I could not put this one down and highly
recommend it. It's on both my Best Pirate and Privateer Romances List and my
Best American Patriotic Romances list. Oh yes, it’s also a bodice ripper and a keeper.
Set in England during the years 1808-1814,
this is one of those rare and wonderful love stories that sweeps you away to
another time and place where you are caught up in the lives of people whose
actions will affect not only their own and others' lives but America and
England during the War of 1812. Deception and treachery born years ago lead to
revenge and then to heartache. Busbee uses real characters, such as the pirate
Jean Lafitte, to bring realism to her story as she seamlessly weaves history
into a compelling tale. It's what I call a "dense" historical: one
where the writing is so complex and so tight you're getting double the story
you'd expect in the 538 pages.
Young Nicole Ashford led an idyllic life
in Surrey with her wealthy parents and her twin brother until a boating
accident one summer took them from her. Made the ward of an uncaring and barely
related aunt and uncle who only want her fortune, and learning of their plans
to marry her off to their ne'er-do-well son, at 13 Nicole dons the disguise of
a young boy and runs away to sea as the cabin boy for Captain Saber, an
American privateer.
For 5 years, Nicole sails with him as a
boy and Saber pays her little attention. When she is 18, Saber observes her
swimming naked on a tropical beach and decides he wants her for his mistress.
He bides his time and when Nicole and a seaman (who is really a British spy)
decide to destroy English codebooks that Saber has captured, the two are
caught.
Using the life of the English seaman as a
bargaining chip, Saber forces Nicole to become his mistress, until the
American, on a mission to spy for his new country, decides to sail home and
resume his identity as Christopher Saxon, grandson of a baron.
And so
begins a complex, worthy tale of adventure, rich in history (both England's and
America's) and a love that could not be denied.
Should you want to read more, here is
the whole Louisiana Series (stand alones but each with a connection to
Louisiana and with some overlapping characters). Many are available in Kindle:
·
Gypsy Lady
·
Lady Vixen
·
While Passion Sleeps
·
Deceive Not My Heart
·
The Tiger Lily
·
Midnight Masquerade
·
Whisper to Me of Love
·
Each Time We Love
Oh gosh, Reagan does the cover of that book take me back to the early days of when Historical Romances were coming out. I read all 8 of the GYPSY LADY series books and loved every one of them. I wish the publisher's would let them be downloaded in to an audiobook.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the famous covers by Tom Hall. He did many in that era. Shirlee just told me today they will soon be out in Kindle. Hurray!
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