In Eloisa James’s companion story to The Ugly Duchess, Sir Griffin Barry, captain of the infamous pirate ship The Poppy, is back in England to claim the wife he hasn’t seen since their wedding day . . . but this is one treasure that will not be so easy to capture.
In the novel, The Ugly Duchess we met Griffin. He was a pirate captain when he met up with his cousin, James. In one fight both men are injured after years on the sea and both Griffin and James pack it in and head back to England and their wives. We got James’s story in TUD but in this novella we get Griffin’s story.
Griffin, it turns out, didn’t want a life on the sea. He was press-ganged into it and soon came to love it. When Giffin was 17 his father married him off to a woman who was 3 years older. On their wedding night they have a bit of a situation and Griffin hightails it to a local pub to get stinking drunk. He certainly didn’t expect to wake up on a ship but that’s how it went and he just never returned home.
So, let’s recap.
Griffin’s married.
Griffin’s been at sea for 14 years and doesn’t remember much about his wife.
Griffin and his wife never consummated their marriage.
Now Griffin heads back to his wife and uh, 3 children. He’s amazingly understanding about the fact that his wife didn’t wait for his return – he really couldn’t blame her for seeking solace elsewhere, but now that he’s home that will stop.
Phoebe Barry never expected her husband to come home. Now that he has she wants the marriage annulled. Griffin is having nothing of that. He actually likes Phoebe and wants to get to know her better – in and out of bed.
The novella is just a quick, but very cute telling of Griffin’s return home after his long absence. We don’t get too in depth emotionally but what we do see of both Griffin and Phoebe I really liked. There’s humor in the story and some a great reconciliation scene with Griffin’s father. I thought the novella was definitely worth reading – especially if you read The Ugly Duchess and got to know a bit about Griffin previously. A fun read.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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