The Book I Love: Book review: A CAPTIVE SITUATION, by Tijan

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Book review: A CAPTIVE SITUATION, by Tijan

Kings of New York #3

Jake & Sawyer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was so surprised to start this book and not get sucked into the story, as is usual when I read a Tijan book. The heroine, Sawyer, is so distracted and clueless, like she’s not all in her head, as she visits New York, does some touristy stuff, and starts loitering outside the building where her cousin Graham works. Her behavior is so bizarre, no wonder she’s picked up by the police and taken to a precinct.

Incredibly, Sawyer had wasted eighteen years of her life on a loser who used her to help him further his career goals, then when he got her best friend pregnant, he dumped her and cancelled their wedding. I was asking myself: how can you have not seen any red flags along the way? Usually Tijan’s heroines are plucky and smart, but this one felt like a mental case. Those wasted eighteen years really hurt me! So Sawyer traveled to New York City on the week her wedding would have been, to distract herself and find her cousin Graham, son of an estranged aunt, whom she’s never met. She’s found loitering in front of the building where he works, is taken to a police precinct and left there, again aimless and clueless.

Jake Worthing, whom we’ve met before on the previous books of this series, had met Sawyer on the subway, saw her having a moment, asked if she needed an ambulance, then left her there. Later on, he arrives at the precinct looking for his addict cousin who has been arrested again, finds Sawyer there, and brings her with him and Val. And then we’re taken on a crazy rollercoaster ride of Mafia shenanigans, a war for turfs among Mafia lords, old friends Trace and Ashton, Sawyer’s crazy aunts who think they are cyber sleuths, and all kinds of fun stuff. And here is when I got really engaged with the book, now in familiar Tijan territory.

The story is convoluted, fantastic, with so many twists and turns I got whiplash, super entertaining and riveting. The story started with the insta-lust that is so frequent with Tijan’s characters, and ended with a love story where both characters tried to sacrifice their lives to defend their loved one. In the end, I finally got clarity on Sawyer’s haziness at the start of the story, and it made total sense. As she got involved on the action with Jake, she came to life, all the sass and smarts I expect from Tijan’s heroines came forth, and I enjoyed a hell of a ride. And the end was all I expected and needed, although I wouldn’t mind an extra epilogue (hint, hint). Another Tijan hit!

Purchase links

FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4kjjE7G

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/ACaptiveSituation

Audible: https://bit.ly/43k7F3A

Narrated by: Amelia Hugh & Jeffrey Kafer

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3EZKUb1

A Captive Situation is book three in the Kings of New York series. It can be read as a

standalone but does mention events from books 1 & 2.

Check out the series here! https://bit.ly/41KRvyY

About the author

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable