Sexy, Swashbuckling Female Pirate Wins Your Heart and Your Loot
It was quite a pleasure reading Patricia Leever’s Cat O’ Nine Tails. I love the idea of a female pirate, Aeron Lynch, with fiery red locks and intense green eyes. Handsome pirate hunter Orrin Walsh is determined to put a stop to Aeron’s thieving ways, but is there more than meets the eye with this sassy lass?
Indeed, things are not always as they seem, and there’s instant chemistry between the pirate and her hunter. Aeron has an intriguing backstory involving the queen—the same queen who has commissioned Orrin to hunt down Aeron. I really liked how Patty handled Aeron’s post-traumatic stress. Orrin isn’t feeling so confident himself due to his first wife leaving him. (Stupid wench!)
I think Patty did a great job of world-building in this historical romance—the island jungle, the ship sailing on an open sea, the rich language. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
She was a most unusual pirate: she did not take what she wanted with a sword and threats of death but with a sway of her hips and a promise on her lips. (Though Aeron is skilled with a sword, make no doubt!)
Describing William, the prince, who’s visiting Mommie Dearest to try to get Aeron:
He would dare a dance with the devil to have the company of an angel.
One of many poignant and *HOT* love scenes:
With her eyes squeezed shut, she steeled herself for his reaction, waiting for Orrin to finally see her scars. She listened closely for his gasp of horror, but there came none. Only sweet kisses as he traveled the length and width of her back. He slid the dress down an inch at a time, lavishing each newly exposed sliver of bare flesh with kisses and slow swipes of his tongue.
The queen talking to her son William:
“Do you really think that I would trust you to carry out this task on your own? Really, William,” she scoffed before he could even answer. “You can barely take a shit without assistance.” Damn, she’s cold!
Orrin’s brother Kale, a notorious ladies man, also gets some true lovin’ in this story.
The one thing that was a little strange to me what the choice of names for the romantic leads: Aeron and Orrin. I’m not sure how to pronounce Aeron but it sounds so similar to Orrin that it was a bit confusing at times. My brain also looks at Aeron as a male name.
I highly recommend this fun and sexy adventure! Wonderful job, Patty Leever.
And now onto my interview with Patty:
Jennifer Lane (JL): Cat O’ Nine Tails is your debut novel, correct? How did you get into writing?
Patricia Leever (PL): Yes, this is my debut novel! Heehee, I still get tingly and giggly when I say that. I don’t really know how I got into writing other than it’s just something that I’ve always done, in one form or another. There was a two year period, after my grandma passed away, that I didn’t write a word and it was a really dark time for me. When I think back on that time I have to laugh at the absurdity of it because my grandma was always one of my biggest writing supporters, she would have been ridiculously proud of what I’ve done.
JL: I loved Aeron’s character. How did you come up with the idea for a female pirate?
PL: I wanted something different. I absolutely LOVE a strong female lead so I knew my girl wasn’t going to be a wilting flower that sat around waiting for the strong man to save her. She was going to take charge and save herself.
JL: Please tell us about your research for this historical romance.
PL: Oh lord, I am a research freak! I can lose an entire day of writing just on research. It was important for me to get certain things accurate, and it’s important that my readers feel that I’ve taken that time to fully submerge them into the story by doing so. Even though the story is pure fiction, it was set in an era of time that is specific and making sure that when I got to the bathing scene, what kind of soap might they have used, was it a bar or was it a paste, that kind of thing.
JL: I love the trading cards you’ve developed (that one lucky commenter on this post will win!) How did you find the images representing your characters? Any recommendations for authors making swag for their novels?
PL: Thank you, I had so much fun creating them! I spent hours upon hours scouring the stock image sites looking for who would fit whom and when I narrowed my characters down I purchased the rights to use the images. If you shop around, like anything else, you can find the right deal to fit into your budget. That goes for image sites and for professional printers. When I sat down to make my cards, I had in mind what I wanted to do. I’d seen other romance trading cards but I wanted mine to be different, like my cover. My cover isn’t a typical historical romance cover so I felt my cards had to have the same feel. Also, research what is new in the world of swag, what do readers seem to like.
JL: Halloween just passed. How did your family celebrate it? What are your plans for the upcoming holidays?
PL: I am all about the costume and this year I sported about 3, okay really 2 1/2 but let’s not split hairs. We spent one weekend participating in the local Zombie March that benefits the local food pantry, which was a lot of fun and on the actual night spent time with or friends in the neighborhood, enjoying laughs and good food! The upcoming holidays are much the same. We have a large family so we are usually quite busy running around from one house to the other and getting our house prepared for the family gathering. Family is very important to us.
JL: What’s next for you, Ms. Author?
PL: I’m in the process of preparing another piece to present to my publisher, this one is an Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance about a 134 year old demon hunter in Los Angeles named, Evelyn Wright. I have also started writing the sequel to Cat O’ Nine Tails, which I’m really enjoying!
JL: Thanks for stopping by the blog, Patty! Readers, get your copy of Cat O’ Nine Tails HERE.
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