Customer Reviews

The Care and Feeding of Pirates

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ms. Ashley's latest pirate romance was very good but not great. Why not great? Simple, I was unable to come to terms with the herorine. Honoria ran both hot and cold with no middle ground. This left me the reader feeling that this romance was a bit uneven. Christopher on the other hand jumped up off the page. He was by turns romantic, devil may care, and caring. In my opinon he was almost too good for our lack luster heroine.

Christopher and Honoria have a past. She believed that Christopher had been hung as a result of him being a pirate. Her heart though keeps thinking she sees him in the most unlikely of places. The first man to have ever kissed her and awakened her heart could not still be alive...or could he? She gets her answer and the answer is Christopher is alive and well and wanting to pick up where they left off. As man and wife! There's a problem there though. Honoria is promised to another and she is fighting the feelings that Christopher evokes. Will she follow her heart or will she ignore the one person she has always wanted.

Christopher can't believe how much he still cares for the stubborn Honoria. She is his wife and after four years he is ready to pick up where they left off. Why is she fighting this so much they are meant to be together...granted there is the small problem of him and James Ardmore having unfinished business but that is just a small problem right? Can they find a middle ground and happiness at the end of their road?

Again this was a fun read. We get to visit again with old friends from previous books and I'm always game for a hidden pirate treasure read. This book was kept from being great by our heroine. She clearly felt something for him...she married him, yet she felt the need to act like a spoiled twit when confronted by the one person she had never forgotten. This reader just didn't get it. This was annoying and quite frankly I felt that Christopher was maybe too good for her. Still he acted the proper hero and stayed true to his love. For that alone I give this read the higher rating. This was a fun read and one that I would not over look. Especially if you've read the previous titles by Ms. Ashley.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

I really really liked this book. I found it to be fun and entertaining. I liked the battles that Christopher and Honoria had. They had a spark that lit and blew up with everything they did. From the deck to the bed, they ingnited. I almost lost hope after reading the first two books this author wrote, they fell flat in my opinion. No bad books, but nothing to get excited over. Not this book though.
I liked all the characters. I thought it was funny to watch Chris get high and mighty to be brought down by his lil 'o wife. Honora was a remarkable character. I liked Manda. She was a riot. I thought she had a very interesting intorduction into the story. All in all, I was pleasntly surprised with this book. I was not expecting it to be as good as it was. Not to mention its a pirate book. I have a sinful love for pirate books. This will go on my keeper shelf and I highly recommend it.

In 1809 Charleston, James Ardmore hung pirate Christopher Raine, but not before his sister Honora married the rogue. Now in London four years later, Honoria swears she saw Christopher on the streets and not long afterward he arrives in her bedroom to claim his spouse. Apparently her brother saved his life as he owed a debt to the pirate. She hid her marital status from her sibling who failed to inform her that her husband lived.

Christopher has another mission besides regaining his wife's love though he admits the passion still flows; he must rescue his sister from a devious enemy, which means crossing the Atlantic with a volunteer as a wife or a prisoner as a spouse. Christopher vows to leave London with Honoria with him. If he could have seen into the near future and what his actions do to her safety, he would have reconsidered though fighting, kissing and just being with Honoria is bliss.

This is an amusing gender war starring two equally powerful combatants whose retorts make for a fine witty tale. Honoria and Christopher are so good together in a second chance theme (although there was not much time the first time around), the subplot involving his foe seems almost unnecessary though that provides plenty of action that augments this terrific historical. Jennifer Ashley is the queen of the pirate romance with this high seas thriller and works like THE PIRATE HUNTER and THE PIRATE NEXT DOOR.

Harriet Klausner

I am more than halfway through this book and I have decided that while I want to see how Christopher Raine finally wins Honoria, I am not sure I can stand to see him try any longer.

May contain Spoilers ahead!

