Lucky’s Lady by Sandy Raven
Publisher & Release: Self-published, April 28, 2015
Time
and setting: 1836, Maryland
Genre:
Historical Romance
Length:
590 Pages
Heat
Level: 2 Flames
Rating:
4 Gold Crowns
Book
Description:
When Mary-Michael Watkins
married her elderly mentor who owned the shipyard where she worked, she never
thought she’d miss the things he can’t give her. But as the years pass, she
discovers a surprising need for a child that grows stronger each day. Her
husband urges her to look elsewhere for a man to sire the baby she wants, but
she can’t even consider such a thing—until she meets Captain Gualtiero.
Luchino Gualtiero, is a man to
whom family means everything. Second to family is growing his tea import
company, and he’s come to Watkins Shipyard to have two new ships built. He’s
enjoyed married women in the past, so has no issue bedding the beautiful wife
of the shipyard owner. But when it comes time to leave her, his heart cannot
forget her.
Shortly before her husband’s
death, Mary-Michael realizes she is carrying the captain’s child. A spurned
suitor accuses her of adultery, claiming to be the child’s father to gain the
Watkins fortune, and she is forced to ask the captain to care for their child
in the event she is found guilty and hanged.
Lucky will do whatever is
necessary to have Mary for his own—and to be a part of his child’s life—even
kidnap her from her cell and take her on the high seas with him. He knows she’s
long fought her feelings for him, and aboard the Lady M he will convince her
that his love for her is as endless as the ocean.
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Vikki’s Musings
Lucky’s Lady is the last book in the Caversham Chronicles. I
have thoroughly enjoyed this interesting series. While Lucky’s Lady is not my
favorite, it is an excellent conclusion to this wonderful series.
Sandy Raven writes emotionally-charged romances with
intricate plots and unforgettable characters. Lucky’s Lady has both these
ingredients. This book is fast-paced and flows beautifully with an excellent balance
between dialogue and narrative. For such a long book, it did not have any parts
that slowed the story.
While I struggled a bit with some of the choices Mary-Michael
makes throughout the book, I like her character a great deal. She is
intelligent and hard-working and although she does not have a complete marriage
with her elderly husband, she does have deep affection for him. She has a
constant war between doing what her husband suggests and her growing attraction
for Lucky. I could feel her anguish and
guilt over, first her infidelity and second over the deception with her lover.
Although Lucky makes a dashing and handsome hero and has a
wealth of charm, I did have a great deal of trouble with his morals. He thinks
it’s perfectly all right to engage in adultery with a married woman. There is
something about his character, though, that had me loving the rascal any way.
He does recognize that what is between him and Mary-Michael is much more than
physical and when he realizes he is in love with her, he is willing to do
whatever is necessary to keep her safe.
The attraction between Lucky and Mary-Michael is combustible
from their first meeting and only grows stronger as the story progresses. Ms.
Raven’s love scenes are sensual and filled with emotion, and I enjoyed them a
lot.
I listened to the audio recording performed by Dennis
Kleinman and Victoria J. Mayers. This was an unusual narration. Mr. Kleinman
read all the narrative for Lucky and all that character’s dialogue. Ms. Mayers
did the same for Mary-Michael’s character as well. While this kept the problem
of the male sounding too female and vise versa for the female, I found this
took some time to get used to, and at times the dialogue sounded abrupt.
Nonetheless, both narrators read with the right amount of emotion. I would
listen to both narrators in the future.
If you enjoy complex characters with good depth and a unique
plot, then you will love Lucky’s Lady as much as I did. While this is a standalone novel, I do
recommend reading the rest of the books in order. Happy reading!
