Enslaved By the Ocean: 4 Stars

Author: Bella Jewel
Length: 223 pgs.
Audiobook Length: 6 hours 55 minutes


This was another freebie I picked up and I added audible narration for $1.99. Pirates just fascinate me – adventures on the open seas, battles with other pirates, making captives walk the plank, forever wandering with no home other than their ship. I usually snatch up anything having to do with pirates when it’s free.

This was a delicious, naughty adventure I enjoyed despite the horrible audiobook narrator. She was such an off choice for this book. Despite that I still liked the story. It revolves around Indigo, a woman who decides to travel by boat with her best friend Eric from America to England to escape an abusive ex who’s being let out of prison. She’s the one who actually put him in prison, so she has reason to be fearful. On their way, their ship wrecks and their guide is killed. She and Eric float for days before being found by a ship of pirates.

Eric is imprisoned by their “rescuers” and Indigo is meant to be given to a different pirate to settle a debt between him and this ship’s captain, Hendrix. Hendrix and Indigo have sparks immediately, though he’s closed off because he’s, well, a pirate and doesn’t want any attachments. He can’t deny he’s attracted to her however, and things soon start to happen between them.

The erotic bits were so much fun. Hendrix and Indigo have such chemistry that I couldn’t wait for them to get together. And there’s just something about a bad boy that makes it that much more enjoyable, especially when they start opening up little by little. You can’t get much ‘badder’ than a pirate.

The plot goes a little wonky at times: Indigo has a run-in with her abusive ex, her best friend Eric is a limp noodle cockblocker (going so far as to SLAP her at one time which has NO repercussions for him!?), and a storyline about her father who abandoned her as a child comes back at the end in an unlikely way. But I can overlook all that. This is a book simply meant to give you those enjoyable tingles while weaving a tale of pirates and sea adventure, and it was a fun read for me. With this genre my requirements are usually simple – does it make me tingle? Is it fun? Is the dude schmexy? Is the girl likable enough not to make me want to tear my hair out (or hers)? If I can answer all those with a yes then it’s 4 stars from me.

Onto the next book in the series!