Captivated

Cutter's Creek, Book 18

By: Vivi Holt

Narrated by: Paul Curtis

Kidnapped by her husband's killers, this pioneering woman is forced to marry one of her abductors. Can love blossom between two avowed enemies?

Maria Holloway is a captive.

Abducted by Lakota, and forced to live with the people who killed her husband, the pioneering woman refuses to give up hope that one day she’ll be saved.

Far from civilization, and everyone she knows and loves, she’s given in marriage to a Lakota warrior. Full of bitterness and despair, she turns to God for help, wondering if even He has abandoned her. She tries to escape, but is returned her enemy over and over again.

Bodaway is angry and alone. His wife died and left him to raise three young children on his own. With no plans to remarry, he prefers to lead a solitary life, keeping to himself. That is, until Maria Holloway is thrust into village life.

Suddenly, he finds himself saddled with a new wife, one he never wanted. He doesn’t know what to do with her, or how to act. And feels like a stranger in his own home. But when tragedy strikes, and he thinks she is lost to him forever, his true feelings come flooding to the surface.

Can love blossom between two avowed enemies?

Journey back once again to the quaint little hamlet of Cutter’s Creek, Montana Territory. Where love is true, and no one’s a stranger.

Series listening order:

1. The Strong One

2. The Betrothed

3. Cherished

4. Season of Love

5. Captivated

6. Beguiled

©2017 Vivi Holt (P)2019 Vivi Holt

You never know where you will find true love!

Cutter's Creek is a place for settling down, but Maria finds herself widowed and living with an Indian tribe before she even gets there! This historical romance is a little different than our down home, settling out west type of story. Vivi Holt gives us a chance to see an Indian tribe, the savagery that could happen and the integration of a white woman into Indian life. This enjoyable story has Maria living with the tribe after one of their own has killed her husband. Now months later, one of the men is to take her as his wife. When Bodaway, the chief's son takes her in to help with his children, she begins to acclimate to Indian life. Will she ever return to her life and settle in Cutter's Creek? Will she want to stay with the Indians? While not what Maria envisions her life to be, it's beautiful how she comes to know where she belongs and why. Holt gives the story true love and compassion, a story not to miss in this series.

Paul Curtis is a great choice for narrating this historical romance. He gives the story that western flare, and adds the emotion and suspense perfectly. He has good pace and his voices are well placed and very realistic. I enjoyed his portrayal of Maria and Bodaway.

Touching Romance

I have read others out of the Cutter's Creek series and really enjoyed them. I was excited to find out what came of Marie after her husband was killed by indains and she was kidnapped. The clean historical romance style is true to the rest of the series but this one is extra fun because of the big culture divide and how she has to adapt to survive. If you are a fan of clean historical romances and Vivi Holt then you won't be disappointed with this story... it's a must read.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Absolutely loved it

This book had me feel as though I was right there in the story. The narrator did a great job with adding feeling and expressions to to his words. I love Native American stories and this one has quickly became my favorite.

Enjoyable historical romance!

I enjoyed listening to this story. It was a sweet historical romance. The author seemed very knowledgeable about the time period and culture, as well as had great character development in a relatively short amount of time. The narrator did a good job as well. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Cutter's Creek series continues!

After being attacked by Indians and her husband killed, Maria Holloway finds herself a captive of the Lakoda tribe.
After being attacked by Indians and her husband murdered, Maria Holloway finds herself a captive of a Lakota tribe.

Bodaway, the chief's son is not happy with the attack on the wagon train and is lonely and angry, but also finds it hard to not protect the white woman whom his fellow warriors stole her away from her culture and people.

As two cultures collide, will love, forgiveness and trust build a bridge between two wounded hearts?

