The Pirates of Penzance meets Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in this rollicking tale of love on the high seas ...
American pirate captain Gideon Horn got his nickname The Pirate Lord by plundering British lords. But when he and his crew discover a hidden island paradise, they dream of abandoning their lawless ways to build a peaceful colony. There's just one problem: their utopia needs wives. So when a convict ship bound for New Zealand crosses their path, the pirates see the perfect solution and seize their brides-to-be...
Miss Sarah Willis has other plans entirely. The spirited reformer and earl's stepsister is traveling in disguise aboard the convict vessel, documenting the shameful treatment of transported women. Swept up in the pirates' scheme, she refuses to let these vulnerable souls become unwilling brides. Sarah strikes a bargain with the infamous Pirate Lord: give the women a fortnight to choose their own fates. He counters with one week. She stirs rebellion below deck. He silences her protests with searing kisses that leave them both breathless.
But as secrets surface and danger threatens their island haven, Sarah and Gideon discover that the greatest treasure isn't gold or safety—it's a love passionate enough to transform even the most notorious pirate into a man worth surrendering to...
Thanks to you wonderful readers, the 2008 reissue of this book hit the USA Today bestseller list for two weeks in a row!
Sara Willis looked around, feeling a pang of despair at the sight of the cabin’s lush interior and well-stocked gun cabinet. This wasn’t the cabin of an honest man, who would take pity on convict women. This was the cabin of a licentious murderer. And there would be no mercy for them.
“The captain will be with you in a moment,” Mr. Kent murmured before leaving and closing the door behind him.
She scarcely heard him, too busy scanning her surroundings. She’d only been in one captain’s cabin and that had been Captain Rogers'. But its spartan, lean lines and minimal comforts made it look like a cabin boy’s berth compared to this.
Every piece of furniture was made of the best mahogany, from the desk cluttered with instruments and papers to the cabinet that held guns and knives of every description behind its cut crystal doors. The royal blue curtains were shot through with gold threads, and a Persian carpet lay on the floor, an obvious extravagance where water was a constant threat.
But the most alarming thing was the large mahogany bed presiding over one corner, its posts carved with the same satyr motif that graced the ship’s figurehead. A coverlet of insolent red silk was draped over the plush mattress, with a heap of jet-black pillows at one end. She walked to the bed in a trance, wondering aloud what debaucheries and horrors had been committed there.
Involuntarily, she reached out to touch the patterned scarlet silk as a sudden vivid image of the dark-haired pirate captain rose in her mind. He must have had many women on this bed. A strange heat spread through her to think of him bending over a woman, touching her body with those large hands, kissing her with that firm, mocking mouth—
“Looking for signs of thievery, pillage, and rape, Lady Sara?” came a voice behind her.
She whirled away from the bed, her cheeks stained crimson. Good heavens, it was him. How utterly mortifying! Now she had something new to add to her list of humiliating experiences.
He closed the door, a smile playing over his lips. “The coverlet belonged to an obnoxious viscount on his way to America to marry an heiress.” He hung his saber on a hook by the door. Then he strode to his desk and cast her a brazen look. “I enjoyed removing it from the bed he was sharing with his mistress.”
She winced, remembering what Mr. Kent had said about the captain’s hatred of the nobility. Perhaps she should tell him the truth about her own dubious connections. That might make him more inclined to listen to her pleas. “Captain Horn, I think I should … er … set you straight on one matter. I am not … that is to say … you shouldn’t call me Lady Sara.”
In the muted light of the cabin, his sudden scowl made him look even more like a fearsome creature from mythology, liable to snap her up in his massive jaws at any minute. “Oh? And why not?”
“Because I’m not actually a lady—not in the sense you mean it anyway.”
Although she dropped her gaze, she could feel the force of his disapproval as he approached her. “You’re not the Earl of Blackmore’s sister?”
“Well, yes, I am. Sort of.” She swallowed hard. “I mean, his father, the late Earl of Blackmore, adopted me after marrying my widowed mother. So I’m not really Lady Sara, you see, but Miss Willis.”
When he was silent, she ventured to gaze at him again, surprised to find him looking thoughtful, rather than angry.
