A Pirate at Pembroke is a FANTASTIC story. It is very much in the style of Jane Austen with its wonderfully detailed descriptions, poignant inner monologues, and a palpable tension between the hero and heroine that lasts until the final chapter. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this book, and I am very sorry my time with Sophie and Captain Murdock is over. This is a novel that will stick with me long after finishing the last page.
Told from a first-person perspective, the reader follows Sophie as she encounters her new, mysterious neighbor, the dashing Captain Murdock of Pembroke. Intrigue and rumor surrounds Murdock — some say he is nothing but a villainous pirate while others say he is a first-rate Navy man who protected British interests against pirates and the French. Regardless, when the reader first meets Murdock he is a surly, brooding, and injured man who makes sure to keep all — even the reader — at arms length. Of course, this just makes Sophie, and the reader, more and more curious about the handsome and captivating neighbor.
Sophie is an excellently written character. She is kind, generous, and compassionate. She is beautiful, but doesn’t seem to know it because of her humble nature. She always attempts to stand a minute in someone else’s shoes before coming to any sort of judgement or conclusion, which is a fantastic reminder for all of us today where conclusions about someone or something are drawn based on emotion in the moment rather than on actual fact. While others sit in gossip groups talking about someone they don’t really know, Sophie is the first to stand up against the meanness and hatred in defense of the one being spoken against. Reading about a character willing to stand up for what is right was, to me, a breath of fresh air!