Blog Tour: Bella Jewel's "Enslaved by the Ocean."

@BellJewel 73   @ReadLoveLust
The Hopeless Romantics Book Blog are pleased to be a part of the Blog Tour: Bella Jewel's "Enslaved by the Ocean."

~ 3.5 Hearts Review ~

Synopsis:

Indigo is running, she has no other choice. She's done something bad, and there only way to escape it, is to flee her home, and her country. She sets out on a luxury Yacht, to take her to another country with her best friend Eric. But she runs into a problem. 

The Yacht catches fire. 

She ends up stranded in the ocean, terrified, and scared of the uncertain. Until they show up. The pirates. Terrified, Indigo and Eric have to face the reality that this might be the end for them. These are pirates, they are the criminals of the ocean. What chance have they got of surviving this nightmare?

Then she lays eyes on Hendrix. He's the Captain, he's gorgeous, rugged, and mean. He's planning on keeping her to repay his debt to another man, by selling her. Now Indigo has a crazy ex after her, as well as a pirate she can't seem to get out of her head.

Come on this heart wrenching, dark, angsty and dangerous adventure as two people so opposite, find something so beautiful.

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18625453-enslaved-by-the-ocean

Blog Tour Review:

When I heard the hottie in Bella Jewel's latest novel was going to be a modern day pirate, I have to say I was intrigued. I mean I've gone through my fair share of book boyfriends: from cops to robbers, from princes to paupers and honestly, I thought I'd seen them all but no, this was a new one for me. 

Overall, I have to say, I did enjoy "Enslaved by the Ocean." I loved the primary and secondary characters and the premise of the story line was good.  However there is a BUT. Unfortunately, I do feel that there were a few occasions  where the delivery of certain aspects of the story  fell short. I know I know, don't shoot me!!! I think a prime example is the last 20% or so of the book where we got to see Hendrix' past unveiled as well as another two twists that were completely unrelated. There was a lot of drama and a lot of action but because this is a shortish book, it meant that all of these sub plots felt crammed in and rushed. I wanted more depth, more emotion, more angst. I wanted to feel what the characters were feeling, I wanted to feel heart break for everything Hendrix had gone through. I wanted to feel distraught for Indigo when her past caught up with her but before I got the chance, the story line had moved on and I was then trying  to play catch up to the next lot of drama that had started to unfold. 

Hendrix was the modern day pirate who did not win me over initially. Fine he was drop dead gorgeous, with a body to die for but he was a brute who was ruthless and who had a very limited conscience. I struggled to connect with his character for the first part of the book. However, the ice queen did thaw when I saw a softer, more gentle side to him, a side he kept hidden and even when it did surface, it was always under a guise. 

He is acting like a monster but there is a depth to his eyes that says otherwise.

There was a lot about Hendrix that was a mystery. Why take Jess in when he was quite happily willing to sell Indi? Why did he withhold certain things from Indi when their physical relationship moved up a gear? And how the hell did he become a pirate? What were his illegal dealings? Questions, questions and luckily I got the answers to some but not all. 

I love strong female protagonists and Indi fit the bill perfectly. She was strong willed despite her harrowing past and she was feisty. She was a woman who stood up for what she believed. However there were times she acted before thinking things through and more often than not, this landed her in trouble. For me, this just made her more relatable, more realistic, more the girl next door. She wasn't perfect, she had her flaws but the one thing I couldn't deny was her loyalty to Eric. The friend who had always been by her side through thick and thin. Well, their friendship was definitely put to the test after the kidnapping but Indi never lost sight of the fact that she had to find a way to free them. And in the end, she was willing to pay the ultimate price and she did. 

The relationship between Indi and Hendrix didn't get off to a flying start. I mean, he wanted to sell her to pay of a debt for god sake. But the sexual chemistry between the two was definitely there, growing as the days went by until alcohol took its toll and they finally decided to give in to a little slap and tickle!!! Well, as you can imagine, that only fuelled the fire of desire (poetic don't you think!!! lol), and before I knew it, my eyes were bugging out at the sex scenes I was reading... very, very, very hot sex scenes. Sex scenes you won't be disappointed with. Unfortunately as the connection moved from being just physical to something more,  I saw the barriers go up on both sides. 

All you're going to do is make me feel incomplete. Do you know that you can do that? 

Make someone feel so utterly worthless? You touch me like I mattered, 

and yet you look at me like I'm a sale."

How long could they carry on fighting their feelings? I couldn't even begin to guess where this story was going. Predictable this book was not and I liked that. 

There were a number of secondary characters in the book: Jess, Drake and the crew from the ship were just brilliant. I loved how they all embraced Indi into the fold (well, it did take a copious amount of alcohol and a number of really bad pirate jokes) but they were there for her. And Eric... mmmm not sure about him. I'm sure he was a lovely friend but there was just something about him.. he just didn't quite hit the spot for me. 

This was a quick read with several twists that kept me going. Had it been longer, I may have seen the development of the story lines I desperately craved but hey, such is life. "Enslaved by the Ocean" was told from Indi's POV but by god would I have loved to get inside my dirty pirates head. I can only imagine the things that swirled around in there. Maybe I would have gotten a better understanding of his character right from the start. This book was the first in a series and although it gives us a HEA for Hendrix and Indi, it does end on a cliff hanger which will flow nicely into the second book "Where Darkness Lies." This tells Dimitri and Jess's story and is due out on 15th February 2014. Not long to wait. 
I rated "Enslaved by You" 3.5 Hearts

"You taught me something tonight, Inocencia." 

"What's that?" I whisper.

"You taught me to open my heart."

"You know what, pirate? You taught me that too."

Excerpt:

“Stand up, this will be easier if you do,” he orders. He stands, taking me with him, and I lose my balance when I accidentally try to lift the wrong foot. Hendrix reaches out, taking my shoulder and goes to take a step forward to steady me, only to realize he’s wrapped the rope around his ankle, and is now tangled too. As if in slow motion, we topple backwards. I scream, and land with a thump on the ground as the ropes surround me. Hendrix lands over me, but manages to put his hand down to stop me taking the force of his body. He’s pressing into me in places he really shouldn’t be. 
“Fuck,” he curses, tugging his hand to try and untangle it. 
“How the hell did you get tangled too?” I cry out, squirming. 
“Stop fuckin’ squirming like that,” he orders, and I stop as soon as I realize why he’s asked me to. He’s hard. My God, he’s hard. 
“You’re…you’re…”
“I’m fuckin’ hard because you’re squirming against me. I’m a man. Get over it.”

Purchase Links:

Amazon.com:       http://amzn.to/1bDFY0h

Amazon UK:        http://amzn.to/1ecqAQu
Barnes & Noble:  http://bit.ly/18M0mCj#
Kobo:                   http://bit.ly/IUyW0K

Author Bio:

Bella Jewel is an Aussie girl through and through. She spent her life in Western Australia, growing up in many different areas of the state. She now currently lives in Perth with her husband, children and mass amounts of pets. She's crazy, fun, outgoing and friendly. Writing is her passion, she started at the young age of 18 but finally got the courage up to publish, and her first novel Hell's Knights was released in August 2013.

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Bella-Jewel/513907282000951
Website: http://authorbellajewel.wix.com/bella-jewel
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7178194.Bella_Jewel

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