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Pirate's Promise
Tall, broad and strikingly handsome, Adam Trend could tempt any woman, especially in his secret guise as the swashbuckling Captain Spectre. But when this daring buccaneer wages as a seductive against a beauty whose passion matches his own, he’s not prepared for what awaits him...
WINNING HER HOME WAS EASY...
Throwing a young woman out of her home is hardly decent behavior—even for a pirate. But when Adam Trent wins the Ducharme plantation in a card game, he knows it's perfect base for a covert scheme of revenge in which he sails the bayous as Captain Spectre. Adam agrees to let Lianne Ducharme stay until she comes of age—a decision he soon regrets. For Lianne fascinates him, and Adam cannot afford the distraction...
WINNING HER LOVE COULD COST HIM EVERYTHING
Too bad that the most virile man Lianne Ducharme has ever met is also the most infuriating. With no choice but to stay at Belle Arbor as his “guest,” Lianne gradually yields to her own budding desires. But there is far more to Adam than Lianne knows. And succumbing to the pirate’s promise of bliss is the surest way to heartbreak.
WINNING HER HOME WAS EASY...
Throwing a young woman out of her home is hardly decent behavior—even for a pirate. But when Adam Trent wins the Ducharme plantation in a card game, he knows it's perfect base for a covert scheme of revenge in which he sails the bayous as Captain Spectre. Adam agrees to let Lianne Ducharme stay until she comes of age—a decision he soon regrets. For Lianne fascinates him, and Adam cannot afford the distraction...
WINNING HER LOVE COULD COST HIM EVERYTHING
Too bad that the most virile man Lianne Ducharme has ever met is also the most infuriating. With no choice but to stay at Belle Arbor as his “guest,” Lianne gradually yields to her own budding desires. But there is far more to Adam than Lianne knows. And succumbing to the pirate’s promise of bliss is the surest way to heartbreak.
512 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
27 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Bobbi Smith
71 books514 followersAfter working as a department manager for Famous-Barr, and briefly as a clerk at a bookstore, Bobbi Smith gave up on career security and began writing. She sold her first book to Zebra in 1982. Since then, Bobbi has written over 40 books and several short stories. To date, there are more than five million of her novels in print. She has been awarded the prestigious Romantic Times Storyteller of the Year Award and two Career Achievement Awards. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists. When she's not working on her novels, she is frequently a guest speaker for writer's groups. Bobbi is mother of two sons and resides in St. Charles, Missouri with her husband and three dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 10, 2020
This review is of “Pirate’s Promise” by Bobbi Smith.
The book begins in the Gulf of Mexico, 1849. It is here that ruthless pirate Shark is planning his latest attack, on the Windwood, a ship captained by Adam Trent, owner of Crescent Shipping, and the hero of the book. Also aboard the ship are Beau Hamilton, Adam’s first mate and best friend, and Adam’s fiance’, Elise Clayton, whom Adam just became engaged to. Their marriage will not take place, however, as Shark and his men attack the ship. Multiple cremen are killed, Adam and Beau are seriously injured, and Elise suffers a gang sexual assault. Adam and Beau return to their hometown,Charleston, South Carolina to recuperate, under the care of Adam’s sister, Becky, who is in love with Beau and he with her. Adam puts Elise in long-term medical care while he sets out to find Shark and kill him.
Adopting the guise of Captain Spectre, Adam tracks Shark to New Orleans. There, he meets and romances Suzanne Labadie, Shark’s business partner and lover. Adam later gets another break when he wins a plantation at a card game. The plantation, Belle Arbor, borders Suzanne’s property, giving him a base from which to work to find Shark.
When Adam and Becky go to visit Belle Arbor, they are met at gunpoint by Lianne Ducharme, the heroine of the book. (Backstory: Lianne’s uncle Antoine wagered and lost the plantation to Adam. He was supposed to manage the plantation until Lianne, 20, turned 21 or married. Lianne is the middle of three Ducharme children from a marriage of Antoine’s brother, Richard, and an unnamed wife. Lianne’s older brother, Mark, was killed in a duel over Suzanne. Lianne also has one younger brother, Alex, 8). Lianne tries to get the money to buy back the plantation, but is rebuffed at every turn. Soon after, however, Lianne and Adam become lovers. This results in Lianne’s pregnancy. To make matters more complicated, Adam “proposes” to Suzanne (This is not a real engagement; rather, Adam is using her to help him find Shark). Upon finding out that Lianne is pregnant, Adam marries her. Their marriage is not a happy one, as he believes she trapped him into marriage to regain ownership of Belle Arbor.
