The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son, by A. E. Kendall (Clash at Sea #1)

Hello, there! It’s me, again, back with a pirate romance review! Er, gay pirate romance, of course. You can’t expect less of me, right? Haha! It took me a shameful month to read The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son, first book in the Clash at Sea series, and I know why: BECAUSE I INSIST ON CHEATING MY MONTHLY TBR’s! Instead of taking 3 to 4 days as this book would require of me, I’d sneak it in every day that I had free time that wouldn’t be used reading another book. Last Saturday I decided to end this madness and properly finish the book. Poor Kendall had her mailbox full of fangirlings and hysterical attacks from me all month long and for that, I apologize, haha! And all of this after she being kind enough to send me this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks so much, Kendall, and I’m sorry for being a pest!! HERE IS SAID REVIEW!

Michel is a nobleman in a quest. After a series of unfortunate events on his life (you saw what I did there), Michel decides to run off his comfortable and wealthy home in search of his older brother Alain, the only person on his family that acted the part. His brother was sent off to Porto Prince for allegedly bad behavior in society, but Michel is sure that their father was wrong about it and sent Alain off to make both Alain and Michel miserable.

Nothing would stop the French youth in his pursuit, not even a never-ending fever, seasickness during his trip from France to Porto Prince. Not even a tall, dark and handsome pirate that assaulted his ship. If he had to die fighting and desiring the man, so be it.

Galen is a pirate in a quest. After being wronged and humiliated (among other worse things) by another awful pirate captain, Galen is hell bent in pursuing the bastard all over the seas until he gets his revenge and peace of mind back. He knows he is doing the right thing for himself and nothing will stop him from getting back at the bastard.

Not even a very skillful and dashing Frenchman found at one of their targeted ships. If he had to die fighting and desiring the youth to save him and have him, so be it.

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

So, I took my sweet time reading this book. It was so intense and packed with adventure, action, romance and longing that I could have been found sighing and giggling every time I had my hands on The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son. I loved the characters’ construction, the writing style, the historical accurate setting, the plot, the twists, EVERYTHING! While I think it could have been shorter in some parts and wished we could have seen more about Galen’s past (like we did with Michel), it still was a 5 full stars read for me! ❤

The narrative style was my favorite kind: third person with switching points of view between Michel and Gale. This was crucial for us to understand and not hate Gale, as he is those silent, deadly and shy types, haha! You know, shy regarding feelings and demonstrations. Michel, in the other hand, is passionate, naïve and very forthcoming about any desire that he may have, so both completed each other and the story with the help of the switching povs.

The plot almost killed me, to the point that I e-mailed Kendall asking if I would have a heart attack on the end or if I could just grab a paper bag and wait for it to get better, haha!

Poor Kendall having to put up with me, but the plot was complex, detailed and full of twits and turns. Some expected, others completely mind blowing. I found it the perfect combination, as those twists made me second-guess myself during the reading. I thought I could predict the outcomes, but could I? I had already been right and wrong before – not to mention all the times that I was simply swept out of my feet by not seeing things coming, haha! It was very nice to live on the edge with this book and made me feel like I had a breath of fresh air among my historical romances. Don’t get me wrong, I love the downward sugared ones, but this one was so different *–*

As this is the first book in a series, it doesn’t make sense to talk about loosing ends, so moving on 🙂

The characters were one of my favorite parts on this book! They were so real and alive that I wanted to hug many and punch many, haha! I loved Galen’s crew and friends, that consisted of Phillip ( ❤ ), John, Alex, Erich (I’m almost sure that is his name, I’m awful with names, haha!) and Davey. I also loved Captain Jack, I hope to see him again on the next book and loved Alain. I even sympathized with the guy that was Galen’s captain’s mate and plaything, Marcus. It’s so new to me to love and remember so many characters as I finish a book that I’m a bit emotional right now.

Also, I felt these guys weren’t mere sidekicks. They were relevant and necessary to the story’s unfolding and I loved Kendall even more for that! ❤ Also, I got some new book boyfriends to add to my ever growing list *–*

Now, the main characters. OMG, WHAT WAS ALL THAT CHEMISTRY, ANGST AND LUST?! OMG, IT WAS SOO HOT!

I loved to see how Michel and Galen’s feeling developed on their adventure and how there was no kind of instalove, only curiosity and lust in the beginning. Michel was a strong and stubborn bottom that would never allow Galen to stomp on him and Gale was always worrying about Michel’s well being and what was best for him. Seriously, I fangirled and squeaked  a lot over them *–*

I feel on the duty to inform that every sex scene present in this book was meaningful, beautiful, needed and carefully executed to always express how much the parties involved cared for each other and wanted the act. No vulgarities, no endless fucking for no reason. Just love. In all kinds and forms ❤

Also, I need to point out how amazingly well the historical settings were described and presented by Kendall. She always worried about all the small details, increasing a lot my knowledge on a typical day in a buccaneer’s life. It was a most pleasant way of learning!

Overall, if you like pirate books, hot sex scenes well positioned, a swoon worthy romance and awesome twists, PLEASE READ THE QUARTERMASTER & THE MARQUIS’ SON! *–*

Thanks so much for reading my review 😀 Also, I’d like to thank Kendall for being a sweetie and having gifted me with a copy of Alain & The Duke, a novella that works out as a prequel to The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son! *–* Can’t wait to read more about Alain!! And, of course, also thank you for this book in the first place, haha! ❤ I loved it and I’m sure many other gay book fans will love it too!!