A Captive Situation

Kings of New York

By: Tijan

Narrated by: Amelia Hugh, Jeffrey Kafer

New York Times bestselling author Tijan delivers a bold romance about two people wrestling with emotional trauma, thrown into a deadly—and heated—power dynamic when the mafia comes after them both.

Every bride dreams of her wedding day.

Today was supposed to be that day for me, except it’s not me marrying my college sweetheart.

My best friend is doing that. Or, well, my ex-best friend.

Instead, I’m over a thousand miles away, riding the subway in a city where lost people come to dream.

Me—I’m just hoping to distract myself from my heartbreak.

That is, until I met Jake Worthing.

Grumpy.

Hot.

A total jerk.

Did I mention hot?

Also, extremely presumptuous.

Just because I look like I’m a thought away from a total meltdown does not mean I need an ambulance.

He had the audacity to ask if I needed medical treatment.

Well, good riddance to him.

I don’t ever have to see him again.

Except, well, I do when I’m taken to the police station for a total misunderstanding.

He walks in and…gah. He’s the same that I remember from our first meeting.

Brooding. Still gorgeous. (The universe is not fair sometimes.)

He’s stirring up emotions that I didn’t know were still inside of me.

Then someone tries to shoot him and I’m a witness, and…er, how is it that I’m the one being kidnapped?

And by Jake?

Now I’m heated for a whole different reason.

If I get myself out of this captive situation, I’m going to reign down my own destruction starting with Jake Worthing.

I just have to survive first and, also, not get my heart broken. Again.

©2025 by Tijan Meyer. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Intricate story, wonderful characters and great narration!

Jake and Sawyer’s tumultuous story unites an organized crime detective who just resigned from the police force and a jilted bride/innocent bystander who finds herself dodging bullets that are meant for Jake. Jake is an unconventional hero who finds himself straddling the line between his former occupation and the mafia underworld where he was trained to be his family’s executioner at the age of 12. Jake walked away from his family’s business but they refuse to walk away from him. Sawyer is an aimless, scorned woman in the midst of a nervous breakdown after the implosion of an 18 year relationship. There were times I seriously wanted to strangle her because of her argumentative naïveté as time and again she caused Jake grief by putting herself in situations that threaten their lives. Granted, she’s never sure if Jake is a good guy or a bad one (he’s both) but I cheered when she found her inner strength after being an unwitting victim. Their story is a fascinating combination of deadly suspense, heightened sexual tension, and outrageous family dynamics that add up to one wild adventure. I really enjoyed the audiobook version because Jeffrey Kafer’s unique style of narration reminded me of the no nonsense police procedurals I used to watch on TV as a kid.

great book

This was a really good book! I liked this author, I'll definitely have to read more!

A bit disappointing

I have listened to all three books. I have to say that I loved the first two. This one was a disappointment. I felt the female character was a whiny and not very interesting. I actually skipped through quite a bit of it due to the flat storyline. The only reason for the stars was due to the male character through the first half of the book. in the end he was a disappointment also.

A Good Read

This was book 1 in the "Kings of New York" series. This was a really good read that I loved. Sawyer leaves her small town and goes to New York to visit her cousin after her boyfriend of 20 years marries her best friend who he has been having an affair with and is having a baby with. Sawyer needed some space, when she runs into Jake twice the second time somebody is trying to kill him and he takes her for her safety because now they after both of them. This was a pretty good read Jake who is a cop comes from a mafia family. His family wants him to take over the family business when his cousin dies. The chemistry between these two was hot and I liked the banter that they had going. This book had everything I look for in reading a mafia book action and suspense. This book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling. I also liked the narration of this book.

Great story

I have always liked Tijan's book, and the book didn't disappoint. The FMC was a little too much at times. The natation was done perfectly, and I can definitely recommend.