“Do you mean to tell me,” he said, “that despite being made part of an earl’s family in every sense, you can’t use the courtesy title his other children can?”
She’d never heard it put quite that way. “Well, no, I can’t.”
He snorted. “That’s the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.” Running a hand through his rumpled curly hair, he shot her a forbidding look. “I swear, I’ll never understand you English. You have so many rules designed to cause enmity among families. Younger sons can’t inherit, daughters can’t inherit, fathers are pitted against their heirs. It’s a confounded mess.”
His commentary on the social makeup of British society startled her. Pirates weren’t supposed to have opinions on such things. Or express them so eloquently. “You must admit it’s worked well for hundreds of years,” she said in faint defense of her countrymen.
He quirked an eyebrow up. “Has it?”
With those two words he conveyed all his contempt for English ways. What could possibly have roused such feelings in him? Americans were testy about being a former British colony, to be sure, but this was extreme. And though she was dying to know why he hated the English, she didn’t ask. She doubted this proud pirate would answer her.
He studied her, as if wishing to open up her mind and peer inside. She’d endured the ardent glances of lords and the lascivious looks of many a prisoner at Newgate, not to mention all those sailors. But never had a man looked at her with such concentration.
It was unsettling, to say the least. She dropped her eyes from his, searching for something to say to shift that intensity away from her. “In any case, I’m sure that’s not what you brought me here to discuss.”
That shook him out of his silence. “Certainly not.” Moving behind his desk, he took a seat in the armchair, then gestured to a chair near her. “Sit down, Lady Sara.”
Though she did as he said, she protested, “I told you. You can’t call me—”
“It’s my ship and my rules. I’ll call you whatever I damned well please.” His gaze skimmed her body before snapping back to her face. “It’ll serve to remind me that you have a stepbrother lurking, waiting to pounce on me any moment.”
His sarcasm brought her up short. Why, he wasn’t afraid of Jordan, not one jot. No doubt her revelation had made him assume Jordan was no longer a threat. And that wasn’t what she’d wished to accomplish.
She folded her hands primly in her lap. “The fact that Jordan is my stepbrother and not my brother doesn’t change anything. He still won’t forget about me. He’ll be after you just as soon as he learns what happened. There will be warships hunting you everywhere. You won’t be able to sail for fear of my stepbrother.”
Her words didn’t have the effect she’d intended. A smile crossed his handsome face. “Then I suppose it’s just as well we’re not sailing anywhere once we reach our destination.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “We’re retiring from piracy, my men and I. That’s why we need wives.”
That stunned her into temporary silence. She glanced around the cabin at the gold fittings and extravagant comforts. “Retiring?” she choked out.
“Yes. As you may know, piracy’s a dangerous profession lately. Most governments now ferret out our kind and destroy us. And my men and I have more than enough spoils to make us comfortable. We don’t wish to end our illustrious career by kicking the clouds, if you know what I mean.”
She nodded. She’d done enough work at Newgate to recognize the cant for hanging. But retiring?
Settling back in his chair, he laced his fingers together over his stomach and surveyed her with his disconcerting gaze. It seemed to touch her mouth, her cheeks, even her well-covered bosom. If another man had looked at her like that, she would have been appalled. So why was it when he did it, her pulse quickened?
“The trouble is,” he went on, his tone lower, huskier, “we have no country to retire in.”
“What about America?”
“Not even there. Let’s just say America holds little appeal for most of us. And I doubt any American towns would welcome a pirate band with open arms.”
“I should hope not,” she grumbled, then could’ve bit off her tongue at the look of scalding anger that passed over his face.
But he seemed to check it quickly, and when he spoke again, his voice betrayed nothing but indifference. “I see you understand our situation. Fortunately, my men and I have found an island inhabited only by wild pigs. It has a freshwater stream and lush vegetation, and it’s large enough to support a substantial population. So we’ve decided to settle there, to build our own country.”
His gaze grew dark, almost mesmerizing. “But we have no women. And a colony without women … well, you can understand our dilemma.”
