Pirates [Mass Market Paperback]

Linda Lael Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller writes the kind of high-spirited, totally absorbing novels that captivate us right to the last line.

Known for her fast-paced stories and delightful Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy blend of wit and sexual tension, she creates characters who "walk right off the pages and into your heart" (Rendezvous).

Now Linda Lael Miller sweeps readers away -- and through time itself -- when a thoroughly modern woman encounters a dangerous, dashing eighteenth-century buccaneer. The result is a sensuous, joyous, utterly heartwarming tale of love....

Phoebe Turlow needs to get out of Seattle and forget about the man she just divorced, her dwindling finances, and the lonely nights that stretch ahead of her. But she can't foresee what awaits her on Paradise Island....

Duncan Rourke is known to historians as "the pirate patriot." He's been dead for two centuries -- or at least he's supposed to be, until Phoebe Turlow steps out of a van, into a run-down island hotel, and into his world.

Neither Phoebe nor her pirate can envision the glorious adventure that is about to unfold. They understand only that they have found each other, and a grand passion, across the chasm of time...and they fear only the moment when it may vanish. Passionate, emotional, and completely entrancing, Pirates will steal your heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Swept from her dismal present in the 1990s (facing unemployment and the singles scene as a recent divorce{‚}e), Phoebe Turlow takes a wrong turn at a hotel (while attending a "free vacation" in the Caribbean, sponsored by a condo company) and winds up in the seventeenth century in the company of a sexy, witty pirate named Duncan Rourke. As if Rourke does not have enough to do fighting the British in the American Revolution, he has to determine whether short-haired, strange-speaking Phoebe is a spy, a witch, or worse. Instead, he falls in love with her. Miller does not bother much with plausibility in her time-travel scenario, but she does tuck in plenty of special effects in terms of costuming and warfare. Denise Perry Donavin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Pirates is Linda Lael Miller at her scintillating best."

-- Harriet Klausner, Affaire de Coeur

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671873164
• ISBN-13: 978-0671873165
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #564,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( M ) > Miller, Linda Lael
  • #68 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Time Travel

More About the Author

In January of 2006, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Linda Lael Miller left the Arizona horse property she's called home for the past five years and listened to the call of her heart. Packing up her work-in-progress for HQN Books; her dogs, Sadie and Bernice, and her four horses, the author of more than 70 novels bid farewell to her home in the desert and returned to the place of her birth, Spokane, Washington.
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda grew up in Northport, WA, a community of 500 on the Columbia River, 120 miles north of Spokane. Her childhood remembrances include riding horses and playing cowgirl on her grandparents' nearby farm. Her grandparents' spread was so rustic that in the early days it lacked electricity and running water.

As delightful as this childhood was, Linda longed to see the world. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, she left to pursue her dream. Because of the success of her author career, Linda was able to live part-time in London for several years, spend time in Italy and travel to such far-off destinations as Russia, Hong Kong and Israel. Now, Linda says, the wanderlust is (mostly) out of her blood, and she's come full circle, back to the people and the places she knows and loves.

Before Linda begins her writing day, she takes her first cup of coffee while enjoying the scenic view of the wooded draw behind her new home. The first morning there, a snowfall blanketed the pine trees, something she had missed in the desert outside Scottsdale. Still enamored with the people she came to love in Arizona, she says she will still set books in that starkly beautiful area, and, of course, in other stories the action will take place in Washington.

Devoted to helping others pursue their dreams, the author will launch her sixth round of Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women in May of this year. A talented speaker, she donates all her speaking honoraria to her scholarship fund. The stipends are awarded to women who seek to better their lot in life through education.

It's no wonder the protagonists in Miller's novels are women her readers admire for their honor, courage, trustworthiness, valor and determination to succeed, despite overwhelming odds. 'These qualities make them excellent role models for young women,' Miller explains. 'The male leads possess equally noble traits that today's woman would be delighted to find in her life's mate.'

The author traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she made her first sale.

Although Linda has written successfully in other genres, she is best known for stories set in the West'stories like McKETTRICK'S CHOICE (HQN Books March 2006 paperback); THE MAN FROM STONE CREEK (HQN, June 2006 hardcover) and that very first novel, FLETCHER'S WOMAN, which is being reissued in 2006. Her stories, set in yesterday's world, and today's, are historical romances, romantic thrillers, and other contemporary tales. They consistently score on prestigious national bestseller lists.

Linda has come a long way since leaving her sheltered life in Northport at age 18 to experience the world. 'Growing up in that time and place, in a family grounded in Western values, served me well,' she allows. 'And I'm happy to be back home.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, August 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Pirates (Mass Market Paperback)

I did actually enjoy reading this book for the most part. I found the characters likable and entertaining, but was waiting for some sort of revelation at the end of this book. Nothing. I found the character of Old Woman the most interesting, and she had a pretty important roll in the story.....then her whole character was just sort of abandoned. We never found out her magical name, and it didn't really seem necessary for Phoebe to use it to return to Duncan's time. Afterall, he got there without it. I also thought the character of Alex played too important of a part in the book to have his story wrapped up as an afterthought. Also, *who* was this woman who bought the book about Duncan in the Epilogue?! She should have had some sort of connection rather than just being a stranger. I guess I'm tired of the idea of time travel being used only to get a modern day person into a unique setting. The stories could be so much more interesting and memorable.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an imagination!, January 3, 2001

By 

HeyJudy "heyjudy" (East Hampton, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Pirates (Mass Market Paperback)

What an imagination Linda Lael Miller has! Yet once the reader accepts the basic premise of her time-travel fantasy, Miller keeps her story fast-moving and consistent within the premise of that fantasy. Along the way, Linda painlessly has included a fair amount of colonial history--not to mention some spicy love scenes. A fun, escapist read. Hats off to Ms. Miller.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Why is this author so popular?, April 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Pirates (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the second book I have read by her and I just don't understand the fuss. I love historical, timetravel, sci-fi and otherwise offbeat romances and have read many of them. This book is so-so. Her characters are well defined and likeable and the dialogue is entertaining. But the romance has no development - they go from first meeting - to bed - to in love forever in the space of a few brief scenes and there is not much of a plot. Her main character is a "History buff" who worked for several years as a research assistant to an American History professor yet her level of knowledge about the period she is thrown into is right at about the level of your average 4th grader. Better that she had been a Psych. major since she given to offering advice that could have come-out of any pop-self-help book.The author doesn't know much more about the period then the heroine and none of it rang true. All in all it is readable if you don't expect much from it or the author.