Product Description

John Williams, the Viscount of Marsdale, libertine, duelist, dilettante, haphazard philanthropist and philosopher, is asked by his estranged father to start a plantation in Jamaica in 1667. He doesn't realize that he is going to the right island for the wrong reasons until he meets buccaneers and learns he has far more in common with the wild Brethren of the Coast than he does with the nobility of Christendom. Still, he questions joining them and leaving his title and the plantation behind, until he meets Gaston the Ghoul, a mysterious French buccaneer who is purportedly mad. He quickly decides that the freedom of the buccaneer life and even the mere chance of love that a man such as Gaston might offer are better than anything he could ever inherit. But even though Gaston seems intrigued by him, can the crazy Frenchman ever love him?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94962 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review
The increasing emotional attachment and sexual tension between Will and Gaston is especially finely paced, escalating at calculated yet highly natural-feeling intervals that allow Hoffman to reveal his charactersx back-story in perfect-sized bites. -- Frontiers Magazine, June 20, 2006

From the Publisher
Part one of an epic four part "love story for men" set amongst the buccaneers of Port Royal during the infamous Henry Morgan raids. It is the story of the relationship between two lonely and scarred men as they attempt to find happiness and peace through love and friendship. With adventure and romance, this chronicle explores questions and themes of gender, sexual preference, societal acceptance of homosexuality, survival of childhood abuse, and how to build a lasting relationship in a world gone mad.

From the Back Cover
1667 - Romance In The West Indies

Wherein, the Viscount of Marsdale, duelist, libertine, dilettante, and haphazard philanthropist, travels to the colony of Jamaica to establish a sugar plantation for his estranged father.

Once There, he finds he has much in common with the buccaneers of Port Royal. Thus he joins them and learns of the strange traditions, tactics, and customs of the Brethren of the Coast.

Falling in Love, he partners with Gaston, the mysterious French madman known as The Ghoul, and discovers another as noble, disenfranchised, and scarred as himself.

Together, they explore an end to loneliness, and seek to exorcise the demons of their pasts, in a wilderness torn by war and ambition.

Customer Reviews

Unbelievable!
"Brethren" is the first in a projected four book series and it is historical fiction at its finest. A rich epic set in the Caribbean in the late 1600's, this is the story of the roguish William Marsdale. Readers will be hooked from the page one. Will left home to escape an abusive relationship, and to see the world. He becomes an accomplished swordsman and duelist, as well as a seasoned traveller. When he finally returns home to England, he is sent by his father to Jamaica to manage a new sugar plantation. Of course, he promptly puts someone in charge of it and joins a buccaneer crew! Buccaneer's have some "questionable" traditions, such at Matelotage. It is a partnership between two men to support each other in battle, share fiscal responsibilities and to provide company. These relationships were often sexual, but not always. Will unintentionally finds himself with a matelot. The bitter-sweet love that eventually develops between he and Gaston is believable and has great potential (which is explored in Volume 2, Matelots: Raised By Wolves, Volume Two).

The cast of supporting characters are all fully developed and help propel the storyline as well as provide humor. Stryker and Pete are especially fun, and integral to the plot. Hoffman has done a lot of research into the time period and subject matter and it shows. The dialog and language are representative of the time, and extremely well written - I never felt lost with the old-fashioned terminology or phrasing. Her descriptions of the world and people are detailed without bogging a reader down. With a a lot of action, and an engrossing plot, this is a fantastic adventure story. I read this massive novel in only two days and can hardly wait for the rest of the quadrilogy. Volume 3, "Raised by Wolves: Treasure" is due in April/May 2008, and the final volume, "Raised by Wolves: Wolves: is due in Spring 2009.

I also highly recommend Ransom, an exciting adventure about 3 british naval officers captured by pirates.

Best. Book. EVER!
Yes, I say that and I mean it. This is my favorite book, period. I have read it three times, the first time only taking two days (and only that long because I had to go to work both days... how dare work interfere with literary obsession?!). I don't usually re-read a book, no matter how much I like it, let alone three times in a row, so that should say something about how addictive this book is!

If you are anything like me, you will be sucked into this book and in love with the characters (especially Will and Gaston... and to clarify one of the earlier reviews, Will = Marsdale). The storytelling is wonderful, the attention to historical accuracy is obvious, and the love story will make you wish you were so lucky to find a love like that! You don't have to enjoy gay romance to enjoy this book. I had never read a gay romance before this one. The fact that they are two men is not the point, really, it's just the best love story EVER (imho, of course, but nothing I've read... and I'm a huge bibliophile... comes close). I cannot reccommend this book enough. I've been on pins and needles for the next one as soon as I finished the first, and not because it's so much a cliffhanger as I just... wanted... MORE! Which is why, of course, I've re-read this one a couple of times.

I cannot explain adequately the wonderfulness of this book. Read it for yourself and see!!!

Mesmerizing Historical Gay Romance. Love this!
This historical gay romance set in the West Indies pirate world is a gem of a story. The plot is fascinating and pulled you in from page 1. There is never a dull moment as these buccaneers love, hate and live freely, their matelots world arousing and enviable.

The characters of Will and Gaston are truly mesmerizing, their love story bitter sweet, gripping, captivating and deeply moving. Will and Gaston are tormented men, ostracized from their noble families and haunted by their pasts. They are sensitive, vulnerable yet so strong in character. Their love story is also a healing story of their wounded souls as they found solace in each other and grew to love each other deeply. Their love is all the more amazing as one is gay while the other may not have the same inclination. And I cannot remember the last time when the exchange of words between 2 lovers could be so meaningful and charged with emotions.

"Brethren" is all the more effective as it is narrated by Will whose voice lent so much life and emotional depth into the story.

This may be Vol 1 of a Trilogy but it is complete by itself and does not leave a cliff hanger which I hate. However it does leave me craving for much more and I hope "Matelots: Raised by Wolves Vol 2" will be available soon. If you are into gay or M/M romance you are missing a lot if you pass this.