Writing a romance about pirates that has any sense of authenticity is a real challenge. Historical pirates were a brutal bunch, and creating a romantic lead who is also a pirate usually requires some sort of Count of Monte Cristo-ish backstory explaining how a noble person ended up in taking to the seas to plunder but manages to retain their honor in the midst of a life of villainy.

Merry Shannon manages to create a romantic heroine who is a pirate captain who has justly earned her fearsome reputation -- but who believably finds her hard character slowly undone by the beautiful, willful, stubborn young woman she takes captive. To Shannon's credit, their relationship grows slowly, and the obstacles arise naturally out of Captain Ann's choices as a pirate captain as well as Violet's unique background and natural fortitude. (In contrast to the too-frequent romantic plot devices of misunderstandings, the lies of jealous friends, or etc.)

Outside the slow-blooming romance, there are sea battles, boarding actions, scenes of life on board a ship, a sneaky naval officer, a Spanish galleon, rum, bagpipes, murder, treachery, mutiny, a lost treasure -- and a voyage into the Devil's Triangle.

There are a few explicit erotic scenes between the leads, but this is not erotica: more like an R-rated swashbuckling adventure. ( )

http://zehavit-lamasu.livejournal.com/468522.html#cutid1 ( )