’t do loose ends. The only thing keeping her out of the bottom of the harbor is Leo’s mercy. She’s like a beautiful piece of art he keeps in a glass case but can never touch. Is possessing her enough? 


REVIEW: 

What would you do to live? How hard would you fight your instinct to survive to maintain your morals?

Those are a couple of questions posed in the book Mafia Captive. When 23 year old Faith Jacobson witnesses a mob hit she is forced to be a slave to the hit man’s twin brother. Leo Raspallo is not a monster. He fights desperately against his dark desires once he sees Faith is not into kink. Faith is not into kink at all. These two are forced into a situation that can only be escaped by death.  Mafia Captive tells the story of how they both get what they want.

Mafia Captive was a typical Kitty Thomas book in ways and a total departure in others. Leo acknowledges his dark sexual desires & embraces them to a degree. He can’t bring himself to enact his ultimate fantasy, to own a slave. He knows his desires are a part of him & he doesn’t want to live a life with only part of the fantasy. A submissive that isn’t a masochist won’t work in the long run.  

When Leo gets the opportunity to be the “hero” and save a woman who fits his physical type he briefly entertains the notion of keeping Faith as his slave. That is until he realizes she has absolutely none of the same desires. His conscience won’t allow him to force BDSM onto an unwilling victim. However, he can’t let her go. He is forced to keep his captive in a gilded cage, like a beautiful piece of art work he can only admire from a distance.

Faith sees Leo as the lesser of two evils. She can’t help but fear him. She can’t be what he wants, but she has to figure out some way to keep him happy. Risking another woman giving him what he desires makes her precarious position even more dangerous.  As much as Faith wants to see Leo as a prince in a shiny castle she knows he isn’t.  Her instinct to survive battles her fear to capitulate to Leo’s sexual needs. If she gives in will she lose herself or find what she has always wanted, a complete life?

Mafia Captive is like Comfort Food with a conscience. Leo has been given something precious and he wants to bend her to his will & break her. Faith’s unwillingness triggers his conscience. Reading the story of his struggle to stay away from her and her struggle to bring him closer without giving is so tantalizing. Leo wants to play a mind game with Faith to get her to come to him willingly; he just can’t bring himself to do it. In the end he doesn’t need to make a play for her.

Once again they become a victim to Leo’s brother’s machinations, when he tells their mother Leo is engaged. Over a long Christmas holiday Faith is forced to pretend to be the doting fiancé if she wants to stay alive. The more she pretends the more she fears she is falling for the pretense. Knowing she can’t give him what he desires, but fearing he will have his desires slaked else wear cause endless worry for Faith.

After a failed attempt for Faith to be the slave Leo wants he avoids her. Leo penance for hurting Faith breaks her in a way none of his training could. She realizes she cares for him. He brings in hired submissives so he can fulfill his desires without hurting Faith. These acts hurt her more than any physical pain he has inflicted on her body. Faith makes the decision to become what he needs, no matter the cost. As wedding plans are made Faith begins to be molded into Leo’s perfect slave. Leo can’t resist what she offers him.

When the final scene plays out you don’t wonder what happens next in their lives. There is no question as to who got what they wanted and if one or the other is living a half-life to make the other happy.  Can a captive fall in love with her captor or is it Stockholm Syndrome? Can a captor come to genuinely love his slave while having his needs met? For once Kitty actually gives the readers the answer.

I enjoyed Mafia Captive. The story wasn’t as graphic & violent as some of her other books. The angst and psychological byplay are still there in full force. Leo and Faith’s story felt complete. Another solid story, that didn’t disappoint. The things we’ve come to expect from a Kitty Thomas book have been softened a little, but they are definitely still there.

Reviewed By Liz

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