Though not my favorite book by Vivi, it is still a good book. I personally just did not connect with this one as I have others. This is also the first book that I have read where a white captive was treated so well and accepted by so many of the tribe, but once I set that aside, I enjoyed the book more. Paul Curtis does he typical, amazing job of narration and charter performances! :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Love found in the Enemy's camp

This was a great sweet romance. I loved Maria's tenacity and her strength as she is forced to live with her captors and have to marry one of them. This is short story, but it covers many years. I enjoyed listening to the narrator who brought the story to life. Both Maria and Bodaway had pasts that they had to learn to let go. This was a very enjoyable story and a great listen.

An English immigrant captured by Indians

Maria was captured by the Indians who killed her husband. Desperate to somehow return to her family in England she feels alone and abandoned. But when Bodawa the chiefs son takes her for his wife she struggles with emotions and tribal issues. But their love will really be put to the test. This was a great story. I wasn't particularly fond of the narrators female voices but overall a pleasant afternoon listening.

Historical romance

The plot was predictable except towards the end where Maria does something I did not expect her to do. She explains why she did it which was fine, I can understand her being confused. However, she did nothing after she realized what she had done. I found that confusing. I don't want to say much since I do not want to spoil it.
I am glad to say it does have a happy ending.
If it was not for this particular part in the book I would have given it five stars.
It is a clean read so it is suitable for all.

Captured & captivated

Maria Holloway and her husband, Fred, are travelling by wagon train to Cutter's Creek. Before they can reach their destination, a Lakota raiding party attacks, killing Fred and taking Maria captive.

Maria is a fighter and instead of giving up, she quickly learns to adapt to her situation. All she wants to do is go home, but where exactly is home? Her husband is dead, nothing is waiting for her in Cutter's Creek and her parents are still in England.

When the Chief's son, Bodaway, claims her as his wife, she doesn't know what to expect. Is she to be his slave or just someone to take care of his three young children? Maria starts to have feelings for Boda, but she should hate him for the murder of her husband. Bodaway is still grieving for his wife and has no desire to fall for another woman, especially a white captive. Will they be able to give in to their feelings or will their differences keep them from the love they both want?

Ms. Holt writes wonderfully romantic stories, full of faith, turmoil, romance, and emotion. The characters are well written, the story is fast paced, and there is enough humor to add to the enjoyment of the book.

The narrator does a great job and adds a lot to the listening enjoyment of the book. All of the Cutter's Creek books are standalone, but are tied together through the characters. If you love historical romance with a HEA ending, give this one a chance. You won't be disappointed!

Forsaking All Others

One imagines the horrors suffered by settlers attacked by wild, rampaging Indians (alternatively, peaceful tribesmen defending their homesteads against evil, greedy, white-skinned devils who denuded the landscape, destroyed the environment, and wiped out the local flora and fauna with abandon while slaughtering the innocent prior inhabitants of the land). Okay, that just slipped out, but rather presents the extremes of thought extant both then and now regarding the (largely European) takeover of the Americas. (And don't get your shorts in a twist over that name! He was a well-respected cartographer.)

And yet that does set the stage for the horror Maria felt as she watched her husband and others in the wagon train headed for Cutter's Creek attacked and slaughtered before she was taken captive and brought to an Indian village. What is beautifully brought out in this story is not just that captives were NOT universally mistreated but were often integrated into the tribe to the extent they allowed. Language and lifestyle differences notwithstanding, if you think of the life of a plainswoman, hauling water and wood, scrubbing clothes in the creek, manually gardening (no rototillers!), cleaning, living a hardscrabble existance, and then compare and contrast with what a women in a native tribe would have been doing--gee, it is more compare than contrast, isn't it? Yes, the wealthier townies back East might have had indoor water (but chamberpots and outdoor privies would still have been the norm) and servants handling the more arduous chores, but I suspect for most women the physical requirements would have been about the same.

With all this as background, I commend author Vivi Holt for her obviously meticulous attention to detail and attempt to present fairly the existing conditions which form the setting for this love story. As narrated by Paul Curtis, one is swept into the mind and thoughts of our heroine as she fights to preserve her sense of self in the midst of the bewildering and drastic changes in her life.