Blog Tour ~ Prince & Pirate by Elliot Cooper ~ #Review #CharacterBio #Excerpt + #Giveaway

Blog Tour ~ Prince & Pirate by Elliot Cooper ~ (Review, Character Bio, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Title: Prince & Pirate

Author: Elliot Cooper

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: November 28, 2016

Category: Romance

Genre: Historical

Sex Content: Explicit

Pairing: MM

Orientation: Gay

Identity: Cis

Length: Novel

Words: 60900

Pages: 120

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow

Purchase Links:

NineStar Press ~ Amazon ~ AllRomance

COUPON CODE: Get 20% off preorder on NineStar Press website with coupon code “preorder”

* (Good until release day)

Book Blurb

Prince Gavin is powerless to refuse when his father demands he secure an alliance with a distant kingdom. At first, he sees the journey as a chance to prove his worth and indulge in the grand adventures of his dreams. Yet nothing seems right about his father’s paranoid insistence he travel by merchant ship while disguised as a diplomat. Once out on the open sea, Gavin learns he’s been tricked into boarding an infamous pirate ship: the Ebon Drake.

Captain Marcas Drake is delighted to discover the courtier he’s kidnapped is really a prince. Acquiring such a hefty ransom will prove once and for all he’s a brilliant pirate in his own right, not riding the coattails of his father’s fame. And using his charms to seduce his prisoner makes for an entertaining pastime. But unfortunate events turn the Ebon Drake’s crew against their captain before the ransom can be carried out.

Marooned, Marcas and Gavin’s new equal footing turns the pirate’s sensual game into something else entirely. However, being stranded on a tiny island becomes the least of their worries when rescue arrives in the form of the bloodthirsty Crimson Queen, a pirate who’s been chasing Marcas for years. Working together to escape the queen is their only hope of freedom and a chance their growing love might outlast their misadventures.

Excerpt

Elliot Cooper © 2016

All Rights Reserved

“I’m sending you to Highbron—alone,” King Malcolm said. His stony expression revealed more than his tone; he would not back down.

Prince Gavin’s chest tightened, understanding he needed no further proof of his father’s loosening grip on reality. Send his sole male heir across the sea to a foreign land alone? No sane king would order such a thing.

His father had been losing touch with the world at large over the past five years. It had been disheartening to watch the once warm, tactically minded man become paranoid about traitors, spies, and the threat of pirates to their island townships sprinkled throughout the expanse of Siren’s Deep. But the ridicule he levelled at his son for the imagined slight of not being Malcolm’s exact copy ripped Gavin’s emotions to tatters. Gavin clung to a sliver of affection for his father, yet it was difficult to tell if the man could remember he once shared that tender emotion.

“You won’t send any guards with me? They’re not mere travelling companions, Father,” Gavin said. Once the words were out of his mouth, he regretted their lecturing slant.

“I know what they are, boy.” The king’s nostrils flared in annoyance as his voice rose. “You will be travelling alone. In disguise. Make your preparations for your personal belongings. You leave at midnight.”

Gavin’s brows furrowed. Why so much caution, only to throw him to the wolves once he was away from the safety of Castle Crakesyde? And why the sudden rush? His father had first mentioned his plan in a vague sense a week before, declaring it again at dinner that evening. Surely a week wasn’t enough time to make all the necessary arrangements.

“Am I to travel on a navy ship?” It wasn’t as though Gavin hated travel or the idea of getting out and seeing the world. In fact, he was rather enamoured of the concept. A trip on one of Crakesyde’s navy vessels would ensure his personal safety and allow him to experience the world in a way he hadn’t been afforded in his eighteen years. But all hopes were dashed when his father frowned. He knew that look: intense disgust wrapped in consternation.

“You’d have an entire entourage of navy vessels parade you across Siren’s Deep, wouldn’t you, boy? And what purpose would that serve?” The king stared hard at Gavin for a moment and barrelled on as soon as he opened his mouth to reply. “It would draw undue attention! You’d be a beacon for cutthroats! All that roiling of the sea would draw the creatures from the depths! Leviathans! Sea dragons! Sharks! Besides, the Royal Navy isn’t a chauffeur or well-dressed nanny; those men do real work!”

“I didn’t mean more than one ship, Father,” Gavin protested. His pale face flushed red in embarrassment. The king might not think anything of calling his son a fool within earshot of the guards outside his chamber door, but Gavin knew the power of perception. He would never be able to gain the respect of the castle’s staff if they all thought him incompetent and thoughtless based on the king’s frequent vocal assumptions. “I understand the importance of the Royal Navy keeping the plague of pirates in check.”

“Then you should also understand that just last week two of our navy vessels were destroyed by this ‘plague.’ All because my so-called advisors on the King’s Council felt I should send patrols away from our coastal border. The fools!” King Malcolm’s fist slammed down on the ornate table beside his chair. He didn’t look moved by the shock on Gavin’s face. “Two separate incidences, both within our nearest colonies. The Crimson Queen, that wretched wench! She went on to sack the township of New Auchen! The gall!”

