FATE CAPTURED by MM Jaye

4 out of 5 stars

Romance/mystery set in Greece

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

One of the reasons I don't usually read romance books is that you can guess, within the first chapter or two, how it's going to end up: happy ever after, featuring the guy with whom the girl got off on the wrong foot during their first meeting/the guy she thought she could never get.  Fate Captured offers more than this.  The heroine, Trish (strong, beautiful, independent, etc) has done something that's had a seriously bad impact on the life of the hero, Markos (strong, hunky, alpha male, etc).  Only he doesn't know she was the perpetrator.  And she doesn't know he was the one who suffered because of her actions.  Right from the start, this made me think, 'ooh, I wonder what's going to happen when they both find out'.... 

This is more than just a romance, and it's certainly not chick lit, though much of the inner dialogue of Trish, in particular, is amusing and sharp.  There's lots going on behind the scenes, a bit of mystery, and enough to keep me interested past the will-they-won't-they-oh-of-course-they-will.  

I am not much of a one for lots of description of scenery, etc, in books, but in this it was well done, and I found myself being able to 'see' all the settings, an indication that it works.  I liked Trish, I fancied Markos - they worked, too!  The writing is very American in its choice of language and phraseology, which works most of the time.  On occasion both the dialogue and the events were a little unlikely, but I think that an element of this genre of book is that it requires the suspension of disbelief; we're not talking gritty real life drama here.

This isn't a very long book, but it's just right for the story, with no boring bits!  I liked it, it's a good plot with much more in it than I had thought there might be.  MM Jaye has provided a 'clean' version, which is the one I read, as well as one with more graphic sex scenes.  The sexy bits were still very believable, though.  I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a beach read with a bit more to it than the usual light romance.