What do you think?
Rate this book
A Dark Holiday #3
Captive Liberty
She survived war. She won't survive him.
Liberty came home looking for peace. What she found was a trap eight years in the making.
Elias Ashford was her best friend's brother—the one who watched too closely, wanted too much. She joined the military to escape him.
But some men don't let go. They just learn patience.
Now Elias owns everything—the town, the businesses, the 4th of July celebration where the whole county will gather to watch fireworks explode over his land.
And Liberty? She's about to learn that the only freedom she'll ever have is the freedom to surrender.
***A standalone 4th of July dark romance. Contains obsessive surveillance, psychological manipulation, forced proximity, dubious consent, and a man who spent eight years ensuring she'd have nowhere left to run.
Liberty came home looking for peace. What she found was a trap eight years in the making.
Elias Ashford was her best friend's brother—the one who watched too closely, wanted too much. She joined the military to escape him.
But some men don't let go. They just learn patience.
Now Elias owns everything—the town, the businesses, the 4th of July celebration where the whole county will gather to watch fireworks explode over his land.
And Liberty? She's about to learn that the only freedom she'll ever have is the freedom to surrender.
***A standalone 4th of July dark romance. Contains obsessive surveillance, psychological manipulation, forced proximity, dubious consent, and a man who spent eight years ensuring she'd have nowhere left to run.
223 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 25, 2026
About the author
Elizabeth Knox
276 books3,455 followersElizabeth Knox is a USA Today Bestselling romance author who specializes in romantic suspense, and dark romance. She’s well-known for her intense page-turning motorcycle clubs, and sinister dark mafia books.
While Elizabeth loves to write, she is an avid reader as well, who reads a mixture of genres. She lives on a farm with her husband in the northeastern United States with her rescue animals. When she isn’t working, you can find her horseback riding, riding ATVs, or out on the farm with her animals.
Follow Her on Social Media:
Facebook: facebook.com/elizabethknoxbooks
Instagram: instagram.com/authorelizabethknox
Patreon: patreon.com/c/ElizabethKnox
TikTok: tiktok.com/@authorelizabethknox
Bookbub: bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-knox
Amazon: amazon.com/Elizabeth-Knox/e/B071KDT21Y
Sign up for her newsletter:
https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f77d1...
Join her Reader's Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/19166...
Get a F.R.3.3. MC ROMANCE:
https://BookHip.com/DHQSTPV
While Elizabeth loves to write, she is an avid reader as well, who reads a mixture of genres. She lives on a farm with her husband in the northeastern United States with her rescue animals. When she isn’t working, you can find her horseback riding, riding ATVs, or out on the farm with her animals.
Follow Her on Social Media:
Facebook: facebook.com/elizabethknoxbooks
Instagram: instagram.com/authorelizabethknox
Patreon: patreon.com/c/ElizabethKnox
TikTok: tiktok.com/@authorelizabethknox
Bookbub: bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-knox
Amazon: amazon.com/Elizabeth-Knox/e/B071KDT21Y
Sign up for her newsletter:
https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f77d1...
Join her Reader's Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/19166...
Get a F.R.3.3. MC ROMANCE:
https://BookHip.com/DHQSTPV
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 31, 2026
3.75stars-CAPTIVE LIBERTY by Elizabeth Knox is the third instalment in the multi-authored contemporary, adult A DARK HOLIDAY, erotic, dark, romance series. This is twenty-six year old, former US soldier Liberty Cole and businessman Elias Ashford’s story line. CAPTIVE LIBERTY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Liberty and Elias)CAPTIVE LIBERTY follows in the wake of Liberty Cole’s return home after eight years serving in the US military overseas. Bruised, battered and broken Liberty struggles to find a place to live, a job, and any recognition from the people in her home town of Ashford Falls, a town now controlled by the man who broke her heart. Elias Ashford is a change man. The boy he once was died years before, and in the fall-out, a hardened and obsessive businessman stood in his wake but Liberty’s return home find Elias manipulating every aspect of her life, a life that has never once been her own. As Liberty begins to unravel the truth, our heroine discovers that the life she thought she once led, is a life controlled by someone else.