As Adam juggles his relationships with Lianne and Suzanne, he comes to realize that he actually loves Lianne; she also realizes that she loves him. However, there are many issues for them to work through. Among them: Adam’s relationship with Suzanne. Suzanne discovers that Adam is just using her to get to Shark, so she enlists the help of evil banker Cyrus Shackelford-whose advances Lianne rejected earlier-to help her get rid of Lianne so she can have Adam. Shackelford, however, has other ideas. He hires two of Shark’s men to kill Adam; this fails, as Adam kills them, then kills Shackelford. While this is going on, Shark and his other men are kidnapping Lianne and Becky, with plans to sell them into white slavery. (Shark is already involved in Black slavery; that’s how he makes his money). Adam and Beau rescue the women, and Adam kills Shark. Adam then confesses all about what he was doing with Suzanne, Lianne forgives him and they have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: After reading the book again-I first read “Pirate’s Promise”back when it was first published in September, 1988-,I’m not sure there is much of one.
Downside: Let’s start with Lianne. She is a very milquetoast heroine. My favorite heroines are those who have jobs/careers and can take care of themselves, and the love of the hero makes them stronger and better people. Lianne is NOT that type of heroine (To be fair, there aren’t many of Mrs. Smith’s heroines who fall into this category). Examples: When Antoine sells Belle Arbor, Lianne goes to him to try to compel him to buy it back; when he refuses, she cries. Lianne then goes to Adam to try to buy the plantation back. When he refuses to sell it back to her, she cries. When Adam disappears multiple times without telling her where he’s going after their marriage, she cries. Notice a pattern here? I get the emotional aspect of all these things, but the fact that Lianne doesn’t have a plan B beyond crying about what is going on gets very old after the first time.Lianne appears to only be good at two things-besides crying, that is: gardening and looking good.
Adam is no great shakes either as a hero. After the attack on his ship and Elise’s rape, he becomes completely uncaring about anything other than finding and killing Shark; again, understandable, but not good for a romance novel hero. He accuses Lianne of entrapment, claiming she got pregnant to regain ownership of Belle Arbor, CONVENIENTLY forgetting his role in her pregnancy. Adam is uncaring and unfeeling toward everyone except Becky and Beau until about ¾ of the way into “Pirate’s Promise”, when he realizes that he indeed does love Lianne.
Then, there is his treatment of Elise. I work in the emotional health field, and work a lot with trauma survivors (and I am a trauma survivor myself). In my personal and professional experience, I have learned there are things that trauma survivors need to rebuild their lives. They include, but are not limited to: compassion, love, support and understanding. Adam shows NONE of these things to Elise. He buys a house, provides her with round-the-clock doctors and nurses, one of whom, David Williams, she falls in love with and they plan to marry, a clear ethical breach, but I digress. However, other than a few visits, Adam gives nothing of himself. The phrase “trauma-informed care” was not a thing in 1988, but it is now, and that type of care may have helped Elise gain some semblance of her life quicker. A couple of other points: The blurb on Goodreads about “Pirate’s Promise” states that Adam’s fiance’, Elise, was killed. Unless there is a difference between the ebook and the print versions, this is an error. Second, the title is a misnomer. Adam is NOT a pirate per se, although he does disguise himself as one to track and kill Shark. He is a ship’s captain, and 90% of the book takes place on dry land, not at sea.
I can also point out that there isn’t a great deal of romance between Lianne and Adam, with little chemistry and almost no real passion.
Sex: The love scenes are mild and nowhere near graphic. Readers who love spicy love scenes: Bobbi Smith is not your author.
Violence: Most of the violence takes place in the last 3rd of the book and, like the love scenes, is not graphic. Readers who like graphic violence: Mrs. Smith is not your author.
Bottom Line: Mrs. Smith is capable of writing good books. “Pirate’s Promise” is not one of them.
