Though I love this series, I wasn’t as enthusiastic about diving into this one, mostly because I hadn’t been sold on the hero when he appeared in the previous books. The guy was kind of a douche, and though I had faith that Hoyt would work her magic, it was still a little bit daunting at first.
One-Sentence Synopsis
A pirate has to protect his daughter and the woman he ruined, not expecting his attraction to her to turn into anything more than lust. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.
The Good Stuff
No more will I lose faith in this author. By the time I got to the middle of the book, I loved Mickey. Like all romance heroes, he had a sympathetic backstory that made me do a 180 on my previous opinion. However, he really kind of maintains his bad boy persona through the whole book.
I kind of loved that Silence was willing to go to extremes to care for a child she’d only taken in and that other characters seemed to like her right away. It definitely helped emphasize the bad boy/good girl thing she and Mickey had going on.
The Romance Factor
Silence is kind of a sad character who’s had a lot of bad things happen to her in her recent adult years. Mickey had a lot of bad things happen in his childhood. The way these two interact is still fun, with a lot of foreplay, a good girl turning to the bad boy trope, and some sweet angst. 5/5
The Steam Factor
Besides the normal frequency of the sexy times on Maiden Lane, I thought these felt a little more scandalous, mostly because Silence had been fairly innocent. Even having been married, her husband definitely hadn’t been as adventurous as Mickey. 5/5
Final Thoughts
Considering how much I ended up liking the pirate, I’m now more hopeful that the Duke of Wakefield will be bearable in his story.
The Romance Factor 