The world building follows the revelation of the truth; the betrayal by, and of one man’s obsession for a woman who only wanted to be loved, but love has manifested into something else.
The relationship between Liberty and Elias is a best friend’s brother; an obsessive,manipulative and questionable hero whose need for our heroine has embodied in the form of captor and controller. Liberty’s life is no longer under her control, and the man she once loved, is not longer the man whom she left behind. The $ex scenes are provocative and intense, and not without some issues of questionable consent.
The secondary and supporting characters include Liberty’s long suffering parents, and Elias’s sister Gracie, and an assortment of townies under Elias’ control.
CAPTIVE LIBERTY is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, obsession and manipulation, forgiveness and love. The character driven premise is dark, dramatic and gritty; the characters are broken, disturbed and struggling.
Copy supplied for review
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Liberty and Elias)CAPTIVE LIBERTY follows in the wake of Liberty Cole’s return home after eight years serving in the US military overseas. Bruised, battered and broken Liberty struggles to find a place to live, a job, and any recognition from the people in her home town of Ashford Falls, a town now controlled by the man who broke her heart. Elias Ashford is a change man. The boy he once was died years before, and in the fall-out, a hardened and obsessive businessman stood in his wake but Liberty’s return home find Elias manipulating every aspect of her life, a life that has never once been her own. As Liberty begins to unravel the truth, our heroine discovers that the life she thought she once led, is a life controlled by someone else.
The world building follows the revelation of the truth; the betrayal by, and of one man’s obsession for a woman who only wanted to be loved, but love has manifested into something else.
The relationship between Liberty and Elias is a best friend’s brother; an obsessive,manipulative and questionable hero whose need for our heroine has embodied in the form of captor and controller. Liberty’s life is no longer under her control, and the man she once loved, is not longer the man whom she left behind. The $ex scenes are provocative and intense, and not without some issues of questionable consent.
The secondary and supporting characters include Liberty’s long suffering parents, and Elias’s sister Gracie, and an assortment of townies under Elias’ control.
CAPTIVE LIBERTY is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, obsession and manipulation, forgiveness and love. The character driven premise is dark, dramatic and gritty; the characters are broken, disturbed and struggling.
Copy supplied for review
July 31, 2026
I love when there's a series about holidays!
Elias, who is Liberty's best friend's (Gracie) brother, is obsessed with her. She even joined the Army to get away from him, but that didn't deter him. With old Virginia money, Elias now owns everything, the whole town, and he's just waiting to come back. There's nowhere that Liberty can go where he isn't. She keeps telling herself she wants to stay away from him, but the problem is, she doesn't really want to.
And even when she finally gives in, she still tries to convince herself she doesn't want him. But he only found that more of a turn on, and he never wants her to leave.
In the last part of the book, Elias softens and loses his "alpha-ness," which isn't my usual read. He feels bad for what he put Liberty through and is willing to make up for it for the rest of her life. I'm glad they got their HEA.
Overall: 4 out of 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice/Heat Intensity: 2.5 out of 5 🌶️🌶️.5
Main Characters: Elias and Liberty
Darkness: 2 out of 5 🖤🖤
Type of book: MF, Dual, 1st Person POV
Reading Order: Standalone
Title: A Dark Holiday Series- Captive Liberty: Book 3
Epilogue: Yes
Ending Type: HEA
*OTT: Possessive, obsessive, dominant, and protective MMC
*Eyes only for her
*Stalking
*Surveillance without FMC knowing
*Wealthy MMC from generational old money
*No cheating or sharing
⚠️ This book has descriptive parts that may be offensive or triggering to some. Please check all the authors' TW/CW before reading! 18+
*I received an early copy of this book and am voluntarily writing this review.
Elias, who is Liberty's best friend's (Gracie) brother, is obsessed with her. She even joined the Army to get away from him, but that didn't deter him. With old Virginia money, Elias now owns everything, the whole town, and he's just waiting to come back. There's nowhere that Liberty can go where he isn't. She keeps telling herself she wants to stay away from him, but the problem is, she doesn't really want to.
And even when she finally gives in, she still tries to convince herself she doesn't want him. But he only found that more of a turn on, and he never wants her to leave.
