The Pirate Lord

by Vanda Vadas

Can love for his beautiful, aristocratic captive rescue Miles from his lust for revenge?

A family tragedy steeped in deceit and betrayal saw Lady Eloise Blakely vow never to fall victim to a man's charms, let alone invite him into her bed. Until fate swept her aboard a pirate's ship and into its captain's embrace. Yet when he reveals a dark secret, her lover becomes her enemy.

Ten years ago, Miles Zachary Fenton was framed for murder. For so long he has fought to clear his name and reclaim his dukedom. Now, when both appear to be just within reach, he is forced to abduct a meddling beauty, one who wreaks havoc with his emotions and complicates his plans.

Genres: Historical, Suspense, Pirates, Historical Romance

293 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 27, 2015

About the author

Before residing in Australia, Vanda's birthplace and early childhood years were spent in Papua New Guinea. At the age of eleven, a holiday in England sparked an interest in the days of old. Castles, ruins, and discovering Jane Austen novels inspired a life-long interest in all things historical, a passion that later kick-started Vanda's desire to write historical romance.

Vanda has studied and worked in the field of Education, teaching Literacy and Numeracy to children and adults. She's also worked as a PA, a recruitment consultant and now in home furnishings.

Reviews

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️s

I loved this!

Unique, intriguing, riveting and gorgeously written.

In this exciting historical romance you will find a grand house, a pirate ship, a breathtaking Caribbean island, a gutsy heroine who can wield a sword and a pirate to die for.

Filled with adventure, action, crime, passion, romance, humour and revenge.

I couldn’t put this amazing story down. Highly recommended.

[Regan Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and ½ Stars – A Duke Regains His Heritage

Set somewhere in England in 1744 (no location is given), it begins with a prologue ten years earlier as a stable fire takes the lives of the parents of ten-year-old Lady Eloise Blakely and her brother, Julian. It was believed Miles, eldest son of the Duke of Arlington, set the fire after an argument with Eloise’s father the Marquess of Shafford. Miles was supposedly killed in the fire, but nothing was ever said of his remains.

Ten years later, Eloise, now twenty, has not moved on. She still mourns her parents (though her brother, Julian, apparently does not).

Miles Zachary Fenton (who, as the eldest son of a duke, would likely have had the courtesy title of marquess) did not die in the fire but fled the scene, apparently set up. For the last 10 years he has been bent on revenge against his half brother, Gareth, who has taken the title the Duke of Arlington that belonged to Miles. (Given the laws of inheritance, Miles was, in fact, the duke no matter what his younger half brother called himself.)

Gareth courts Eloise, whom he has supposedly loved since they were children, but she sees him as only a friend. Meanwhile, Zach shows up one night outside a ball as a masked man to spy on his half brother. On the terrace, Eloise discovers Zach and accepts his passionate kiss. (It seemed a tad unrealistic to me given her station, the era and the fact they were strangers to each other.) When he suddenly departs, Eloise chases after him and trips on the stairs. (I counted three times in as many chapters where Eloise fell or fainted and slipped into unconsciousness and there were other instances later on.) The result of her fall this time is blindness, which everyone hopes is temporary.

While I found the heroine to be snippy and her wanton behavior with Zach a bit hard to believe, some of the dialog is quite charming. I quite liked the storm at sea. The action scenes were well done and perhaps the best in the book.

We are told Zach is a pirate but we never “see” it. What we see, beginning two-thirds of the way through the story, is a competent sea captain. Zach, as a hero, has his bad points. He has allowed his life to be consumed with revenge (ten years is a long time but then he was supposedly amassing Gareth’s fortune which was Zach’s). He also accepted the gift of Eloise’s virginity but then decides he “can’t risk the hope of a future with her.” Gee, what a nice guy.

Improbable plot developments, “telling”, modern word usage and other issues (portholes didn’t exist as windows on wooden ships of this era) detracted from the believability of a story set in the mid 18th century, which was otherwise entertaining.

[MarciaB - Book Muster Down Under · Rating 5 out of 5]

To Zach, life is about hate and revenge – to take ownership of what is rightfully his. Having been exiled after his father died, he comes back to England to exact that revenge but the beautiful emerald-eyed Eloise comes between him and his entitlements, changing his game plan.

Stubborn and fiercely independent, when Eloise loses her sight in a fall after trying to follow the masked man that appeared outside at her birthday celebrations, she is thrust into not only a dark world but one in which she unwillingly becomes a pawn in a game where there can only be one winner.

