Title: Adventure: The Pirates of The Eastern Shore
Author: Morgan Malone
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Blurb:
On a cliff, high above the mighty Atlantic Ocean, a spinster gazes out across the sea and dreams of adventure. The privileged daughter of the one of richest men in Colonial Maine, Denise Boucher Waite has lived a sheltered life, save for the books that she devours and the sweet memories of the boy who kissed her once, then disappeared leaving behind a broken promise and a broken heart.
Mathias Charles Alden is coming home to Maine after twenty years at sea. He sails under America’s flag as the captain of the prosperous merchant ship, America’s Own. Only a few old friends in Maine know that he is also Captain Sin, the most feared Pirate of the Eastern Shore, commanding the fierce crew of the Golden Lion. He’s traveled around the world, amassing a fortune that would beggar many kings, putting fear into the crews of British, French and Spanish ships from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean, but especially the Atlantic and the coastal waters of America. He’s thirty-five, weary, and longing for peace. And perhaps one more kiss from the girl he left behind.
Denise and Mathias find each other on that first night, and the memory of love that has smoldered in their hearts for two decades, begins to burn. Night after night, they meet, as the pirate lays claim to his greatest prize: the passion of the only woman he has ever loved. Their plans to create a life together are thwarted, as Denise’s father betroths her to a man who disgusts her, rather than let her marry Mathias.
To rescue Denise, Mathias must put aside his dream of peace, and conjure a daring plan that only the fierce Captain Sin can accomplish.
Set in post-Revolutionary America, Adventure, is the first of the historical pirate romances in Morgan Malone’s new series: The Pirates Of The Eastern Shore
Excerpt:
Today, I met a Pirate.
“Don’t scream.” He said the harsh words, rumbled into her ear, in a low rasp.
Her skin pebbled, not from fear, but from excitement.
A large, calloused hand covered her mouth, firm but not strangling. A sailor’s hand from the distinctive ridges caused by hauling rope, wielding a knife, and scraping a hull. A muscular arm wrapped around her waist, pressing her back against an unyielding chest, well-muscled, covered with springy curls, surprisingly bare in the brisk late-night breeze. His strong hand held her firmly in place—head to toe—fingers splayed across her abdomen, preventing any movement, even as rigid flesh poked her buttocks, covered only by the fine lawn material of her night rail.
As realization hit as to what it was that prodded her behind, she sucked in a deep breath and made to step away from the tall man behind her. Her cheeks flushed hot with embarrassment. And, because, if she was nothing else, she was brutally honest with herself—Denise silently admitted that her blush was not just from shock but curiosity. Carnal curiosity. She was likely going to Hell for the lustful thoughts that fought propriety and self-preservation in her head. A head that began to throb with anger and outrage.
Before she had a chance to decide whether to stomp on the intruder’s foot—probably ineffectual as she was barefoot and against the backs of her legs she could feel the sturdy leather boots that reached his knees—or bite the thumb pressed hard against her lips, his hot breath caressed her cheek.
“Denise? Denise Boucher Waite? What in the name of Christ are you doing out on a cliff in the middle of the night in nothing but your shift? Have they turned this old house into an asylum from which you’re attempting to escape?”
God’s nightshirt! Her father’s favorite curse barely remained inside her head. The brute knew her. Knew her full name. And knew where she lived. How was that possible? No one who knows me—who knew I live here at Wyndcliff—would dare to trespass on this property. Would dare to lay hands on me!
Her father was the richest, most powerful man from Portland to the town of Eden. He controlled the economy, the politicians, and the priests.
And she was his special princess. She shuddered at all that meant.
“By god, you must be freezing,” Obviously mistaking her tremors for chills not trepidation, the pirate pulled her closer. His flesh burned into her back; his hand warmed her belly.
And she did not want it to end.
“If I remove my hand, you must not scream or make any sound. If you do, your watchdogs will come running and, needs must, I’ll shoot them. And likely must take you prisoner. And I am not in the mood for that this night nor this month. So, nod your head that you understand, and I’ll uncover your mouth. Then you can reach down to retrieve your shawl and cover yourself.”
Denise moved her head up and down.
As promised, his hand lifted from her mouth and she gulped in the cool night air, then licked her lips, tasting salt and sand and leather. She waited, silent, until his arm unwrapped from her waist, and he stepped back from her.
The loss of his warmth caused a violent shudder to ripple through her body and she quickly bent to grasp the heavy tapestry shawl that had slipped from her shoulders when the pirate had come up behind her. As Denise stood, she turned, half-facing him, half-facing the Atlantic. She could clearly see the outline of a large vessel, moored some distance from the cliffs—the moonlight casting a trail from the ship to the shore. God’s nightshirt! He is a pirate!
But how does he know my name? Turning to face him, she first saw an ornate pistol pointed at her heart, the muzzle gleaming like silver. Her eyes flew to meet his. Eyes as deep blue as the summer sea stared at her from the handsomest face she had ever seen. No, the handsomest face she had not seen in twenty years.
“Matty? Matty Alden? You’ve come home? And you’re a pirate!” With that hoarse exclamation, the breath left her lungs and as her vision blurred, Denise crumpled to the ground at his feet.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon- https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Morgan-Malone-ebook/dp/B0D3VHJG68/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1LYSK70WBHXI9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.alBwQo_S20aYobUrXSIh8ugcDwW_ZJzCLw61LBy2JwEaZThj1UYMvwkz7bMRT-9y7fbC_JHeCS96dD5JYsl4RQ4AFQoTHuSMB3o1ePn69ecnqiCDY4es4gzIooRB92CepxbS8__ua3lM_JbpdwiWwk4H84JvRBQMEIzRCq6Es6E.4cQj7hgYfF6wKmXKHVsCpP3y_KmzWveYAS-Lsyj326A&dib_tag=se&keywords=adventure+by+morgan+malone&qid=1715467634&sprefix=adventure+by+morgan+malone%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-1
Author Biography:
Morgan Malone has been reading romance since the age of twelve, when she first snuck her mother’s copy of The Saracen Blade under the covers to read by flashlight. An award-winning published author of fiction by the age of eight, Morgan waited fifty years, including thirty as an Administrative Law Judge for a small New York State agency, to pen her next work of fiction. Now retired from her legal career, Morgan lives near Saratoga Springs, N.Y. with her rescue dog, Princess. When not writing later-in-life romance about men and women who fall in love for the last, or maybe the first, time in their lives, Morgan is penning romantic memoirs or painting watercolors. She travels frequently with her daughter, a Clinical Psychologist, and shares fun family times with her son-a realtor, her daughter-in-law-a nurse, and her two delightful grandsons, who live nearby.
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