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Once Upon a Pirate
Zoe Dunham's annoying ex-husband was making her desperate for a vacation. Little did she expect to spend it aboard a privateer's ship engaged in the War of 1812! But that was exactly where she found herself, thrown at the feet of Captain Black Jack Alexander, otherwise known as Winn.
From his velvet eye-patch to his white silk shirt, Winn was the image of a swashbuckling hero. And the sinfully handsome body beneath those sexy clothes was enough to make even a nun take notice. From the moment she met him, Zoe was hooked.
But how could a beleaguered divorced mother from the twentieth century possibly dare to find love with a nineteenth-century pirate?
From his velvet eye-patch to his white silk shirt, Winn was the image of a swashbuckling hero. And the sinfully handsome body beneath those sexy clothes was enough to make even a nun take notice. From the moment she met him, Zoe was hooked.
But how could a beleaguered divorced mother from the twentieth century possibly dare to find love with a nineteenth-century pirate?
324 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 5, 2022
This time-travel romance finds Zoe Dunham traveling back in time when she chases after Jonathan, her ex-spouse who’s looking for a cache of treasure allegedly hidden by his ancestor. He searches in their mansion and stumbles through a portal. Zoe follows, landing alone on the pirate ship of Captain Black Jack Alexander, known as Winn. She falls for the handsome pirate and not much else happens except for a few seafaring adventures and encounters with Corsairs where she ends up in a harem. If you like a lot of love scenes, this book is for you. If you like a more complex plot, you might skim ahead like I did to find an interesting twist or two at the end.
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December 29, 2019SO GOOD, I BOUGHT THE SERIES
THE DARK HEART OF THE SEA, ONCE UPON A PIRATE
I received this book for free and am giving my honest and voluntary review
A very captivating book on pirates and how they came to be. Ruairi, a pirate known as the Dark Heart and Senga meet under circumstances that they couldn’t understand. Senga embarks on Ruairi’s journey as a pirate and they find their HEA together.
THE DARK HEART OF THE SEA, ONCE UPON A PIRATE
I received this book for free and am giving my honest and voluntary review
A very captivating book on pirates and how they came to be. Ruairi, a pirate known as the Dark Heart and Senga meet under circumstances that they couldn’t understand. Senga embarks on Ruairi’s journey as a pirate and they find their HEA together.
March 6, 2023
Trying to settle up her failed marriage and finally distance herself from her cold and unfeeling ex-husband, the heroine instead finds herself thrust through a tunnel and face first onto the wooden planks of a pirate ship. Not knowing that she has in fact traveled back in time, she immediately sees her ex-husband garbed in period clothes and realizes he's finally gone over the deep end. What with the failed business, the end of their marriage and his oppression with lost treasure, the mental collapse was bound to happen but she didn't want him to drag her along with him. But this man she finds before her is a bit different than the Jonathan she knew. He is taller, more muscled and his hair is tainted with bits of silver. He is also incredibly charming, humorous and is obviously confused by how she, a stranger woman, somehow ended up on his ship. When they are attacked, she realizes the truth, that she is now 200 years in the past and on board a pirate ship. Funny enough, she's not freaked out. The hero makes life easy for her and she surrounds herself with friends. Something about the hero draws her in and immediately she realizes she's falling hard for this man.
The hero is an easy-going man, not prone to anger or harsh words towards his crew. He earns their respect by kindness and competence. But the life of a pirate is no longer appealing to him. He's too old, too tired to keep up the fight and he's looking to step down. He falls in love with the heroine on sight and is intrigued by her strange ways and brash speaking. They have a deep and passionate love affair, something the hero never thought could happen as he once considered himself impotent. But she's not from his time. She must return to the future for her children's sake. He tries everything to keep her with him from leaving her on an island (not knowing she stowed away on board) and marrying her, hoping that connection will make her stay. He didn't know about the children but now that he does, he's willing to travel forward with her. But before they can reach their destination they are attacked and captive. Now they must fight to escape and find a way back through the gateway to 1992.
