Captain Of My Heart by Danelle Harmon is an extraordinary historical romance.  Ms. Harmon has given us a book that is not only well-written but is packed with phenomenal characters.  Brendan is a Flag Captain for the King's Navy, he's shot by a jealous captain of another ship and falls overboard.  He resurfaces after a time as a privateer captain...working with America.  Mira runs a horsemanship school, when she's not sneaking away on her brother's ship.  Their story is action-packed and loaded with drama, humor and sizzle.  This is a serious historical romance but the actions and antics of Mira turn it into a totally fun book to read.  I enjoyed this book from start to finish and look forward to reading more from Danelle Harmon in the future.  Captain Of My Heart is book 2 of the Heroes of the Sea Series but can be read as a standalone.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

 

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Wild One by Danelle Harmon is an amazing historical romance.  Ms Harmon has given us a well-written book loaded with fantastic characters.  Juliet and Gareth's story is loaded with drama, action, suspense and sizzle.  This book hooked me on the first page and held me hostage till the end.  I totally enjoyed reading The Wild One and look forward to reading more from Danelle Harmon in the future.  The Wild One is book 1 of The De Montforte Brothers Series but can be read as a standalone.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

The Wild One (The De Montforte Brothers, Book 1) by Danelle Harmon

England, 1776: Lord Gareth de Montforte is known as an irresponsible rake with a heart of gold. When he takes a bullet for boldly thwarting a stagecoach robbery, he is stunned to discover that the beautiful young woman he has heroically rescued, Juliet Paige, is his deceased brother’s American fiancée, accompanied by her infant daughter. Despite his brother the duke's refusal to acknowledge Juliet, Gareth is determined to do right by the courageous woman who crossed an ocean to give her baby her rightful name. But Juliet is wary of marrying this black sheep aristocrat, even while she is hopelessly charmed by the dashing devil. Never has she met anyone who embraces life so thoroughly, who makes her laugh, who loves her so well. And, even when it seems the odds are against them, Juliet has absolute faith that Gareth will go beyond the call of duty, risking his life itself to give her and her daughter a home — and a love that will last a lifetime.

 

 

I received an eARC, from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
This is book five in "The de Montforte Brothers" series. I have been jumping in and out of the series so I do feel this is a standalone book.
Lady Nerissa de Montforte wants to find love but has been very protected by her brothers. But on a trip with her brother to demonstration of his new explosive she meets Captain Ruaidri O' Devir. Ruaidri is there to actually try to steal the explosive from her brother. Rauaidri has not love for the English after being sent off at an early age to join Royal Navy. But they are both drawn to one another and so starts their relationship.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lady Nerissa is trying to recover from the heartache of having her fiancée break things off after her older brother meddled too much. She loves her older brothers but their over protectiveness is stifling her. When she has a chance meeting with an Irish rogue, she is both appalled by his behavior and feeling awakened for the first time. Ruaidri hates the English and as an Irishman fighting for the American cause, he is only in England on a mission from John Adams. He kidnaps the sister of the man who invented a new explosion technique hoping to exchange that knowledge for his hostage. Nerissa and Ruaidri may be enemies on the war front but they soon find themselves wanting to call a truce in the bedroom.
 
Book five in the de Montforte series, The Wayward One is Nerissa’s, the youngest sister, story. I have not read the previous four books and although her brothers, previous book's heroes, make appearances and two of them are a big part of the story, I never felt like I was missing a big part of the story. I think new readers can start of fine here and continuing fans will greatly enjoy the inclusion of past characters. The de Montforte family members are all mentioned, which helped me gain a clear picture of the family but the author didn't heavily clutter the story with all their backstories, which was wonderful.
 
"I'm not in the business of ravishin' beautiful young women, even if they are English."
"Sometimes a woman wants to be ravished, Ruaidri. Just once."
 
Ruaidri and Nerissa's attraction was a little too immediate and I can't say I ever felt it truly evolve. There is not a lot of shallow he/she is hot therefore I love them but there also wasn't a lot of emotional connection and sense of growing closeness. Nerissa is portrayed realistically as a pampered and bit naïve sheltered aristocrat but who wants to break free of her gilded cage. Not necessarily a new trope and I can't say Nerissa ever matured from that. She seems to cling to Ruaidri because he is handsome, take charge, and dashing. She was willing to fight for him but it all felt somewhat milquetoast, as the growth and emotions just weren't there. Ruaidri had more substance to his character with more backstory and general personality. He was the pretty common Irish rogue, charming, witty, sexual, and commanding. There were times where his affability was a bit much but he was definitely likeable. That was maybe what the problem or nonproblem I had with this book overall, together, our couple was likeable. Their passion doesn't jump off the page, they won't emotionally grab you, but they are likeable.
 
And he saw the way he treated her, with free and easy abandon instead of the status-conscious, fawning deference to which she was accustomed…and that in itself gave her a certain liberty to be the person she had never really had the chance to be: Herself.
 
The plot of Ruaidri kidnapping Nerissa to get her brother to give him his new explosion technique started off ok but the English enemies and their arrogance, the brother joining them, then the older brother getting manic over controlling the situation, Ruaidri's secret that Nerissa gets dramatic over, and the very quick resolution to Nerissa's brother refusing to give anything to the colonials, kind of unraveled at the seams. From the characterizations to the moving plot, it was all fairly loose. What kept me in the story was the wonderful nautical feel. The vast majority of the scenes take place on Ruaidri's ship and the author did a great job of describing the ship and setting the feeling of the atmosphere without making it feel like I was looking at a diagram or being lectured to. If you like a nautical feel, you might want to read this for that alone as they are few and far between in romancelandia lately.
 
The last 30% or so lost a lot of its momentum as our couple was basically together and the story had to rely more on how would Nerissa's brother get out of giving away his explosion secrets, which was resolved pretty much out of sight and very quickly and then her older brother coming to take her back home, which felt forced but maybe continuing fans will enjoy more of his involvement. The book cover is gorgeous and if you're a continuing fan of the series you'll enjoy the younger sister getting her story, but as a newcomer, I was underwhelmed with the depth and emotional aspects. However, like I said, the nautical feel was fun and could scratch any seafaring itches.