Lesbian Pirate Fiction

An overview of lesbian pirate fiction, from good to bad.

For high seas adventures, sea battles, scurvy, romance, outlawry and treasure, there's nothing quite like a pirate story. Sadly, lesbian pirate fiction is rare. Happily, most of it is very good.

• A Pirate's Heart by Catherine Friend



A Pirate's Heart
by Catherine Friend

• 300 years apart, Thomasina Farris is raiding and sailing and loving, while modern day librarian Emma Boyd is searching for the pirate's treasure map and trying to track down a rare books thief.
• Romance finalist, 21st Lambda Literary Awards
• Lesbian Fiction Readers Choice Award Winner 2008 
• Popular Fiction Winner, Benjamin Franklin Awards 2008
• Historical Romance Winner, Golden Crown Literary Award 2009

• Branded Ann by Merry Shannon - read the review!
• The tale of the terrifying pirate, Branded Ann, her search for treasure and the widow she takes prisoner who ends up capturing her heart. Her first book, the fantasy Sword of the Guardian, is extremely good and Branded Ann is even better - for people who want romance and adventure that grows out of realism, grittiness and cruelty (personally, I think it's one of the best books on this list).
• Favorite Adventure Book Winner, Lesbian Fiction Reader’s Choice Award 2008 
• Historical Fiction Finalist, Foreword Magazine Book of the Year 2008 
• Nominated for the Lesbian Romance category, 21st Lambda Literary Awards

I Was Kidnapped by
Lesbian Pirates from Outerspace
No. 1; May 2008

• I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space by Megan Rose Gedris
• Published comics, from the still-ongoing webcomic. A fun, retro-parody of 1950s pulp fiction. Only with lesbian space pirates. (More about lesbian webcomics here)
• Finalist in the Platinum Comics Comic Book Challenge, hence making it into print

• The Blade to Your Hand by MCA Hogarth
• A too-short (and cheap!) story of a pirate and a princess, that has received good reviews. The characters are animals, the story is a tale of piracy, loyalty and redemption. 
• Only available as an eBook.

• Peculiar Passions: or The Treasure of Mermaid Island by Ruby Vise
• Set in the 1600s, this is a bawdy adventure of pirates, runaways and treasure maps. And sex.
• Not available as a Kindle eBook.

• The Princess's Bride by KT Grant - read the review!.
• A laughably bad almost-fanfiction of The Princess Bride from an author of trashy heterosexual romance.

• Revenge of the Parson's Daughter Or The Lass that Loved a Pirate by Jo Victor
• A romantic tangle between a pirate and her less than innocent captive, and the villainous lady who wants her prisoner.

• The Sea Captain and the Lady by Vada Foster
• Caribeean in the late 17th century sees two women meet - one the daughter of an English privateer, the other of the newly appointed governor of the Bahamas. When Abby is kidnapped by the notorious Rackham, can the privateer's daughter rescue the woman who has captured her heart? A fun salty swashbuckler, but not one for those who prefer historical believability.

• The Sea Hawk by Brenda Adcock
• A time travel romance with mixed reviews (some love, some hate) - Julia is a marine archaeologist studying a shipwreck, who ends up transported back to 1812, and rescued by the same ship and its female captain. And then true love and angst ensues.

The Sublime and Spirited
Voyage of Original Sin
by Colette Moody

• The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin by Colette Moody
• In this fun and adventurous romance, a seamstress is captured by pirates in 1702 and taken along into the Caribbean to care for the wounded. Along the way, she falls hard for the captain's daughter. An adventurous wish-fulfillment romance.
• Debut author finalist, Golden Crown Literary Awards 2010
• Debut novel winner, Alice B. Lavender Certificate 2010 
• Romance Winner, 22nd Lambda Literary Awards
• Favorite Historical Fiction Book Winner, Lesbian Fiction Reader’s Choice Award 2009

• Taming the Wolff by Del Robertson
• An adventurous romance featuring Kris Wolff, a fierce female captain disguised as a man, and the lovely lady she ends up with as hostage. It has received excellent reviews, despite being a first novel!
• eBook available from Bella Books
• Debut novel winner, Alice B. Lavender Certificate 2009

• Water Witch: The Deceiver's Grave by Nene Adams
• An 18th century Caribbean. a great treasure, the feared pirate Bess O'Bedlam, the woman who stands in her way, and a magical curse!

Anthology

• Skulls & Crossbones: Tales of Woman Pirates is an anthology, edited by Andi Marquette & K.G. Emmanuelle
• The editors are both lesbian, the stories are a mixture of lesbian and not. But they are all about women pirates. A consistent, if not mindblowingly amazing, anthology of decent writing

Skulls & Crossbones
Kindle eBook

The stories:

“Ladgarda” by Christine Rains
“The Gallows” by Jove Belle
“Valkyry” by Rakelle Valencia 
“Lost Treasure” by R. G. Emanuelle
“The Hangman’s Dance” by Jane Fletcher
“The Furies” by Rajan Khanna
“Devil’s Bargain” by Andi Marquette
“Fifty Octaves Deep” by Alice Godwin

“HMS Nefarious,” by Rod Santos
“Pirate Wannabe” by Aubrie Dionne
“Road Pirate Wanted” by Victoria Oldham
“The Brahmapur Buccaneer” by Matthew Fryer
“The Kindness of Strangers” Vicki Stevenson

“Resolution 1838” by David Brookes
“The After” by Carrie Vaccaro Nelkin
“Captain, Hook, and Mr. Shrike” by Cat Conley
“A Perfect Life” by Elaine Burnes
“Stardance” by Trace Miller
“The Passenger” by Megan Magill
“Pipettes for the Pirate” by Holly Ellingwood

Individual Short Stories

• 3C: Avast!
• A short story by Karin Kallmaker in the romance/erotica collection 18th & Castro, this is a playacting dom/sub sexual encounter between two lovers, who take on the roles of Pirate captain and Wench. 
• Reviewed here
• ...speaking of dressing up for Halloween, there are plenty of very sexy women's pirate costumes on Amazon. Omnomnom.

• The Letter of Marque
• A swashbuckling historical fantasy featuring a clash between a French spy and the pirate Jacquotte Delahaye , in the anthology A Day at the Inn, A Night at the Palace and Other Stories by Catherine Lundoff.
• Reviewed here

Online original stories and fanfiction about lesbian pirates
NB: Quality varies, may not be finished

• Of Love and Plunder
• The Bracelet of Solis
• The Story of A Pirate
• Shipmates (a short and highly NSFW encounter between lesbian vampire pirates)
• Boobs Ahoy! (a nsfw webcomic about lesbian pirates)
• I was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space (webcomic, also in print - see list above)

Nonfiction about Women pirates (may or may not include lesbians)
There are quite a few good books about the history of women pirates. Opinion differs over whether certain famous characters (e.g. Anne Bonney and Mary Read). These are all good ones to start with.

• Bold in Her Breeches: Woman Pirates Across the Ages (and this listing has more reviews)
• Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
• Pirate Spirit: The Adventures of Anne Bonney

You may also be interested in:

• Everything tagged pirates
• The list of Historical Fiction with Lesbians
• The List of Book Reviews
• The Themed Book Lists page