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Wild Obsession #1

Mountain Captive

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The Volkovs took everything from me. They destroyed my family when I was a boy.

So when the pretty little Volkov heiress stumbles past my cabin in the mountains, I can’t believe my eyes.

She’s sweet. Innocent. Her father should know better than to let her roam the mountains unprotected.

There are beasts out here in the wild.

Beasts and wicked men.

And none of them worse than me.

Mountain Captive is a short and steamy instalove story with an OTT possessive hero and the innocent heroine he’s sworn to destroy.

63 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2021

91 people are currently reading
216 people want to read

About the author

Cassie Mint

152 books1,388 followers
Cassie writes outrageous, OTT insta-love with tons of sugar and steam. She loves cookie dough, summer barbecues, and her gorgeous cat Missy.

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5 stars
159 (22%)
4 stars
210 (29%)
3 stars
212 (29%)
2 stars
103 (14%)
1 star
36 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
Profile Image for mira.
931 reviews1,381 followers
April 11, 2022
2⭐️

i was here for the smut but it really wasn't good. i was also very bored.
Profile Image for *˚Remnant Light ‧͙⁺˚*・༓☾ .
348 reviews473 followers
March 8, 2023
**1.5/5 stars**

Respectfully, what the hell happened here? I didn't even recognize Cassie Mint's writing. It honestly felt like J. Kane stole the pen for this one and I hated it. The plot had no substance, the pacing was jarring, the characters were confusing and everything was so unrealistic. I mean it's been a sort of recurring thing that Mint's mafia romances are not her forte. I didn't expect much going into this but I read it anyway since I've set myself to read all of her stuff and review it. I just...this was the worst one.

Natalia Volkova is the daughter of a powerful man working in the mafia. She is tired to constantly be told what to do, and decides to sneak away to go on a hiking trip by herself (right). In the mountains, she passes by a cabin that just so happens to be owned by Carver, a man who's family was destroyed by none other than the Volkov's family (right). For years, he's been working on his revenge and when he realizes Natalia is nearby, he doesn't think twice and steals her away from her tent to keep her captive in his cabin (right).

I’d never even seen a tent in person. But what better way to test myself? To feel true freedom than alone, vulnerable and defiant, out here in the mountains?-Natalia

Girl's never been on her own, never seen a tent and decides to go on an adventure in the mountains without any knowledge or telling anyone where she is. What the hell 😂


I mean, just from this plot, you can already tell how farfetched it is. What even are the chances? And that's not even what frustrated me the most. What annoyed me was the fact the characters were extremely inconsistent. It was honestly a really bad attempt at writing enemies to lovers. Their attraction was sudden, disregarding any common sense and realistic behavior. First thing this girl did when she found herself binded and gagged was to open her legs and beg this stranger to pet her kitty. Every thought, every action felt out of place. Everything about them was jarring. And people who know me know that I like some psychotic characters with obsessive behavior, but this was not it.

I love Natalia Volkova. More than life. More than these mountains. More, even, than the sweet taste of revenge. And because I love her, I will set her free.-Carver


The story just didn't have any flow to it. In one night, they went from captive/captor to becoming intimate, to captive trying to kill captor, to captive asking captor to wash her hair, to heartfelt background story telling, to captive and captor working together to take revenge on captive's father, to having sex together, to captor trying to let captive go, to captive having stockholmes syndrom and throwing fit, to them declaring their undying love. All of this in one single effing night (to morning).

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

I hated the characters. Natalia was a brat and had no survival instincts. It felt like her personality made a 180 and she just felt like a stranger in her own story. And Carver was just an OTT man without a backbone. Nothing about them was charming. Nothing about their relationship made sense. There was no chemistry and no romance. Just felt like the author wanted to be edgy for this one but didn't have enough pages to convey the plot. Had there been more pages, more time to develop the characters, their respective background and their relationship, I might've given a better rating. This novella was just not it. And it's frustrating because Cassie Mint usually is a talented author.

✔️HEA
✔️Novella
✔️Dual POV
✔️Enemies to lovers
✔️Age gap
✔️OTT H
✔️Virgin h
✔️No OW/OM
✔️No cheating
🔥 Steam level: 1/5
Content warning

Would I recommend this novella? This author has many great novellas but this one was a flop in my opinion.

