The Gentle Pirate

I read this book twenty years ago, and bought it again recently, as I remembered it. For readers that like their hero to be a true Alpha Male--protective down to his pinkie--this is the book for you. It was also nice to read about a hero that wasn't physically perfect: Simon had an amputated arm. Jayne Ann Krentz has changed her writing style over the years, but I still love this story.

Simon Kendrick has been brought in to reorganize the company Kirsten Mallory works at and shows his intimidating nature in their first interview. But Kirsten isn't afraid to lose her job and as a professional librarian has written up exactly what her department does for the company. There's no doubt that Simon is alpha male all the way and he spends a good part of the book ordering Kirsten around. However she's not a doormat - she left her first husband after three months rather than taking any more abuse, and she's made a good life for herself. Simon knows he's in a pretty bad position coming across the way he does, and also being an ex-Marine just like her now deceased ex-husband. It's cute the way he tries to maneuver his way into her dating life by showing up at the same place she is out on a date and inviting the couple for drinks. All in all, Kirsten starts of knowing that she is not afraid of Simon. She's just going to have to find out whether, no matter what they go through, she'll feel like she'll never be afraid of him.