This was not a well-developed story. There seemed to be a lot of things missing at parts that kind of made me confused later on. First off, the heroine accepted her time traveling far too easily. Secondly, she never really worried about her children until closer to the end. Thirdly, what the hell was the point of Jonathan coming back in time himself if his involvement in the story was so pitiful? While I admire the author penning an older heroine who is almost forty with 2 kids and graying hair, I found her character to be just as annoying if not more obnoxious then characters 20 years her junior. She threw sass and raved about feminism and put herself in danger because of her stupidity. She may have been more advanced in age but that didn't stop her from acting like a child. There were some decent scenes between the hero and heroine that showed a clear view of that love they had for each other but overall, I found the story to be rather dull and mickey mouse. It's hard to take a book seriously when it has a cover like this and sadly the writing did make up for the cheesy cover. Once upon a pirate failed in my opinion but honestly.... what was I expecting? Charles Dickens?
The hero is an easy-going man, not prone to anger or harsh words towards his crew. He earns their respect by kindness and competence. But the life of a pirate is no longer appealing to him. He's too old, too tired to keep up the fight and he's looking to step down. He falls in love with the heroine on sight and is intrigued by her strange ways and brash speaking. They have a deep and passionate love affair, something the hero never thought could happen as he once considered himself impotent. But she's not from his time. She must return to the future for her children's sake. He tries everything to keep her with him from leaving her on an island (not knowing she stowed away on board) and marrying her, hoping that connection will make her stay. He didn't know about the children but now that he does, he's willing to travel forward with her. But before they can reach their destination they are attacked and captive. Now they must fight to escape and find a way back through the gateway to 1992.
This was not a well-developed story. There seemed to be a lot of things missing at parts that kind of made me confused later on. First off, the heroine accepted her time traveling far too easily. Secondly, she never really worried about her children until closer to the end. Thirdly, what the hell was the point of Jonathan coming back in time himself if his involvement in the story was so pitiful? While I admire the author penning an older heroine who is almost forty with 2 kids and graying hair, I found her character to be just as annoying if not more obnoxious then characters 20 years her junior. She threw sass and raved about feminism and put herself in danger because of her stupidity. She may have been more advanced in age but that didn't stop her from acting like a child. There were some decent scenes between the hero and heroine that showed a clear view of that love they had for each other but overall, I found the story to be rather dull and mickey mouse. It's hard to take a book seriously when it has a cover like this and sadly the writing did make up for the cheesy cover. Once upon a pirate failed in my opinion but honestly.... what was I expecting? Charles Dickens?
July 23, 2016
Once Upon a Pirate by Nancy Block
I enjoyed this book.
The description of the book I am listing below is from the back jacket of the book. I'm adding it because I believe the one on the Goodreads page does not depict this story.
Zoe Dunham's annoying ex-husband was making her desperate for a vacation. Little did she expect to spend it aboard a privateer's ship engaged in the War of 1812! But that was exactly where she found herself, thrown at the feet of Captain Black Jack Alexander, otherwise known as Winn.
From his velvet eye-patch to his white silk shirt, Winn was the image of a swashbuckling hero. And the sinfully handsome body beneath those sexy clothes was enough to make even a nun take notice. From the moment she met him, Zoe was hooked. But how could a beleaguered divorced mother from the twentieth century possibly dare to find love with a nineteenth-century pirate?
I enjoyed this book.
The description of the book I am listing below is from the back jacket of the book. I'm adding it because I believe the one on the Goodreads page does not depict this story.
Zoe Dunham's annoying ex-husband was making her desperate for a vacation. Little did she expect to spend it aboard a privateer's ship engaged in the War of 1812! But that was exactly where she found herself, thrown at the feet of Captain Black Jack Alexander, otherwise known as Winn.
From his velvet eye-patch to his white silk shirt, Winn was the image of a swashbuckling hero. And the sinfully handsome body beneath those sexy clothes was enough to make even a nun take notice. From the moment she met him, Zoe was hooked. But how could a beleaguered divorced mother from the twentieth century possibly dare to find love with a nineteenth-century pirate?
