An early
Regency set in 1810 mostly in London, with a prologue set in 1307, this is the
first in a series of stories about a secret order of mariner knights who serve
the Crown.
The story
begins as Trevor Marshall, Earl of Lockwood, breaks into the cabin of Dalton
Randolph, whose ship is anchored off Jamaica. Trevor is intent on revenge as
Dalton once stole Trevor’s mistress. At first I assumed Trevor was planning to
steal his old mistress back, but no. I realized later that that the woman
Trevor intends on stealing is Dalton’s new mistress. However, Trevor doesn’t
realize the woman he abducts is not Dalton’s mistress but highborn Caroline
Elliott, an innocent who stowed away on Randolph’s ship in an effort to escape her
London Season.
Caroline is
not like any other Regency debutante you will have encountered. When Trevor
names her a courtesan and a paramour, she does not correct him but readily
agrees to be his mistress on the condition she can call the shots. Trevor
agrees to that unlikely arrangement and they sail away on his ship to London
where she shares his bed and her recipes with his cook. Oh yes, she also mends
sails and is good at fencing (good enough to take on pirates).
Caroline
thinks she is plain yet Trevor tells her she’s a great beauty. How she missed
her looks was a bit puzzling. Yes, the man she thought she loved married
another but still. Caroline is also naïve. She thinks if she has sex with
Trevor she will be “ruined”. Surly she would have known the rules of London
society: she was ruined the minute she stowed away on Dalton’s ship. Then
sleeping in the same bed with Trevor for weeks with all his crew aware makes
her twice ruined—even without any sex. Clueless might be a good description of
this heroine. Oh yes, and she is clumsy, often tripping over her own feet.
Trevor is a
handsome rake who had no thought of marriage until Caroline came along. Even
then, it took the prodding of her brother, the duke, to get him to do the right
thing after Trevor took her innocence. The author did that part rather well, I
thought.
The
abduction scene at the beginning was enticing and there are a few more as the
pirates return. The dialog is often witty banter (there are some good
one-liners as Caroline and Trevor get to know each other). But there are some
improbable moments, too, where one must suspend belief entirely. Apparently he
never noticed her highborn speech, either that or his doxies and courtesans
(and Dalton’s) were an educated lot. And the ship must be large (to have stern
windows) and steady as there wasn’t much movement, even in the storm.
I did think
it odd that the dukes and earls called themselves by their first names and they
invited Caroline to do the same. Peers in the Regency used their titles, not
their first names except with close family like a wife or sister but not with a
buddy. There were some other deviations from the Regency era, but if you like
witty, somewhat fanciful Regencies, this may be the one for you.
The Brethren of the Coast series thus
far:
Enter the Brethren
My Lady, the Spy
The Most Unlikely Lady
One-Knight Stand
Captain of Her Heart
The Lucky One
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