*I received a free copy of The Pirate's Tempting Stowaway from Intrepid Reads via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
The Pirate's Tempting Stowaway by Erica Ridley Series: The Dukes of War #6
Published by Intrepid Reads on 1 December 2015
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance
Pages: 200
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Captain Blackheart leads a simple life of roving the seas, wenching and treasure-hunting. He steers clear of romantic entanglements that could tie him to land. He shouldn't have any trouble keeping his hands off the gently-bred lady he's commissioned to abduct—except his cargo turns out to be feisty and passionate! She'd be a prize worth treasuring, if having her aboard didn't jeopardize everything...
Clara Halton thought the worst loss she could suffer was to be stripped of her family, stricken with consumption, and left to die alone. Then she meets Blackheart. Their attraction is ruinous...and irresistible. When he delivers her like so much plunder, his mission is over — but hers has just begun. She'll force him to acknowledge their connection, even if she must storm his ship to do it!
The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway is delightful – filled with fun, adventure and an epic romance between two very unlikely characters.
My The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway review:
I was taken on a great whirlwind of an adventure with The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway! Think English lady, widow, living alone in the wilderness in America, and a ruthless pirate hired to bring her back to England, and lots of sparks and innuendos between Clara and Blackheart to make things more interesting. And because both of them already knew what it was to be intimate with another person, the level of their chemistry spiked high from the beginning, too! At the beginning of the story, Clara thought she’d die alone in her little shed, as a doctor had told her she had consumption, and she had promptly sent her only daughter on her way to England to save her. Steele wasn’t so sure it was consumption, though, as her cabin was full of mold and definitely not good for her lungs.
Between the funny banter between the protagonists, the way the other pirates on Blackheart’s ship acted towards Clara, and how strong and adventurous she showed herself to be, The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway was full of pleasures in every way. There was definitely some very nice moments between the pirate captain and his quarry, but there was nothing that felt forced in any way! Clara was so funny, and she needed the adventure almost as much as Steele did.
When I started reading The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway, I was completely prepared to not enjoy Steele at all, as he seemed pretty insufferable in The Major’s Faux Fiancée. He really stepped up his game here, though, and there was so much more to him than what he had showed in the prior book in the series. The way Clara interacted with her parents once she met them again after almost twenty years apart was great, too, especially because her mother was still seeing society standing as very important. Even after all these years of not seeing her daughter and not getting to know her grand-daughter.
The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway is a very tempting story, where the adventure and sense of freedom is just as important as the romance and the feelings developing between the main characters. The Dukes of War continue to wow me, and I always look forward to entering this historical universe again.
Some of my favorite The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway quotes:
Despite being a pirate for hire, Blackheart was not in the habit of kidnapping innocents. Prior to the end of the war eight short months ago, he had been a privateer for the Royal Navy. A government pirate. A legal pirate. Now that he was an independent contractor, he tried to uphold the spirit (if not the precise letter) of the law.
“Don’t worry, it won’t misfire. I clean it every night.” The increase in Steele’s heart rate had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the confident woman in front of him. Owning a gun made her interesting to him. Being wiling to use it had made her even more so.
She hated that kind of man because he was exactly the type who most tempted her. It wasn’t that she distrusted him, but rather that she distrusted herself. Strong men weakened her knees. The thought of being protected, of being safe again, after so many years of fearing what the morrow might bring…
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Oh it’s fun I haven’t read a HR with pirates yet like that but I like the sound of his one. I should try!
Steele was present in one of the other books in this series, and I didn’t really like him very much then. Here, however, he’s the perfect kind of pirate, Melliane 🙂 And it works well as a standalone.
I have a couple of this authors books on my shelves…but I haven’t picked them up yet. This one sounds good though…I love those pirates.
I love pirates, too, Renee 🙂 and Ridley’s HRs are really god 🙂
I’m envious of you having kept up in this series, Lexxie. I adored the first in this series, which if I’m not mistaken I one-clicked thanks to you. Why, oh why haven’t I kept up?? 😉 Well, I’ll just have to remedy that. I love the sound of Steele and Clara…Clara being such an independent lady makes her my favorite kind of heroine. And that Ridley could make you change your mind about Steele says a lot. I’ll catch up…I will!
I hope you’re enjoying your Wednesday, Lex. I’m going to be trying to get as much done as I can to reduce my stress level. *haha* Oh, Sky received her first acceptance letter yesterday. *sniff* The college is her 3rd or 4th choice but still…. So weird to be so proud and yet sad at the same time. **BIG HUGS**
This series is really good, Brandee, and one day, I’m sure you’ll find the time to continue 🙂 Clara is exactly your kind of heroine, plus she’s a widow with a 20-year-old daughter, so she’s no shrinking violet 😉
My Wednesday was good – now, it’s already Friday… it’s been another busy week, but at least I haven’t had to get up at 5:30 am.
I’m sure it’s both really good, and really strange, to see Sky getting acceptance letters. I’m sure she’ll get more 🙂
*BIG HUGS*
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is perfect for me. I haven’t read a Pirate book in a long time. In my teenage bodice ripper years I always wanted to be kidnapped by a Pirate. They were a favorite troupe!
LOL, Clara didn’t even have to be kidnapped… he was able to persuade her to get on his ship to travel from America to England 😉 And I agree, sexy pirates are the best, Felicia.
I like the idea of her travelling across the sea and falling for the pirate captain! I’m guessing he wasn’t one of those nasty looking ones!!
Definitely not a nasty-looking pirate captain, Naomi… Steele was swoon-worthy 😉
Twitter: kimbacaffeinate
Oh this is very different Lexxie and don’t you just want to kick those Moms who value society opinions over family. Gads.
Those kinds of moms piss me off as well, Kim! Our kids are the greatest gift – and unless they do something that’s actually criminal, we should do our best to stand by them 🙂 The story was still really good, though 🙂 I loved the pirate captain, and the fact that Clara wasn’t a youngling.
Twitter: Mollykatie112
So Clara hadn’t seen her parents in twenty years? How old was she? I like it when the female lead is older at times. This actually sounds amazing and I haven’t read a pirate romance in a very long time. Is it necessary to read these in order?
Clara is around 40, I think, and the fact that she had been married and had a daughter made the story very interesting… she couldn’t exactly be ruined 😉