In the last part of the book, Elias softens and loses his "alpha-ness," which isn't my usual read. He feels bad for what he put Liberty through and is willing to make up for it for the rest of her life. I'm glad they got their HEA.
Overall: 4 out of 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice/Heat Intensity: 2.5 out of 5 🌶️🌶️.5
Main Characters: Elias and Liberty
Darkness: 2 out of 5 🖤🖤
Type of book: MF, Dual, 1st Person POV
Reading Order: Standalone
Title: A Dark Holiday Series- Captive Liberty: Book 3
Epilogue: Yes
Ending Type: HEA
*OTT: Possessive, obsessive, dominant, and protective MMC
*Eyes only for her
*Stalking
*Surveillance without FMC knowing
*Wealthy MMC from generational old money
*No cheating or sharing
⚠️ This book has descriptive parts that may be offensive or triggering to some. Please check all the authors' TW/CW before reading! 18+
*I received an early copy of this book and am voluntarily writing this review.
July 30, 2026
Elias and Liberty
This is not your typical dark romance. It's deeply unsettling, almost entirely because of the psychological manipulation rather than physical violence. It may be one of the darkest books I've read from this author.
Elias is obsessive in every sense of the word. He doesn't just want Liberty. He's spent years orchestrating her entire life, removing every avenue of escape until she's left with nowhere to turn but him. He genuinely gave me serial killer vibes, and that's what made him so disturbing. His control is calculated, patient, and relentless.
Liberty survived war, yet the psychological prison Elias builds around her feels just as suffocating. This never felt like watching someone fall in love. Instead, it felt like watching someone slowly surrender because every other choice had been taken away.
If you're looking for romance in the traditional sense, this probably isn't it. This is twisted obsession masquerading as love, with an antihero who's completely unhinged and a story designed to leave you uncomfortable.
Dark romance readers who enjoy intense psychological manipulation and morally irredeemable heroes will likely appreciate just how far this book is willing to go.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is not your typical dark romance. It's deeply unsettling, almost entirely because of the psychological manipulation rather than physical violence. It may be one of the darkest books I've read from this author.
Elias is obsessive in every sense of the word. He doesn't just want Liberty. He's spent years orchestrating her entire life, removing every avenue of escape until she's left with nowhere to turn but him. He genuinely gave me serial killer vibes, and that's what made him so disturbing. His control is calculated, patient, and relentless.
Liberty survived war, yet the psychological prison Elias builds around her feels just as suffocating. This never felt like watching someone fall in love. Instead, it felt like watching someone slowly surrender because every other choice had been taken away.
If you're looking for romance in the traditional sense, this probably isn't it. This is twisted obsession masquerading as love, with an antihero who's completely unhinged and a story designed to leave you uncomfortable.
Dark romance readers who enjoy intense psychological manipulation and morally irredeemable heroes will likely appreciate just how far this book is willing to go.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
July 29, 2026
Book 3 of A Dark Holiday series, this is about Liberty and Elias. I like that Liberty keeps fighting and thinks of others, that Elias learns he can’t control everything, beginning to change slowly, and that they choose in the end.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
July 31, 2026
This was a suspenseful read that I didn't want to put down. I was mad and irritated for Liberty. I wanted to scream at Elias, shake him and ask what is issue is. But then the other part of me found the obsession hot.
The love he has is unexplainable and maybe its wrong but not everyones story is sunshine and rainbows.
I am just really glad I read this. I couldn't put it down.
The love he has is unexplainable and maybe its wrong but not everyones story is sunshine and rainbows.
I am just really glad I read this. I couldn't put it down.
July 26, 2026
book was good but
The book was missing chapters 13-15 I’m not sure if that’s an editing issue or it was supposed to end there but maybe they will fix it. Story was really good too
The book was missing chapters 13-15 I’m not sure if that’s an editing issue or it was supposed to end there but maybe they will fix it. Story was really good too
July 29, 2026
Missing chapters Fixed
This is not a complete download. Still an on going problem Amazon refuses or cannot fix. These authors are getting bad reviews that belong to Amazon.
This has been corrected, thank you!!
This is not a complete download. Still an on going problem Amazon refuses or cannot fix. These authors are getting bad reviews that belong to Amazon.
This has been corrected, thank you!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews