Kidnapped by Pirates by Keira Andrews

by Keira Andrews

5 stars

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.

If you have read anything we have reviewed you know out fan-girl love of Keira Andrews – in our eyes she writes complete gems.   And we thought Kidnapped by the Pirate, a bodice ripping, harlequin style romance?  We weren’t sure, but really, sexy swashbuckling men, we might have a new favourite Keira Andrews book!

Loved?

-          Tropes:  So many to choose from; virgin, May-December, captives, sexy-pirates, enemies to lovers – take your pick.  So good! Now reading the list, there is a lot going on, but it all works together.  The virgin trope usually annoys us, but being set in 1710 added to the truthfulness, times were different and people were betrothed instead of jumping from bed partner to bed partner.

-          Piracy:  We found the subject of Kidnapped by the Pirate fascinating.  We haven’t read many pirate romances, and this one had so many details of the period of time, the piracy vs. privateering, we felt pulled into 1710 and life aboard a ship.

-          Fun:  This is a fun read.  Swashbuckling, kidnapping, battle on the high seas. There wasn’t’ a point we skimmed or fast-forwarded, or rolled our eyes ant the ridiculous of the situation, because it is so enjoyable.

-          Sexy times:  Wooohooo Keira Andrews can write a sheet-burner, and Kidnapped by the Pirate is smoking hot.  When Hawk and Nathaniel finally give up to their bodice-ripping desires, there is no stopping these very dirty men, it is scorching. 

-          Epilogue:  No spoilers, but man, we love a good epilogue!

Meh?

-          Hmmmmm.  We can’t think of anything – you?

Kidnapped by the Pirate promises a fast-paced, adventurous love story, and it delivers whole heartedly.  If you enjoy adventure on the high seas, sizzling sex and a sweet romance than Kidnapped by the Pirate should be your next read!  

Review of The Chimera Affair by Keira Andrews

 by Keira Andrews

4 stars

When young Sebastian Brambani meets a sexy and exciting older man, he’s easily seduced. But for spy Kyle Grant, it’s all business. Sebastian is simply a pawn in Kyle’s mission to acquire a dangerous chemical weapon from Sebastian’s criminal father. Kyle’s life is his work for a shadowy international agency protecting the world from evil, and he can’t worry about what will happen to Sebastian when the job is done.

Sebastian’s unwitting role in Kyle’s plan is the last straw for his ruthless father, who has been embarrassed by his gay son for the last time. But when Kyle discovers Sebastian could be the key to finding the deadly Chimera, he rescues him from his father's hitman and fights to keep him alive. Can a hardened spy and naïve college student take down a criminal kingpin, stay one step ahead of the killers on their trail—and fight the scorching attraction between them?

This gay romance from Keira Andrews features sexy spies, an age difference, a sheltered and passionate virgin, action and adventure, and of course a happy ending.

Keira Andrews, sexy spies , suspense and a fast paced European adventure – sign us up!   But really we are unsure why we missed reading this Keira Andrew gem, but so glad we spent time with Kyle and Sebastian.

Sebastian Brambani is a spoiled rich kid, who has never measures up to the expectations of his criminal father, and being caught in compromising pictures with his college roommate has put him firmly on the best behavior list.  Hoping that spending the summer acting like the perfect straight son will get him sent back to his prestigious university in the US, but a chance encounter with a mysterious older man and one of his father’s famous parties blows that idea out of the water.  Kyle Grant is a spy, and is willing to do anything to get the job done; including seducing the son of weapons dealer he is hired to steal from.  But when the Chimera he is tasked in finding isn’t where Intel says it set in motion a deadly trek through Europe, trying to keep them both alive.

This book took us a while to warm up, we aren’t really much for the ‘virgin’ stories, age-gap, yes, but the unexperienced lover story isn’t our cup of tea.  But the action is the book pulled us through and we are so glad for that.  We jump straight into the story, the action starts on page 5 and goes goes goes from there.  There is a balance between the suspense and the romance and Keira finds this balance pretty effortlessly.  The best part is the blood pounding adrenalin rush in the action and the ramp up of the sexual tension between Kyle and Sebastian.