The book begins in the Gulf of Mexico, 1849. It is here that ruthless pirate Shark is planning his latest attack, on the Windwood, a ship captained by Adam Trent, owner of Crescent Shipping, and the hero of the book. Also aboard the ship are Beau Hamilton, Adam’s first mate and best friend, and Adam’s fiance’, Elise Clayton, whom Adam just became engaged to. Their marriage will not take place, however, as Shark and his men attack the ship. Multiple cremen are killed, Adam and Beau are seriously injured, and Elise suffers a gang sexual assault. Adam and Beau return to their hometown,Charleston, South Carolina to recuperate, under the care of Adam’s sister, Becky, who is in love with Beau and he with her. Adam puts Elise in long-term medical care while he sets out to find Shark and kill him.
Adopting the guise of Captain Spectre, Adam tracks Shark to New Orleans. There, he meets and romances Suzanne Labadie, Shark’s business partner and lover. Adam later gets another break when he wins a plantation at a card game. The plantation, Belle Arbor, borders Suzanne’s property, giving him a base from which to work to find Shark.
When Adam and Becky go to visit Belle Arbor, they are met at gunpoint by Lianne Ducharme, the heroine of the book. (Backstory: Lianne’s uncle Antoine wagered and lost the plantation to Adam. He was supposed to manage the plantation until Lianne, 20, turned 21 or married. Lianne is the middle of three Ducharme children from a marriage of Antoine’s brother, Richard, and an unnamed wife. Lianne’s older brother, Mark, was killed in a duel over Suzanne. Lianne also has one younger brother, Alex, 8). Lianne tries to get the money to buy back the plantation, but is rebuffed at every turn. Soon after, however, Lianne and Adam become lovers. This results in Lianne’s pregnancy. To make matters more complicated, Adam “proposes” to Suzanne (This is not a real engagement; rather, Adam is using her to help him find Shark). Upon finding out that Lianne is pregnant, Adam marries her. Their marriage is not a happy one, as he believes she trapped him into marriage to regain ownership of Belle Arbor.
As Adam juggles his relationships with Lianne and Suzanne, he comes to realize that he actually loves Lianne; she also realizes that she loves him. However, there are many issues for them to work through. Among them: Adam’s relationship with Suzanne. Suzanne discovers that Adam is just using her to get to Shark, so she enlists the help of evil banker Cyrus Shackelford-whose advances Lianne rejected earlier-to help her get rid of Lianne so she can have Adam. Shackelford, however, has other ideas. He hires two of Shark’s men to kill Adam; this fails, as Adam kills them, then kills Shackelford. While this is going on, Shark and his other men are kidnapping Lianne and Becky, with plans to sell them into white slavery. (Shark is already involved in Black slavery; that’s how he makes his money). Adam and Beau rescue the women, and Adam kills Shark. Adam then confesses all about what he was doing with Suzanne, Lianne forgives him and they have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: After reading the book again-I first read “Pirate’s Promise”back when it was first published in September, 1988-,I’m not sure there is much of one.
Downside: Let’s start with Lianne. She is a very milquetoast heroine. My favorite heroines are those who have jobs/careers and can take care of themselves, and the love of the hero makes them stronger and better people. Lianne is NOT that type of heroine (To be fair, there aren’t many of Mrs. Smith’s heroines who fall into this category). Examples: When Antoine sells Belle Arbor, Lianne goes to him to try to compel him to buy it back; when he refuses, she cries. Lianne then goes to Adam to try to buy the plantation back. When he refuses to sell it back to her, she cries. When Adam disappears multiple times without telling her where he’s going after their marriage, she cries. Notice a pattern here? I get the emotional aspect of all these things, but the fact that Lianne doesn’t have a plan B beyond crying about what is going on gets very old after the first time.Lianne appears to only be good at two things-besides crying, that is: gardening and looking good.
Adam is no great shakes either as a hero. After the attack on his ship and Elise’s rape, he becomes completely uncaring about anything other than finding and killing Shark; again, understandable, but not good for a romance novel hero. He accuses Lianne of entrapment, claiming she got pregnant to regain ownership of Belle Arbor, CONVENIENTLY forgetting his role in her pregnancy. Adam is uncaring and unfeeling toward everyone except Becky and Beau until about ¾ of the way into “Pirate’s Promise”, when he realizes that he indeed does love Lianne.