“A-and the other incident?”

“Who do you think? That blasted Captain Drake! At least he left the nearest township alone. But that’s saying nothing for the fine sailors we lost.” With that thought weighing heavily in the king’s private sitting room, Malcolm closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his temples. When he looked at his son again, he pointed a thin finger. “You will be my diplomat only, do you understand? You will travel as other courtiers do, by merchant ship. I have secured passage for you on the Maiden Fair, which is due in port in a fortnight. You will travel by coach to Crowsmouth. This is an order from your father and king, and I will not hear any further protests! These precautions are all for your own safety and the continued safety of our sailors. I wish you to succeed in your mission as we’ve discussed and return with good news.”

“Should I speak with anyone on the Council regarding arrangements?” Gavin set his teeth to keep from saying anything more to inflame his father’s ire.

“You should speak with no one about the nature of your journey. The less outsider involvement, the better. I’ve made the arrangements for your travel myself—an added precaution against my detractors.” Malcolm’s anger cooled as he settled back down into his favourite chair beside the large empty hearth.

Gavin nodded his understanding of his father’s instructions. What the king wanted, he was entitled to. If he wanted to send his son on a suicide mission, so be it.

“I will make haste, My King,” Gavin said, returning to old formalities. He bowed, turned, and strode out of the king’s chambers with what little dignity he had left.

Character Bio

Name: Gavin

Age: 18

Ethnicity: white (and pale)

Eyes: hazel

Hair: red and wavy

Build: lanky/lean

Sexuality: gay

Gender: cis male

Occupation: crown prince of Crakesyde

Family: King Malcolm (father), and Princess Euphemia aka Effie (younger sister)

Skills: fencing, reading, worrying

Favorite things: books (especially ones about pirates of fact and fiction), theater, inappropriate men

Goal: To reach the kingdom of Highbron to secure a marriage for his sister. Pulling this off without dying at sea would be preferable.

Dreams: To see the world outside the castle he grew up in, to support and promote the arts in his kingdom, and to accomplish both while somehow living up to his father's contrary expectations.

Challenges: Externally, Gavin will have to face captivity, pirates of all stripes, and the challenges of exile. Internally, he'll wrestle with his attraction to a man who's wronged him, his ever present drive to make his difficult-to-please father proud, and his looming fear that--as his father asserts--he'll never truly be fit to rule.

***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by NineStar Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***

I have to admit I wasn't too sure how I felt about this book until I was around 25% or so. While it's labeled as historical, I think it's more of an historical fantasy, as it takes place in a fantasy world. Anyway, if as me, you feel a bit lost at first, please hang in there, I promise you it does get much better. 

Prince Gavin has noticed the decline in his father's mental health for the last five years, but he never expected King Malcolm to send him, the crowned prince, away on a sea trip without any guards to look out for him. However, even if he knows it's a suicide mission, it's not like he can say no to the king. What he didn't expect was that he'd find himself kidnapped by the infamous Pirate Drake within hours of boarding the ship that was to take him to the kingdom of Highbron. 

Pirate Marcas Drake is not your usual run-of-the-mill pirate, though, and when he realizes that Gavin is not just a diplomat sent to Highbron by King Malcolm, but the crowned prince, he decides that he'll exchange Gavin for a ransom, but in the meantime he can seduce him. He didn't count on his crew to be so supersticious and thinking that Gavin, being a redhead, would be a threat to them all, turning on him and leaving both Gavin and Marcas stranded on a small island. 

Gavin isn't too certain if giving into Marcas' seduction attempts is a good idea, but the attraction between them continues to grow, even when faced with a new and bigger threat than they'd had to face until then... the Crimson Queen.

I really liked Gavin and Marcas, even if at first I wasn't sure what to make of the pirate. Marcas ended up growing on me, though, and he ended up being my favorite of the two of them. I loved seeing Gavin grow up throughout the book, until he was a man that could actually rule the most powerful kingdom in this world. They had great chemistry and I just loved their interactions. 

I also liked Gavin's sister and the Crimson Queen was so entertaining, even if she was completely insane (or maybe because of that?) 

This is not quite a romance, it's more like an adventure book with some romance. It's filled with turns and twists that kept me at the edge of my seat and I was swept away to this fantastic world Elliot Cooper created. Very recommendable!

Rating: 4 Stars

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Bio

Elliot Cooper writes speculative fiction featuring queer characters. His novels and novellas come with hopeful and happy endings, though his short fiction runs the gamut of styles and genres. He strives above all to make his readers feel, while also increasing positive representation of LGBTQ characters and their stories.

Website: www.elliotcooperwrites.com

Twitter: @elliotwrites

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