Series: Standalone
Publication Date: March 22nd 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review
When a seventeen-year-old girl vanishes,
A community is shaken.
Parents turn desperate.
Friends hold vigils.
And the boy who loves her searches.
When a year goes by,
The community is recovering.
Parents feel hopeless.
Friends feel helpless.
And the boy who loves her continues his search.
When ten years go by,
The community has forgotten.
Parents cling to the past.
Friends move toward the future.
And the boy who loves her . . .
Brings her home.
Jade Childs spent ten years in captivity, but now that she’s back, the real battle for survival begins. The media shadows her. Flashbacks haunt her. Her old life evades her. Her so-called new life rejects her. She spent too many years in the dark to recognize the light. She spent too long repressing her feelings to remember how to express them. She spent a decade abandoning hope and cannot dare letting it back into her life. Jade’s not just defined by what happened to her—she’s collared to it.
When the twenty-seven-year-old woman is found,
A community wants to know the story,
Parents want to forget the story,
Friends want to be a part of the story,
And the man who still loves her faces the greatest challenge yet: letting her go.
OH MY GOD!!!!! I love love loveedddd this book so much. SO MUCH!!! I had no idea I would end up loving Collared as much as I do, but it was seriously perfection. I’ve loved Nicole Williams since I first read her Crash series a few years ago, but this, THIS BOOK, is for sure my all-time favorite read of hers now. I’m so in awe of the brilliant story Nicole Williams has woven in Collared. I loved this book so much I literally just bought myself the paperback so I could have it on my favorites shelf. AHHH!! I’m dying for this to release so everyone can read and experience the utter beauty of it!
“Find an emotional tether. Someone you trusted before and someone you can trust now. A person who can connect you to your past but can pilot you into the future. Someone who can pull you back from the ledge when you find it and from the dark when it finds you. Find that person, hold on tight, and don’t let go.”
I began this book intrigued by the blurb and cover. I don’t particularly LOVE kidnapping stories, but Collared’s blurb hooked me in and I prayed it would meet my expectations. I’m so happy to say this book went above and beyond anything I ever expected. I ended up reading this in one sitting, staying up until almost 3AM finishing it – I had to get up 4.5 hours later, but it was totally worth the lost sleep. I honestly couldn’t put this book down! It’s a captivating, haunting, utterly romantic story – a story of a girl kidnapped for ten years and brought home by the boy she loved before she was taken.
He’s not supposed to be the one I tether myself to, but it doesn’t change that he’s the one I already have. He’s not supposed to be the one . . . but he always has been The One.
Jade Childs was only seventeen when she was kidnapped, stolen away from her family and the love of her life, Torrin. For the next ten years, the boy she loved who loved her never stopped searching for her or giving up hope. Now, at twenty-seven, she’s finally come home – but can she ever live a normal life again? Or will her past continue to keep her shackled down, collared, unable to move on with her life?
As Jade struggles with being back home and interacting with other people, Torrin is right by her side the whole time. But she’s not the same girl she was when they were in love, and neither is he. There’s a twist in this book I did NOT see coming, that had me seriously OMG-ing, but I loved the way the author took the direction of the story with it. This twist creates complications for Jade and Torrin… and I love the angst and heartbreak that came with it. Collared made me FEEL so much, but the one thing that captivated me the most, that had me obsessing over this book, was the powerful, beautiful love story.
He stretches slower. His eyes refuse to blink. “You were my first. And you were my last.” His words echo in the small space. “A man could have a thousand different partners and settle down with an amazing woman, and I’d still hold the bragging rights.”
I am head over heels in love with Torrin and his unwavering, heart-stopping love for Jade. He is not a perfect man, but he’s utterly perfect for Jade. There really is no end to what he would do for her – he would literally give his life for the girl that he has never stopped loving. He’s a words and actions man, so the things he says and does because of his love made my heart MELT. I love Torrin!!!
His strong hand grips the side of my neck, and he aligns his eyes with mine. “I’ve been sure about you since I was fifteen years old. And I’ll be sure about you for the rest of my life.”
Jade herself is so strong but vulnerable. I don’t usually connect that well with heroines in kidnapping stories, but with Jade, I connected with her right from the start. The raw emotion coming from her struggles, her fear and helplessness, her desire to be whole again, made me feel as if I were fighting right alongside with her. I liked that Nicole Williams didn’t focus too much on her kidnapping – there were enough flashbacks to give us an understanding of what happened to Jade, but her story very much focuses on her healing and moving on.
Nicole Williams has written an unputdownable, gripping, heart-pounding read. Collared is emotionally devastating yet uplifting. It’s meaningful, heartfelt, and so, so romantic. It’s a fantastically-written, powerful story I loved with all my heart. If you love unique books with unforgettable love stories, I can’t recommend this enough.
Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.
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