After giving Andrews' "Kidnapped by the Pirate" 4 stars I eagerly dove into this offering (See what I did there?) expecting more of what I loved the first time around but was shocked to discover just how little water there was in the pool.<br /><br />Take note of the fact that nothing in the description denotes this book as a short story other than the listed number of 46 pages at the bottom which is not a complaint, I'm a HUGE fan of short format! It takes a very specific talent to accomplish in 50 pages what it takes others to do in 500. The shorter the work, the more craft it takes to create a satisfying read and said craft is disappointingly not on display here.<br /><br />A short film still follows all the rules of good cinema the most basic of which is, providing clearly drawn characters that are given histories. Andrews' completely underdeveloped Olympic synchronized divers Aiden and Tyler are impossible to get behind as she provides us no insight whatsoever as to where they came from, who they really are, how they got to this moment in the story... nothing. Two hot swimmers discovering they're hot for each other is not a story, it's a premise. Andrews attempts to elevate it from its porn plot status by alternating the action of the six dives the boys perform in competition with segments of action that took place leading up to the competition including their practices and down time. This gimmick totally falls flat as Andrews fails to follow the dictates of the title and theme of her own concept by allowing the action that precedes each dive to directly influence the outcome of their competition hence, the discovery of their "synchronicity".<br /><br />I love the concept of swimmers finding love at the Olympic Games but even in a short story, Andrews could have taken the time to paint us a better picture of the overall experience. The other athletes are barely referred to except as people partying in the hallways, their coaches are complete ciphers and even the other family members are reduced to just people watching in the stands. Any attempt to bring any depth to what could have been a fascinating peek into a romance set in an environment very few of us really know anything about is completley wasted.<br /><br />If it was Andrew's intent to simply write a "one hander", then she fails on that level as well for while the sex scenes are handled quite nicely, there aren't enough of them and they aren't long enough to really accomplish the task... at hand. (so to speak)<br /><br />Kidnapped by the Pirate is proof that Andrews is capable of far better work than this so this little hiccup isn't going to stop me from giving her other works the chance I know they deserve. <br/><br/> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/75305969-grayce-connors">View all my reviews</a>