Once a Scoundrel

The last place Gabriel Hawkins, privateer, intrepid blockade runner, and captain of the trusty Zephyr, ever wanted to be was back on the Barbary Coast. Yet when lovely, quick-witted, alarmingly independent Lady Aurora Lawrence is kidnapped by pirates and held for ransom, he knows he can't leave her to the mercy of men like those who had once held him captive. What he didn't wish was to find Rory and her companion in the hands of Malek Reis, a corsair with whom he has a history, or to end up streaking across the Mediterranean with a boatload of exotic animals to rescue Malek's wife and children from a truly evil villain. Ripples of humor, high-seas adventure, and sigh-worthy romance are here in full measure in a nonstop escapade that puts a refreshing spin on a tale that is far more than the classic Barbary pirate/harem romance.