Never Trust a Pirate by Valerie Bowman

Never Trust a Pirate (Playful Brides, #7)

by Valerie Bowman

Valerie Bowman continues her Playful Brides series with Never Trust a Pirate: a delightful twist on The Scarlet Pimpernel. Mr. Cade Cavendish is a ne'er do well, a rumoured pirate, and a man with too many false identities to count. In fact, Cade's a spy for the English government, and he's recently returned to London to hunt for a master of disguise involved in a plot to bring back the exiled Napoleon. Miss Danielle LaCrosse fled France after the wars, determined to begin a new life in England. Her position as a lady's maid is the perfect start...until she's tempted to join her employer's devilishly handsome brother and Danielle suddenly finds herself in grave danger, trying to uncover the identity of the elusive Black Fox. As Cade and Danielle are foiled at every turn, they realise that no one is who they claim to be. Can love survive when the truth could mean their death?

Reviewed by stacey_is_sassy on

4 of 5 stars

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IT'S ALIVE!!!

Spies like us...and a Pirate or two

I think I’ve admitted this before but I’ll come straight out and say it again…I’m a bit of a snob. Well, I’m a snob when it comes to my historical romance reads. Never Trust a Pirate started out with a Maid and a Mister and I admit to thinking *Oh bugger, the "help" has arrived*. Terrible, I know, but I read with hopes of escaping reality. Unfortunately, reading about working from dusk til dawn at someone else’s bidding doesn’t really do it for me. Luckily, it wasn’t long before I was distracted by a storyline that kept my attention from start to finish.

I kind of want to keep my review short for this one (fingers crossed, I’ll be successful this time) because I think the journey will be a lot better if I keep the information about the characters a secret. Here goes…

Cade, Cade, Cade…well this guy took a wee bit for me to warm up to. My first impressions were that he was a lazy, indulgent, womaniser who thinks only of himself. But, that’s what he wants you to see.

Danielle is a hard-working maid who, with very little experience, works hard to do her job as a personal servant to a lady. She seems to be a confident woman but surprisingly lacks friends and is shocked when people offer to help her. It’s like Danielle is in a foreign environment.

What or who is right in front of you can become a chameleon. Is the fox stalking the sheep...or is the sheep just waiting for a chance to corner the fox?

Reading Never Trust a Pirate was a bit like putting together a puzzle. Pieces of the puzzle need to be looked at carefully because one piece looks like another, and some are not at all as they seem. What makes the puzzle even more interesting, is that with one bad decision, the whole game could fall apart. Do you take a risk and play the game alone, or do you call in reinforcements to help guide the pieces to the right place?

I’ve never read Valerie Bowman before which means that I came into the series at #7. I’ll admit that a couple of times I wished I knew a little more about the characters we get introduced to. I got the impression I’m supposed to be reacquainting myself with them. It wasn’t that I couldn’t follow along without reading their stories, but the thrill of catching up with past characters was lost on me.

I thoroughly enjoyed Never Trust a Pirate. There wasn’t a lot of swashbuckling or walking the plank that you would expect with a title boasting a Pirate. I was entertained with a mystery, some adventure, seeing attraction grow between the Cade and Danielle and eventually, that attraction change to a connection. This story was interesting and easy to read and I will definitely consider reading more from this author in the future.




I’m an Aussie chick who loves to read and review romance, drink coffee, be a Style Setter and stalk David Gandy. To see more of my reviews, fashion, food and pervathons -


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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 May, 2017: Finished reading
  • 1 May, 2017: Reviewed