August 7, 2022
3.5 stars
August 20, 2025
This was a fun read. I kept wondering how it was going to end with Zoe being from a different time period. The twist was unexpected, but I'm happy with how everything turned out in the end.
July 13, 2016
Zoe Dunham is saying goodbye to her ex-husband, while he's trying to locate some buried treasure. Somehow, she falls into a hole and wakes up on the deck of a pirate ship led by a man who looks a lot like her husband. Turns out, he's her husband's ancestor, Winn Dunham a.k.a Black Jack Alexander. They fall in love pretty much immediately, but Zoe continues to go about winning over and charming the rest of Winn's crew. Then there's some mission they have to be about before Zoe can return to the present, but how can she leave the man of her dreams behind?
This was very fluffy romance, as evidenced by declarations of love so quickly in the story. It was more or less a case of recognizing soul mates and insta-love. But there were still some obstacles to the relationship, nothing seriously angsty or anything - everything is figured out quite easily. . There's a bit of adventure and maybe one minute of relationship tension, but this is a very easy going story. Not boring really, but not exciting either. The heroine was unique, but I questioned her intelligence at times. Especially when a man from the 1800s insists that he's sterile and she just believes him...like they had the technology to KNOW back then. She also didn't care much for the possibility of changing the future, as she goes about the nineteenth century doling out antibiotics, providing inhalers and providing reading material and plastics. But that's sort of my own little quirk with time travel - I always start overthinking it...
Winn was certainly unique, but only in that he was the first Mary-Sue hero I've ever read. He was the perfect, sensitive guy that women dreamed about (I think many still do) who wasn't afraid to show emotion, was sensitive and willing to declare his feelings. Although, one flaw that I really enjoyed seeing was how he questioned his virility and felt his age. He had gray hairs, aches and pains of age (he's only 35..but it was an athletic lifesyle) and thinks of himself as an old man. He's also practically celibate, having gone without for nearly 10 years. -that makes him extremely unique in romancelandia.
This was a worthwhile read. Interesting, although a bit dated (a woman in her 30's saying "pooh-pooh" and using a cassette walkman - ah the 90's). If you like fluffy, non-angsty romances with sensitive, caring heroes, this book is for you.
This was very fluffy romance, as evidenced by declarations of love so quickly in the story. It was more or less a case of recognizing soul mates and insta-love. But there were still some obstacles to the relationship, nothing seriously angsty or anything - everything is figured out quite easily. . There's a bit of adventure and maybe one minute of relationship tension, but this is a very easy going story. Not boring really, but not exciting either. The heroine was unique, but I questioned her intelligence at times. Especially when a man from the 1800s insists that he's sterile and she just believes him...like they had the technology to KNOW back then. She also didn't care much for the possibility of changing the future, as she goes about the nineteenth century doling out antibiotics, providing inhalers and providing reading material and plastics. But that's sort of my own little quirk with time travel - I always start overthinking it...
Winn was certainly unique, but only in that he was the first Mary-Sue hero I've ever read. He was the perfect, sensitive guy that women dreamed about (I think many still do) who wasn't afraid to show emotion, was sensitive and willing to declare his feelings. Although, one flaw that I really enjoyed seeing was how he questioned his virility and felt his age. He had gray hairs, aches and pains of age (he's only 35..but it was an athletic lifesyle) and thinks of himself as an old man. He's also practically celibate, having gone without for nearly 10 years. -that makes him extremely unique in romancelandia.
This was a worthwhile read. Interesting, although a bit dated (a woman in her 30's saying "pooh-pooh" and using a cassette walkman - ah the 90's). If you like fluffy, non-angsty romances with sensitive, caring heroes, this book is for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2008
I love trashy romance novels!!
April 16, 2008
GREG'S MOM'S BOOK ....GREAT READ FOR THE LADIES !!!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews