Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Kidnapped by the Pirate 
AUTHOR: Keira Andrews
NARRATOR: Cornell Collins
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2018
LENGTH: 10 hours, 6 minutes
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.
REVIEW:
This book reminded me a lot of the good old bodice ripper historical romances I devoured when I was in my teens. Only at that point in my life I hadn’t yet discovered m/m, so starring two men was not anywhere my realm of possibilities. In a way it was nice to enter into that world again, it was nostalgic. At the same time I also realised my tastes has changed since then. I need more than this.
Nathaniel and his sister are sailing to Primrose Isle, a colony in the Caribbean where they are to start a new life. Their father, the governor has plans for them both, and in Nathaniel’s case it involves marriage to a girl he’s never met. Something he’s not looking forward to. On their way to the island their ship is overtaken by pirates and Nathaniel, the governor’s heir is taken prisoner to be ransomed of handsomely. The captain, Hawk, gives the governor one month to come up with the funds, and during that time Nathaniel is to stay locked up in the captains quarters and ordered not to make any nuance of himself. Only Nathaniel’s secret desire for men and Hawk’s fascination for the prisoner makes it hard for them to keep their hands off each other.
If you know me and have read my reviews in the past, you know that copious amount of on page sex bore me, it’s just not my cup of tea. This book had a lot of it. At times it felt like when they weren’t having sex, or talking about sex they were thinking about it. Which means that most of the book dragged for me. I know that many people love hot and heavy books, sadly they are just not for me. I needed more plot, something outside the bed, or the beach, or against the tree or… well you get my point. Nathaniel wasn’t the only one suffering from cabin fever at the end, I needed something else to happen. And when it did it was anticlimactic. Merely trading one bed for the other… I did enjoy the parts where they got to know each other, where we got a chance to see the characters beneath the masks, beneath the lust haze. Dreaming with each other about a future together. A future that seemed so far away. But those parts were few and far between.
Cornell Collins narrated this book really well. He matched the voices for Nathaniel and Hawk admirably and captured their personalities really well. He also captured the gruff voices for the pirates and the softer one for Susanna, Nathaniel’s sister. I’m also partial to his British accent and might just have to hunt down more British books in the future.
Just like the bodice rippers from my youth, this book held few surprises in terms of the plot. Sure that Hawk and Nathaniel were both men, was different but the rest was the same. Not that this was bad, but I need something more from my books. But if you are looking for a steamy romance, with pirates and a little bit of danger, this might just be the book you want.
RATING: 
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