Monday 2 January 2017

Review: A Pirate for Christmas by Anna Campbell

Bess Farrar's father is the Vicar of Penton Wyck but he's more interested in his books than looking after his parishioners, so it's up to Bess to do the jobs that would normally fall to a Vicar's wife - including organising the annual Nativity play. Everything is going splendidly, except the donkey is traditionally supplied by the Earl of Channing and, although Bess has written politely to the new incumbent several times, she hasn't had a reply to any of her letters. Drastic measures are called for and she decides to call on the Earl in person, even though the rumour going around the village is that he's a pirate ...

Ex-Royal Navy Captain Rory Beaton finds himself thrown in at the deep end when he unexpectedly inherits an earldom from the brother he hardly knew. Rory was raised as 'the spare' by his mother in Scotland and doesn't have a clue about what is expected from him as the new Earl. As no one in the village has seen him, let alone met him, rumours abound that he's a pirate - and the locals aren't far off 'locking up their daughters and calling in the militia'. And, if he didn't have enough to worry about, the resident battleaxe is hounding him about a donkey ...

A Pirate for Christmas is an entertaining and engaging Regency romance. Although I was a little disappointed there were no actual pirates, I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre. I loved Bess and Rory and the way they sparked off each other. There is humour too, particularly involving Daisy the donkey - who eats everything from bonnets to floral arrangements, and likes to be sung to. The story is also very Christmassy, with descriptions of decorating a manor house for the festive season, getting stuck in a snowstorm, as well as the aforementioned nativity play. All the ingredients for a great little festive romance. I really enjoyed it and I downloaded two more by the same author after reading it.

Note: A Pirate for Christmas is a 142 page novella; the last 15% contains an extract of another novella by the same author: Her Christmas Earl.


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