Title: Caught

Author: Kimberley Cale

Pub. Date: September 10, 2020

Pages: 224

Pub: Self Published

Genre: Romance Mythology

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

A vengeful pirate…
Ruthless pirate captain Quinn O’Connor is bent on getting revenge on the creatures who wrecked his ship and killed his crew. When he claims their leader as his captive, he doesn’t expect the scorching consequences that come with being stranded with her on a mysterious island.

A beautiful sea temptress…
Lorelei, a daughter of Poseidon, is willing to bargain with the dangerous pirate who captured her in order to save the ones she loves. He believes the worst of her and her kind, and when he drags her onto dry land, turning her beautiful tail into a pair of unsteady legs, she’s not sure if she’ll be able to return home—and soon she starts to wonder if she really wants to.

Magic and mayhem bring them together…
With each smoldering kiss, each heated touch, their desire blazes higher. Can they overcome misunderstandings and monstrous enemies seeking to tear them apart? Will a mermaid challenge her fate for the love of a pirate? Will the vengeful pirate give up his revenge and take on a god to save his mermaid?

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book ended up really not doing much for me. I’d requested on a whim and the key words “pirate” and “mermaid”. I figured it would be a quick, enjoyable read. In the end, I just didn’t really care. One part of me liked that it was short, which meant I breezed through it in one sitting. The other part of me wished it were longer so more character and world development could have occurred.

I don’t think the book is bad, and it definitely has potential, but I didn’t get to spend enough time on the world or with the characters to develop any sort of attachment.

Not to mention that Quinn really doesn’t start off in a favorable light. Like, at all. In fact, I almost DNF’d because I was super uncomfortable with the thoughts running through his head. I can understand his anger, but the ferocity and vulgarness seemed over the top and gross.

I also didn’t expect smut – and somewhat crude smut at that.

Again, wasn’t a fan of the vulgarness.

I also had some issues with the plot and how underdeveloped it all felt. The whole Greek Mythology, Fairie aspect, magic is real and unquestioned confused me. Okay, I can believe mermaids and sirens, because they tend to go hand in hand with Pirates, but the other stuff felt like it was included just as a way of explanation. Except I was left with more questions.

Despite the issues I had – I can see the potential, and I strongly believe that if the book had been better, if we’d gotten to know the characters better prior to them meeting (whether through flashback, or the timeline starting earlier) all of my issues could be resolved.

Maybe I’ll check out the other books in this series, but ultimately this just didn’t do much for me – despite enjoying the concept.