Then, there is his treatment of Elise. I work in the emotional health field, and work a lot with trauma survivors (and I am a trauma survivor myself). In my personal and professional experience, I have learned there are things that trauma survivors need to rebuild their lives. They include, but are not limited to: compassion, love, support and understanding. Adam shows NONE of these things to Elise. He buys a house, provides her with round-the-clock doctors and nurses, one of whom, David Williams, she falls in love with and they plan to marry, a clear ethical breach, but I digress. However, other than a few visits, Adam gives nothing of himself. The phrase “trauma-informed care” was not a thing in 1988, but it is now, and that type of care may have helped Elise gain some semblance of her life quicker. A couple of other points: The blurb on Goodreads about “Pirate’s Promise” states that Adam’s fiance’, Elise, was killed. Unless there is a difference between the ebook and the print versions, this is an error. Second, the title is a misnomer. Adam is NOT a pirate per se, although he does disguise himself as one to track and kill Shark. He is a ship’s captain, and 90% of the book takes place on dry land, not at sea.
I can also point out that there isn’t a great deal of romance between Lianne and Adam, with little chemistry and almost no real passion.
Sex: The love scenes are mild and nowhere near graphic. Readers who love spicy love scenes: Bobbi Smith is not your author.
Violence: Most of the violence takes place in the last 3rd of the book and, like the love scenes, is not graphic. Readers who like graphic violence: Mrs. Smith is not your author.
Bottom Line: Mrs. Smith is capable of writing good books. “Pirate’s Promise” is not one of them.
October 27, 2024
#170 - 2024
Genre: Historical Romance, Pirate
Genre: Historical Romance, Pirate
June 15, 2012
This was my first Bobbi Smith novel and I loved it. It was copyrighted in 1988 ( believe it's been reissued since then), and is a little over 500 pages. Adam Trent and his fiance suffer a terrible tragedy. Adam's best friend Beau was also hurt. Adam's sister nursed the men back to health, but Adam's fiance will probably never recover and must be institutionalized. Ridden with guilt and loss, Adam and Beau vow to hunt down the ruthless pirate that attacked their ship. This leads them to New Orleans and illegal slave trades. Adam wins a plantation home in a card game and finds the home is occupied by Lianne Ducharme and her young brother Alex. Their guardian had gambled their home away and now they had no place to go. Adam's sister, Becky intervenes and convinces Adam to allow Lianne and her brother to stay until Lianne is old enough to claim her trust fund. Adam fights off his guilty attraction to Lianne, while plotting to get close to Suzanne, the owner of a neighboring plantation, whom he believes is involved with the slave trade and the pirate he seeks. All of his careful planning disrupted by his feelings for Lianne.
The only thing I could complain about was the front cover and the title,leads a person to think maybe this is a high seas adventure type book. There are several tense moments on ships, but most of the action is at the Plantation house. There is also a side romance going one between Becky and Beau which is very good as well.
The only thing I could complain about was the front cover and the title,leads a person to think maybe this is a high seas adventure type book. There are several tense moments on ships, but most of the action is at the Plantation house. There is also a side romance going one between Becky and Beau which is very good as well.
July 10, 2016
The writing was difficult to get through, plot was rough, uncomfortable semi-rape scene. Mediocre.
November 27, 2020
Pirate’s Pomise
I was a bit concerned about this reading this book due to all of the negative reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised on how well this story turned out to be.
It’s has plenty of action, romance, and intrigue, deceit, misunderstandings, and happily ever after ending.
Both hero and heroine are basically good people, but each had issues that they had to overcome before they could find true happiness with other. Each had suffered some tragic events in their lives before they met, that affected on how they treated each other. In the end love triumphs!
This book is highly recommended. 😊
I was a bit concerned about this reading this book due to all of the negative reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised on how well this story turned out to be.
It’s has plenty of action, romance, and intrigue, deceit, misunderstandings, and happily ever after ending.
Both hero and heroine are basically good people, but each had issues that they had to overcome before they could find true happiness with other. Each had suffered some tragic events in their lives before they met, that affected on how they treated each other. In the end love triumphs!
This book is highly recommended. 😊
August 24, 2025
Full of ow shits.
