What do you do when a shirtless pirate walks into your life... and you follow him?Mandy wasn't looking for adventure.She was looking for ice cream, stability, and maybe a quiet way to move on from the last guy who disappointed her.Instead, she met Captain Thrustblade Ironheart.He wears silks. He speaks like the eighteenth century never ended. He carries a fork like a weapon and believes, with unshakable confidence, that he is a pirate sailing a sea only he can see.And for reasons Mandy can't quite explain, she says yes.What follows is a single, unforgettable night of absurd romance, theatrical chaos, turkey legs, swordfights, and laughter loud enough to wake something Mandy thought had gone dormant: her sense of joy. Thrustblade may be delusional. He may be committed to a bit far past reason. Or he may simply be the most honest man she's ever met - someone unafraid to live exactly as himself.Watching it all unfold is Emma, Mandy's fiercely loyal best friend, who starts the night rolling her eyes... and ends it wondering when she stopped settling for men who barely see her at all. If Mandy can take a chance on a pirate, maybe Emma deserves someone a little more daring too.Thrustblade and the Maiden is a warm, absurd, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about taking chances, choosing joy, and realizing that sometimes the people who change us most aren't meant to stay - they're meant to remind us who we are.Because the world may have exactly zero pirates......but that doesn't mean adventure is gone.