She was in the wrong place…
Fiercely independent and adventurous, Poppy Bridgerton will only wed a suitor whose keen intellect and interests match her own. Sadly, none of the fools from her London season qualify. While visiting a friend on the Dorset coast, Poppy is pleasantly surprised to discover a smugglers’ hideaway tucked inside a cave. But her delight turns to dismay when two pirates kidnap her and take her aboard a ship, leaving her bound and gagged on the captain’s bed…
He found her at the wrong time…
Known to society as a rascal and reckless privateer, Captain Andrew James Rokesby actually transports essential goods and documents for the British government. Setting sail on a time-sensitive voyage to Portugal, he’s stunned to find a woman waiting for him in his cabin. Surely, his imagination is getting the better of him. But no, she is very real—and his duty to the Crown means he’s stuck with her.
Can two wrongs make the most perfect right?
When Andrew learns that she is a Bridgerton, he knows he will likely have to wed her to avert a scandal—though Poppy has no idea that he is the son of an earl and neighbor to her aristocratic cousins in Kent. On the high seas, their war of words soon gives way to an intoxicating passion. But when Andrew’s secret is revealed, will his declaration of love be enough to capture her heart…?
About the Book
The Other Miss Bridgertonby Julia Quinn
Series
A Bridgertons Prequel (Jump to the Series on Amazon)
Genre
Adult
Historical Romance
Publisher
Avon Books
Publication Date
November 20, 2018
Purchase Your Copy Today!
Amazon | Bridgertons Series on Amazon | Avon Romance | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iBooks
Excerpt
He motioned with his arm, urging her a few more steps forward. “Careful,” he murmured.
Poppy looked to her toes. The deck came to an abrupt halt in front of her, its elevation dropping by several feet.
The captain hopped down. “The beakhead, my lady,” he said with a gallant wave to the triangular deck that formed the pointy front of the Infinity. He reached up and placed his hands on her hips to help her down.
But when she was steady, he didn’t let go.
“This is as far forward as one can stand on deck,” he told her.
She pointed to a spot a few feet ahead. “What about—”
“As one can stand safely on deck,” he amended. He adjusted their position so that he was standing behind her. “Now close your eyes.”
“But then I can’t see the stars.”
“But then I can’t see the stars.”
“You can open them later.”
She tilted her head to the left, right, and back again, as if to say, Oh, very well, but she closed her eyes.
“Now tilt your head up. Not all the way, just a bit.”
She did, and maybe it was that motion, or maybe it was just because she’d closed her eyes, but she felt instantly off-balance, as if something far greater than the ocean had stolen her equilibrium.
The captain’s hands tightened on her hips. “What do you feel?” he asked, his lips coming close to her ear.
“The wind.”
“What else?” She swallowed. Licked her lips.
“The salt in the air.”
“What else?”
“The motion, the speed.”
He moved his mouth closer. “What else?”
And then she said the one thing that had been true from the beginning.
“You.”
Review
If it were possible to give a book more than 5 stars, I’d be doing it right now!! I really enjoyed this latest installment in the Rokesbys series. Yes, I wanted to throttle both Andrew and Poppy several times, but I also loved the tension between them, and their wordplay and banter was amazing. It very much reminded me of the rapid-fire banter that happens between Lorelei and Rory Gilmore in the TV shore Gilmore Girls, so if that type of back-and-forth annoys the heck out of you then consider yourself warned, because that's the dynamic Poppy and Andrew have going on in SPADES.I love how curious and intelligent Poppy is, and I feel like her impulsive nature is born at least in part from constantly chafing against the restrictions on being a woman in a time where women are expected to fit in pretty little boxes and be quietly decorative, when she's filled with this burning need to know and ask questions and explore. So naturally since she has to push boundaries anyway, she may as well just break through them altogether. YOU GO POPPY - DON'T LET THEM KEEP YOU FROM LEARNING EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW! I just love her inquisitive mind. *dreamy sigh*
And that Andrew is no slouch either! Who doesn't love a sexy, muscled pirate with dark secrets and a solid, faithful, nougat center? Yes please, I'll take two. And then when you add in that he's getting those restless stirrings of dissatisfaction and planning an imaginary cottage in his head where he wants to settle down, and make it big enough for his nieces and nephews to come visit? OK, sign me up, I would like a sexy pirate who is ready to settle down and put together puzzles with me please. Yes. Yup. Mmhmm. Yum.
I definitely recommend this one for readers who are already fans of other books by Julia Quinn, especially of her Bridgertons series, as well as for readers of authors like Lisa Kleypas, Lenora Bell, and Tessa Dare. I like to think of them as the low angst historical/Regency period romances, which tend to have high levels of sass and witty banter as well as a few well-placed rom-com themes and well-loved tropes.
This is the third book in the Rokesbys series, but can be read as a stand-alone with some spoilers for some of the earlier books (but not many more spoilers than you'd get by reading the back cover blurbs). That being said, the other books in this series are also *amazing* and totally worth a read, so go read them too!
About Julia Quinn
JULIA QUINN started writing her first book one month after finishing college and has been tapping away at her keyboard ever since. The New York Times bestselling author of more than two dozen novels for Avon Books, she is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and is one of only sixteen authors ever to be inducted in the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family.
SOLID FAITHFUL NOUGAT CENTER!!! Great review!
ReplyDelete