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Mistress of The Seas
A lady-in-waiting to the Queen of England? Rory MacLaren felt the stirring of his Scottish warrior's blood as he confronted the ravishing beauty he'd last seen commanding a notorious French pirate ship. Trembling under his hungry gaze, Courtney Thornhill faced the proud nobleman who had once been her father's slave. And only he had ever dared to touch her to kiss her. Only he could expose her as a spy for France. Trapped in a world of intrigue and deceit, could the Mistress of the Seas steer her tender heart on the wild and reckless course of love?
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1988
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Ryan Langan
166 books114 followersRuth Ryan Langan (aka Ruth Langan) is an award-winning author of romance novels. She is a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award winner and has twice been nominated for Romantic Times Reviwers' Choice Awards, for Jade and Return of the Prodigal Son. She has spent much of her career writing historical romance novels for the Harlequin Historicals line of category romances. Many of her book are set in medieval times, while others are western romances. She has also written some contemporary romances, and often includes elements of suspense in her novels.
Langan began her writing career in secret. Her family discovered her writings when her children came home unexpectedly from school one day and found her writing. When Langan's husband was told of her hobby, he bought her an electric typewriter "because 'writers need tools'". Her first book was published by Silhouette Books in 1981 after an editor picked it out of their slush pile. After the first sale was completed, Langan got an agent.
Langan is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America. She has five children and lives with her husband in Michigan.
Has also written under the name of Ruth Langan and R.C. Ryan
Langan began her writing career in secret. Her family discovered her writings when her children came home unexpectedly from school one day and found her writing. When Langan's husband was told of her hobby, he bought her an electric typewriter "because 'writers need tools'". Her first book was published by Silhouette Books in 1981 after an editor picked it out of their slush pile. After the first sale was completed, Langan got an agent.
Langan is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America. She has five children and lives with her husband in Michigan.
Has also written under the name of Ruth Langan and R.C. Ryan
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 22, 2025
It was a good book that was a welcome change after a string of regency romances.
January 24, 2010
Stolen off an English ship at a very young age, Courtney was raised by a cruel pirate who had vowed to have revenge on the man and on England that banished him. Surviving was Courtneys first concerns but after her new adopted ‘father’ made it obvious that no man would touch her, she began to learn the trade in which she had landed in, the middle of the pirate ship, 'Hawk'. Courtney could navigate by sun or by stars, she could climb the rigging, and she knew how to fight with the men on the 'Hawk'. All her time in the middle of these rough men, none had ever looked at her the way Rory, one of the 'Hawks' slaves, looked at her. Rory MacLaren was the second son of a Scottish clan, he had chosen a life at sea, until his ship had been overtaken by the French. Rory had been imprisoned and sold to the 'Hawk', after seeing the 'Mistress of the Sea' would he be able to escape to save is own life, would he ever forget the site of her wielding a sword to save her own life, would her ever trust her or had her ‘father‘ forever tainted her opinion of the England and all her allies?
The struggles of Courtney to gain her 'fathers' kind words work in contrast to the kindness that Rory offers her. The evil she is forced to endure creates a character that is easy to see as tragic, but she triumphs and thrives. Rory is the wonderful hero, that is trapped in his own moral dilemmas several times. The conflicts that they face together and separately leaves the reader laughing and on the verge of tears more than once. I had to read this again, Ruth Ryan Langan is a wonderful historical romance writer. This is her first book with Harlequin Historical, #10.
The struggles of Courtney to gain her 'fathers' kind words work in contrast to the kindness that Rory offers her. The evil she is forced to endure creates a character that is easy to see as tragic, but she triumphs and thrives. Rory is the wonderful hero, that is trapped in his own moral dilemmas several times. The conflicts that they face together and separately leaves the reader laughing and on the verge of tears more than once. I had to read this again, Ruth Ryan Langan is a wonderful historical romance writer. This is her first book with Harlequin Historical, #10.
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August 28, 2011"Vi dico che quella donna è pericolosa." (...) "Voi state accusando la dama di compagnia della regina di essere una spia, milord. Queste sono affermazioni molto gravi."
Un romanzo avventuroso e scorrevole che mi ha però ricordato come trama Una spia a corte della McCabe anche se in quel caso la protagonista era un'ex cortigiana, mentre la protagonista di questo romanzo è più "innocente" e vulnerabile rispetto all'amore...