The smile he gave her was so unexpectedly charming, she had to force herself not to respond. She didn’t want to be charmed by this wicked scoundrel. “But why these women? Why not pick wives in the Cape Verdes or—”
“Why do you think we were in Santiago?” He glanced away, his mood seeming to shift to a graver one. “Unfortunately, few women wish to travel to an unknown island where they’ll be cut off forever from their families and expected to do their part in making it livable. Even the … er … ladybirds find that a less than tempting proposition.”
Ladybirds indeed. A blush rose to her cheeks despite her attempts to stop it. “Can you blame them?”
His gaze was on her again, and he smiled as if he took great delight in her embarrassment. “I suppose not. They have reasons to stay on Santiago. But the situation is entirely different for the women of the Chastity. They’re doomed to a life of near slavery in a foreign land. We chose them precisely because we thought they’d prefer freedom with us to enforced servitude with cruel former convicts in New South Wales.”
“I’m not sure I understand the distinction between former convicts and pirates,” she snapped. “They’re both criminals, aren’t they?”
A muscle tightened in his jaw, making him look even more forbidding. “Believe me, there’s a profound difference between my men and those cutthroats.”
“You expect me to take your word for it?”
“You don’t have any choice, now, do you?” At her disgruntled expression, he seemed to rein in his temper. “Besides, our island has more to offer than New South Wales, where the weather is pitiless and the government more so. We have perfect weather, easy living, plenty of food, and no government but our own. There are no jailers, no magistrates oppressing the poor and catering to rich nobility. ’Tis a paradise. Or it will be when your ladies join us.”
His eyes fixed on her, a burning zeal in their depths. He’d painted a pretty picture of his island, but Sara wasn’t fooled. New South Wales might have proven unsavory, but at least the women wouldn’t have had to marry against their will. Though the inhabitants of the country might have taken advantage of them, there would also have been opportunities for the women to work hard and attain respectability. A few transported convicts even made their way back to England and their families.
On Captain Horn’s island, however, there’d be no such possibility. They’d be at the mercy of him and his pirates. “A paradise?” She rose from her chair. “Mayhap a paradise for you and your men. You’ve said naught that makes it a paradise for the women. They’re to be forced to be your wives and forced to labor for a ‘country’ they didn’t choose.”
His brow lowered in a frown as he rose, too, rounding the desk to stand inches from her. “Do you think they’d have any choices on New South Wales? I’ve been there. I’ve seen how convict women are treated. They’re parceled out to colonists as servant labor, though every man there intends that the only labor they’ll do is on their backs.”
At his crudeness, a hot flush again stained her cheeks.
He lowered his voice to a harsh murmur. “Those who aren’t chosen as servants are confined in crowded factories where conditions are worse than in England’s gaols. That’s the fate you wish for your charges, Lady Sara? I offer them freedom and you offer them that.”
His unfair accusations stung. “Freedom? That’s what you call forced marriage? You’ve given me no evidence your colony will be any better. You’re going to parcel those women out to your men just as the Australian authorities do. You’re offering them marriage, but it’s still enforced servitude, isn’t it?”
He stood as rigid as his ship’s figurehead. “Suppose they were allowed a chance to choose.” His words were clipped, as if he already regretted them.
Surprise, then hope rose in her. “To choose what? Whether or not to go with you to your island?”
He scowled. “No. To choose their husbands. They can spend a week getting to know the men and seeing what’s in store for them on our island. After that, however, they must accept the proposal of the man they most prefer.”
“Oh.” She considered that. It was better than his earlier heartless offer, but certainly not as good as giving the women a choice between returning to the Chastity or going with the pirates. Though she wasn’t sure they’d want to go back. A tiny part of her knew he might be right about what lay in store for the convicts if they continued on their journey.
If only she could be sure his men truly did intend to retire. If only she had some inkling of their characters. She sighed. They were pirates. What more was there to know?
Still, he was offering something the women might not have gotten in New South Wales—the chance to choose the one who would enslave them.
She sought some way to make the choice easier. “One week is a short time,” she began. “Why, we might not even reach your island until—”
“We’ll reach Atlantis in two days,” he interrupted.
“‘Atlantis?’” she echoed. “Like the Greeks’ Atlantis?”
For a moment, he lost his stern look. “Some say Atlantis was utopia. And that’s what we hope to create.”
