An Improper Proposal

I am usually a fan of Patricia Cabot - love her style, her wit and her characters. But this one missed the mark for me. Not as humorous and the characters and plot overdrawn. Oh well!

I absolutely adored this book. Unlike most historical romances I've read, when the heroine is unconventional, it doesn't seem to really impact their lives. Payton's life, however, has been defined by her free spirit. She lives in a time when proper women sat at home darning socks. Payton, however, can fight, shoot, and navigate a ship better than her brothers. Unfortunately, being a girl, her brothers, who encouraged her before, are expecting her to be the dutiful little sister. She loses the ship she wanted to captain to Sir Connor Drake, the man she has been wild over since she was a girl. But she really steals the heart when, instead of weeping and fainting, she manages to rescue him later in the book. This is most definitely a delightful read.

Patricia Cabot is such a talented author. She has the ability to spin a tale that you just don't want to put down. I found myself wishing her characters, especially the headstrong Payton Dixon, were friends of mine--they were so interesting. I couldn't stop laughing at each crazy situation they found themselves in. Patricia Cabot has a way of drawing the reader in and making them feel part of the action. I have never read a romance that had so much humor and adventure! I would definitely read more of her work.

While I enjoy the deepest and most provocative tales I can get my hands on I am also the first in line to read something that can entertain me with wit and imagination and not leave me feeling as though I have labored for hours. Cabot has created some of the most wildly outlandish and adorable as well as evil and unrehabilatable characters I have ever encountered. The dialouge and storyline however are equal to the task that her players find themselves facing. If you are in the mood to kick back and relax with a joyous, tender and enchanting evening's entertainment then you will not be disappointed with delightful creation.

The Honorable Miss Payton Dixon was usually known as the Dishonorable Miss Payton Dixon. Raised on board ship by her three seafaring brothers, Payton was the most unladylike lady England had ever seen. Since she was rarely in England, no one ever thought that it would matter. So when Payton suddenly realized that she was in love with Connor Drake, the captain of one of her brothers' ships, it became important to her to act like a lady. Unfortunately, Connor Drake was marrying another, a woman who was everything Payton was not--the ideal genteel English lady. Connor didn't even realize that Payton had grown up. He had known her since she was in pigtails running around barefoot on the deck of his ship in pants and a vest and had never really thought of her as female. So why was she now acting so peculiar on his wedding day? Patricia Cabot has written a riotous, sexy romance about a seafaring hoyden trying to become a lady despite her three older brothers. Her witty and fast-faced dialogue will keep you in stitches while following Payton and Connor's adventures.

In 1830, almost nineteen-year-old Payton Dixon loves sea Captain Connor Drake. Ignoring the fact that she has spent most of her life as a tomboy, Payton moans that her beloved has never even glanced her way in all the years they have known each other. Now it appears to be too late as Connor must do the honorable thing as befitting his new status as a baronet and marry Becky Whitby. Still, Payton has other plans as she realizes that Becky is not suited to be the spouse of a seafaring person.Payton behaves very badly on the eve of the wedding and during the ceremony. She accuses Becky of treacherous behavior towards Connor. Instead of freeing her beloved from a sentence of unhappiness, her actions lead to his being taken prisoner by Lucien La Fond, a French pirate and Becky's lover. Payton tries to rescue Connor, prove Becky's infidelity, and claim a love of a lifetime. However, La Fond is a powerful opponent and he holds her beloved captive.AN IMPROPER PROPOSAL is an exhilarating historical romance that leaves readers laughing one moment and tightly gripping their book the next moment. The action never eases as the pulse pumping story line sails to a wonderful finish. The characters are all fully developed making the intrigue feel even stronger. With novels like this one, WHERE ROSES GROW WILD, and PORTRAIT OF MY HEART, Patricia Cabot is gaining a reputation as one of the more entertaining historical romance authors.Harriet Klausner