A Lady At Last (de Warenne Dynasty) [Kindle Edition]

Brenda Joyce (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The latest from Joyce offers readers a passionate, swashbuckling voyage in her newest addition to the De Warenne dynasty series. This installment showcases Cliff De Warenne, third son to the earl of Adare, gentleman, privateer, notorious lady's man and, most recently, rescuer of damsels in distress. One such damsel, free spirit Amanda Carre, is left alone in Jamaica to face an angry mob after her father is hanged for piracy. The strong-willed beauty turns to De Warenne to sail her to London for a reunion with a mother she cannot remember and a rigid society she feels certain will scorn her. On the course of their stormy voyage, Cliff instructs Amanda in the art of becoming a lady, determined that she make a successful debut and land a good husband. Along the way, Amanda recognizes that her feelings toward her captain go beyond mere gratitude, and Cliff wonders if his fierce loyalty to the young woman runs deeper than he dares to acknowledge. Romance veteran Joyce brings her keen sense of humor and storytelling prowess to bear on her witty, fully formed characters. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Joyce's Regency romance features Cliff de Warenne, a rich, virile privateer and a gentleman. Home again in Jamaica, he can't help but step in to save young Amanda Carre from herself. A pirate's daughter in her late teens, Amanda is an excellent sailor and swordswoman, but has no social graces whatsoever. Now that her father is due to be hanged, she is willing to barter her body to save him. Cliff cannot allow that and, instead, agrees to take Amanda to London, and her mother whom she's never seen. Along the way, Cliff battles his urge to bed her while she alternately shocks him with her actions and woos him with her naivete. She is part child, part woman, and Cliff does his best to relegate her to childhood. At first, Joyce's tale recalls the bodice-ripper romances of 20 years ago, but further reading unveils a more classic Pygmalion tale with an extra soupcon of eroticism. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 306 KB
• Print Length: 384 pages
• Publisher: HQN (December 1, 2006)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000MAH9ZC
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,870 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Brenda Joyce is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourty-nine novels and five novellas. There are over fourteen million copies of her novels in print and she is published in over a dozen foreign countries. A native New Yorker, she now lives in southern Arizona with her son, dogs and numerous Arabian and Half-Arabian reining horses. Brenda divides her time between her twin passions' writing powerful love stories and her quest to become a nationally ranked Top Ten equestrian. For more information about Brenda and her upcoming novels, please visit her websites: www.brendajoyce.com, www.francescacahillseries.com www.thedewarennedynasty.com and www.mastersoftimebooks.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars warm Regency romance, December 9, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Lady At Last (de Warenne Dynasty) (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1820 Kingston, privateer Cliff de Warenne, son of an English earl, understands the need to hang pirates. However Governor Thomas Woods using the pathetic Rodney Carre as an example will do nothing to stop the activity of his bolder ruthless Cuban rovers especially the notorious El Toreador. Cliff detests the circus that Woods has caused with the spectacle and wonders about Carre's daughter La Sauvage, who would do anything to free her father.

After the hanging of her beloved dad, Amanda has no place to go so Cliff agrees to take her to her mother in England. On their trek across the Atlantic, Cliff begins teaching Amanda how a lady behaves in polite society where she will find a husband. However, she realizes loves Cliff and he loves her, but neither will take that critical first step and reveal what they hide from their beloved.

The delightful tale of the youngest de Warenne son meeting his beloved is a warm Regency romance that effortlessly flows from Pirate of the Caribbean to the ball rooms of the Ton. The story line will remind readers of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady as Cliff falls in love with his creation, who returns his feelings, but doubts he could care for her inner wild soul. Fans of the series will immensely enjoy what may be the best of a strong series while newcomers will seek the backlist (see MASQUERADE and THE PRIZE, etc.).

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Think "My Fair Lady.", March 13, 2007

By 

Kristi Ahlers (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Lady At Last (de Warenne Dynasty) (Mass Market Paperback)

Cliff de Warenne is a gentleman pirate who prides himself on his conquests both on and off the water. So he's totally shocked when he finds himself playing protector to a young woman who is everything he normally tries to avoid. But Amanda Carre speaks to his heart and he will do what he must to see her safely settled after the death of her papa. This means taking her to England and the ocean crossing is going to test his strength in more then one way. Will he be able to turn the wild child Amanda into a diamond of the first water that society will embrace? Better yet will he be willing to walk away from her once his duty to her is at an end?

Amanda's world has been turned upside down in a matter of moments and she is not prepared for handsome Cliff de Warenne and the feelings he brings out in her. She loves him and yet he seems to want nothing to do with her. Will she be able to finally capture the heart of the man who has vowed never to marry or will she be doomed to heart break?

I must say that this read was slow in places but...Ms. Joyce did create some very touching moments that will engage the reader's emotions thus sparing this title from being simply ordinary. Fans of the de Warenne series will be pleased with this latest addition. On the other hand if your new to the series...this is a strong stand-alone. Cliff and Amanda are so opposite and yet at the same time they have more in common then either think. Make sure you have Kleenex handy.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad...but not the best., December 26, 2006

By 

Lorinai (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Lady At Last (de Warenne Dynasty) (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed reading A Lady at Last, but that's about as much praise as I can offer. It was "nice". Maybe too nice for me. I wasn't particuarly drawn to Cliff OR to Amanda, although they were pleasant enough characters. I have to say, however, that I totally didn't understand Cliff's resistance to being with Amanda. I understood that he had a reputation as a womanizer and that she wasn't really his "type", but once he realized how attracted he was and that she was in love with him...I was sort of lost as to what his hesitation was. And there was some tension with his father that was never developed to my satisfaction. All in all a pleasant read - but I wasn't as enthralled as I hoped to be. I enjoyed Joyce's "The Prize" a lot more.