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Touch The Sky #2
Swept Away
Stolen from her family and friends, Mignon is completely at the mercy of ruthless pirates. Once a self-assured outgoing debutante, the accidental death of her young husband has sent Lady Mignon Hargreaves Radcliffe into ten long years of mourning and hiding from life. Seeing no one outside her immediate family, she lives vicariously on their exploits, while confined to her childhood chamber and her widow’s weeds. Until the day she meets a ship’s captain from Virginia. The tall, handsome American pursues her from the moment they meet, determined to make her his and bring her back into the world. Her turncoat family actually helps him court her, the traitors! After a whirlwind courtship, she marries her captain and sails from London to Norfolk. Their relationship grows along with their love, but Mignon’s adventure is just beginning. In Virginia, Mignon’s life is very different from the world of British aristocracy. She explores new ways and places. She meets a pirate friend of her husband and the handsome Powhatan man who courted her sister-in-law, and steps out of her cage of mourning forever. But her former life catches up with her when an old enemy employs vicious pirates to kidnap Mignon and sell her in the Moroccan slave markets. A well-trained debutante learns to be prepared for any social situation. But will it be enough to save Mignon? Has she learned enough to avoid the fate planned for her? Continue the journey with the St Johns family in Mignon’s story, Swept Away.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 23, 2015
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 2, 2017
NTS: See Regan's review. Based on her comments, this book sounds like a disaster.
March 4, 2017
Fanciful Story from London to America and Back Again on the Dawn of Queen Victoria’s Reign
Set in 1837, beginning in London, this is the story of Mignon, Lady Radcliffe, a widow of ten years who still wears black and feels guilty because her husband was killed while riding her horse. One day she ventures out to the London dock and falls into the Thames. American Captain Elijah Foster fishes her out and instantly decides to pursue her. Coincidentally, he works for Mignon’s brother-in-law, Viscount Brenham. That night, Elijah kisses her in a garden and decides to make her his wife. My head was spinning.
Despite the fact they don’t know each other, Mignon agrees to marry him and sails off to Virginia. There she meets Harry, a friend of her husband, who is a “pirate hunter” for the authorities (how his ship is never observed by the pirates while he trails them was a bit puzzling); a Powhatan (often spelled “Powatan” in the story) Indian courting her sister-in-law; and her in laws.
Shortly thereafter, Mignon learns she is pregnant and Elijah is told someone with a grudge is bent on her demise. Elijah has a jealous employee who wants to take him down and Mignon’s former mother-in-law hates her, so we know the villains.
In the second half of the book, a hypochondriac fop of a pirate-for-hire manages to kidnap Mignon and three of her friends with the intention to sell them in the Moroccan slave markets, markets that apparently no longer exist. When one considers how inept the so-called pirate was, it’s hard to believe he could capture one woman, much less 4.
The tale seemed to go on and on (at 354 pages) with love stories and weddings. I give the author credit for the work she put into it. But since all was revealed, the reader knows where it’s going. At times, the story was entertaining with the women taking over the pirate’s ship and scaling the rigging, etc. But it was definitely fanciful.
And some things distracted:
Everyone is this story instantly fell in love: Elijah and Mignon; Harry, the pirate hunter, and Mignon’s maid, Emily; Drake, Lord Brenham’s son, and Bridget; and John, the Powhatan, and Diana. All this instant bliss didn’t seem quite real.
There were no marks for scene breaks, nor marked location changes, so the reader has to watch for sudden scene changes and remember the location for the characters. I found it confusing.
Ship issues: There were no portholes on ships of this era, except as an opening in the ship’s hull for a gun (gun being the more correct term, as a cannon rotates and a gun does not). This type of ship in this era would not have had a porthole in a cabin. Crow’s nests were used by the whaling industry in the 19th century, but not by merchantmen or privateers on sailing ships of this era. Elijah likely used the “crosstrees” for a lookout’s post. Unless Elijah was an ordained minister, he had no power to marrying anyone, at sea or otherwise.
Forms of address: Everyone, no matter his or her rank, is referred to by their first name. The first day Elijah meets Mignon he calls her by her Christian name, despite she is Lady Radcliffe. That’s not realistic, no matter he is an American. It would have been quite improper, even rude, since her husband had a title and she was “Lady Radcliffe”. Especially in mixed company, the men would use their titles. In Elijah’s case, they would call him by his surname. Elijah would not refer to his superior Lord Brenham as “Sheridan” (his first name); if they were friends, he would call him “Brenham”. A wife might call her husband by his first name but many in that era did not. The aristocracy rarely used Christian names or surnames.
