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When Prudence Stone arrives in Port Royal, Jamaica, from Boston, she expects to meet her fiancé, the Reverend Edward Matthews. She doesn’t expect to find him missing and most likely dead—and her inheritance spent. The more she learns about Edward’s actions in Port Royal, the worse it gets. He was no good man of the cloth, that’s for sure. And now she’s stuck in Port Royal without any money while trying to teach children next to a brothel house called the Two Puddings.
Nathan Frazer is in Port Royal under the guise of managing the Seton Tobacco Plantation. What he’s really there for is far more dangerous. When Prudence starts asking questions about Diablo Ted, the fierce pirate who allegedly kidnapped Edward, Nathan finds himself having to protect her. What he doesn’t want is to fall in love with her, but love often comes at the most inopportune times.
Nathan and Prudence end up in a battle for their lives, with an unexpected turn as the danger mounts. Their love for one other surprises them most of all, but it also gives them strength to face the battles ahead.
Cutlasses and Caresses takes readers from the streets of Port Royal and its brothel houses onto ships and the endless ocean. We’re briefly taken to a deserted island with beautiful natural pools before careening back into danger, making it a definite adventure. It would have been a pretty good read if not for the clumsy writing—but, unfortunately, I found myself getting frustrated by the cumbersome sentences. The whole thing just doesn’t flow very well, and I often wanted to put it aside and pick up something else.
Ms Fullerton has a good imagination, and she gives the plot a twist that I hadn’t anticipated, which means that she definitely has promise. Perhaps her future endeavors will be much better as she hones her skills as a writer.
