Captivate (Need #2) 
by Carrie Jones

Published January 5th 2010
273 Pages

Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town. A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure -- despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life -- and his.

Why I Picked This Up: I enjoyed Need so onto the next book in the series!

Why You Should Read It: Even better than Need!

The evil pixies are still trapped in the house in the woods. Zara and the gang continue to monitor them but something is up. A bunch of new pixies have been coming to town and they are up to something. Nick believes they should just continue to kill them off one by one. But when Zara runs into one tied up to a tree near death, she just can't let him die. She helps Astley escape and learns that he is also a King. Her pixie blood is drawn to him and turns her skin blue and makes her faint when she is near him. Talk about falling for a guy except she is in love with Nick.

Nick doesn't believe any pixie can be good or should be trusted. He is way to keen to just kill them all off without another thought. But the more Zara hangs out with Astley the more she believes maybe there can be good pixies. Maybe she shouldn't judge all pixies the same since we shouldn't judge all people the same. She wants there to be good ones since she is after all half pixie. I loved Astley. He was so sweet and also funny when he was naive to human ways. "You hold it right there" "Hold what?" Astley asks and I swear I think he really means it. "It's an expression," I hiss "It means stay still.'" I loved his protectiveness of Zara but didn't find it overly zealous like I did with Nick. I looked forward to his every scene. I glanced ahead just to see if he was going to be in the next scene.

Zara's dad says that while he is stuck in that house wreak, pixies and Kings will continue to come to try to take over his territory. When another King shows up, he is far from Astley's kind. There are some truly evil pixies out there. He destroys the house and injures Nick beyond repair. Zara will do the unthinkable to save him. What I also loved about this one was the big game changer. I love when an author takes a character to a place she doesn't want to go. Zara hated pixies and never wanted to turn but sometimes it is the scary thing that is right for the character. Zara has big changes ahead of her but I am positive Astley won't let her down. This one ends of kind of abruptly. Not a total cliffhanger but everything is still up in the air unresolved. I must get the next one immediately. I felt like this one had way more action than the first and I can't wait to see where the story leads next and of course more Astley.

"I promise you. You will survive this. Feel my hand. It is yours now, my queen. I promise you. I am yours." 

"Monsters? Why? Because we admit to the pain we cause? Admit we like it?..."

"I swear his pheromones have my freaking name written on them. They hone in and attack."

Rating: 4/5 Pixies!