How to Be a Proper Lady

A fiery female privateer meets her match on the high seas of the Regency era in Ashe’s uneven second Falcon Club romance (after When a Scot Loves a Lady). Kidnapped by her smuggler father as a small child, Viola Carlyle, as Violet la Vile, now commands an American privateer. When she sinks the ship of reformed pirate Jinan Seton, he inadvertently succeeds in his self-imposed mission: to locate the long-lost Viola and return her to her family in England. Viola’s reluctance to give up both her ship and her love affair with handsome planter Aidan Castle sets up both a clash of wills and an irresistible mutual attraction, even as Viola takes the first awkward steps toward reclaiming her noble birthright. Though the sheer unlikelihood of the scenario strains credulity and Ashe irritatingly undercuts both Viola’s competence and her maturity, seaborne adventure and sultry love scenes generally provide sufficient distraction. Agent: Kimberly Whalen, Trident Media Group. (July)