Title: A Buccaneer at Heart
Publisher: Mira
Publish Date: May 1, 2016
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb:
After a decade of captaining diplomatic voyages for Frobisher Shipping, alongside covert missions for the Crown, Captain Robert Frobisher decides that establishing a home—with hearth and wife—should be his next challenge. But an unexpected mission intervenes. Although Robert sees himself as a conservative businessman-cum-diplomat and this mission is far from his usual sphere, it nevertheless falls within the scope of his abilities. As matters are urgent, he agrees to depart for West Africa forthwith.
To Robert, his way forward is clear: Get to Freetown, determine the location of a slavers' camp, return to London with the information, and then proceed to find himself a wife.
Already in Freetown, Miss Aileen Hopkins is set on finding her younger brother Will, a naval lieutenant who has mysteriously disappeared. Find Will and rescue him; determined and resolute, Aileen is not about to allow anyone to turn her from her path.
But all too quickly, that path grows dark and dangerous. And then Robert Frobisher appears and attempts to divert her in more ways than one.
Accustomed to managing diplomats and bureaucrats, Robert discovers that manipulating a twenty-seven-year-old spinster lies outside his area of expertise. Prodded by an insistent need to protect Aileen, he realizes that joining forces with her is the surest path to meeting all the challenges before him—completing his mission, keeping her safe, and securing the woman he wants as his wife.
But the villains strike and disrupt their careful plans—leaving Robert and Aileen no choice but to attempt a last throw of the dice to complete his mission and further her brother's rescue.
Compelled to protect those weaker than themselves and bring retribution to a heartless enemy, they plunge into the jungle with only their talents and inner strengths to aid them—and with the courage of their hearts as their guide.
The first voyage is one of exploration, the second one of discovery. The third journey brings maturity, while the fourth is a voyage of second chances. Continue the journey and follow the adventure, the mystery, and the romances to the cataclysmic end.
This book gets billed as a regency romance and it really isn't that at all. Its more like an adventure novel with a touch, and I do mean a touch of romance.
Most of the book is long and drawn out. 500 + pages of plodding adventure story. Robert and Aileen didn't even meet until the book was about 30% in. That's very frustrating, at least for this reader.
The flow of the story is nice though, and if you didn't read the first book, you can jump in and you'll be given enough back story not to be confused, but really, this book is part of a quartet and they really should be read in order so you get the proper flow.
There's a lot going on in Freetown with missing adults and children. It is Robert's job to find out where the missing people are going. He didn't plan on meeting Aileen who is just as capable of being a help on his mission, as she has an interest in it, her brother is one of the missing.
The two do work well together and there is a spark between them, but not enough of one to make for a satisfying romance. Truth be told, the sex scenes just didn't it for me, because the romance was secondary to the story, in fact, the romance was barely there, so any love scenes just didn't work.
Once Robert and Aileen have the information they needed to take back to London the story really slowed down to a snails pace (and that's being insulting to the snails) Ms. Laurens spent ample time setting up who the next book would be about too which added even more to a story that would have been better if it were about 100 pages shorter.
I also couldn't figure out the title of the book, as it had nothing to do with the story at all. I'm invested in the mystery that is at the center of these stories, so I will read on, but I hope this is the only miss in the series.
Review: 3 flowers
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