REVIEW : King's Bane - The Siren's Call Series Book # 2 - J.C. Owens

Title: King's Bane
Series: The Siren's Call Series Book # 2
Author: J.C. Owens
Genre: Gay Romance, Fantasy Romance, Futuristic Romance
Publisher: Etopia Press
Release Date: March 24, 2022
Format: Kindle
Pages: 328
Source: Amazon

The love of a flashy pirate may be Vaden's only hope…

Chained in the dungeon of an island fortress, the spoiled young aristocrat Vaden Toldar is being held as bait. The Lasomin navy hopes to lure the pirate captains to their doom—including Vaden's sister, Captain Melandra Toldar. Most of the captives are already dead, and Vaden is losing hope. But when the colorful pirate Captain Oulin Masoun of the Radical comes to rescue one of his crew, Vaden finds more than simple hope. Captain Oulin Masoun is a man of great passion, who has always tried to "fix" the wounded and broken, and Vaden is certainly that. Oulin is determined not to fall into that trap again, but Vaden proves impossible to resist with his sweetness, vulnerability, and growing determination. But they may not have a choice. Vaden is caught between his warring family—his pirate captain sister and his brother, an admiral in the Lasomin navy set to burn the pirate port of Tarnton to the ground. And Oulin is torn between defending his brethren and the man he's come to love…

Review by Charlayne Elizabeth Denney

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

Kidnapped, locked away in a dark dungeon with the worst kidnappers torturing him and others, Vaden’s sanity has finally slipped. He is never getting out of this hell; it will never stop. He and the others were kidnapped by an agent of the Lasomin Navy, who want the pirates destroyed. The kidnapping had already cost several hostage’s lives. It was down to Vaden and Haarden, both wounded, tortured, and dying.

Vaden’s sister, who is the formidable Captain Melandra Toldar, along with several of her friends from the pirate community, have launched a rescue mission. They are met with force and engage the Lasomins’ in a naval battle. Captain Oulin Masoun gets out of the battle and sails to where they believe the captives are held. After a fight, he gets Vaden and Haarden out and makes sure that the kidnappers will never have a chance to repeat their mistake.

Oulin didn’t expect the results that he would fall for the brother of one of his fellow pirate captains. He helps Vaden come out of the twilight of fear he has been sent experiencing and in the process becomes so close to the man that he knows it’s going to be hard to explain to Melandra that he wants to keep Vaden on the ship with him.

Of course, nothing is ever easy in a love story and there is a ruthless member of the Lasomin navy plotting for the downfall of Oulin and Vaden and the total destruction of the pirate’s island and fleet. Will it work, or will Vaden be dragged back to a family that doesn’t understand that he’s not still a helpless welp?

I loved King’s Bane. It’s the second in the series but it’s a stand-alone book. There’s a lot of great, tasteful pirate loving going on. There’s action with fights between the big sailing ships, treachery, and some great villains to boo.

I’m going to go back, pick up the first book to catch up on the story of Captain Rastay and Dradin Sharlain, who are also in King’s Bane. More pirates, please!