Reviewed by Tara

TITLE:  The Butcher and the Beast

AUTHOR: Sean Michael

PUBLISHER:  Totally Bound

LENGTH: 104 pages

BLURB: Stephen is a doctor, a practical man who wishes his sister wouldn’t worry so about the pirates that plague their island home. So it’s ironic that Stephen himself is set upon by just those pirates, who carry him off to heal their wounded captain.

John is a pirate Captain, master of his fate, and used to getting what he wants. And he decides he wants Stephen, even when the good doctor wants nothing more than to run away from him. Can the beast convince the doctor the sailors call the butcher to stay with him?

REVIEW:  I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book yet. But I have my reasons for confusion. Stephen is a doctor, a gentleman through and through. He has his life set out for him, governors doctor and betrothed to the admiral’s daughter or so he thought. After reassuring his sister of his safety he is moseying along when he is approached by two men. After finding out if he is a doctor, they proceed to kidnap him and name him the butcher in the process. They are taking him to their wounded captain, a man Stephen promptly recognizes as nothing but a beast of a man. After making the captain promise to return him when he is no longer in need of him, the doctor sets to putting the captain back together. Not realizing his error in judgment, Stephen figures out that he might be in over his head. John, nefarious captain of the high seas, takes what he wants and definitely doesn’t take no for an answer. He sees the slender doctor as his next conquest and tricks the man into letting his guard down in thinking that he would be returned after he finished fixing his wounds. The fire he sees in the doctor sets him aflame more than any other has in the past and he wants to break down every barrier that Stephen has. Day by day, little by little, he releases his appetite on Stephen and the good doctor is appalled at what is happening. Stephen tries to bash his head in, tie him to the bed, cut him with a sword, run and throw himself over board but all the struggling seems to do is make the pirate want him more and more. As the weeks wear on Stephen’s resolve begins to crumble and he starts to want what the pirate is offering. But will he keep Stephen when he finally gets what he wants or will he move on to the next conquest?

I really don’t know how to feel about this one. I love a pirate tail so don’t get me wrong the whole swashbuckling and high seas action rev my engine. But this one didn’t really have any fighting since most of the fighting seemed to be going on between the two mc’s. I honestly feel very sorry for Stephen and I’m not sure if left to his own devices would he have fallen for the pirate outside of being held captive on the ship. The captain pretty much forced his attentions onto Stephen since most of the first parts of the book are spent with him constantly telling him no. That usually rubs me the wrong way and it kind of does in this as well. I know I know pirate tale and usually what do pirates do but plunder their stolen booty. I felt that Stephen was just browbeaten into this desire and his shouts of you heathen and beast kind of made him seem fairly girly. John is your typical dominant man. He sees the doctor as prey and just makes it his mission to have him. His threats of letting the others on the ship take Stephen if he does not consent get on my nerves. Although it kind of backfires on him since he ends up falling in love although the words were not actually spoken. The sex when it finally does happen consensually was hot of course and has the passion that we come to expect from a Sean Michael book. The love for me was just not there. I mean did Stephen just buckle under a Stockholm syndrome kind of situation?  He ultimately ends up bonding with his captor and everything is all roses and sunshine but for me this tale was just not for me.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon 

Totally Bound 

ARe 

TAGS: