After reading two Ravenhurst books, I'm wondering if the device in all of them is to have the hero & heroine deliberately miscommunicate to the point of absurdity. This one wasn't nearly as good as The Disgraceful Mr. Ravenhurst, which had more personality and atmosphere of the times. This book was pretty generic overall, with the evil relatives abusing poor Clemence conveniently dealt with off-scene by lawyers.

Also, Allen needs to rein in her sentences, or else her editor needs to step in. There was one with *7* "and"s! And the climax of hero & heroine was one rambling paragraph-long sentence. Breathless, indeed.

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I've read every single Ravenhurst story in the past couple of years and this, along with the first two, are my favorites.

The pirate plot has been used before and it's one I enjoy reading. But for a change, the hero wasn't the actual pirate, but instead was working for the big bad pirate as a navigator. (And the pirate captain was bad, very bad.) This story was exciting and well written. Most of it takes place on the pirate ship and it felt really authentic.

I love Louise Allen's writing and unique plots. She also enhances my vocabulary every time I open one of her books. Recommended!

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