A wicked stepmother, a sea of pirates, and a hero in disguise…Julia Scott flees an arranged marriage and a cruel stepmother to live with her uncle in the West Indies. Attacked by pirates and desired by island natives, the only person she can trust is John Smith–if that’s his true name.Reaching her uncle’s station in Antigua, Julia must find a way to face her feelings about her traitorous … about her traitorous family, a dashing new suitor, and the guardian angel, John Smith, who has no qualms sporting counterfeit names and less than what is proper attire.
Regency Romance with a twist! Buy now to enjoy this sweet romance from the author of A Pirate at Pembroke.
Enjoy more feel-good romances by Danielle Thorne:
A Pirate at Pembroke
Josette
The Privateer of San Madrid
By Heart and Compass
Turtle Soup
According to Jane
Valentine Gold
Brushstrokes and Blessings Book One
Henry’s Holiday Charade
Garland’s Christmas Romance
Death Cheater
Cheated
Southern Girl, Yankee Roots
more
I listened to the audio book and enjoyed the narrator. She had some good differences from speaker to speaker. I particularly liked Julia’s voice. She made Julia sound vibrant and adorable.
The beginning of this book is high adventure/danger, moving from one bad situation to another, then back in civilization the story slowed a lot. It seemed a huge contrast to the first part and almost like nothing happened to move the story along, especially by comparison. And then it suddenly moved to “Really?” plot twists and finally the resolve. The book left me feeling like it was an over the top adventure not unlike Pirates of the Caribbean. Enjoyable but over the top.
Though there is a love triangle of sorts, it is obvious where that is going to lead. I rather enjoyed the banter between John and Julia. Definitely the most interesting characters in the book. Others weren’t developed enough to really care about.
Most interesting part to me was John Smith talking about proper attire and how everything is a costume for whatever role we play. For him that changed a lot over the course of the story from pirate to nearly naked to dressed for society. Julia didn’t seem very shocked over the near nakedness or being around nearly naked natives. She noted it but then just kind of shrugged it off as whatever. As sheltered as she had been, in that time period, it seems like she might have been more bothered by it.
It was satisfying to see the good guys get the happily ever after and the bad guys get what is coming to them.
Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: yes
*I received a complimentary audio-book and voluntarily chose to review it.
My thoughts about this book:
• The opening scene of this story with pirates attacking Julia’s ship captured my attention immediately. My interest was held from the very beginning of this story until the very end.
• There were many twists and turns to this plot and that helped to keep the intrigue and suspense going.
• Julia seemed to have lived a very sheltered life. She was stubborn and made poor decisions because of her brashness and naivete. She seemed to find herself in stuck in many dangerous situations.
• George Greenway was a character full of mystery and intrique. He was constantly rescuing Julia from her life threatening dilemmas.
• The author did an amazing job of describing emotions and scenes. From the author’s descriptions, I could feel the sea breezes on my face and smell the sea water and tropical flowers.
• I loved the witty banter between Julia and Greenway. These characters were delightful.
• The narrator did a satisfactory job.
• At my request, I was given a complimentary copy of this audiobook and ebook from the author. I have voluntarily left my review and my opinions were my own. I enjoyed this historical romance, filled with intrigue and humor, set in the West Indies and highly recommend it.
PROPER ATTIRE, a clean & wholesome historical romance by Danielle Thorne, starts off with slam-bang action. Julia Scott has fled England for the Caribbean islands and her uncle’s protection from an unwanted marriage being forced upon her by her step-mother. But before Julia reaches Antigua, she runs into pirates with nefarious intentions for her, island natives who may or may not want to eat her, the unbearable heat and thirst of a tiny boat in the immensity of the ocean, and a mysterious rescuer who goes by the name John Smith.
Things seem quieter once she reaches Antigua, but more subtle threats await her there. Will Julia uncover them before it’s too late? And will discovering John Smith’s true identity deliver or destroy her happy ending?
Danielle Thorne is at her best when delivering action scenes and lovely, lush descriptions of the environments her characters interact with. The romance is sweet but never dull. If you love pirates and clean romance, you’ll want to check out PROPER ATTIRE.
I really enjoyed this book – I read it some time ago and it really entertained me! It’s not your normal Regency, taking place upon islands and with a gentleman who does not wear “proper attire.”