To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker

“When Annalisa Townsend’s ship is set upon by pirates in search of her father’s treasure, one of the crew, James Sterling, discovers her in the hold. When he moves to take her necklace, she begs him not to, as it is all she has left of her mother. He accepts a kiss in exchange for the necklace. “A fair trade, m’lady,” he tells her afterward, before disappearing. A year later, with a forged letter of marquee, Annalisa is intent on hunting down the wretched James Sterling and reclaiming her father’s treasure from him. But now she’s in danger of him stealing something far more valuable this time: her heart.”

Okay, so this book kept popping up on my Amazon recommendations and I finally got around to picking up a copy from the library. I was actually surprised by how small it was, at only 226 pages and pretty large print it turned out to be a pretty quick read.

Since it was so short a lot was crammed in and unfortunately a lot of things were left out, such as character development. I just kept wishing throughout that this had been a full-blown novel. The skeleton of the story was great, and I felt a lot more time should have been spent on character and plot development. I was hooked after the first chapter, and it would have been fun to travel with Anna throughout that year to see her prepare to captain her own ship as well as her other training. In the meantime, we also could have seen what James was up to on his deserted island and other conquests. We could have learned more about his background and what made him become a pirate, and show that although he is a pirate he is also a good guy. Then when they finally do meet up again, a lot more time could have been spent on their adventure together and build a much stronger relationship. I felt like Anna fell for James a bit too quickly, and there wasn’t quite enough tension between them. The love-triangle was not developed near enough, and I think the author really missed the boat on that one. The end was a little disappointing. With the betrayal, and justice being served, to the final “happily ever after”, it all came together a bit too quickly and felt a little too rushed.

For what it is, I think it’s a fun book. It hooked me at the beginning and I was entertained throughout the story. So, if you’re looking for a quick, entertaining read filled with adventure, pirates, love and betrayal then this is your book!