Captain Jack's Woman by Stephanie Laurens

Kathryn "Kit" Cranmer was raised to be a lady, but her rebellious streak and habit of dressing like a young man frequently land her in situations no well-bred lady should ever be in. Such as leading a gang of smugglers, just to name one example. Her success as a smuggler results in Kit crossing paths with the leader of a rival smuggling gang, Captain Jack.

Captain Jack is actually Jonathon, Lord Hendon... the High Commissioner appointed to stop the smuggling activity in the area. Since spies are one of the things being smuggled in and out of the country, Jack allows the illegal activity to continue so that they can trail the spies back to their source. In order to accomplish this, Jack needs total control of the smuggling in the area which means that he either needs to put a stop to Kit's gang or incorporate them into his own group. A power struggle is inevitable between these two strong personalities and, when Jack discovers that Kit the lad is actually Kit the young woman, he'll end up pursuing more than just spies.

This is the first book that I have read by Ms. Laurens and I wasn't overly impressed. The story is interesting and there are numerous sex scenes that practically scorch the pages they're written on, but the book is too long and the main characters were annoying. Jack is a bit of a sexist brute, but you could write that off as being historically accurate. It's Kit's character that ruins this book for me. She is spoiled and self-absorbed and her inability to maintain a coherent thought when Jack is touching her should be insulting to females everywhere. I have never hated a female literary character this much. Even Scarlett O'Hara had some redeeming qualities.

BEST FEATURE: The sex scenes. They were explicit enough and frequent enough to meet my romance requirements.

WORST FEATURE: Kit. Here's hoping that this character does not resurface in any other books I decide to read by this author.

PARENTAL WARNING: minor violence, but sexual content explicit enough to be considered adult only.

RATING: 2 - For die-hard romance lovers and Stephanie Laurens fans only. A friend recommended this author so I will be checking out the Bastion Club series next to see if I like them better.