Little do both of them know that the sparks of smouldering desire are about to be fanned, igniting flames of all-consuming passion that not even the blue waters of the Caribbean will be able to douse! But will the tragedy that connects them bring them together or forever tear them apart?

I’d like to just start out this review by saying that it’s been a while since I read such a deep and absorbing historical romance and I’m so glad that I was given the opportunity to discover this debut Australian author who, on her website, promises “an earnest endeavour to deliver a memorable love story with characters who will remain in your heart long after you’ve read the last word”.

With that in mind, Vanda Vadas has certainly kept to her end of the bargain and burst onto the literary scene with a bang by penning this passionate, adventure-filled and sexy historical romance with well fleshed out characters, a devious villian and adventure both on and off the high seas.

Her main characters are ones you can just fall in love with whilst those secondary to the story are just as well-crafted, specifically Eloise's brother Julian and Zach's right-hand man, Seth.

Zach, our hero, turned out to be a man after my own heart – he is tender, kind-hearted, sympathetic and oh so ruggedly sexy with those obsidian eyes and long raven hair, all traits that his captive will fast come to realise she can't resist.

Eloise, too, is a wonderful character. She is not only beautiful but feisty, strong-willed and passionate, so it’s no wonder Zach has his work cut out for him when he captures her and whisks her away to his ship following her brother’s search for her.

Written in an elegant style, with word choices fitting the era and secondary characters who you will either come to love or hate, Vanda paints such a vivid picture of life in those times, skilfully weaving in intrigue, perfidy and jealousy and lacing it all up with compelling sexual and emotional tension, that it’s hard to believe this is her debut novel.

With its striking cover, it’s a story that is sure to captivate an audience eager to partake in a new historical romance

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG! A fast paced, drama filled pirate tale and so much more! Beautifully written with engaging and interesting characters. The storyline is unique and intriguing with many twists and turns. Filled with tragedy, deceit, betrayal, danger, Lord, Ladies, secrets, treachery, passion, thievery, romance, revenge, and finding true love, learning forgiveness and healing. I loved the H/H, how they learned to let go of a past that was devastating, tragic and deliberately orchestrated. From tragedy comes love. Well done. I read this in one setting. There was so many surprises. Fans of Historical Romance, pirates, and an epic romance, will enjoy "The Pirate Lord".

*Received for an honest review from the publisher via Net Gallery*
**Cross-posted on My Book Addiction Reviews dot com**

Rating: 4
Heat rating: Hot
Reviewed by: AprilR, courtesy of My Book Addiction and More

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Can love for his beautiful, aristocratic captive rescue Miles from his lust for revenge? A family tragedy steeped in deceit and betrayal saw Lady Eloise Blakely vow never to fall victim to a man's charms, let alone invite him into her bed. Until fate swept her aboard a pirate's ship and into its captain's embrace. Yet when he reveals a dark secret, her lover becomes her enemy . . .Ten years ago, Miles Zachary Fenton was framed for murder. For so long he has fought to clear his name and reclaim his dukedom. Now, when both appear to be just within reach, he is forced to abduct a meddling beauty, one who wreaks havoc with his emotions and complicates his plans

What a surprisingly fun little tale this was! I do try to read as much Australian fiction (or Australian authors) as I can and this book was appealing based solely on that. Historical romance isn't necessarily my go-to genre but...

...what a fun and exciting ride. Great sequences in this book really brought the action to life. The characters were really good (if not just a little clichéd - but I was okay with that) and I thought the romance between Eloise and Miles were just really written (and just a tad 'hot'!)

Other highlights were the authors ability to put the reader right into the story - one other reviewer said they felt like they could taste the salt in the air and that describes it perfectly. That is a skill that not too many authors achieve across a whole novel. The other thing that I appreciated was that the story wasn't kept to just being a romance story - there was action, adventure, secrets, betrayal...and passion and romance.

This is a book I would definitely recommend to lovers of historical romance novels, but also to anyone who wants to give this genre a go - there is much more to it than just historical romance.


Paul
ARH

[Jody Allred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ,awesome and love it

If you love romance .if you love pirates this book is for you it is a wonderful book I would read it again just lovely everything about this book is perfect awesome

[Cazzychaps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written historical. It really puts you in the time period. The hero and heroine are both strong and worthy. When the story takes you to the high seas and to the islands of the Caribbean, the adventure really takes off. Fantastic read. Looking forward to more from Vanda.

