Taken, Stolen, and Captured

I went into *Taken, Stolen, and Captured* expecting run-of-the-mill mafia erotica—lots of growling, dubious consent, and instant love—but Evie Rose surprised me with something far more compelling. The age gaps here aren’t just window dressing; they’re integral to the stories, and Rose handles them with surprising nuance. Take the first novella, where a 40-year-old mobster "kidnaps" his 22-year-old ward—not as a creepy power play, but as a twisted form of protection in a world that’s already tried to destroy her. The dynamic is messy, morally gray, and *hot* in the way only age-gap stories can be when they’re written with care. That said, the second novella’s heroine felt a little too passive for my taste, and the third veered into insta-love territory harder than the others. Still, the payoff in each story made up for it. The narration elevates the material even further. John York’s voice is a literal growl—perfect for the possessive, older mafia men who dominate these pages—but it’s Jill Smith’s performance that stole the show. She nails the switch between vulnerable and untouchable, especially in scenes where her characters are both powerless and *powerful*. My only critique? A few of the steamy passages felt slightly rushed in terms of emotional buildup, as if the heat outpaced the tension. But overall, this is a deliciously bingeable listen with production quality that rivals big-budget audio dramas. If you love your romances with a side of danger and a main course of sin, hit play—just maybe don’t listen during a work commute.