Un romanzo avventuroso e scorrevole che mi ha però ricordato come trama Una spia a corte della McCabe anche se in quel caso la protagonista era un'ex cortigiana, mentre la protagonista di questo romanzo è più "innocente" e vulnerabile rispetto all'amore...
December 26, 2018
Mistress of the Seas by Ruth Langan is a reread for me. And what an emotional reread it was! It has been years since I read this book and I remember why I loved it so much! In fact, I went out of my way to buy a copy on Amazon because my own copy is back in my hometown gathering dust!
Mistress of the Seas was the perfect book to reads to get out of the current reading slump I was in. This book is about a female pirate and a Scottish prisoner of war who got sold into slavery on her father’s ship!
Stolen from a British ship when she was a child, Courtney is taken by an evil Englishman who was banished to France for treason. While flying a French flag, he becomes a notorious pirate and raises Courtney as his own. Now a famed pirate in her own right, Courtney is now landlocked and must play at being a spy/lady-in-waiting for French Princess that married King Charles of England. By threatening Courtney’s father’s life, she is forced to spy for Cardinal Richelieu of France to overthrow the English monarch. Unfortunately, Courtney finds the dashing Scottish Laird who was once a prisoner aboard her father’s ship, Rory MacLaren at court and all her reluctant plans are not going as she has hoped.
I love Courtney and Rory’s relationship so much. In fact, the chemistry between these two characters was very obvious while they were still on Captain Thornhill’s ship! Seriously, these two gave me the #feels because of the forbidden romance between the two of them.
Mistress of the Seas was a very quick reread for me and while I enjoyed the romance so much, I could not help but notice a lot of glaring inconsistencies, especially when it came to Courtney. Since she was the famed Mistress of the Seas, a fearsome pirate, trained by the evil Captain Thornhill and killed a lot of Englishmen in battle it WAS NOT apparent at all when she was acting as a spy.
She basically turned into a wilting flower and damsel in distress that HAD to be saved instead of being a tough as nails fighter! I mean, she could have bested Lord Burlingame in that very first meeting! I understand that no one was allowed to touch her while aboard her father’s ship, but still! Fighting would have been second nature to her in this case.
Despite the flaws, I still enjoyed Rory and Courtney’s romance and I remember why I enjoyed reading this book so much.
Mistress of the Seas is a Harlequin Historical published in 1988, but it is actually available on eBook! So, if you haven’t read this and want a good Pirate romance with a touch of the forbidden, this is the book for you!
This review first appread on I Heart Romance & YA
Mistress of the Seas was the perfect book to reads to get out of the current reading slump I was in. This book is about a female pirate and a Scottish prisoner of war who got sold into slavery on her father’s ship!
Stolen from a British ship when she was a child, Courtney is taken by an evil Englishman who was banished to France for treason. While flying a French flag, he becomes a notorious pirate and raises Courtney as his own. Now a famed pirate in her own right, Courtney is now landlocked and must play at being a spy/lady-in-waiting for French Princess that married King Charles of England. By threatening Courtney’s father’s life, she is forced to spy for Cardinal Richelieu of France to overthrow the English monarch. Unfortunately, Courtney finds the dashing Scottish Laird who was once a prisoner aboard her father’s ship, Rory MacLaren at court and all her reluctant plans are not going as she has hoped.
I love Courtney and Rory’s relationship so much. In fact, the chemistry between these two characters was very obvious while they were still on Captain Thornhill’s ship! Seriously, these two gave me the #feels because of the forbidden romance between the two of them.
Mistress of the Seas was a very quick reread for me and while I enjoyed the romance so much, I could not help but notice a lot of glaring inconsistencies, especially when it came to Courtney. Since she was the famed Mistress of the Seas, a fearsome pirate, trained by the evil Captain Thornhill and killed a lot of Englishmen in battle it WAS NOT apparent at all when she was acting as a spy.
She basically turned into a wilting flower and damsel in distress that HAD to be saved instead of being a tough as nails fighter! I mean, she could have bested Lord Burlingame in that very first meeting! I understand that no one was allowed to touch her while aboard her father’s ship, but still! Fighting would have been second nature to her in this case.
Despite the flaws, I still enjoyed Rory and Courtney’s romance and I remember why I enjoyed reading this book so much.
Mistress of the Seas is a Harlequin Historical published in 1988, but it is actually available on eBook! So, if you haven’t read this and want a good Pirate romance with a touch of the forbidden, this is the book for you!
This review first appread on I Heart Romance & YA
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews