Review - First Mate's Pet by Drake LaMarque

Warning: If you haven’t read the first book of this series, there may be some spoilers in this review of the second.

Gideon seems quite happy with his four lovers, each of whom excites him in different ways. He’s learning to submit to Ezra while discovering the joys of leather, while also finding out that Zeb is still a very bossy cat even in human form. The main cloud on the horizon is the navy’s search for the Grey Kelpie, and Gideon, whom they believe was kidnapped by Captain Tate and his crew. There’s also the specter of Solomon’s witchcraft lurking in the background.

This second book of the His Piratical Harem series serves mostly to solidify the five main characters and their rather unusual relationship. While the cat Zeb’s newfound human form is curious, it’s Gideon’s submission to Ezra that gets special attention. The first mate introduces Gideon to a whole world of leather, bondage, and discipline.

The scenes involving Gideon and Ezra are certainly the book’s hotest, and in many ways most pivotal, moments. Although the fantasy aspect of the setting could allow for almost anything, the author has kept the kink apparently in line with the times. Although improbable, the saddle shop with a secret back room full of leather gear isn’t totally unbelievable.

Everything builds up to what is a fairly obvious dramatic climax, which leaves us with quite a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end. We’ll have to wait until the next book to see how Gideon gets out of the biggest mess yet.

“First Mate’s Pet” is available from Amazon.