Their pirate vessel destroyed, Captain Amery White, ship's surgeon Gavin Watson, and quartermaster Quinn Davies are left without a livelihood or a home. The three men have served together since they were old enough to put to sea, sharing hardships and comfort until Amery and Gavin formalized their union with a matelotage—the pirate equivalent of a marriage contract.
Now they've been offered a letter of marque and a fine English galleon with enough speed and firepower to catch and capture any ship in the Caribbean. But their mission brings back memories long buried and puts a strain on Amery and Gavin's relationship, especially when the Silver Queen captures a Spanish slave ship, bringing the very young, very beautiful, and very abused Eliodoro to their crew.
Quinn finds himself torn between the love he's always had for his friends and his desire for their new crew member. When secrets from the past come to light and cause a rift between Amery and Gavin, Quinn will have to choose between substituting for Gavin's true love and becoming the center of Eliodoro's world.
Review
The Matelot by Ariel Tachna was a pleasant surprise and a great book. I didn’t know what to expect, however I enjoyed the story through and through. It proved to be entertaining and engaging. Thus was a tough book to lay aside while I handled other responsibilities.
Tachna took me back in time to an era when pirates were usual sites on the open seas. The main characters, Quinn, Amery and Gavin, have been through a lot together. The development of these characters and the character of Eliodoro was thoroughly complete. I did not have to wonder about their relationships and how they can into being. I really appreciated that.
The imagery that Tachna provides captured me and transported me to the deck of the ship, transforming me into a voyeur of the events aboard the Silver Queen. The evolution of the relationships I seemed to experience firsthand; the fighting and loss, the illnesses, the destruction – it seemed as if I were right there to witness it all. There was very little, if any, fluff in this novel.
Rarely do I experience such a captivating plot and story that completely takes me away and remains on my mind for days, even weeks afterwards. That, in and of itself, is enough to make me recommend this book as a must read!