**Note that I do not rate novellas and full-length books by the same standards**

Wild Obsession Series
(Series Rating: ⭐⭐.6 /5)
1. Ocean Jewel 2. Mountain Captive** -
3. Desert Target - 4. Arctic Star
Profile Image for Brittany (Brit.tea.reads).
1,495 reviews445 followers
May 26, 2022
Cassie Mint does it again; she gives us this quick little insta love read!

Natalie Volkovs wanted to go hiking all by herself and not worry about her father's guards following her, so she lied and set out on an adventure, but she wasn't alone in the wilderness.

I can't wait to read the others from this series!
Profile Image for RachelReadsandSings.
1,383 reviews450 followers
August 28, 2021
YES THIS WAS SO HOT 🔥🔥🔥 Also, we love a good stalker/kidnapping romance where the heroine brings the hero to his knees (in more ways than one 🥵). Highly recommend if you enjoy Jessa Kane’s stalker novellas!
Profile Image for Alba M. .
1,724 reviews155 followers
June 3, 2022
Natalia quiere escapar de la presión, de la ira y de la vigilancia que implica ser una Volkov así que se mete de lleno en una ruta de senderismo por la montaña ella sola. No es buena idea y más siendo ella una chica de ciudad que nunca ha hecho nada ni remotamente parecido pero la libertad que siente es maravillosa... Hasta que no lo es. Cuando Carver descubre a la princesa Volkov fuera de su casa se le presenta la mejor de las oportunidades para vengarse de la familia que lo dejó sin nada. Pero a pesar de todo lo que quiere hacer Natalia empieza a ser para él algo más que un simple medio para un fin por lo que tendrá que tomar la decisión si necesita más la venganza o el amor.

La verdad es que la historia estaba bastante bien excepto por todo el asunto del secuestro y las ataduras y todo ese rollito que no me va mucho. El amor repentino, a pesar de que es lo que esperamos siempre en estos libros pos no me ha convencido. Y sí, me olvidé completamente de hacer la reseña como siempre. Tenedme paciencia yo es que soy así de desastre 🤣.

En fin, que para pasar el rato vale, pero realmente no es que me haya encantado demasiado, simplemente pasable.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
2,384 reviews28 followers
April 18, 2022
Natalia and Carver

Honestly? Totally disappointed with this book. It probably was my expectation that messed it up for me. I guess being a short story there was so much you can do to compact the plot. I don't know what it was really. The fury and determination of Carver to avenge his family's misfortune were so intense ok at the beginning I didn't expect him to crumble so fast.
Profile Image for Hollie.
237 reviews9 followers
March 17, 2022
At the moment really not getting on with any books... I've DNF 2 and hoped this would sort me out! But it didn't... I understand this was a short book, and at the beginning I was enjoying it, just wish it was a bit more plot based!
Profile Image for Beth.
1,188 reviews2 followers
September 17, 2022
Nope just nope. There is no coming back for Carver. He had been stalking her forever, hates her family. Kidnaps her out of her tent and you want me to believe that she falls for him. Nope
Profile Image for Shelby.
30 reviews1 follower
November 26, 2023
This was cheese but I loved it. It made me smile, laugh and overall was a good time if you don’t take it seriously. It had a very sweet ending and worth the 45mins it takes to read.
Profile Image for atomickitten.
1,004 reviews162 followers
May 16, 2023
1-1.5 stars

I dunno wtf happened here but I am not happy.
Because if I wanted to read Jessa Kane, I'd go for Jessa Kane.
And there's a reason why I stopped reading Kane.


This was all ridiculous, OTT to the nth degree, instacrap everything.

This wasn't the Cassie Mint I love so much.
This doesn't read like her.

And with a very heavy heart this is 1 star.
Because I truly hated this.

I only hope this was just a one time thing and we can all forget about it and move on like nothing happened.

Because I still love Mint.
Just not this book.


Profile Image for Mars.
374 reviews1 follower
Read
July 1, 2023
Natalia and Carver full length slow burn novel when???!??!?
Profile Image for Emily Pennington.
20.8k reviews366 followers
March 18, 2021
The Volkovs took Carver’s family from him when he was a boy. He wants revenge. So when he sees the Volkov heiress, Natalia, walk past his cabin in the mountains, he is ready to use her and satisfy the anger inside.

Natalia is oblivious to the danger. She is so glad to at last be left alone for more than a few hours, that she doesn’t mind the blisters from her new boots, the burn in her legs, the ache from the heavy backpack, and the thin oxygen up here in the mountains. Freedom was worth it all! At home, she had constant guards and escorts wherever she went. She had sneaked away from the professors and students on the heavily supervised class trip. All she had wanted was to live in the college dorms, but a Volkov doesn’t get to choose. So she’s taking matters into her own hands and enjoying two weeks alone in the woods. What could go wrong?

