Review: Collared by Nicole Williams

Title: Collared
Author: Nicole Williams
Series: none
Genre: contemporary romance

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.

Amazon US | Amazon UK

SANDY’S REVIEW

“6 collared stars”

“I would have waited for you no matter how long you took.
A month, a year, an eternity.
I would have waited. ” 

There are those love stories which are full of rainbows and unicorns with fairy tale endings and then there are others just unfolding the true meaning of love - sacrificing, healing, hoping and most of all never giving up.

Collared is one such story with a poignant undertone; a story of girl who lost ten years of her life in captivity and a boy who never gave up on her until she was found. It is a riveting, emotionally beautiful and inspiring story of a survivor.

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” 

That’s all you need to know about the story and if you are here to find out more about the story, then I’d like to advice you against checking out any more reviews until you finish. I did that and I’m so glad I went in blind by reading only the blurb, it just captivated my unfocused mind which is never sure of ‘what to read next?’

This story is not about captivity but the aftermath of her rescue, how Jade deals with her new life. It’s not just about fighting the daemons of her past but struggling to get hold of her future, one where the family once she knew has now become strangers and memories of her old life is a painful remainder of the time which was stolen from her. But there is one person who was always an anchor to her, a light in the never ending darkness, the boy who once promised her forever.

But when you think after ten years of separation, they would get back to the life they left behind, you are hit with a gut wrenching reality. [If she is collared to her past, he is collared to his future! (hide spoiler)]

Jade and Torrin’s characters were written perfectly and I wouldn’t change anything about the way their relationship was portrayed. They both were broken spirits but mended the pieces back with just holding on to the hope of their ‘someday’ in a very uncanny way and that’s the beauty of their love.

What can I say about the writing? This was my first from this author and I was blown away! she did a splendid job at creating an engaging storyline with so much depth and conviction that I couldn’t put it down. It moved me, had me hoping and mostly left me with happy tears by the end.

If you’ve reached this part of my review, I hope that my thoughts convinced you to read it! Trust me, it will leave a lasting impression on you and you’d be glad for having experienced an unconventional love story of EPIC PROPORTION.