TITLE: Kidnapped by the Pirate
AUTHOR: Keira Andrews
SERIES: –
PUBLISHER: KA Books (Self)
COVER ARTIST: Dar Albert
GENRE: Historical
E-BOOK: Yes
PAPERBACK: Yes
LENGTH: 298 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 26, 2017
PRICE: $4.99 – e-book/ $12.99 – paperback
BLURB:
Will a virgin captive surrender to this pirate’s sinful touch?
Nathaniel Bainbridge is used to hiding, whether it’s concealing his struggles with reading or his forbidden desire for men. Under the thumb of his controlling father, the governor of Primrose Isle, he’s sailing to the fledging colony, where he’ll surrender to a respectable marriage for his family’s financial gain. Then pirates strike and he’s kidnapped for ransom by the Sea Hawk, a legendary villain of the New World.
Bitter and jaded, Hawk harbors futile dreams of leaving the sea for a quiet life, but men like him don’t deserve peace. He has a score to settle with Nathaniel’s father—the very man whose treachery forced him into piracy—and he’s sure Nathaniel is just as contemptible.
Yet as days pass in close quarters, Nathaniel’s feisty spirit and alluring innocence beguile and bewitch. Although Hawk knows he must keep his distance, the desire to teach Nathaniel the pleasure men can share grows uncontrollable. It’s not as though Hawk would ever feel anything for him besides lust…
Nathaniel realizes the fearsome Sea Hawk’s reputation is largely invented, and he sees the lonely man beneath the myth, willingly surrendering to his captor body and soul. As a pirate’s prisoner, he is finally free to be his true self. The crew has been promised the ransom Nathaniel will bring, yet as danger mounts and the time nears to give him up, Hawk’s biggest battle could be with his own heart.
This May-December gay romance from Keira Andrews features classic tropes including: a tough alpha pirate too afraid to love, a plucky virgin captive half his age, enemies to lovers, first-time sexual discovery, and of course a happy ending. 85,000 words.
I loved Kidnapped by the Pirate by Keira Andrews. I grew up reading m/f historical romances in the 90’s, and this book reminded me a lot of them. Which is a good thing. I loved reading those privateer and pirate stories by Valerie Sherwood, Johanna Lindsey, and Fabio (don’t judge, his book Pirate is a great book). The stories were usually over the top and pure entertainment and they always had the virgin captive taken by the swashbuckling handsome, experienced pirate. This book reminded me of those books with a dash of The Princess Bride tossed in at the end when the Sea Hawke asked one of his crew if they had ever thought of being the next Sea Hawke when he retired.
Sure the story has some facts that you could nick pick about. Like the big age gap between Nathaniel and Hawke and the average life expectancy back in the 1700’s, or that a heavily pregnant woman on a month-long voyage would have been miserable and not likely to happen. Although, on the flip side of that coin, the woman wouldn’t have taken a voyage with a newborn also. So I think the pregnant woman is more believable. Also, they wouldn’t have had a prior warning when the hurricane hit Primrose Isle, and they wouldn’t have had cut lumber to put over the windows. Those are modern details. And yeah I could mark the book down because of those facts, but they didn’t pull me out of how entertained I was by all of the action and adventure and the chemistry between the Sea Hawke and Nathaniel.
The book was fast-paced, and I read it in one sitting. I absolutely hated Nathaniel’s father and the current governor of Primrose Isle. He was a right arrogant bastard, completely delusional, and very self-centered and big on revenge. I did love Nathaniel’s sister Susanna. She was very maternal and level-headed, and you could feel the love she had for her brother. I also loved how she helped Nathaniel with his reading problem. Nathaniel was severely dyslexic, not that they had any idea what that was back then, and was termed stupid. He could retain the information that he needed to learn if somebody read it to him and that’s what Susanna did for him. But Nathaniel would never be a scholar. His passion lies in the great outdoors, climbing trees, swimming, horseback riding, stuff like that. He hates being idle and is filled with nervous energy which makes the month-long voyage on the Merchant ship intolerable for him as they won’t let him do more than stand by the railing. When the pirate Sea Hawke captures their ship, he’s taken captive to be ransomed to his father.
Nathaniel’s hopeful that he will finally get to do something fun like help the crew with the ship, climb the rigging, or even wash the deck. However, he’s confined to the captain’s quarters with nothing to occupy his time but the captain’s collection of books. But Nathaniel’s fascinated by Hawke and his penchant for sleeping in the nude. Nathaniel’s supposed to marry a girl picked out by his father when he gets to the isle. Although Nathaniel has never been attracted to women, he’s expected to marry one. When he learns that Hawke also shares his predilection for men, he’s excited and wants Hawke to take his virginity. Nathaniel worms his way into Hawke’s heart. Will Hawke be able to ransom Nathaniel when the time comes and let him go or will he risk mutiny from his crew if he keeps him? Nathaniel may have started out sheltered and a virgin but he isn’t afraid to go after what he wants, and he wants Hawke, and he will do anything to keep him.
I loved the chemistry between Hawke and Nathaniel and all of the adventures that they get into. I also loved the epilogue. I know that I will be reading this book again and that is why I have given it 5 OptimuMMs.
***I would like to thank the author for the privilege and opportunity of reading this ARC. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***
OptimuMM 