This is a pirate romance with a lot of cliches but it was a fun.
Kellan is a pirate captain that spends a lot of time navigating towards something using the stars and not telling his crew, but it turns out he's trying to find a way to break a curse bestowed upon him by a mythical being of the sea, marked by a conch shell scar/tattoo on his chest. He falls for a very (too?) young tavern boy with red hair and an attitude to match (Fletcher) that accidentally had a peek at him getting serviced by two men in a brothel, but then ends up saving him by taking him more-or-less hostage onto his ship when Fletcher very suddenly/conveniently loses a place to live that very night. Queue a bit of Stockholm Syndrome and Fletcher ends up falling for Kellan and is fully thirsty for what's in the captain's britches.
It's not the best writing or the most original premise, but once I got into the book, I really enjoyed the story and characters. ( )

2 stars



Warning: there is no pirating on page, and - come to think of it - almost none off page either, except for the mass murder of the poor mermaids. Here we have a serial killer, not a pirate.

Aside that one on-page murder scene, Captain Kellan does not live up to his "The Sea Demon" moniker in any way. The only sea-battle is truly botched by the pirates and their captain. It's absolutely mind boggling, considering these are experienced, hardened in multiple battles and pillaging pirates. That's it for the sea misadventures.

The rest of the time, the pirates are drinking in taverns and having fun with scarcely dressed horny wenches. On a rear occasion they are raiding villages just for the heck of it and pocket money. Off-page, of course.

All three prominent characters, Kellan, Fletcher and Alek, have almost identical backgrounds: poor homeless and starving children, pulled off the streets by an older male out of the goodness of his heart.

Oh, and Kellan and Fletcher are going at it like bunnies. I skipped that all, thank you very much.


And last, but not least, The Curse. The meaning is obvious, the resolution predictable.


PS I just reread my review. WHY am I rounding this UP??? All the good bits are off page, except for the bunny business - if you are into that business. The sea battle made me roll my eyes. There is one(!) woman in this book who is not a whore, and she is there for just a few paragraphs with only a handful of times she when she actually says something. Taking it down to 2 stars.
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