Read for: Arrg-ust
Synopsis: "~His Lady Smuggler~
After two failed seasons in town, May Stanford sees her future no longer with her family, but in a nearby convent where she’ll not be anyone’s financial burden. But before she can embark on her new life, May must complete her dealings with the local smugglers, men who have kept a roof over her family’s head during frugal times. One last Christmas at home and her life would change forever. So when William Scott, the Earl of Grandison arrives and crumbles her perfectly planned future to rubble, May is less than pleased.
William, Lord Grandison works for the Crown, and is determined to catch the nuisance Englishmen who dare smuggle along the Cornwall coast. William has never veered from his pursuit of these men working against the law, that was until he meets May Stanford, the maddening daughter of his host for Christmas. May drives him to distraction and forces him to admit to feelings he has never felt before.
But when May and William discover the crippling truth of each other, their secrets will threaten to tear them apart.
~Her Gentleman Pirate~
Kidnapped by a smuggling pirate, Miss Arabella Hester is appalled by the circumstances that have befallen her. Imprisoned on a ship in the most scandalous of company, her reputation as a lady betrothed to a English Viscount is in tatters.
Captain Stephen Doherty aka Blackmore was left with little choice but to kidnap the daughter of Sir Ronald Hester, a man who’s payment for services rendered is long overdue. The ransom due on Arabella will settle her father’s debt, and allow Stephen to restore his family’s fortune.
Pursued across an ocean by those determined to restore a daughter to her rightful place, Arabella and Stephen navigate high seas and high emotions. But when their time is up, it remains to been seen whether this lady wishes to be caught by anyone other than her pirate..."
My Review: I picked this bundle up for my pirate month, I haven't read a lot of pirate themed romances but I have enjoyed them in the past. This bundle included 2 short companion stories. The first was His Lady Smuggler and I really enjoyed this story. I love how some of the normal roles were reversed in this story. It did progress very quickly as to be expected with such a short story and I found their behavior to be outside of the norm for the era but didn't mind it because I was enjoying the story and their banter so much. The second story was Her Gentleman Pirate and I didn't find this story quite as enjoyable. Arabella and Stephen had much more traditional roles, it did take a lot longer for their relationship to develop, which I did appreciate but their banter felt more forced. I also a lot more editing issues in the second story, errors in spelling, word use and inconsistencies in events (ie. gagged mouth but then spitting, blindfolded but sees hair color) and that really pulled me out of the story. All in all it was entertaining but as you can get these books individually, I would stick with just May and William's story.
My Rating: This is such a tough one to rate with having really enjoyed the first story but not really the second story. I think I have to give it a middle of the road rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag but I do really recommend His Lady Smuggler!
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