Natalia is setting up her tent when she hears a twig snap. See sees nothing, so she is alone… probably? But she feels something watching her. So she grabs her backpack and moves on. At the next stop, she doesn’t even make a fire or cook a meal. She dives into the tent, still feeling watchful eyes.

Carver has been hurting the Vokovs for months, sabotaging their businesses. He never expected to also get a shot at the Vokov girl. He climbs the boulder she pitched her tent against, listening to her panicked breathing. Should he speak and wait for her to throw herself out of the tent? Should he pounce right onto the tent and rip the fabric to drag her out and back to his cabin? Should he wait until tomorrow and pretend to befriend her to lead her willingly back to the cabin? She will fully awake right now. But he remembers earlier the look of joy on her face at the beautiful mountains. She wasn’t acting like a mobster ice princess. And he wasn’t expecting to be attracted to her. How far will he take his revenge? Where will they go from here?

There is a good amount of tension as the reader observes Natalia’s reaction to her sense that someone is following her, and the reader’s certainty that she’s right! There is a great deal of long-term hatred in Carver as he bides his time and damages the Volkov’s businesses. Does he hate enough to harm her? Or will he keep her for his own?
Profile Image for KMH.
446 reviews19 followers
March 18, 2021
And she has done it again! Oh another good one! Kind of has a hitman vibe with a bit of mafia thrown in that mixes well with the mountain man-ness. I loved how it opened up and you got introduced to Natalia and you got her background story and then you were introduced to Carver and you got to hear his background story and then you get the connection between their characters even though they haven't met yet. Throughout this book there has been a hint of darkness but it doesn't overshadow the story it just adds to it. I also enjoyed that there was this slow sensual tension that worked its way through the book that had you anticipating more. I also liked that the story mostly focused on them and their growing relationship and it only really mentions her family and his revenge slightly, just to give this story some edge. All in all I was gripped by this book, something that this author always manages to do to me, and I am left craving more. Saying that the last chapter or epilogue really ended this story well and it wasn't left with any unanswered questions and it was all wrapped up quite nicely and I loved the glimpse into their future and it really made it my favorite part of this book. I will be re-reading this in the future!! Where has this author been all my adult life??
Profile Image for Emily Lindsey.
Author 4 books21 followers
March 31, 2021
An interesting story that twists towards a HEA, this fast-reading novella held my interest from page one through the end. I loved the characters and how the plot grew from something dark to something beautiful. I love this new to me author and will be reading more of her work in the future.
2,978 reviews10 followers
June 22, 2021
Revenge

Natalia and Carver, he is going to use her for revenge. When he sees her face to face that all changes. He knows she means more then revenge but can he got his revenge and her?
Profile Image for Sharon.
873 reviews10 followers
March 22, 2023
Oh? Would you look at that.

Kidnapping, insta love, CNC and some kind of primal play. I'm here for it.

Although I was scared for a bit we wouldn't get any smut.

Definitely my favourite of Cassie so far.
Profile Image for heart.
296 reviews10 followers
March 26, 2023
2 stars

check out my tags/shelves for more info

okay no. heroine is stupid and annoying, unlikable and doesn’t know what she wants just like the hero. Chopping writing, choppy story telling, inconsistent. Disappointing hero, he hurts her but never apologizes, never grovels and the heroine is a pushover, doesn’t know her worth. No “i love you’s” not romantic, just bad sex. They sleep together then it’s a 3 years time skip and all of a sudden they are okay now? yeah no i dnf after that.

