The Princess and Her Pirate
Grade : C-

It's more appropriate than most author raves to find a Christina Dodd quote on the back of this Regency-set historical romance. Like Dodd, Greiman's characterizations are lively and vivid, and her dialogue fairly sparkles. Unfortunately, Greiman's plot is minimal and the book's period setting seems more like a convenient one than one that is brought convincingly to life. And, unlike Dodd, the sexual tension between hero and heroine seemed less like a blazing fire and more like a wet match. Although Greiman writes well, her setting, plot, and contemporary feel served to dampen my enthusiasm.

Tatiana Octavia Linnet Rocheneau, crown princess of Sedonia, is traveling to Teleere incognito to discover if its lord - a bastard pirate named Cairn MacTavish - is a suitable spouse to help prop up her troubled kingdom. Tatiana is proud, distant and all too aware of her position in life, making it hard for her to maintain her disguise. As she embarks from her ship, circumstances force her (unwillingly) into yet another identity, that of a renowned thief named Magical Megs. MacTavish quickly takes her into custody and is soon fascinated by what he sees as the winsome combination of intelligence, courage, and pride found in the person of the lowly thief.

Tatiana tries to tell MacTavish who she is not, but she never tells him who she is (just one of the many flimsy plot points that make it as holey as Swiss cheese). The two spend a lot of time in his room, with MacTavish trying to seduce her and Tatiana trying to deny her feelings of attraction for the tall, muscular, blonde pirate. She tries to escape, he brings her back, and they try to fight against their mutual attraction. Rinse and repeat throughout the book.

Where Tatiana is inordinately proud of her position, and has thus been accused of being cold, MacTavish is also quite aware of his position, that of a bastard son of a lord who finds himself - after making a living as a pirate - ruling this small island. It doesn't help that he was schooled in manners, language, and learning by an effeminate man who makes MacTavlish feel his inadequacy even more than usual. The marriage to his first wife was an awful mistake, with the result that he never knows if a woman loves him or his new-found position. The wife's antipathy towards him is described in the vaguest terms, although his reaction to that antipathy is fairly strong and well-detailed.

MacTavish has two close servants, each the opposite of the other: Burr, an enormous Norwegian who taught MacTavish how to fight, and Peters, a meek, incompetent who lives to serve, although he does it poorly. MacTavish accepts Burr's constant ribbing in a very un-lordly way, and he suffers Peters' incompetence with an equally democratic mien. The dialogue between all these characters, particularly MacTavish and Burr, is lively and fairly zips with wit, sounding like a screwball comedy at times. While it reads well, it's also often redundant and does little to move the plot along.

The end has a confusing and slight plot hiccup that allows Tatiana to discover a plot against her, and forces her to admit her feelings for MacTavish. By the time they reach their happily-ever-after, her autocratic behavior and his inferiority complex have disappeared. Their respective hubris are well-detailed, and their dialogue snaps, but the sexual tension between them suffers greatly by comparison.

The Princess and Her Pirate features witty repartee and strong characterization, although sexual chemistry between the hero and heroine is oddly muted. I admire Greiman's writing skills, but find the lack of a compelling plot and historical flavor difficult to overlook. For a truly "fairy tale romance," I can't quite recommend this one.

Reviewed by Megan Frampton
Grade : C-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : June 27, 2003

Publication Date: 2003

Review Tags: royalty

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Megan Frampton

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