Kyle keeps trying to resist Sebastian, but the pull between these men is just too strong.  There is a significant age difference between Kyle and Sebastian, significant not only in age but in life experience but it works somehow. Sebastian brings out the protective nature of Kyle, and helps Kyle remember that he is a person outside of being a spy, that he deserves a real life.  And Kyle helps Sebastian realize that he is a capable, strong grown-up man, regardless of what his father thinks.  These men find each other at the right time, when they both need each other.  It is sweet and sexy, but oh so HOT!  Keira Andrews can write a sex scene that simmers off the page, and sometime we felt like the sex was ill timed, but it added to their chemistry.

The Chimera Affair is a must-read, a stand-out in the suspense/spy trope and a really believable romance. Fast-paced, sweet, sexy, enemies-to-lovers, age-gap, fantastic read! And one of the best parts is the added bonus follow up story  The Argentine Seduction, a great little bonus at the end of a great book!

Review of To Love and Protect by Kay Simone and Jason Collins

 by Kay Simone and Jason Collins

2 stars

Hank Bartlett dreams of something more than his sleepy Ohio hometown, where the work is back-breaking and the money he makes goes straight to his family. He's only 25—way too young to end up stuck in the same tiny town for the rest of his life... Especially when he's the only gay guy in a 100-mile radius.

When he walks into The Spike on his first night in San Diego, a gorgeous older man catches his eye across the bar. But Ben turns out to be more than just a handsome stranger—he's also kind, generous, and inspiring. And soon enough, Hank is head over heels.

Now if they could just figure out what to do about those pesky death threats...

"Get married and you're a dead man..."

When Bennett's father disowned him for being gay, Ben turned his back on his family's wealth. He relied on his intelligence and drive to build a business and a life that he's proud of. Ben refuses to be told what to do by an old bigot, and he's definitely not interested in fulfilling a ridiculous marriage requirement just to inherit money he doesn't want anyway.

So why the hell is he getting threats designed to keep him from the altar?

It was easier to ignore the threats when he was single and reeling from a nasty breakup. But that was before Ben fell for Hank—sweet, open-hearted, optimistic Hank who tugs at parts of Ben's heart he didn't even know existed. Suddenly, Ben isn't quite so sour on romance after all. But the closer he gets to Hank, the worse the intimidation gets.

Whoever's sending the threats will stop at nothing to break the two men up. Will Ben and Hank find a love to have and told hold, or will death do them part before they can even get started?

We finished this a few weeks ago and have put on reviewing cause, ugh, we were so disappointed.  We pick up EVERYHTING by Kay Simone and well, love all her work, but To Love and Protect was too much everything for us and we struggled to finish.  We struggled to hear Kay’s voice in wither character and with so many themes and twists, this one did not work at all.

Hank Bartlett is a gay 25-year old man leaving, for the first time his small Ohio family home, and stiking out to San Diego to rope himself a wealthy husband.  On his first night in town he meets Bennett, a handsome older man who seems just his type.  But Ben was disowned by his father when he came out, only to find out that his father willed him his entire estate, but he has to get married.  Ben doesn’t really seem to care if he inherits the millions, but his family benefits if he doesn’t get married. And just as he starts getting closer to Hank, he starts getting death threats.

SO many things going on, we have a Virgin May/December insta love – oh yes.  Even though Hank and Ben don’t hook up the first night they meet, they basically fall in love and Ben installs Hank as a permanent feature in his life; helping to fid somewhere to live, giving him a job at his company. Of course with the age-gap, Hank is also a virgin, and Ben finds himself wanting to keep and protect Ben forever.   And then there is the mystery – who wants Ben dead?  There is ex-boyfriend trouble and family infighting, and twists and turns which we found confusing.  Unfortunately in the end when the perp was uncovered, we were kinda like – really, hunh???

Needless to say we struggled.  To Love and Protect was too sappy, confusing, and lacked a flow.  Honestly we ended up skimming just to finish this book.  As hard as we tried to like To Love and Protect, we didn’t enjoy this author team up.