Corsairs: Straik by Ruby Dixon [Review]

Corsairs: Straik (Corsair Brothers #3) by Ruby Dixon
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: September 29, 2021

Corsair Brothers
1. Adiron
2. Kaspar
3. Straik - Paperback | Kindle
4. Mathiras
5. Bethiah

Ruby Dixon
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

What’s worse than finding a lost ship full of stolen humans? It’s finding out that your family is responsible. This is a wrong I have to somehow right, so I take off to find answers…and discover one of those kidnapped humans has stowed away on my ship.

She’s furious that I’ve deserted her friends. She’s determined to make me pay. Ruth swears vengeance and won’t be satisfied until she sees me destroyed.

It’s a battle of wills I’m determined to win.

Instead of breaking Ruth, I find that I’ll do just about anything to get her to kiss me again.

Now…who’s bending who?

Thoughts on Corsairs: Straik: It's Straik's turn to get tangled up in his special lady friend and HAHAHAHA. Ruth. She's kind of a seething ball of fury and vengeful comeuppance when he first stumbles over her and it takes A WHILE for her to stop seeing Straik as her enemy.

Straik needs Ruth's fury and fire, though, to really start enjoying life. For all he's a corsair and makes his living by piracy, he's kind of straight-laced. I mean, the guy still wears the traditional Homeworld robes with his house crest splashed all over them. It turns out that under his spoiled rich boy airs is someone who's a genuinely good guy. He cares about his crew and is horrified to find out his family's return to wealth has been kindled in the slave trade. FYI, his mother is AWFUL. Good thing Straik's the polar opposite of her when it comes to, well, everything.

As for Ruth, she's angry. And scared. Mostly, she uses her vast quantities of anger to hide her scared side, but she's still angry at the gaps in her memory and the things that were done to her. This may come as a shock, but she's also really mad at Straik for abandoning her friends. It takes a while before Ruth starts to realize that Straik isn't the bad guy here and he's trying to do the best be can with the resources at hand.

A few tiny assassination attempts, a lot of snarling foreplay, time spent with the a'ani (and OMG! Dopekh and his flirt-buddy NEED a story!), our first look (? Yes? I don't think we've actually seen them before?) at a Threshian, and one couple who have some seriously fun aggressive flirting. What can I say except Straik and Ruth are marshmallows for each other once they get the bickering out of their system.