Taken by J.C. Owens
Etopia Press
Contemporary M/M
ISBN: 978-1-936751-10-5
Reviewed by Lisa




For as long as he can remember Landon has been the punching bag of choice for his older brothers, particularly Nate.  Growing up in a family of hired mercenaries doesn’t exactly lend itself to a normal life.  The only reason they’re on this latest job is because of the trouble brother Adrian got himself into. They’ve been hired by a major drug dealer, Marcello Purcini, to kidnap a man named Kirith who lives on his own private island.  Kirith has his own protection team, but with the intel they’ve got it should go down smoothly.  Besides, they don’t have a choice if they want their idiot brother back.

Hoping things go well and everything going to hell are risks a mercenary team has to accept.  Nate must have led them into a trap because nothing went right with the kidnapping attempt.  Landon is captured and ends up becoming Kirith’s personal play toy.  Then, when Landon finds out that Kirith’s real last name is Martinelli he knows they didn’t have a chance.  Attempting to take any member of the Martinelli family is nothing short of suicide since they are the most powerful drug organization in the world.

At first Kirith plans on making Landon’s life a living hell, not knowing that this would be nothing new for him.  Instead, Landon discovers that Kirith is nothing like his infamous family when Kirith offers an unbelievable deal to Landon. The rules are changing and nothing will be the same ever again for either man.  Ingrained distrust and an unimaginable nightmare for one of them make them realize just how important they are to each other.  If ever two lovers were meant to be together it is Kirith and Landon, because being apart, trying to be noble and alone is destroying them both from the inside out.

Author J.C. Owen scores once again with this adventure packed, suspenseful drama titled Taken.  Under all the many layers of character driven action is the love that Landon and Kirith feel for each other.  Neither is sure what love really is between adults so they don’t recognize it until it’s almost too late.  Dealing with incredible hardships the pair somehow survives, stronger yet still fragile in many ways.  Taken is a powerful, sexy and addictive tale with a heart pounding twist or two as well.  Taken comes alive on the pages. Therefore, I Joyfully Recommend Taken.