The Merchant and his Lout (The Pirate's Revenge Book 2) by Katy Haye

Ozzo doesn't mind pretending to kidnap Zakaria, and perhaps they will have some fun along the way. But Zakaria's plans fall through and now he has to come up with a new plan before the pirates throw him overboard for good.


From The Merchant and his Lout blurb:

An easy job? Funny, they all start that way...

Ozzo and his fellow pirates aren’t averse to a little kidnap and ransom. But their victims don’t usually volunteer themselves.

Merchant Zakaria wants revenge. His parents just threw away everything he did for their family business and made his younger sister their heir. Fine. He’ll get abducted by pirates and they’ll soon see what a mistake they’ve made.

Except they don’t. When his family refuses to pay the ransom Zakaria realises the danger he’s in. The pirates still need a payoff. If he’s not to be sold into slavery, he needs to make himself useful. Quickly. But it’s hard to think straight when irritatingly attractive pirate Ozzo keeps pushing him off-balance with his muscles and his grin and his gruff protectiveness which Zakaria never knew he wanted before.

Zakaria wants to trust Ozzo to keep him safe, but he trusted his family and look where that left him. These people are pirates, and definitely not to be trusted – whatever his heart says.


SNik's review:

Second in series (The Pirate’s Revenge), can be read as a standalone but might be more fun if read in order. Found family. Slow burn. Instalove. Dual POV. 

Suggesting his own kidnapping after being betrayed by his family, that’s Zakaria’s initial plan. But when things don’t work out he has to scramble to make himself useful to the pirates, and being attracted to Ozzo does not count. 

This definitely had an instalove feel as Ozzo and Zakaria don’t spend a lot of time learning about each other before falling in love, and things start slowly but eventually they have some steamy interactions. The story did have a found family vibes, and I would have loved to see even more interactions with the secondary characters. Oddly this book has no hints of fantasy like the first one, but did have some action and adventure for an ambitious Zakaria to find his own way beside the supportive and friendly Ozzo. I enjoyed the growth of Zakaria coming into his own and how Ozzo appreciated and accepted all of Zakaria.

The Merchant and his Lout is currently available as an e-book and paperback and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription