Stolen off an English ship at a very young age, Courtney was raised by a cruel pirate who had vowed to have revenge on the man and on England that banished him. Surviving was Courtneys first concerns but after her new adopted ‘father’ made it obvious that no man would touch her, she began to learn the trade in which she had landed in, the middle of the pirate ship, 'Hawk'. Courtney could navigate by sun or by stars, she could climb the rigging, and she knew how to fight with the men on the 'Hawk'. All her time in the middle of these rough men, none had ever looked at her the way Rory, one of the 'Hawks' slaves, looked at her. Rory MacLaren was the second son of a Scottish clan, he had chosen a life at sea, until his ship had been overtaken by the French. Rory had been imprisoned and sold to the 'Hawk', after seeing the 'Mistress of the Sea' would he be able to escape to save is own life, would he ever forget the site of her wielding a sword to save her own life, would her ever trust her or had her ‘father‘ forever tainted her opinion of the England and all her allies?

The struggles of Courtney to gain her 'fathers' kind words work in contrast to the kindness that Rory offers her. The evil she is forced to endure creates a character that is easy to see as tragic, but she triumphs and thrives. Rory is the wonderful hero, that is trapped in his own moral dilemmas several times. The conflicts that they face together and separately leaves the reader laughing and on the verge of tears more than once. I had to read this again, Ruth Ryan Langan is a wonderful historical romance writer. This is her first book with Harlequin Historical, #10. ( )