Review of the novel The Kraken’s Mirror by Maureen O. Betita as part of the Spice Box set of sixteen full novels.

Spice Box Title: The Kraken’s Mirror (The Kraken’s Caribbean #1)
Author:  Maureen O. Betita
Genre: Hot Romance Adventure
Published Date: January 6, 2014

Synopsis

Captain Alan Silvestri is a man haunted by a strange curse. Good luck is his to command, but it comes at the cost of any place to call home or people to reckon as family. Resigned to die and shunned by all, he is forced to sail every three days, until he begins to dream of a special woman. Treated by our youth-oriented society as invisible and sexless, Emily Pawes is ready to move on with life. She attends a pirate festival, hoping to recapture the make-believe magic she knew as a young woman. Lucky to win an interesting bit of booty at a brick-a-brac stand, she finds herself transported by the Kraken’s mirror through a magical portal to a land of Hollywood piratitude, where swashbuckling heroes own iPods. With little choice, Emily embraces the madness. Playing pirate has to be safer than falling into the arms of handsome Captain Silvestri, right? When they meet, sparks fly, passion flares. He needs her to be free, but more than that, he needs her to be whole. Setting sail and uncertain of who actually controls the wheel, they seek ways to defeat his curse of good luck and discover the Kraken’s mirror has plans for them. Will Emily stay in this pirate haven to fight alongside him or will he lose her because of his curse?

Goodreads The Kraken’s Mirror  |  The Kraken’s Caribbean Series

About the Author

Maureen lives along the lovely Monterey Bay and finds great inspiration in being so near the Pacific Ocean. She shares her home with Stephen, her high school sweetheart, married for over 30 years; a cat named Isabeau and a dog named Bonnie. She travels miles and miles to attend pirate festivals, renaissance fairs, scifi/fantasy conventions and writing conferences.

Author’s Social Media:  Facebook | Website | Twitter

My Thoughts on the Book

At first I was a little leery about this title. I’ve never been big on pirates, my love for Captain Jack Sparrow not withstanding (seriously, Johnny Depp is HOT). This one threw me off a little more, because it wasn’t even standard pirate romance. This turned out to be some sort of hodge-podge of pirates, romance, supernatural, fantasy and intrigue. For the most part, the story was compelling, easy to read and engaging. For me personally however, the inclusion of so many non-pirate characters – vampires, werewolves, witches and zombies to be specific – was actually off-putting and seemed like convenient plot devices. Even though pirate stories aren’t my forte, I would have preferred a straightforward pirate novel. But maybe I missed the point here.

The heroine captured me from the beginning, since she was older than most romance novel heroines. She’s reached that wonderful age where she simply says “fuck it” and does what she wants. There was some inconsistency in her personality and the swearing during sex scenes seemed a bit forced and not necessarily in line with her character in other ways.

The hero. Ah, the pirate. He sounds pretty amazing, especially for an older gentleman. And I do mean gentleman…inasmuch as a pirate can be a gentleman. I do enjoy how the author wrote this older man.

Overall, I recommend reading this one. It’s not my top choice, but it’s good for a summer read – especially if you find yourself on a Caribbean beach! Three outta four hippos.

The Spice Box Set

Authors: Raine Miller, Cathryn Fox , Erika Wilde, K.M. Scott, Nina Lane, A.C. James, Christina Thacher, Stephanie Julian, Kathy Kulig, Geri Foster, Lisa Alder, Jan Springer, Sarah Mäkelä, Maureen O. Betita, Riley J. Ford, Travis Luedke

Genres: Erotica, BDSM, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal, Satire,Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction Romance, Thriller Romance, Erotic Suspense.

Publish Date: June 29, 2014 on sale for one month only

ISBN:9781311437068

Synopsis

What do you get when you mix sixteen spicy reads by sixteen premiere romance writers in their respective genres? Then add a dash of HOT, a pinch of SINFUL, whisk in some BDSM, fold in some SENSUAL SIN, whip to a SEXY froth, and then let DESIRES rise. The result is SPICE BOX SET…..

Purchase Links

Kobo | iTunes | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

What’s Your Spice?

Sample Your Spice:  PDF  |  .mobi (Kindle)  |  .epub (Nook)

The epub and the mobi version will need to be downloaded and then uploaded to your device.

XO – T.