This is as the title suggests is a pirate adventure, Bethlyn Talbot's young life has not been particularly happy her mother dies while she's still young, her father re-marries and ships her off to a remote house with a governess for company. When the step-mother Jessica dies Bethlyn finds herself married at fourteen to Jessica's son Ian an American from her first marriage. Ian, who has never gotton over the fact that his mother could abandon him, his sister Molly and their father is furious that he's being forced into this marriage in order to keep his shipping company, he marries, as he must makes arrangements for his new bride to live with his aunt in London then disappears from her life and returns to America. The story picks up seven years later when Bethlyn, no longer the chubby plain child she once was wants a proper marriage and sets about getting one.It's been years since I read a pirate novel and I just fancied something different, when I started reading it seemed familiar, bits were like Hawks Lady and then it reminded me in places of The Seahawks Sanctuary I was abit annoyed that seemed so much like other books until it dawned on me, and this was further into the book than I care to admit that in places I knew what was going to happen next then when I realised that I'd actually read this book before, a long time ago I felt abit relieved that it wasn't the book that was a copy but me who's getting older and forgetting what I've read so I sat back and enjoyed the rest of the book. I've given four stars I think personally three and Half would be fair but it's an adventure that you can can lost in for a little while, yes it has it's faults bits are predictable, parts are silly and dragged out but overall I enjoyed getting lost in this book and it just shows that a book that I enjoyed so many years ago I can still enjoy today. For fans of the generic historical romances of the'70's and '80's, this would be a good read. Full of action, romance, and peril, and it actually started out with a fairly original story line. But after that, oh, the subplots--and most of those quite unoriginal and overdone--one led to another to another--like eating lays potato chips--until it seemed like the book would go on forever, incorporating every romance cliche known to woman. Imagine taking about five different romances by your five favorite romance novelists, cobbling them together, and filling in the gaps anyway you can to try to tie them into a coherent whole, and you have the idea. One of the subplots--where the heroine follows the hero to the abandoned farm house and her heart is so stirred by the love of liberty that she starts having Thomas Paine publish her writing under a pseudonym was the plot of another book I read (however, I can't remember which one and that book has long since been deleted from my kindle). I imagine since this is an older book republished, that the other author plagiarized from this one, but it goes to show that you can write another whole romance novel just from one of the many subplots. I probably would have rated it higher but the part from the kidnapping onward was so stupid and full of holes, that it dragged the rest of the book downhill, IMHO, and kind of ruined it for me personally, definitely could have done without the last subplot.
What do You think about Pirate's Bride (1989)?
It held my attention, got me angry, happy....overall, grabs you into the story.
—mlw
Was a free read which was a tad too long so I would rate it a 3.5
—Steve
ho hum this story could have been told in half the pages
—Kristi
