Kidnapped by the Pirate
Ratings15
Average rating3.7
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.
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Between three and four stars. This was my first time reading Keira Andrews, and it turned out to be very different from my usual reads. It reminded me somewhat of the books I've read by Ava March, because there are a lot of detailed sex scenes. But Ava March's books are usually light on plot (which is fine), while this has a solid plot, as well as good character development. I also really enjoyed the historical details, such as Hawk's life story as he tells it to Nathaniel. That section of the book felt especially real to me.
Nathaniel experiences a lot of shame and internalized homophobia early on, and it was just too thorough for my taste as a reader. There was so much of it, in fact, that I thought the author might turn it into something like humiliation kink when the sex scenes began, but that didn't happen. Nathaniel just gets over it, because of his emotional bond with Hawk (and because of all the sex, of course). Nathaniel is also ashamed that he can't read (I think he's meant to be dyslexic).
I really disliked that Hawk uses Nathaniel's shame about being gay and his shame about not being able to read as weapons to push him away. Especially the disability thing, that really put me off. I'm not even calling the book out - I understand its function within the story and that even Hawk didn't truly believe his own insults. But for me, it went too far, and prevented me from really losing myself in the romance.
But I liked the romance very much, as well as both of the MCs' emotional journeys over the course of the story. So although this book didn't match my tastes completely, I did enjoy it. I'll probably read more of her books.
