by Tamara Hughes
Series: Love on the High Seas #2
Pub. Date: June 9, 2015
Publisher: Entangled Scandalous
Pages: 175
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher / Netgalley
My Rating:
Sultry Scale:
England, 1722
Amelia Archer will be the ruin of her family. Her extraordinary bad luck is burden enough, but her sweet, trusting nature often lands her in impossible scrapes. After the last straw, Amelia's harried father ships his unfortunate daughter off to the Colonies to live with her aunt. But wherever Amelia goes, bad luck is sure to follow...
Pirate David Lamont is taken with the lovely young Englishwoman the moment she's pulled aboard from her sinking vessel. But sailors are already a superstitious lot and Amelia is unwelcome. In a feat of chivalry, David defends and claims her for himself...
Now their fortunes—for good or ill—are invariably tied. But as much as she longs for him, Amelia cannot allow a romance. For a lady of misfortune can only bring ruin to those she loves…
Note that this is the second book in a series, and some of the characters apparently were featured in the first book. I didn't know that until the author's note at the end and it's driving me a little bonkers.
Despite this book being in a pirate trilogy, it wasn't so much a pirate book. Our main character, David, is not your average swashbuckling pirate out to loot and pillage. He is a musician, carrying his violin everywhere that he goes. He is also chivalrous and has higher moral standards than we normally see in pirates. I liked David, I just happen to like my pirates to be a bit more alpha male than he was.
Poor Amelia has the worst luck of any fictional character I have read. She is clumsy as an ox, and this unfortunate aspect, along with a shrew of a stepmother, has given Amelia horrible self-esteem. She also has the odd habit of trusting anyone she meets, which has caused her grief on more than one occasion. I also liked Amelia, though I did find myself doing an eye roll at her nature or antics on occasion.
For me, this story was somewhat slow-paced. There was adventure, but not a whole lot of action. We follow along with Amelia (and later David) as one tragedy after another befalls them. Given that sailors and pirates of the time were a superstitious lot, you can imagine that Amelia's little black cloud makes her an outcast. I sympathize with this as I get that black cloud following me around sometimes too. But David tries to show her that she is not cursed and they fall in love along the way. However, when you have two people with low self-esteem, it does not an easy relationship make.
Overall, this was a nice way to pass the time. I haven't read a pirate book in a while so it was a nice diversion from the standard regency era historical romance. I really wish I had known to read the first book before this one though (hopefully a Goodreads librarian can fix that).
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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Love on the High Seas Series
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