100 books like The Captain of All Pleasures

This is an enthralling tale of Queen Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs and a great love story. Few authors can come close to the masterful storytelling of Laurie McBain, which is why I am one of her fans. With an amazingly complex plot, this one features prejudice, treachery, threats to the queen, spies, gypsies, and high seas adventure making it one of her best. 

Set during the War of 1812 this is a great pirate romance. It tells the story of innocent, sheltered Merry Wilding, an American living in Virginia with her maiden aunt. Merry has a talent for drawing faces from memory, a talent her brother, an American spy will use to his benefit, exposing her to pirates and worse. On her way to England with her aunt, she is kidnapped. Taken to a pirate ship, Merry meets the English pirate, Devon, who remembers her from a night long ago. 

The writing is superb, the characters courageous, heartwarming, and very special; the descriptions vivid. The story is a wonder to read. You will be swept away on a pirate ship to experience adventures, battles at sea, storms, death, humor, and love.

Set at the dawn of the Regency era, the story begins on a British naval vessel on its way to Australia, transporting a famous prisoner—American privateer, Justin Phillips—as well as civilian passengers, including shy, 17-year old Christina Marks, in mourning for her father’s death and going to live with her uncle.

Justin and Christina share a love for books and ideas but are terribly different personalities. Were it not for the unusual circumstances in which the shy, unselfish girl speaks through a small window to a prisoner she can’t see, they never would have formed the bond they did. 

Horsman has brilliantly crafted this tale of a sheltered vicar’s daughter and a hardened man. Despite all against them, the two fall quickly and desperately in love.

Superbly written, heart-stopping, action-filled. It’s the story of highborn 18-year-old Cassie Brougham, who on the day before her marriage to a viscount she has loved for years, is abducted by 34-year-old Anthony Wells, the Earl of Clare, who has been watching her since she was a child all the while believing she is his perfect mate. 

Though Anthony’s intention is marriage, that doesn’t stop him from rape to claim her, nor imprisonment, first on his yacht and then in his Italian villa, as he tries to persuade her to marry him. The plot is intricate and intriguing with lots of action and lots of mystery. The characters are richly drawn, including the hero who has a noble side notwithstanding his selfish and brutal act of taking another man’s bride.

You didn’t think I forgot you fantasy lovers, did you? A Heart of Blood and Ashes is a high fantasy with romance at its center. I adore this book because our heroine, Yvenne is not your typical fantasy female lead. She’s not amazing with a sword. She doesn’t have magical talents. She’s not a secretly trained assassin. Nope. Yvenne is physically weak, with injuries that make it difficult to move, but she is also hell-bent on doing anything to survive. Including marrying her enemy. My favorite scene is when our big, strong hero Maddek, needs to use Yvenne’s vision to help him shoot his arrow. It is the perfect combination of Maddek’s brute strength and Yvenne’s exceptional sight. And also the perfect metaphor for a great romance novel relationship!

This is one of the craziest, most imaginative stories I ever read. I truly enjoyed He Had it Coming. I would love to see it made into a movie. It’s about this an accomplished author name Marcus Brooks. He has got to be the most arrogant man alive. No respect for women at all. Well, a group of professional ladies who are part of a book club decided to teach him a lesson. They kidnap him, and hold him, hoping to change his ways. I promise if you pick this up you won’t be able to put it down.  

Who doesn’t love a good “nobility-in-disguise” story? They are especially pleasing when a big dose of romance and justice for a mistreated young woman are thrown in. Due to its lovable characters and fun plot twists, These Old Shades is arguably the novel that propelled Georgette Heyer to fame as a premiere Regency Romance author.

Imagine The Little Mermaid but the mermaid is actually a killer siren and the prince is actually a siren hunter/pirate, and you’ve got To Kill A Kingdom.

If you’re not sold by that alone (because I certainly was) well, this standalone fantasy also has seafaring action, a variety of vibrant kingdoms, strong character arcs, morally grey characters, dashing pirates, siren magic, and of course, a slow burn enemies to lovers romance (you may have noticed I’m a sucker for those.)

I only wish this was a series and not a standalone.

Okay, let’s start with stats: I love the story so much that I’ve read the book twice and watched the movie adaptation three times (Kate Winslet is wonderful, as always.) This will forever remain my first foray into “haute couture noir.”

Tilly is one of those characters that speaks to me: a gifted dressmaker with a troubled past. Her beautiful dresses not only arouse competition and envy but also cause old resentments to surface. As for Tilly herself, her mind is soon set on a darker design: sweet revenge on those who wronged her.

The writing is lush, and the novel is viciously funny. 

If you enjoyed Gone Girl, I’m guessing you have a soft spot for a well-written sociopath. Jane Doe will be right up your street and then some. Jane is the kind of sociopath you can’t help but love. She’s funny, she’s misanthropic and she doesn’t care about what anyone else thinks. But best of all, Jane is on a revenge mission and despite every horrible thing she does, you’ll still love her.