Seduced by a Pirate (Fairy Tales, #4.5)Seduced by a Pirate by Eloisa James

My rating: 4 of 5 flames

***Some Spoilers-Ye be warned***

Don’t laugh, but I read this book because it’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and I felt the day wasn’t complete without a Pirate Romance.

Quick summary. Phoebe and Griffin are married as soon as Griffin is old enough. So he’s 17, but she’s 20. He’s slightly intimidated by the gorgeous siren he has for a wife and can’t do the deed *wink wink*

His solution is to run off and get drunk. Sadly, he’s scrawny and drunk and can’t defend himself when some horrible men kidnap him into slavery aboard a pirate ship. Thus begins his life as a pirate.

14 years later he comes home and he can’t wait to meet his darling wife Poppy (after whom he’s named his ships, and even gotten a blue poppy tattooed beneath his eye). He is nervous she’ll be upset he’s home, but he truly is excited to see her again. But he isn’t greeted by his wife. He’s greeted by a 5 year old boy who says his mama is outside. Umm, say what? He’d never thought she’d be as unfaithful to their wedding vows as he was.

But their first meeting is actually quite fun. She is still thinking of the short scrawny boy she’d married, not the large, broad-shouldered man sitting before her. She doesn’t recognize him. It doesn’t help he keeps calling her Poppy, because it’s not her name! I about died laughing when he realized he had her name wrong all these years.

Their romance was sweet, but everything was very fast. I loved the hero. Griffin was absolutely wonderful even when he thought something that wasn’t true. I think Phoebe went from trying to annul their marriage to wanting to seduce him way too quickly. I think the I Love Yous were also a wee bit too quick, but I did like the side plot with Griffin’s father quite a bit.

***Spoilers ahead, mateys***

My biggest complaint is that for a novella to deal with an absentee husband of 14 years, I do understand you have to gloss over the 14 years at sea, but it was hardly mentioned. I’d not be so forgiving. And while I liked the adopted children, I really wish that the heroine hadn’t been a virgin and that she had taken a lover. Not just because he did, but because it would have been a nice change. But instead she’s a 34 year old married virgin.

This story has the trademark Eloisa James witty banter and likeable characters, and I recommend it for when you’re in the mood for something sweet and sexy. Just be prepared to ignore the husband’s past 14 years, the heroine apparently is.

***ARC courtesy of edelweiss and Avon

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