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33p3barpercent 's review for:
The Care & Feeding of Pirates
by Jennifer Ashley
I love Jennifer Ashley's historicals. I think her Mackenzie series is so nuanced and fresh and lushly detailed. I knew this series was older, and I was okay with that. I actually like reading older books of my favorite authors because you can really see how they've grown as writers and storytellers. Reading through their backlist really highlights what makes an author special (Julia Quinn has always been brill, and Lisa Kleypas has always written interesting stories, even if her older stories aren't the gems her newer ones are). I've read a few of JA's older stories and they're not my favorites but they're still fun. This book falls firmly in that camp. More far fetched (a lot far fetched--married a pirate in secret and no one really freaks out when he comes back to claim her? Really?), this story seemed to germinate from a hook ("secret marriage to a pirate") than from an original character standpoint like I believe JA does with her Mackenzie series. I always always always enjoy stories more when the story is character driven rather than plot driven. I like multilayered characters and I felt like this book was lacking in the fresh, interesting characters I have come to expect from JA. I think that is where this book is the weakest. I get the Hero's attraction: he's a swarthy, dashing pirate. Who doesn't love those? But who is the heroine? I don't know why the Hero fixated on her and wants her so badly. I don't know what made her so special back then and I don't get what makes her so special now that he's returned. I don't feel a connection between them and the fact that they're always all over each other doesn't a romance make.
If this wasn't JA, I probably wouldn't finish it. It's a bit unbelievable and the characters don't help.
If this wasn't JA, I probably wouldn't finish it. It's a bit unbelievable and the characters don't help.