[Anthea Laurelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this story. It harkened back to the swashbuckling era of the Spanish Main and I love a good pirate movie. A great read and if you've ever seen the movie "The Black Swan" with Tyrone Power in the lead role, you'll love this book.

[Brooke Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cliché, but “cute” storyline. Zach was wrongly accused of setting a fire and the deaths that resulted from it. Eloise’s parents died as a result of that fire. Ten years have passed and it’s her birthday, the day after the anniversary of her parent’s death. Outside, she meets a masked intruder and after trying to follow him, she suffers a head injury. Gareth, half-brother to our hero, is the true villain of the story and after Zach learns that Gareth has fiancé, he kidnaps her, not knowing at all that she is Eloise. I found the whole story to be nothing but a continuous cliché and found myself accurately predicting the events that happened next. While it was an interesting plot line, it had a YA/juvenile feel about it in the way the characters behaved and were written, and some of the events were almost wildly unrealistic. Eloise experiences temporary blindness and copes with it so surprisingly well that I was scratching my head. She is then kidnapped less than a day later. I didn’t find her particularly enjoyable or a strong heroine. She whined and complained, and kept making demands of Zach that made her seem very childlike. Very much a damsel in distress. Zach was more promising but he lacked depth and also acted juvenile at some points. He had spent the last decade plotting his revenge, tending an island and a plantation. I wanted anger and passion and to feel his rage. I didn’t get any of it. The vileness of his Gareth wasn’t even exposed until literally half way through the book and then it was nothing but evil from him. I would have enjoyed more hints into his true character throughout the first half, building up the hate we were supposed to have for him. I give The Pirate Lord three stars. The storyline was promising, but the characters lacked so much depth and maturity. I would have loved to have had little peaks into Zach’s, or Miles, as we are suddenly expected to call him, past, what he suffered through to get to where he was now. Some of your typical, romance-plot, clichés could have been left behind or not so obviously written in so that the entire novel felt forced. *I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.*

[Angel Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eloise’s brother is Julian and he had thrown a party to celebrate her birthday. But the night before Eloise turned ten her parents had died in a barn fire.Eloise just could not forget and therefore did not enjoy her birthdays. Julian fears he had taught Eloise to well how to ride and target practice. Few could beat her. Eloise refused to marry unless she loved the man. Then Eloise goes out to the terrace to get away from her party and sees a masked man in black. But he prevents her from yelling out then as she goes to follow him she falls and the injury causes her to temporarily go blind. Zach was the masked man and incorrectly blamed for the fire that toke Eloise’s parents lives. Then Zach mistakenly kidnaps Eloise.
I liked this story s lot. It was fast paced . this story had everything you could want: deceit, tragedy, danger, secrets, betrayal, passion. Romance, revenge, and so much more. Sometimes both Eloise and Zach acted immature but I got past that. I did enjoy the plot and the way the story was written. I loved the twists and turns of the story as well as the twists and turns Eloise and Zach went through. I recommend.
I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.

[Sparkle Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast paced tale with many twists and turns… Well-written love story. Intriguing deception. A hot hero that will leave you breathless.

This is my first book by Vanda Vadas, and it’s so good too. From the opening pages, I was taken on a journey of love, betrayal, and redemption. I haven’t read a historical romance quite like this in ages. I truly felt transported into the world of Eloise and Miles. There’s a timeless quality about this romance—the kind where you want to start reading it again because you miss the characters and want to be with them again. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and descriptions. She made me feel the salt of the sea air or the wind blowing across the face. As the reader, I felt each character—their pain, their desires, their want to change their lives for the right reasons, yet still bound by their deep choices not so easily amended. Each moment was unique and written with grace and timeless beauty. Dear Ms. Vadas, you restored my faith in historical romance again—that love can be found in the pages of well-written prose. The Pirate Lord had all the elements I enjoyed in a romance. A total treasure. Such a great read.

[Venetia Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and well-plotted tale, but written in a manner that emphasized 'telling' over 'showing'.

[RomLibrary]

Can love for his beautiful, aristocratic captive rescue Miles from his lust for revenge?

A family tragedy steeped in deceit and betrayal saw Lady Eloise Blakely vow never to fall victim to a man's charms, let alone invite him into her bed. Until fate swept her aboard a pirate's ship and into its captain's embrace. Yet when he reveals a dark secret, her lover becomes her enemy.

Ten years ago, Miles Zachary Fenton was framed for murder. For so long he has fought to clear his name and reclaim his dukedom. Now, when both appear to be just within reach, he is forced to abduct a meddling beauty, one who wreaks havoc with his emotions and complicates his plans.