By special request from one of my Facebook friends…
Set in 1818, the Regency period, this 3rd
in Lindsey’s Malory series is a worthy read. After all, it’s got a handsome
hunk, a pirate and love on the high seas (some of my favorite stuff!).
James Mallory was a pirate for some time. Though now reformed and a Viscount, he still sails the seas when he gets the urge. And, he is still a rake. Seducing women, even virgins, is fair game for him. So, when he realizes that the enticing girl he encountered in a tavern dressed as a lad has just boarded his ship disguised as a boy named Georgie, he decides to make her his cabin boy with the idea of getting her into his bed. No concern she might be an innocent (and there is much evidence of that), or that having seduced her, he might hurt her or worse--get her pregnant (we're talking months at sea...). No, that wouldn't bother him. After all, he already has one bastard he knows of, his 17-year-old son Jeremy, and he routinely seduces married women. In fact, he has a very low opinion of women just because they are so easy to seduce. At that point, I just wanted to flatten the cad. And, make no mistake he is a cad.
James Mallory was a pirate for some time. Though now reformed and a Viscount, he still sails the seas when he gets the urge. And, he is still a rake. Seducing women, even virgins, is fair game for him. So, when he realizes that the enticing girl he encountered in a tavern dressed as a lad has just boarded his ship disguised as a boy named Georgie, he decides to make her his cabin boy with the idea of getting her into his bed. No concern she might be an innocent (and there is much evidence of that), or that having seduced her, he might hurt her or worse--get her pregnant (we're talking months at sea...). No, that wouldn't bother him. After all, he already has one bastard he knows of, his 17-year-old son Jeremy, and he routinely seduces married women. In fact, he has a very low opinion of women just because they are so easy to seduce. At that point, I just wanted to flatten the cad. And, make no mistake he is a cad.
When James' ship arrives in Jamaica,
and Georgie goes to her brother's ship, docked in the next berth, she
acknowledges to herself she is in love with the rake and that she is also
pregnant. But she is realistic enough, even at 22, to know the confirmed
bachelor means it when he says he'll not marry. So when her brother's ship
sails away to New England, leaving her no time to tell James good-bye, she resigns
herself to going home alone. Now, if this were real life, she'd never hear from
James again, right? Ah, but this is a Johanna Lindsey romance. Sooooo, there
will be more story and a happy ending. Call that fantasy perhaps, but it works
well here.
A great installment in the Mallory series, even if you do have to suspend belief to accept that Georgie could be that naïve and that a jaded reprobate like James could actually have a heart. The book reads well and keeps up a fast pace. And I love the Malory banter. At least half of the story occurs at sea on James' ship. The rest takes place in London and New England. I recommend it.
The Malory Series:
1. Love Only Once (Reggie and Nick)
2. Tender Rebel (Roslyn and Anthony)
3. Gentle Rogue (James and Georgina)
4. The Magic of You (Amy and Warren)
5. Say You Love Me (Kelsey and Derek)
6. The Present: The Malory Holiday Novel
7. A Loving Scoundrel (Danny and Jeremy, James' son)
8. Captive of My Desires (Gabrielle and Drew)
9. No Choice But Seduction (Boyd and Katey)
10. That Perfect Someone (Richard and Julia)
A great installment in the Mallory series, even if you do have to suspend belief to accept that Georgie could be that naïve and that a jaded reprobate like James could actually have a heart. The book reads well and keeps up a fast pace. And I love the Malory banter. At least half of the story occurs at sea on James' ship. The rest takes place in London and New England. I recommend it.
The Malory Series:
1. Love Only Once (Reggie and Nick)
2. Tender Rebel (Roslyn and Anthony)
3. Gentle Rogue (James and Georgina)
4. The Magic of You (Amy and Warren)
5. Say You Love Me (Kelsey and Derek)
6. The Present: The Malory Holiday Novel
7. A Loving Scoundrel (Danny and Jeremy, James' son)
8. Captive of My Desires (Gabrielle and Drew)
9. No Choice But Seduction (Boyd and Katey)
10. That Perfect Someone (Richard and Julia)
Every review you do has me wanting to pull out the books and read them all over again. :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's okay for a reader to suspend belief when reading. We are, or at least I am, reading to escape into a world that leaves me smiling no matter what feelings I go through while reading to get to that smile at the end. Unless it's just smack full of historical incorrectness I can pretty much overlook a lot.
Loved this series and all of her work. :)