The Windflower

The Windflower
Author: Tom and Sharon Curtis aka Laura London
Genre: Pirate Romance, War of 1812
Grade: Liked it much more than Sunshine and Shadows

Merry Wilding is drawing rutabagas in her aunt's garden when first we meet her. Hers is a solitary life, isolated from the local villagers by an imagined superior family lineage courtesy of her aunt, and kept from her father and brother by their all important jobs in government. Merry is thrilled when her brother Carl involves her in a small way in a job which he is doing. It is all cloak and daggers, danger and adventure and is just the sort of thing to appeal to any young girl who wants to help family and country. Carl is unknowingly launching Merry into an adventure that will change the course of her very life.

It is during this evening of mayhem, however brief it is, that Merry first sets eyes on the pirate Devon. A gorgeous blond with the face of an angel he becomes her unlikely savior when her adventure goes bad. They part at the end, Merry turned to mush by a kiss, but this is a romance and of course they meet again.

They meet in the unlikeliest of ways, through a series of misunderstandings, misdirections and diabolical plannings. Merry, on board the pirate ship where Devon makes his living, is intent on not telling him who she is and what she has been up to. Devon is equally intent on getting her to talk. Love seems unlikely between two such diverse people but then, love can always be counted on to conquer all.

This book had to have been among the first ever to feature a gamma/beta hero. Devon is charming, talented and undoubtedly a skillful fighter but he is not the alpha male that the captain of the pirate vessel, Rand Morgan, is. And he is no rapist hero, an unusual aspect of a pirate in a romance novel circa 1984. He is chivalrous and casually kind and reminded me mightily of a cross between Will Turner and Jack Sparrow.

The pirates on board the vessel are definitely of the Disney variety. They quickly turn to much in the sweet hands of Merry and become her pals, some willing to risk Devon and Rand's wrath to protect her. Even when one of them seems likely to be a danger to her he quickly proves he isn't and becomes more of father/brother figure to her, engaging in mock battle with her at one point, than I believe her father and brother ever actually were.
All of them voted to risk their own lives to save a mother/child from another set of pirates. And their discipline? Far, far more democratic than anything offered by the British or American Navies. I didn't mind them being of the Disney variety and actually enjoyed quite a few of their antics. In fact, Raven and Cat were two of my very favorite people in the book. I actually searched for sequels to see if anything more had been written about these two really great secondary characters.

Rand Morgan, though not as mentioned as I would have liked (I read his scenes twice) was perhaps my favorite character in the book. He was an alpha character but in the best sense of the word. He was no bully but he had complete control of the vessel and all his property, he was a builder of men and an incredibly strong character in his own right. He reminded me of Beverly's Rothgar or Balogh's Wulfric Bedwyn.

Merry was a very sweet, naive, incompetent 18. She tried to escape three times and while everyone admired her gumption no one could speak for her competence. She did have skill, as an artist, but she was presented as a rather helpless character. If not for her male rescuers she would have died easily and would have had her pick of venues in which to do it in. This is where my love of YA really works against me because I read about so many competent under 18's that when I run into a Merry I am not impressed. I didn't dislike her but she will never be a favorite heroine.

I can see why this book is a favorite for many, though. It had to be huge breath of fresh air when first published for featuring decent, caring non-rapist men. But I will return this happily to the library tomorrow. I have read far too many great romances since 1984 to be bowled over by this one.



Tea: Did you know that at one point people of this time tried to stop drinking tea because of it's British roots? Coffee and non-black tea's were pushed as more "American".