Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Scoundrel
AUTHOR: Wendy Rathbone
PUBLISHER: Eye Scry Publications
LENGTH: 176 pages
BLURB:
Antares is a willing sex slave, trained in the harems of Anada since the age of 18, and owned by a wealthy master who spoils his slaves. But all that changes when Empire soldiers invade Antares’ world and he is taken away from the only life he’s ever known.
In a colonized galaxy where starships are as common as houseflies, and a dark Empire seeks to control thousands of civilized worlds, there are those who fall through the cracks and refuse to be conquered, including the pirate, Slate, and his crew.
Out in the darkness of the unknown, among Empire soldiers and scoundrels, will bad fates befall Antares and his fellow captive companions?
Will Slate finally find the love he’s been looking for his whole life?
Can Slate and Antares ever see eye to eye?
A male/male romance to end all male/male romances!
REVIEW:
At the age of 18, Antares chose to pursue the live of a pleasure slave, trained and brought up to pursue the giving and receiving of it to and for whomever he belongs to. Life changes drastically, however, when his planet is invaded and he’s taken from the only home he’s ever known. Life has been hard for Slate but he’s made his own way in a galaxy that has done its best to keep him down. Thieving is his way of life but when he manages to capture a ship of the Empire, he finds more than just the regular loot and salvage he’d been looking for.
Okay, where to start with this one…well, for one I thought I’d actually get to see more action in this story than what I got. The book starts off after Antares and the other pleasure slaves have been taken so there was no seeing his planet being invaded and it honestly felt like being dropped in the middle of something without the context needed to really understand. Now, I could go out on a limb and say that’s how Antares felt with his situation and we’re meant to empathize with him but I honestly don’t think that’s what this was. I mean, right after finding out he’s already been taken captive, we’re straight into the sex. Like, BAM. Right there. Pleasure slaves, I get it, but the entire book was like this. There was a page or so of actual talking and then right to the sex. From the blurb I was expecting more interaction between the characters and hey, Slate is a Pirate so I was expecting piratey things but not once do you get to see it.
Honestly, I expected so much more from this than I actually got. I had a bunch of expectations about what I’d see in this but they just fell flat. I did like seeing how Antares was stepping out of his comfort zone and I really enjoyed the conversations between him and Slate but that was secondary to all the sex that went on in various ways. Slate could’ve honestly been any generic character and the book wouldn’t have really changed; having him labeled as a pirate was actually detrimental to the book since I never got to actually see him act like one and I came away disappointed as a result. If you want a book with a lot of sex and a slight sci-fi theme, you may enjoy this one but if you’re like me and wanted something with some more depth to it, you may wish to look at something else.
RATING: 
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