Title: To Catch a Pirate
Author: Jade Parker
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Pirates, Romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Point
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: Perhaps because for one insane moment she wondered what it would be like to stroll through a moonlit garden with him, dart behind a rose-covered trellis, and rise up on her toes…

When Annalisa Townsend’s ship is set upon by pirates in search of her father’s treasure, one of the crew, James Sterling, discovers her in the hold. When he moves to take her necklace, she begs him not to, as it is all she has left of her mother. He accepts a kiss in exchange for the necklace. “A fair trade, m’lady,” he tells her afterward, before disappearing.

A year later, with a forged letter of marque, Annalisa is intent on hunting down the wretched James Sterling and reclaiming her father’s treasure from him. But now she’s in danger of him stealing something far more vulnerable this time: her heart.

This is one of those books that both my sister and I completely love. To the point that the only reason I haven’t read it in the last three, four years is because she’s had it almost permanently on her bookshelf. Like I said, we both absolutely love it. Which is why it was so much fun finally getting it back from her to have a good read. And, with the joys of being a little more of a developed reader (and hopefully, writer) and just having a few more years of maturity to my years… it was interesting how different my reactions to a story that I have long loved are.

I do need to reiterate though that although I found a few more flaws in this story line than I have in the past, I still absolutely loved this book. There is something so simply and beautifully sweet about it. And although it’s a pretty typical love triangle, the picturesque nature of the life at sea that Parker so beautifully describes and the completely organic (yet totally destined) way that they fall in love is just… nice. Actually, if I had to choose just one word to describe this novel it would be SWEET. It just screams innocence in a way that a lot of the romances I read don’t. But it isn’t painfully naïve and irritatingly contrived. It’s just sweet.

Although I still loved this story, I did find some of the writing a little less fluid and poetic than other authors I’ve been reading lately. But, when you’ve recently read Pride and Prejudice, most romances just aren’t as prosaically smooth. Somehow though, even with writing that in places lacks that poetry the story is beautiful, vivid, and again, sweet. The lack of poetry in some of the moments almost help to enhance the innocence of this first love (both mine and Anna’s).

Image source: Goodreads