virgin heroine idk hero
slow insta
disappointed
disappointing hero
pushover heroine
obnoxious heroine
voyerism… (she give the Hero a BJ and she tells him to send a picture of it to her dad and he does…)
kidnapping
stalking
no grovel or apology
time skip (3 years??)
no i love you
not safe (not for me)
slight violence
no protection
no ow/om drama
push/pull from both
dnf
spicy lvl 2.5/5
Profile Image for alorah rodriguez.
57 reviews4 followers
May 12, 2024
HOLY FUCK.... this book given me enemies to lovers type vibe when enjoying this. this was hard to put down since it was soo addicting to read about especially when it came down to unwinding for the night before going to bed. the story starts of with natalia traveling in mountains while carver is spying on her throughout. he was obsessed with her to the point he followed her back to her tent and waited for her to sleep to tied her up and take her back to his place.. overall so many shit happened within natalia being there. so much spice that was in this book was breathtaking 😩. i'm overall confused when it came down to them being husband and wife while them having a daughter and another one on the way. i wished to know more of that. but overall cassie mint never fails to disappoint me with her short stories. definitely recommend this book
8,935 reviews64 followers
March 17, 2021
Natalia craves freedom from her over protective parents so fakes a college hike to get away, but her parents have a reason to protect her they are the Volkovs, the ones who took everything from Carver. Carver has been out for revenge for years and cant believe his eyes when the Volkov family princess is right on his mountain doorstep. he has watched from a far calculating now she has come to him unknowingly. and he doesn't plan to let her go especially with how their bodies react to one another. but can he fall for the woman whose family destroyed his own? this is well written steamy short insta loving, captive romance.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
3,125 reviews14 followers
June 15, 2025
“Mountain Captive” is a pointless piece of erotica (smut or porn if you prefer) which just rehashes a plot that has been endlessly written before.
The sheltered daughter of a crime lord takes a break from her bodyguards and embarks on a solo two-week mountain hike.
By the sort of happenstance that only lazy authors can come up with she walks right past the cabin of the one man who can (and intends to) destroy her family.
Of course he lets her walk away and get on with his scheming?
Notta a chance!
She's his captive, and (lawks) a virgin.
Within a very short time she's actively plotting with him and circling the drain as far as her virginity is concerned.
I gave up with just 10 pages to go.
1 Star.
6,168 reviews58 followers
March 19, 2021
This was a really quick read with inata love. I liked the storyline and the characters were entertaining. Carver has been out for revenge against the Volkovs after they took everything from his family and destroyed his parents. Natalia finally gets away from her family and is looking forward to camping and walking through nature. Carver grabs her in the night and takes her to his cabin so he can torture her father for his revenge. But it backfires on him. They are a perfect pair. They put the screws to her father and they have a fantastic HEA>I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
11.7k reviews48 followers
April 2, 2021
What happens when your revenge comes walking right by your window....stalk and capture it

Mountain Captive is the first book in the Wild Obsession series and it is definitely wild and obsessive. This story is about Natalia Volkova and Carver Ennox. The story-line is a blending of mountain man, mafia lite and revenge with a heavy dose of erotica and some obsession/Stockholm Syndrome added in. The book is well written and has an entertaining story with a couple interesting characters in Natalia and Carver. I did enjoy this quick read even if at times I was not sure about it as I was reading it.
185 reviews
November 10, 2025
mountain captive

Natalia lied to her crime family about where she is. No guards or family controlling her for the first time. Two weeks alone camping. She see’s a cabin on her hike, belonging to Carver.

Carver’s family was ruined by her family. He has been trying to destroy her father and his business. Seeing her walk by his cabin gives hime the opportunity to kidnap her.

Carver has been obsessed with her, battling his feelings for her and revenge.

Read the book for their story. You find out the details of what happened to his family.

I enjoyed reading their journey to a HEA and epilogue.
Profile Image for Alison.
1,507 reviews110 followers
August 1, 2023
A surprising treat.

I really wasn’t expecting a story with this level of darkness from Cassie Mint. I’ve been on a bit of a kick of her lately and this is the first one I’ve come across.

There’s some mention of primal play and there is definitely bondage and cnc. It was a super steamy little read and completely unexpected. Now I wonder if the rest of the series will be like this.

If you like a bit of rough and cnc, check this one out.
Profile Image for Alex Silver.
627 reviews24 followers
September 16, 2023
2.4/5
I don’t mind a captive romance or a villain but I have to believe the progression to love or it just feels like Stockholm syndrome. This just felt like she was trying to seduce him to survive. More lust than love and I didn’t understand when she started living him.
That said, I liked the sex.

Daughter in epilogue. Pregnant in epilogue. Revenge and captivity. Sends video of her sucking him off to her father. No cheating or breakup.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
4,334 reviews11 followers
March 19, 2021
A revenge plot that turns into something neither of them expected. I liked the twist to the storyline, thought the characters were developed. I would have liked the ending to be a little more flushed out, as it seemed a bit rushed. Enjoyed the epilogue as, it gave you good ending to this unexpected connection.

I am voluntarily leaving a review for this book that I received free.
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