EntrappedCellist, Luka, has moved to Bristol to start a new job and recover from the betrayal of finding his best friend and his girlfriend in bed together. He doesn’t plan on the emotional thunderstorm that meeting his next-door neighbour Jess causes.

Jess had everything, a man she loved, friends she adored and then the world crashed around her. Depression came from nowhere and slowly started ripping her life away. Now she lives a lonely, sad life but the music which she keeps hearing next door is waking her up and she doesn’t know why.

Join Luka and Jess as they discover life after heartache, how to forgive and how to live and love again.

*Entrapped is an 18+ Contemporary Romance with several graphic sex scenes*

Source Format Pages Publisher Genre Publication Date
Neverland Blog Tours ebook 185 indie Contemporary Romance August 17th, 2018

*Many thanks to Jennifer @ Neverland Blog Tours for arranging this tour and including me; my thanks also to Claire who entrusted me to beta read her book in the early stage. This review is my honest take on Entrapped*

I was excited to accept this romantic beta reading challenge offered by Claire- I would have thought she’d want to keep her book-baby as far away from me as possible considering my relationship with romance and I have to admit, I was shaking in my boots accepting the challenge but I shouldn’t have, because in the end I was entrapped myself.

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The story centres around two broken hearts: Luka following a betrayal by his best friend and his girlfriend; and Jess who has just been dumped by her boyfriend because of her depression. Two very ugly breakups and heartbreaking emotional consequences.

But… It is always exciting to witness characters facing a fresh start, even in dire circumstances, because the potential of new starts are always full of hope. Hope for better things and better times.

Luka and Jess feel an instant, strong pull for each other but their relationship doesn’t develop without a hitch, so rest assured there will be emotional turmoil in abundance. With the themes of Jess’s depression and Luka having built solid walls around his heart, the characters find themselves fighting their internal conflicts as they learn to live and love again. There are misunderstandings, old wounds reopening and as always when love is in and sense is out, some hasty decisions are made. The way Claire has shown both sides of the story by alternating POVs, the character development and plot progression were easy and seamless to follow without leaving any imperative background detail open for doubt. Very quickly, I was invested in both Luka and Jess and I wanted to know how this story was going to end for them.

I really enjoyed that what ultimately brought Luka and Jess into each other’s lives was music! Classical music! How refreshing!… For once, the guy in the story isn’t a rock star or a pop musician wearing a shagged and ragged look; for once the musician guy in the story isn’t a ‘bad boy’ to love… Luka is very, very decent and yes, while he is through and through man, he isn’t an ass who’s actions you have to ‘forgive and forget’ in order to love him.

The story is nicely beefed up with the help of secondary characters who put their own stamp to the story: Jess’s best friend who acts as a constant support to Jess and consistently shows loyalty and love to her, Luka’s friend Mark (a fun, cheeky chap!) who has a chance to redeem himself and Luka’s brothers. They all make an appearance throughout the story without falling to the background to be forgotten. All of the secondary characters brought lightness and joy into this story of two people trying to find their happiness again.

I found there was a great balance in between the heartbreaking scenes and the romantic scenes. The difficult moments were conveyed in a realistic way and are bound to pull on any reader’s heart strings. Jess struggles and even though I found myself disagreeing to some of her decisions, I couldn’t deny that what Jess went through and the way she acted was realistic. When you’re lost and confused and depressed, there are no reason or rhyme for the way that we act. We can be impulsive or yearning for validation. We can feel strong one moment, and utterly weak the next.

And as for the romantic, intimate and sexy scenes- well,  you’ll just have to witness those for yourself. There was a particular scene in the book which included Luka’s cello and damn, that was my favourite! My favourite not only in the book, but my favorite of all time across all the romance I’ve ever read!

Overall- I found this contemporary romance to be a very enjoyable debut by Claire Ayres. If you are looking to read some romance, I can easily recommend giving this book a try – before you notice, you’ll be captivated! What ultimately starts out as a dark, sad story, turns into one of hope and new beginnings, and so in Entrapped, the reader will be taken on a journey of self-discovery and passion.

Entrapped on Goodreads ¦ Amazon UK ¦ USA