Barbarous

September 1, 2018
When a British aristocrat-turned-privateer returns to his family's estate to protect the recently deceased earl's young wife, there is plenty of danger and lots of secrets to go around, but the true threat may be to his heart and his plans for the future.Lord Hugh Ramsay never expected to return to England. Captured at sea by a brutal pirate, Hugh has fought his way out of slavery and established himself as the most successful privateer on the high seas. For two decades his family has believed him to be dead, but when a loyal friend sends word that someone is threatening his uncle's widow, Hugh comes home to protect the countess and her twin sons. He is surprised to discover the septuagenarian earl married a teenager a decade ago and stunned to realize he's never been more attracted to a woman than he is to the bookish Daphne, who is a fiercely intelligent, unassuming beauty. Determined to vanquish the menace and get back to his ship, he is thwarted at every turn, first when he is himself attacked, then when his meddling aunt presses Hugh and Daphne into the Season--and a few other distractions in between. In order to discover who wants to harm Daphne, she and Hugh must share their deepest secrets and face vengeful enemies, especially once Hugh acknowledges his happiness lies in England with the woman who's stolen his heart. Spencer (Dangerous, 2018) continues the swashbuckling corsair theme in her second title, with a wounded warrior who finds safe haven in the unworldly yet bright Daphne. Deft writing and astute character development sustain a complex plot and a huge cast of characters that could flounder in less accomplished hands, while a touch of humor tempers some darker edges of the nuanced story.Spencer shines in her sophomore effort, burnishing her reputation as an author to watch.

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September 17, 2018
Spencer’s gleeful second Outcast historical (after Dangerous) is as much fun as the first. By the age of 20, Hugh Redvers, in line to be the Earl of Davenport, pushed his uncle Thomas’s tolerance for pranks to its limits, so Thomas banished the young man not just from the family home and his inheritance, but from all of England. When Hugh returns nearly 20 years later, following Thomas’s death, he has one eye, a rascally monkey named Mr. Boswell, a red parrot, and a huge retinue. Thomas’s young widow, Daphne, is nonplussed but drawn to a man who is legally her nephew. Once their physical proximity ignites passionate desire, all bets are off. Daphne fears Hugh has returned to reclaim his inheritance, supplanting her twin sons, but Hugh’s quite happy with his career as a privateer, which provides plenty of the background color and intrigue that characterize this scintillating series. Readers will particularly appreciate Spencer’s considerable talent with bedroom scenes as this romance rockets to its satisfying conclusion. Agent: Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds Literary.

Starred review from September 15, 2018
There has to be some mistake, since Hugh Redvers died nearly 20 years ago. At least that is what Lady Daphne Davenport was led to believe. But now the very real and insanely attractive man standing before her suggests that the reports of Hugh's death have been greatly exaggerated. He has reappeared as his alter ego, the infamous privateer One-Eyed Standish, suddenly turning up at Lessing Hall, the country estate of Daphne's late husband and Hugh's uncle, the earl of Davenport. This is definitely problematic for Daphne, since by rights everything that her husband left to her and her two young sons now belongs to Hugh. If that isn't bad enough, Daphne quickly discovers that she isn't quite as immune to Hugh's rakish charms as she would like to be. Fans of Amanda Quick's early historicals will find much to savor in Spencer's exuberantly crafted, exhilaratingly plotted, and erotically charged sophomore literary effort that quickly proves to be every bit as much fun as her stellar debut, Dangerous (2018).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)