H actually is in love with his fiancée. Too bad she was badly raped and traumatized by an evil man. And so the H is in revenge mode. He even get himself entangled with another ow who is supposed to be his ticket to the evil guy. He even is gonna propose her but the h comes in his way of plans.
The H is just a sideline. H is too much into justice for his fiancee mode. Also as per the spoilers when the H gets pregnant, thanks to the H, he has the audacity of saying she trapped him into marriage.
Yuck. I’m just not interested.
H actually is in love with his fiancée. Too bad she was badly raped and traumatized by an evil man. And so the H is in revenge mode. He even get himself entangled with another ow who is supposed to be his ticket to the evil guy. He even is gonna propose her but the h comes in his way of plans.
The H is just a sideline. H is too much into justice for his fiancee mode. Also as per the spoilers when the H gets pregnant, thanks to the H, he has the audacity of saying she trapped him into marriage.
Yuck. I’m just not interested.
February 26, 2023
Adventurous
Does it have to be over? This historical romance was good all the way through. However, I couldn’t believe the lengths the hero would go to hide his identity from his wife. It was very exciting and out there! I loved it!
Does it have to be over? This historical romance was good all the way through. However, I couldn’t believe the lengths the hero would go to hide his identity from his wife. It was very exciting and out there! I loved it!
May 25, 2017
I think this was the first book I've read by this author. It was not what I expected after reading the title and back cover synopsis. As an historical pirate romance, it was very disappointing. The main setting of the book is largely a plantation. There is very little swashbuckling or scenes centering around a pirate's or captain's life at sea. The thrust of the book is revenge against a pirate.
So, those of you that enjoy a little more action at sea or around the life of a pirate, privateer or sea captain, move on. This book will likely disappoint you.
This book was way too long for the number of key characters and their close supporting cast. I spent way too much time reading details of each character's thoughts regarding the same scene that just played out. It was too much information. Ha, ha!
Otherwise, generally good scheming and overall plot. The stories of the major and minor characters wrapped a little too neatly an quickly. It was as if the author suddenly realized the story lines were rambling and needed to get wrapped up within 500 pages and the writing was still on page 400 with no end clearly in sight.
I'm a bigger fan of a well-written good story than blatant sex in romance novels. ...and if there are sex scenes, I expect them to be well-written as well. This novel failed on all counts. Unimaginative, repetitive phrasing, and so on...so bad that perhaps they should have said, "The characters made love" or "The characters had passionate sex", and just moved on. I've never said that about any book I've read before and I've read a lot. Ha, ha!
The characters were likable, but only generally so.
I may try book by this author another time and perhaps one from later in her career. This author seems to be well-liked and books seem to have high-ratings. I'd like to read another to see if the author's writing just isn't my style or if this book is not representative of the author's body of work.
So, those of you that enjoy a little more action at sea or around the life of a pirate, privateer or sea captain, move on. This book will likely disappoint you.
This book was way too long for the number of key characters and their close supporting cast. I spent way too much time reading details of each character's thoughts regarding the same scene that just played out. It was too much information. Ha, ha!
Otherwise, generally good scheming and overall plot. The stories of the major and minor characters wrapped a little too neatly an quickly. It was as if the author suddenly realized the story lines were rambling and needed to get wrapped up within 500 pages and the writing was still on page 400 with no end clearly in sight.
I'm a bigger fan of a well-written good story than blatant sex in romance novels. ...and if there are sex scenes, I expect them to be well-written as well. This novel failed on all counts. Unimaginative, repetitive phrasing, and so on...so bad that perhaps they should have said, "The characters made love" or "The characters had passionate sex", and just moved on. I've never said that about any book I've read before and I've read a lot. Ha, ha!
The characters were likable, but only generally so.
I may try book by this author another time and perhaps one from later in her career. This author seems to be well-liked and books seem to have high-ratings. I'd like to read another to see if the author's writing just isn't my style or if this book is not representative of the author's body of work.
July 10, 2014
The plot at the beginning and end is good but it flounders in the middle. The hero of the story is a jerk throughout. He also rapes the heroine which is not my thing. To top it off, the typos were obnoxiously extensive.
December 30, 2009
a real thriller. wondering wut's happening and such...great book
August 11, 2011
This man doesnt know who he wants
June 12, 2012
It was a good read. If you like romance books them this is a book for you.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews