Books like Crimson Rapture — picked by fans

One of my all-time favorite stories set on the high seas with a daring sea captain and a worthy heroine. The story involves two competing shipping companies in 19th century England, and two captains (the English Earl, Captain Sutherland, and the American, Captain Lassiter). Each must win the Great Race from London to Sydney to survive.

When Lassiter is imprisoned, his daughter, Nicole, who has been raised at sea decides to enter the race for him. Nicole is attracted to the handsome Sutherland, who when he first encounters her in a dockside bar, thinks she's a whore. Circumstances make them enemies. When sabotage of her ship forces her to join him on his ship, her spirit and his wall of stone collide. The result? A fast-paced story that grabs you.

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.

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.

Almost A Lady is filled with love, passion, and adventure for the restless soul. It has a fiery heroine who isn’t afraid to fight for her life, and the most ideal roguish pirate scoundrel one longs for in a Historical Romance. The perfect enemies-to-lovers tale that will have you staying up late for more. I loved this book because it revealed far more than what a traditional HR setting could be. It gave me love and peril and a hot slow-burn of fervor and intensity one needs in a great Historical Romance.

In 1852 a young French woman set out on a round-the-world tour, stopping in Brazil and California before sailing to the young British colony of Hong Kong. Her return vessel to San Francisco was damaged in a typhoon, then hijacked by pirates. She chronicles in effervescent detail her treatment by the pirates, both callous and kind, offering a rare glimpse of Chinese pirate life. The original French edition was a big hit and soon translated into other languages. In the spirit of other 19th century travelogues, this book transports the reader in exquisite detail to many colorful and exotic far-off places, but the highlight is her engaging account of the terrors and discoveries of her captivity on the South China Sea. For the serious researcher, it offers a wealth of rare details of shipboard and captive life.

Formerly a professor of History at the University of Macau, Robert Antony has made it his life’s work to study piracy along the China coast. Among his several books on the topic, this one digs deepest into the development of piracy in the early 19th century, citing weather, economic, and political conditions, told in a highly readable narrative style. Among the entertaining details, he tracks the average annual going rates for ransom and stolen goods. He writes in an agreeable, relaxed manner, with a number of incidents told as edge-of-your-seat thrillers. The title itself was a common term of invective to describe Chinese pirates. An essential read for students of piracy.

I usually over research when I write a novel, and this book was part of that over researching.

My novel does not have female pirates, but I mostly used this book to develop my main female character as the most pirate-opposite character ever. At least at the beginning of the book.

By the end of the book, my main character is still a lady, but she’s developed the strength of a pirate. I also used this book to establish how a socialite might have been treated by sailors on a cargo ship.

There’s a lot of romantic flak about pirates out there—how brave, handsome, and sexy they were.

Cordingly cuts through that very efficiently to reveal that they were scoundrels and thieves with a code of ethics that applied only to their lifestyles. Most were poor; few ever got rich.

Even if you want to write a romance that stars sexy pirates, it’s always good to be aware of the reality.

I’m surprised I don’t see Dark Shores talked about more often, because this is one of my favorite reads, especially when it comes to seafaring adventures.

Most of the time the pirates in stories are men, but not in this book. This time it’s the female main character who takes up that role, although I confess, the term ‘pirate’ is loosely based here.

She doesn’t go around commandeering ships and getting into sword fights, but she does live on the high seas and is responsible for finding lost relics (even if it means stealing them back.)

On top of that, the story has a world is based on Ancient Rome, has unique magic including teleportation crystals, has a morally grey broody love interest, and a beautiful written slow burn enemies to lovers romance.