Karen Hawkins, Her Master and Commander

Her Master and Commander

Karen Hawkins

Avon, Mar 2006, $6.99, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0060584084

In 1806 the Earl of Rochester knew he was dying, but regrets having sired no legitimate heir. Uninterested in his illegitimate children until he faces death's door, he assigns his perfect butler Richard Reeves to find his offspring; five for sure, but maybe nine in all, and train them to act as if they were raised amidst the Ton, rather than the gutter where he left them. Reeves knows he will need the key elements of being a good butler, tolerance and amnesia, if he is to succeed in his final endeavor for his employer.

Reeves' first "civilize" project is the Earl's son Captain Tristan Llevanth, a former pirate wounded while fighting under Nelson's banner. Unable to go to sea anymore due to his injuries, Tristan is uninterested in Reeves' gentlemen lessons, remembering the earl failed to recognize him when he desperately wanted that twenty-five years ago. However, the sly butler pays the ex-pirate's enemy Prudence Thistlewaite to help smooth the Captain's barbaric tendencies, knowing women can go where no man dare. Their neighborly war soon includes a new weapon of mass destruction in each of their respective arsenals, that neither can resist nor fight against, and that is love.

HER MASTER AND COMMANDER is a strong Regency romance starring two dearest enemies, but made fresh by that "Most Proper Butler" Reeves. He realizes that to quietly nudge the sea captain he needs the ideal tool; a woman, for only a female can civilize a barbarian. The lead couple is a delightful pairing somewhat typical of the sub-genre, but the master Machiavellian of the servant class turns this fine tale into a wonderful historical reading experience, with everyone agreeing "God bless Reeves".