Elaine White's Life in Books

Book – The Captain's Man ( #1)
Author – Scarlet Blackwell
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages - 99

Movie Potential - ★★★☆☆
Ease of reading – easy to read and understand
Would I read it again - Possibly


*There may be spoilers ahead.*


To start with, I want to say that I really enjoyed this. I wanted to give it a solid 4.5 stars, but there were a few instances that really spoiled the story for me and that's why it's so low and why I've marked the spoiler before I get started. I don't usually like to give spoilers, but this one is necessary.

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PLOT

The idea of a passenger falling for the cruise ship Captain really appeals to me. The way it's written and the way Josh deals with everything that happens is great and realistic. He reacts as most normal people would, which is nice to see.

The 'romance' of the story is more like lust-at-first-sight, rather than anything truly romantic. The 'relationship' is mostly about sex, but there are a few moments when you can really see chemistry between them. Because of that, there are a lot of sex scenes and this is where my main problem lies – I don't mind rough sex or kink, both of which are included in small doses, but I have a hard time dealing with the kind of consent that isn't thought about. The characters never take the time to ask if anything is acceptable; there are no boundaries. When one says no (Josh tries to throw Kane out in their first encounter, but he won't go; and Josh rims Kane when he isn't sure and doesn't officially consent) the other one tends to push him into it regardless. That's bordering the consent line far too closely for my liking. Kane has even pushed and shoved Josh in anger, in an over-reaction to situations.

Then, the full star removed, comes from the following issue – the engine room. This is nothing less than rape. That's NOT romantic. Saying it's one of Josh's fantasies doesn't negate the fact that Kane doesn't know that and Josh clearly said no, more than once. Kane went ahead with it anyway and, in my book, that is rape. I don't care if he changed his mind afterwards or if he was playing coy. No means no and neither of these characters really respect that. Kane even scolds Josh for asking to have sex without a condom, when they run out. They're total strangers and I'm on Kane's side with this, but it doesn't change the fact that Josh almost went ahead without one anyway.

The relationship between Kane and Josh is as much love and hate, as my relationship with this book is. There is a lot of temper tantrums, misunderstandings and overreactions on both parts. There's chemistry, but no romance and no build up. These are all the reasons that I love and hate the story.

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CHARACTERS

I really liked Josh, who was a bit depressed and negative, because of the circumstances. He'd been with a guy for 5 years, who he thought was coming on the cruise ship with him, until his partner took off with a new man. Now he's on the cruise alone and you can really feel how rotten he feels about this sudden twist his life has taken.

Erik and Freddie, his neighbours, who he meets on the cruise, are amazing. They're fabulous and scandalous in the most brilliant way. They are the light to Josh's darkness. I really love their dynamic and how they offer Josh a little sunshine, as they take him on as their pet project.

Despite the book being called “The Captain's Man”, the actual Captain, Kane, is actually barely in the story. He's one of the main characters, but his POV's are few and far between and kind of pointless. I really don't see why his POV's are included, because they don't tell us anything we don't already see from Josh's POV.

Kane is also one of my least favourite characters. About 50% of the time I hated him and the rest of the time I really loved him. He could be tender and romantic, but he was also arrogant, rude and violent more often than I'd have liked. Josh put up with it sometimes and encouraged it at others.

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OVERALL

I read this in one sitting, because I really enjoyed the story and the characters. However, I can't give it the 4.5 stars that it deserves. I removed 1 star because of the dub-con and the rape scene. I took another half star off for the lack of romance. There was chemistry, sure, but it's a raging, need-to-get-you-into-bed chemistry; nothing to justify the three little words Josh utters after only a fortnight.

The story ends with a HFN, but I don't see a bright, shiny future ahead.

For me, I'd have much preferred this story to end with John giving into to the allure of Erik and Freddie, to end with a poly-MMM HEA, rather than to let Kane get his way. He's such an arrogant, egoist character that I really, really hope he will improve in the next book.

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FAVOURITE QUOTE

“There was Josh’s problem. Being grateful to a man like Kane for throwing crumbs from his table. He didn’t want to feel grateful. He wanted to feel like an equal, a man desired for who he was, not as someone to pass the time. His lack of self-esteem had ruined last night. Never again would he tangle with someone as stunning as Kane. He needed to stick to what he knew.”

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