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 … 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.
This May-December gay romance from Keira Andrews features classic tropes including: a tough alpha pirate too afraid to love, a plucky virgin captive half his age, enemies to lovers, first-time sexual discovery, and of course a happy ending.
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Would be such a cool movie 🙂 Keira Andrews
I had the opportunity to read Keira Andrews’ latest release before it was published. I found the voice of the characters to be strong and compelling, the story gripping and the romance both steamy and touching. Keira skillfully crafted two very real men. When you see a pirate tale, you expect adventure on the high seas, and you get that. What you might not expect is the care Keira takes to create a legitimate historical romance within the construct of piracy. There was a lot of passion between the two characters, great internal and external conflict for them to overcome, and a satisfying HEA. I highly recommend it!
OMG, I enjoyed this story so much! I haven’t read Keira Andrews in a while, and this gem was such a treat. It had many things going for it that I absolutely love: big age gap, popping someone’s cherry, danger and swashbuckling adventure, a bit of angst, and a bevy of interesting diverse characters plus enemies-to-lovers trope.
I liked the slow but not too slow relationship that developed between Nathaniel and Hawk. It had just the right pace and increase in intensity. And the steam, oh my!, was very welcome. I loved how Nathaniel came into his own, how he stood up for himself. Hawk despite his growly ways was an honorable man. This pairing was perfect.
This story was a wonderful blend of rough and tender, adventurous and angsty. I enjoyed everyday sea life on board of a pirate ship. The ending was so sweet and absolutely satisfying.
I enjoyed this book so much. I read it while doing a reading challenge that insisted on pirates. They’re not normally my thing so when I saw a MM novel with this premise I was all in and boy was it fun. A demanding older man that’s a little bit villainous in all the best ways. A young man just coming into his own with so much naivety and hope you can’t help but smile. It was well written and enjoyable, a book I’d definitely recommend to a friend looking for a quick and super sexy MM romance set on the high seas.
Well SHIVER ME TIMBERS!!!
You would think anyone attempting to combine the “gay coming of age”, “kidnapped virgin defloration”, “May/December romance” and “sexy pirates” themes would end up with nothing but a historical hot mess. Keira Andrews not only pulls all of these off with great skill but actually creates something that is so tastefully done and highly enjoyable that even your grandmother could read this one and thoroughly enjoy it.
All the necessary attention to historical/nautical detail is there (though more nautical descriptive would have been welcomed) along with well drawn supporting characters in the form of young Nathaniel’s family and Pirate Captain Hawk’s Crew. Everything from the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers arc to the sexual discovery is well handled and allowed to play out in a way that is completely believable and thoroughly enjoyable.
The story is perhaps a bit claustrophobic as 75% of it takes place on Hawk’s ship (and almost all of that portion takes place in his quarters) so a few more island stops along the way would have been welcomed (if for nothing more than just a change of scenery) but this does not detract from the overall enjoyment of the story as a whole. This is my first Keira Andrews novel but it certainly won’t be the last and I’m looking forward to a long and happy association with this fine author.
Through the late 70s, all of the 80s and some of the 90s, I read romance novels. There, of course, were the endless historical romances by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsey, Laurie McBain, Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood and so many others. These writers lured me with their siren songs of romantic love. Among these tales there were chivalrous pirates outshining hookers with hearts of gold with their gallant deeds. Keira Andrews’ Kidnapped By the Pirate, stands on its own but in my heart of hearts, it is also a tribute to those stories I once loved so well.
Andrews has created an enchanting moment to reminisce and something altogether new. None of those long-ago romance novels had ever even hinted at matelotage. The union of two pirates, two men.
Like with so many of her books, Andrews integrates a beautiful sense of authenticity with fictional characters filled with enough humanity to practically burst out of the page. Hawk and Plum are certainly now two of my favorite characters.
This book hit all the tropes you would want in a pirate/captive romance. A misunderstood alpha pirate, a sweet yet feisty virgin captive, an intense romance and even more intense sex, and a daring escape with a lovely happy ever after. The writing was extremely well done, and I love the dialogue and character development. Historical romances can be a hit or miss for me, but this was so well done and extremely fun to read.
9/2020 Update: I have listened to this book so many times since I discovered it a year ago. I enjoy more each time.
10/14/2019: “Regency” is often not my thing, so I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this one as much as I did. I will say, for “purists”, they might find this irritating for the same reasons that I enjoyed it. There’s definitely a *broad* acceptance of MM relationship in this. There was a lot of “we know what’s going on & we’ll just all agree to ignore it” publicly kind of thing.
I enjoyed a new-to-me narrator in Cornell Collins. I loved his standard reading voice and that he could give each character their own voice. As other reviewers mentioned, his voice for Hawk sometimes comes off smarmy and curmudgeon-ey instead of merely older than Nathanial. I got over it but can see how others might not. YMMV.
There were parts that were a little slow and laggy, but overall a good story and I’d be willing to listen to it again. We did get to know both characters really well and that’s something I truly appreciate. Definitely an Audible Escape gem.
Talk about hot! Great day in the morning! This story about singed the hair off my head. It was so super spicy but in a way I that found thoroughly enjoyable. The audiobook was competently narrated by Cornell Collins who was able to draw me into the story so completely. The main characters are so delightful. I was cheering for these both to fall in love so early in the book, it was surprising. I didn’t want the ‘bad guy’ to be a bad guy and I was thrilled when he turned out to be just what the other guy wanted and needed. You are going to love this one, folks. Hats off to Keira Andrews for a wonderful read!
I had high hopes for this MM Pirate historical romance and while it started on a good foot for me, it kind of fell flat by the time I was done. Kidnapped by the Pirate had all the tropes I love: age gap (and a big one 18/41), kidnapping for revenge, forced proximity, pirates, a little grumpy/sunshine action, and some rough and steamy scenes. However, and this may have just been me, I had a hard time connecting to Hawk. I enjoyed Nathaniel and his innocent, adventurous personality. But Hawk? I don’t know. I kept waiting on that moment that made me fall for him and I just never reached that point. So for me, the relationship lacked something for me. I guess I didn’t quite believe their chemistry which made me not as invested in their relationship.
CW: violence, kidnapping
Overall rating 3 stars
Steaminess 3 stars
I liked the book, the sex scenes were pretty well written and the story was as well. The main characters are likable as well, Nathaniel is too innocent for his own good and Hawk was pretty Dramatic and that’s the main thing I like about him.
What I didn’t like was how Nathaniel fell for the man who literally kidnapped him. That was the most questionable thing about this whole book. This man has treated him pretty badly when he first met him and them growing closer was touching but how they met was the part that got me.
But by ignoring that, I was able to enjoy the book. At parts it kind of got hard to follow and it left me confused but other than that I was just fine. I give this book a good 4 stars.