Customer Reviews

The Pirate Bride (Wheeler Large Print Book Series)

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

 

 

Shannon Drake runs hot and cold. When she's good, she's very good. When she's cold, she's a total snore. Unfortunately, "The Pirate Bride" is definite nap material.

I generally love pirate romances... Lusty romance, sensual & energetic love scenes, lots of action and adventure... But this story has shown none of those characteristics. 170 pages, about half of the book, and there has been no spark.

The exaggerated coincidences Drake wrote into this story are eye- rollingly annoying. Example: H/H are washed to the shore of a deserted island during a storm. At the same time another ship happens to wreck and it's contents wash to the exact same location on the beach. What's in them? Men's and women's clothes and shoes, bedding, blankets, a magnifying glass [what a surprise, considering they had no easy way to start a fire until they found it], pots and pans, sugar and biscuits with no vermin, scented soap, towels, tools and nails for building a shelter, the list goes on as such... I'm surprised Drake didn't include a maid and butler.

The fact that this heroine character supposedly won over an entire crew and became known as a fierce legend of the sea is ridiculous. Every duel she's been in she has lost. She spends more time worrying about everyone taking regular baths and having the laundry washed than she does worrying over the condition of her ship. In fact, her crew has to nag her into seeing to the ship's necessary maintenance. The whole thing is like a bad joke. Real pirates would have used her up and tossed her overboard long ago.

I feel bad for the people who check this book out at the public library after I donate it.

Normally I don't like that pirate romance novels, but for whatever reason I saw this at the library and decided to give a chance. I'm really glad that I did.

This book was entertaining and full of action. I really liked both Bobbie and Logan. I even felt drawn in to the secondary characters which is not a common thing for me, but I really wanted to read more about Red Robert's crew.

I think it could have done with a little more romance, but this book is still something I would like to read again. This was my first Shannon Drake book and I plan on reading more from her. The Pirate Bride is a well written book.

i was heart broken when this book had to end but the adventures will alwas stay with me. the ending was very good and summed it up nicely which is normaly the problem iwth most books.

In 1716 one of the most feared Caribbean pirates Red Roberts seeks revenge. The infamous pirate aims to kill Blair Colm, who wants to sell her into marriage; Red Roberts is a woman masquerading as a man. She escaped his efforts by turning to the sea becoming the frightening scourge plundering ships while diligently hunting for Blair.

Red takes the ship captained by Laird Logan Hagarty and holds him prisoner until her vessel is shipwrecked. They end up together on a deserted island where they begin to fall in love. Although he understands how difficult his vow will be, he promises her to bring the odious Colm to face criminal charges, but his prime mission is to persuade Red they belong together after they are rescued.

This is a superb early eighteenth century romance starring a wonderful unique female character and the man who admires her grit and courage. The story line is action-packed at sea and on land. However the exciting plot belongs to the intrepid Red Roberts who since her parents died in 1689 off Scotland has lived for one thing only until Logan enters her life confusing her emotions.

Harriet Klausner

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
It felt like another "churned out book" using a standard romance formula. There was nothing witty or interesting about the conversations. Nothing surprised or delighted me. A few times, I wished it were over. There is nothing specifically wrong with it. It's just that this book is similar to so many other books. I'm looking for novels with something to set them apart or with strong emotional pulls for me. On the positive side the love scenes were sensual and passionate - nicely done.

STORY BRIEF:
Blair is a pirate who fought for William III. William won and became king of England. During the fighting, Blair killed Roberta's parents who opposed William and then sold Roberta as an indentured servant to Ellen in Charleston. Ellen later sold Roberta to a Count in France to be his mistress. On the way to France, the ship was seized by pirates and Roberta escaped. She becomes captain of a ship and dresses as a man called Red Robert. Her cousin Brendan is with her. Her goal in life is to seek revenge by killing Blair. Logan is the captain of another ship. Roberta and Logan become stranded on a deserted island which is where their romance begins.

REVIEWER'S THOUGHTS ON POSSIBLE STORY CHANGES:
The story started out interesting with two sides fighting to rule England. It made Blair sympathetic since he fought on one of those sides. Roberta's parents were on the other side. I wish the author had further developed that picture of Blair. Instead, the story proceeded as a typical romance novel with Blair as the bad pirate and Roberta as one of the good pirates. The story of fighting in England wasn't needed to support the plot. It could have been simply bad pirate Blair kills Roberta's parents and sells her. Further development of some sympathy or other interest for Blair through his relationship with the King of England might have made the story more interesting for me and a little less formulaic.

DATA:
Story length: 370 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 7. Length of sex scenes: from 0.5 to 3 pages. Total number of sex scene pages: 12. Setting: 1689 to 1716 Scotland, Charleston, Virginia, and various locations in the Caribbean. Copyright: 2008. Genre: historical romance.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other books by this author, see my 3.5 star review of "Deadly Night" posted under 3 stars 10/25/08.

I thought that it started out okay, but as the book progressed it got uninteresting. It seems that this book was just thrown together willy nilly.n In the end, I just skipped to the last chapter, the book was terribly predictable.

Normally, I love heather graham/shannon drake for her fiery characters and explosive passion. However, the only things exploding in this book were ships. And even that part was boring! The set-up of the plot could have been amazing, but there was no spark in any of the characters. The most interesting character in the whole book was the villain, because at least he provoked a little action and was at least partly spontaneous. I had to force myself to finish- it isn't even a good beach read. A predictable yet completely unsatisfying book that made me fall asleep. Definitely not Heather's best work.

This was one of my first Shannon Drake books and I was captured. She put great life into her leads and was a fun romp threw the oceans and islands with Captain Red Robert and her sexy prisoner Logan Hagarty.