The book started out great and I thought: Hero chasing Heroine, and they have a juicy past, this can only lead to good things. However, Honoria's reaction to seeing Christopher alive whom she had loved so much left me cold. I find her to be wishy-washy. If she's so determined not to love him then perhaps she shouldn't be jumping into bed with him and/or trying to seduce him. So far, I find her speeches on why she can't love him to be cruel. Who wants to hear something like that over and over again? And frankly, I don't get it. Okay, yes, she is afraid to lose him again and to be hurt as she was again, but I would think with being given a second chance to love him properly she wouldn't be so quick to push him out of her life. I don't even get the impression from her that she completely believes in the crap she spews to him, but that could just be because her actions don't parallel her words. While I've read plenty of romances where at least one or both characters are obtuse, they have never been THIS obtuse.

Typically I am all for the hero chasing the heroine and the witty repartee that follows, but Honoria is not worthy of Christopher. She's a wild cat in the bedroom, but a cold fish otherwise. I don't see them evenly matched at all and this is why I am having a hard time finishing this book.

Jennifer Ashley is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I already laughed at the title when I first read it and the book certainly did not disappoint. I enjoyed every single page of it.

First of all, I would like to say that I absolutely adored "Penelope and Prince Charming" from this Author. So, I rushed out and got the first book with a cute catchy title from her. To say the least, I was disappointed.
The chemistry that was in her other book lacked completely here. The hero was rather bland (How do you make a bland pirate, for goodness sake!) and the heroine, for lack of better word, was whiny. I found myself more interested in the neighbors (who have their own book) and the brother of the heroine (who has his own book). Now, there was sex (This author KNOWS how to write a good sensual scene!) but without the chemistry that makes a romance a romance, it was kind of... cheap.
Perhaps if I read the stories in order, I would like "Care and Feeding." As for now, I will continue to read Ashley novels, but I'm not sure what to expect now. I recommend her "Penelope and Prince Charming" so much more.

Why is it that a book will have a great hero but the heroine doesn't measure up? I feel that that is what happened in The Care and Feeding of Pirates. Christopher was to die for. He was great. I loved the way he was written, but Honoria left me cold. I didn't like the way she came across and I never warmed up to her. I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about her, but maybe it was that I didn't feel she admitted her love for Christopher soon enough. To be a great book, it has to click on all cylinders and Honoria, for me, bogged this one down.

Gees, THE CARE & FEEDING OF PIRATES? Can we all scream "Cheesy Title?" After devouring this book, I am baffled, for THE CARE & FEEDING OF PIRATES is hardly a cheesy book. It is well-written and shows considerable artistic strength. So why the shoddy title?

Christopher Raine is a pirate - a rough, stormy, pirate. Not a pirate with a warm manner, not a pirate with a kind heart - no Christopher Raine is a rough, stormy pirate, and Christopher Raine is stimulating!

Honoria Ardmore is a southern belle. She is a proper lady in the parlor, and a shocking hussy in Raine's bed. And Honoria Ardmore is the sister of Raine's archenemy.

Honoria's big brother, James Ardmore, sent Christopher Raine to his death - via the hangman's noose. Four years later, the devious Raine turns up, in London, to claim his property - Honoria - his wife!

Open waters, passionate nights, and pirate treasure now await the reader.

Ashley does a good job with this book. Her hero is rousing, exhilarating, overbearing, and filled with the desire to possess Honoria. On the other hand, Honoria is a reading enigma - did I like this heroine or not? I'm still undecided, but I do know, I liked this book! It is steamy, but the author holds the line, and although the hero is controlling, I still found him refreshing.

The weak points: that title, an iffy plot, and an unsubstantial epilogue. Still, it is a page turner and this author displays a commanding writing style - certainly, she has piqued my interest! Grade: B+

MaryGrace Meloche
Reviewer for: www.romancedesigns.com

This review is based on an Advanced Reading Copy.

This book definitely kept me interested. Yummy hero who didn't cave in to the heroine (who was pretty stubborn herself), which, by the way, I didn't mind at all. It wasn't a predictable story and had enough sparing and tension between Christopher and Honoria to keep me glued to the pages. The other characters were great & each person had their own special personality which stood out too. I had kinda given up on pirate books but I am glad I read this one!

The care and feeding of pirates was a fun read. I loved both Christopher and Honoria. It was nice to read about the characters from her other books too.