To Catch a Pirate

Title: To Catch A Pirate by Jade Parker
Genre: Fiction, YA, Romance
Rating: 3/5

In 1720, Annalisa Townsend's life was spared by a young pirate, James Sterling, in exchange for a stolen kiss. One year later, her father has been arrested on suspicion of being in cahoots with the pirates that attacked their ship and Annalisa has forged a letter of marque in order to find James Sterling and prove her father's innocence. And this time she's in danger of him stealing far more than a kiss.

I don't have much to say on Jade Parker's To Catch A Pirate. It's your average cliched romance novel. Boy meets girl, boy kisses girl, unforseen problems arise to keep them apart. Can they overcome the obstacles to be together? It's essentially a book for Harlequin readers-in-training, with only kissing and no sex. I wasn't sold on the character of Annalisa, her opinions were too easily swayed by other characters in the book and her transformation from the prologue to chapter one seemed a bit much to me. I found James to be a more believable character; a pirate because that was the life he landed in, not because of his desire for treasure. And the rest of the characters are basically peripheral ornaments; they play their role and then fade into the background again. There is little to ground the book in a specific place or time while reading, but there is an interesting author's note at the end to set the background information. Overall, its a quick and romantic read, but if you're looking for something that gives a better look at the pirate life, I'd try suggest trying a different book.