“A utopia where men have all the choices and women have none.”
“I’m offering them a choice.”
“Could we have two weeks, perhaps?”
His expression hardened. “One week. Take it or leave it. Either way, your women will take husbands. I’m giving up a great deal by letting the women make the choice. The men will grumble about it.”
“And what if a woman chooses not to marry?”
“That’s not a choice.” He tucked his thumbs under his wide leather belt with its strange-looking buckle. “At the end of one week, if a woman hasn’t chosen a husband, one will be chosen for her.”
“Thank goodness we’re not bargaining over anything important,” she snapped. “I’ll have to speak to the women first, of course. I can’t make such a decision for them.”
“Of course.” Moving to the desk, he settled his hips against it and crossed his legs at the ankles. “I hope this means an end to the ladies’ caterwauling.”
The words were a command. She shrugged. “If they agree to your terms, I suppose it does.” Smoothing her skirts down with a clammy hand, she said, “May I go now, Captain Horn, and present your offer to them?”
“Certainly. I’ll give you an hour. Then I’ll send Barnaby for your answer.”
She turned to the door, relieved to finally escape his disturbing presence.
But as she opened it, he said, “One more thing. In case you thought otherwise, this offer refers to all the women, even you. You have one week to choose a husband from among my men.” He paused, a wicked grin crossing his face as he swept his gaze down over her lips, her throat … her waist and hips. “Or I’ll take great delight in choosing one for you.”
"The Pirate Lord is a rich story led by its powerfully charismatic hero and heroine who have the warmth and wit of characters Hepburn and Tracy used to play!"
“Sabrina Jeffries has shown from the very first that she is a commanding presence in the romance genre, and THE PIRATE LORD is yet another reason why so many readers love her stories.”
“If you enjoy breezy romances with more than a dash of adventure, RUN to get a copy of The Pirate Lord.”
“The Pirate Lord is the first book I have read by Jeffries, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sara’s moral dilemma provided the perfect foil for Gideon’s self-discovery. Jeffries has a wonderful way of making both characters blossom right before your eyes. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy."
The Lord Trilogy doesn’t have to be read in order.
The Swanlea Spinsters series is more connected, especially the first three books. The last two stand alone pretty well.
The Royal Brotherhood series books stand alone fairly well, although you will enjoy them more if you read them in order, since you see the three half-brothers progress from being mere acquaintances to being a real family. But you won’t be confused if you read them out of order.
The School for Heiresses series can be read in any order if you ignore the epigrams at the beginning of each chapter. Those detail the relationship between Charlotte, the headmistress of the school, and “Cousin Michael,” the anonymous benefactor of the school, whose identity isn’t revealed until the last book, Wed Him Before You Bed Him. Once again, you might enjoy them more in order, but you won’t be confused.
The Hellions series is best read in order, unless you’re just reading for the romances, in which case, it doesn’t matter. But if you also want to follow the ongoing mystery of how the Hellions’ parents really died, then you would want to read them in order.
The Dukes Men series is probably best read in order, but it’s fine if you read them out of order, too.
The Sinful Suitors series is meant to be open-ended. Characters will appear and disappear and there’s no overarching narrative to keep up with. So those are definitely fine if you read them out of order.
Duke Dynasty has an overarching mystery, so if you want to follow that, you do have to read them in order.
Designing Debutantes doesn't really require reading in any order, except that A Duke for Diana's first chapter sets up the premise of the series. If you don't care about that, then it can be read however you want.
Lords of Hazard will have a small overarching mystery, nothing as complex as in Duke Dynasty or Hellions.
I tend to connect some of my series in small ways. For example, After the Abduction is tied to an event that happens in The Pirate Lord of The Lord Trilogy. Not reading both books or both series will not prove a problem, but for those who’ve read both, there’s a little extra recognition of those characters.
I really try to make all of my books stand-alone for the romance, but I also enjoy having overarching mysteries. If you're reading only for the romance, you won't be lost and there will be no cliffhangers. If you're reading for the mystery, though, you will have to read all the books. I figure most of my readers are reading for the romance, so the mysteries are just a fun plot addition.