Mignon’s first husband was a peer though the author fails to tell us what rank he held. It does make a difference. If he was an earl, marquess or duke, she would retain the courtesy address “Lady” even after marrying a commoner, and been addressed as Lady Mignon Foster. The author says once she married Elijah, she became "Mistress Foster" because she "lost her title" with the marriage. She never had a title to lose (the title was held by her husband) but even so, she may have still be addressed as “Lady” if her husband held a more senior rank. Likewise, Bridget “O’Halloran, as the daughter of an earl, would be Lady Bridget, not Miss O’Halloran. And if her father was “Lord O’Halloran” she would not be Bridget “O’Halloran” because that is his title; she would have her father’s surname. Mignon’s brother would not be “Baron William” or “Baron Hargreaves” because barons never were addressed as such. He would be “Lord Hargreaves”.
Set in 1837, beginning in London, this is the story of Mignon, Lady Radcliffe, a widow of ten years who still wears black and feels guilty because her husband was killed while riding her horse. One day she ventures out to the London dock and falls into the Thames. American Captain Elijah Foster fishes her out and instantly decides to pursue her. Coincidentally, he works for Mignon’s brother-in-law, Viscount Brenham. That night, Elijah kisses her in a garden and decides to make her his wife. My head was spinning.
Despite the fact they don’t know each other, Mignon agrees to marry him and sails off to Virginia. There she meets Harry, a friend of her husband, who is a “pirate hunter” for the authorities (how his ship is never observed by the pirates while he trails them was a bit puzzling); a Powhatan (often spelled “Powatan” in the story) Indian courting her sister-in-law; and her in laws.
Shortly thereafter, Mignon learns she is pregnant and Elijah is told someone with a grudge is bent on her demise. Elijah has a jealous employee who wants to take him down and Mignon’s former mother-in-law hates her, so we know the villains.
In the second half of the book, a hypochondriac fop of a pirate-for-hire manages to kidnap Mignon and three of her friends with the intention to sell them in the Moroccan slave markets, markets that apparently no longer exist. When one considers how inept the so-called pirate was, it’s hard to believe he could capture one woman, much less 4.
The tale seemed to go on and on (at 354 pages) with love stories and weddings. I give the author credit for the work she put into it. But since all was revealed, the reader knows where it’s going. At times, the story was entertaining with the women taking over the pirate’s ship and scaling the rigging, etc. But it was definitely fanciful.
And some things distracted:
Everyone is this story instantly fell in love: Elijah and Mignon; Harry, the pirate hunter, and Mignon’s maid, Emily; Drake, Lord Brenham’s son, and Bridget; and John, the Powhatan, and Diana. All this instant bliss didn’t seem quite real.
There were no marks for scene breaks, nor marked location changes, so the reader has to watch for sudden scene changes and remember the location for the characters. I found it confusing.
Ship issues: There were no portholes on ships of this era, except as an opening in the ship’s hull for a gun (gun being the more correct term, as a cannon rotates and a gun does not). This type of ship in this era would not have had a porthole in a cabin. Crow’s nests were used by the whaling industry in the 19th century, but not by merchantmen or privateers on sailing ships of this era. Elijah likely used the “crosstrees” for a lookout’s post. Unless Elijah was an ordained minister, he had no power to marrying anyone, at sea or otherwise.
Forms of address: Everyone, no matter his or her rank, is referred to by their first name. The first day Elijah meets Mignon he calls her by her Christian name, despite she is Lady Radcliffe. That’s not realistic, no matter he is an American. It would have been quite improper, even rude, since her husband had a title and she was “Lady Radcliffe”. Especially in mixed company, the men would use their titles. In Elijah’s case, they would call him by his surname. Elijah would not refer to his superior Lord Brenham as “Sheridan” (his first name); if they were friends, he would call him “Brenham”. A wife might call her husband by his first name but many in that era did not. The aristocracy rarely used Christian names or surnames.
Mignon’s first husband was a peer though the author fails to tell us what rank he held. It does make a difference. If he was an earl, marquess or duke, she would retain the courtesy address “Lady” even after marrying a commoner, and been addressed as Lady Mignon Foster. The author says once she married Elijah, she became "Mistress Foster" because she "lost her title" with the marriage. She never had a title to lose (the title was held by her husband) but even so, she may have still be addressed as “Lady” if her husband held a more senior rank. Likewise, Bridget “O’Halloran, as the daughter of an earl, would be Lady Bridget, not Miss O’Halloran. And if her father was “Lord O’Halloran” she would not be Bridget “O’Halloran” because that is his title; she would have her father’s surname. Mignon’s brother would not be “Baron William” or “Baron Hargreaves” because barons never were addressed as such. He would be “Lord Hargreaves”.
February 1, 2017
I received book 3 in the series for an honest review and I wanted to give it a fair shot so I decided to read the others. I liked this one better than the first one. I could actually root for a HEA.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews