Review: 5 Hearts:This was a wonderfully written story of lust, passion and a love that passes every barrier a man can put up.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 15, 2012
Rosemary O'Malley - The Red King  {Reviewed by Don @ Hearts On Fire Reviews}I received this book from the author to read and review and have to say that the 723 pages was at first a little off putting.  Turns out that this is Ms O'Malley's first novel and it was great.  Ruaidhri is a pirate captain, called  the Red King because of his long, flowing red hair.  He and his men work the north African coast taking contracts and swashbuckling their way all over.  Ruaidhi has his mind and heart bent on only one thing though and that is vengeance.  He wants Maarten Van de Wort dead and will use anything and anyone to get it done.  Through a series of flashbacks we learn that as a 10 year old Rory, Ruaidhri, was stolen by Maarten and raped, tortured  and made to do some heart scaring things.  Now a grown man, Ruaidhri lives to kill Maarten.Andrew is a Scottish orphan who had been raised in a monastery. Eighteen years old, innocent and beautiful, he is rescued from a burning ship where he was being held captive.  Malik, one of Ruaidhri's men makes a mad dash below the burning decks and saves young Andrew from certain  death. Once aboard the pirate ship, Andrew heals and insists on helping with the work.  He becomes the favorite of the crew and butts heads with Ruaidhri more than once on moral and personal issues.  The sheer innocence and beauty that is Andrew makes him a pawn in the revenge plan being hatched by  Ruaidhri.  As time passes though a great attraction forms between the Red King and Andrew, one that may just kill everyone.This was a wonderfully written story of lust, passion and a love that passes every barrier a man can put up.  It takes place somewhere during the Spanish Inquisition, though the date is really not important.  What makes this story outstanding is the absolutely wonderful characters and the wealth of strong emotions that Ms O'Malley has created.  Every man on the pirate ship is damaged in some way, yet their unwavering devotion and love of Ruaidhri binds them together into a cohesive unit.  Truly they are a band of misfits each with his own story.  The dichotomy between Andrew and Rory and their eventual coming together was masterfully written and definitely does not read like an author's first  novel.  I found the way that the rough edges that both Andrew and Rory had were used perfectly to smooth down and bring out the best in each man. This story was driven by the love that I developed toward each character and the strong disgust and hatred that is fostered toward Maarten.There is a good deal of violent rape and torture in this book, which is necessary to the story so if the subjects are offensive to you or you  can't read it, this book may not be for you.  Maarten was a man who found  pleasure only in the pain he could inflict on others and was a merciless and  depraved being.  Don't be put off by the length of this story because you  will devour each page and want more.  The eventual HEA is well worth the emotions that were wrung from me.  I cannot recommend this exceptional love  story strongly enough.  It is not your typical sweet, sappy love  story.  You need to read this book.  My thanks for the memorable ride  Ms O'Malley.