A Lady at Last

There was something so touching and sweet about this story. I almost missed work because I had been up all night reading it. Amanda is so desperate she offers herself to the governor in exchange for her father's pardon. Her despair, pain and vulnerability are so palpable despite her attempts to hide them behind her tomboysih and defiant exterior. The scene at her father's hanging brought tears to my eyes. Cliff DeWarrene's reaction to her plight and the way he came to her aid won me over. He was truly an honorable man. And he sincerely tried to think of her as an innocent child that needed to be taken care of, offering her his protection without expecting or even accepting anything in return. I found myself laughing out loud when I saw his jealous outbursts while he still denied his feelings for her. Brenda Joyce was very adept at developping these 2 characters and building/evolving their relationship. The sexual tension between them was always there, but she also took the time to build their friendship and their respect for each other. The fact that Cliff still preferred Amanda as "La Sauvage" versus the lady endeared him to me even more. This is basically the story of a gentleman sea captain, an unlikely damsel in distress with a lot of heart and spirit, a love story amid pirates, London's aristocracy, and the Jamaican Islands. What can you ask for more.

This is an excellent title for this book. I now realize that I have read at least one other of the series and will look for the rest because this book was very readable, the characters were interesting and I love series books. The two main characters in this book made me laugh and cry with them. Lovely book.

A Lady At Last (de Warenne Dynasty) by Brenda Joyce is a great historical romance with some great twist. Cliff De Warenne is the 3rd son and gentleman privateer. Amanda Carre is the daughter of a pirate (about to hung) and a English lady. Her father will be hung in the morning and she only has her body to trade for her father life. Cliff De Warenne saves her and becomes her Hero! Wow what a great romance - pirates, great romance and the fun De Warenne family. Check out the next of the series The Perfect Bride coming August 2007.

I loved Cliff and Amanda's story beginning to end. I love that Brenda Joyce doesn't need to make her character "absolute" in that Amanda was not completely a tomboy or that Cliff was not completely a rouge. She writes such wonderful complex characters and the only complaint I have for this one is that it was lacking her signature "heat". Amanda is torn between wanting to be a "lady" and wanting to live her life on the ocean while Cliff is torn between wanting to be a gentleman and doing the right thing for his "ward" and lusting after her. I liked that Cliff was just not a complete "rich boy" who lived off of the family fortunes and instead chose to make his own way in life. Alot of this story is about Cliff resisting the "norm" and not wanting to be put in a box like the rest of his family. This is why he resisted Amanda so much...because the Dewarren men were supposed to "love once and love forever" and he just didn't want to be a "Dewarren Man". I enjoy a "swashbuckling" hero myself and this one did not dissappoint. Brenda Joyce has still got it!!!

In 1820 Kingston, privateer Cliff de Warenne, son of an English earl, understands the need to hang pirates. However Governor Thomas Woods using the pathetic Rodney Carre as an example will do nothing to stop the activity of his bolder ruthless Cuban rovers especially the notorious El Toreador. Cliff detests the circus that Woods has caused with the spectacle and wonders about Carre's daughter La Sauvage, who would do anything to free her father. After the hanging of her beloved dad, Amanda has no place to go so Cliff agrees to take her to her mother in England. On their trek across the Atlantic, Cliff begins teaching Amanda how a lady behaves in polite society where she will find a husband. However, she realizes loves Cliff and he loves her, but neither will take that critical first step and reveal what they hide from their beloved. The delightful tale of the youngest de Warenne son meeting his beloved is a warm Regency romance that effortlessly flows from Pirate of the Caribbean to the ball rooms of the Ton. The story line will remind readers of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady as Cliff falls in love with his creation, who returns his feelings, but doubts he could care for her inner wild soul. Fans of the series will immensely enjoy what may be the best of a strong series while newcomers will seek the backlist (see MASQUERADE and THE PRIZE, etc.). Harriet Klausner