The writing style was good, because Eloisa James is quite an excellent writer, but this wasn’t up to her usual standards. It could be that her views were quite common to a certain sect of the time and I just don’t know it. The wife (I can’t remember her name my apologies!) was a bit too modern to be quite believable – though I’m no expert on Victorian society, of course. Example: Sir Griffin can never return to society his wife disdains society. Though the characters had a believable chemistry, things were a little too pat. (I do get a little bored of romance novels who have the “good-guy-masquerading-as-the-bad-guy-I-was-always-principled-in-the-end” thing going on. Thus he ended up being a privateer instead of a pirate. Sir Griffin was, mind you, a fairly principled pirate – no one walked the plank, slaves were freed or returned to their homeland if found, and he only pirated other pirates. (If you’ve read her four books in “The Duchess Quartet,” you’ll understand how female friendships really makes her work shine.) The premise is that Sir Griffin Barry, who ran away from his wedding night and became a pirate, has finally returned home to his wife, whom he barely knows. The main female character was really isolated – the whole of the story was fairly isolated, come to think of it – and though the male lead had some interactions with a good friend of his, the story is almost entirely focused on the leads’ interactions. Like I said, I’m not terribly fond of novellas and I usually find them to be lacking either in character development or plot development. The plot was a little too neat and tidy and, I think, lacked the time (space?) to be well-developed. (She and Julia Quinn are my favorite romance authors.) Most of her books have focused quite heavily on female friendships, as well as the main romantic plot but this little novella didn’t. Normally, her books are lovely, full of wit and charming romance. Which is disappointing, coming from Eloisa James. I’m not actually too fond of novellas, but I’m quite fond of Eloisa James, so I went ahead and read it. Seduced by a Pirate is Eloisa James’ most recent novella.

Seduced by a Pirate by Eloisa James