A Kiss in the Wind

A rollicking pirates-of-the-Caribbean romance is fatally marred by sheer implausibility and torturous turns of phrase (“The menacing malignity hung heavy in the air surrounding him”; “Those green eyes cauterized her composure”). The stereotypically feisty pirate’s daughter, Marisol Castellan, seeking information regarding the fate of her missing brother, steals a treasured possession from the handsome, angst-filled pirate captain Blade Tyburn and offers to return it if he’ll allow her aboard his vessel in pursuit of a silver-laden treasure ship, the Gloria. She is prepared for neither the mystery that surrounds the Gloria’s fate nor the mutual passion she finds with Blade. With an improbable family of feuding pirates at the center of an equally unlikely seaborne soap opera, even a bloody series of made-for-film action scenes cannot disguise the predictable plot twists or overcome the gruesomely awkward prose. (Mar.)