The Care & Feeding of Pirates
Jennifer Ashley
ISBN# 0843952814
Leisure, Feb 2005, 355 pages
Historical Romance-Pirate Regency
$6.99 (US) $8.99 (CDN)
Reviewed by Laurel
March 2005
Four years ago Honoria Ardmore went to the jail cell of the pirate Christopher Raine, he was to be hung the next morning. She had always been drawn to this man since the first time she saw him and granted his last wish, she gave him her heart and they ravished each other in the jail cell. When Honoria walked away she knew she would never see him again, and she always carried a secret with her, one that four years later has come back to haunt her and at the most inopportune time.
Christopher was captured by James Ardmore, pirate hunter and was to be put to the death by hanging, but a last minute revelation of who killed his brother saved his life. To save face with the raging Charleston crowd they pretended to hang Christopher, telling no one that they spirited him away on a ship bound for China. For four years Christopher endured trials and tribulations while trying to find his crew, outfit a ship, find his wife and reclaim his lost gold. In England following a lead on the member of his crew Manda, who is also his sister, he sees his wife Honoria and hears that she has become engaged to another man. He makes his presence known to Honoria who is in shock to see him alive but further devastated that he came back just when she pledged her heart and love to another.
Now Honoria is faced with a dilemma. No one knows she married this man but she had kept the marriage license to prove it. He thrills her to her soul, effects her, makes her weak in the knees and she loves him, she always has. But she is angry, angry that he let her think he died, angry at her brother James for hiding this from her and angry at herself, for grieving and finally getting over this man. She bravely vows to uphold her marriage vows but at a price, she can not love him anymore. His wife she will be, but she will never love him. Christopher takes her up on this challenge and vows that yes she will. In a battle of wills, wit and sexy love scenes, we see why Christopher and Honoria are meant to be with each other.
I have always enjoyed stories on the high seas. There is something about a pirate that captures the child in me where I anticipate with eager eyes to devour this novel. Jennifer Ashley did not disappoint, she provided me with a sexy pirate in Christopher and a man that made me curious James Ardmore, he seemed cold and aloof in his personality like life has done him wrong and I will be looking for his novel THE PIRATE HUNTER, to see how his wife Diana was able to break through that cold shell and warm his heart. Honoria had issues with her brother and she felt nothing but contempt for him, and I was heartened to see that by the end of this novel they started mending some of the hurt between them and let the past go.
Another character that really intrigued me was Manda, Christopher’s half sister. She was rescued in this novel under the cruellest of circumstances and I would love to see her happy ending, even though it was indicated in this novel, I would like to see her story continue. A Lady Pirate and a proper English gentleman a story in the making and the chemistry they shared left me wanting more. She and Christopher had an unbreakable bond and you could feel that, he searched high and low for her and you could see his relief that he found her and you could also feel the anger he felt towards her captor.
This book is delightful; the third in Jennifer Ashley pirate series she bought back a genre in romance that I thought was long forgotten. With witty dialogue, a lost treasure, a pirate hunter, a pirate and the woman who could make them both weak in the knees for different reasons. THE CARE & FEEDING OF PIRATES is an engaging and wonderful adventure on the high seas. The book pulls you in from the first chapter and lets you go at the very end. Sets you adrift and with the feeling of “this is not fair, please tell me there is a sequel coming there is still much to tell”. Or maybe it’s been so long that I have read an enjoyable and steamy pirate novel in the romance genre that I just wish it didn’t have to end.