The Windflower

By: Laura London

Narrated by: Christa Lewis

Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

The classic tale of passion on the high seas, available for the first time in 20 years...

Merry Wilding is a lady of breeding, of innocence, and of breathtaking beauty. With high hopes for a holiday in England, she sets sail from New York - but the tide of her life is destined to turn. Mistakenly swept aboard an infamous pirate ship, Merry finds herself at the mercy of a wicked crew...and one sinfully handsome pirate. Soon she's spending her days yearning for escape, and her nights learning the pleasures of captivity.

Devon Crandall believes Merry is in league with his greatest enemy. He's determined to slowly urge her secrets from her. But along the way, he discovers her beautifully unbreakable spirit...and a desire unlike any he's ever known. She is hiding something from him, and yet, each day that passes brings her deeper into his heart. When fierce arguments give way to fiercer passion, can a pirate learn to love a woman? Or will true love be lost at sea?

©2014 Laura London (P)2014 Hachette Audio

so good

well written characters. I never wanted it to end. it's a wonderful clean read that doesn't skip on the adventure.

Double identities galore!

Two characters are noblemen and the third is a half brother to one. Very well written book but the characters, even supporting ones, are ALL superbly written and they make up some of my most favorite characters of all times. This book is a must read for anyone who loves a great written historical romance. Do not see any other books by Laura London on Audible but would love to see an entire story written about the “Cat” character (very intriguing).

An all-time favorite finally on Audible

This is one of the few books I saved from when I was a teenager discovering romance novels (30 years ago, sigh). Never forgot it, and have carted it around with about 25 other paperbacks from house to house all that time. As someone who has read what feels like a thousand books in her lifetime, that is mostly what I really wanted to tell other listeners. This one stuck with me for a long, long, long time as a pinnacle-example of the genre. As for the audio version, the narrator is good, but not 5-star great. Some of her men's voices are a little goofy, and her British accents only so-so, though I'm pickier about that than most. But she does do a fine job of differentiating the characters to make a reasonably successful go of the entire thing, such that one should not hesitate to dive in. As for the story, I especially appreciated that the book was written by a man and a woman (under a pseudonym, as everyone knows), and those perspectives are reflected in the work. Hearing it again for the first time in probably 20 years, it was interesting to consider it from an adult perspective (and with so many hundreds of other books under my reading belt). It was still very, very enjoyable. I was also entertained by the lengths the authors managed to go to in order to deal with the idea that pirates would normally just force themselves on whomever they wanted to, but no one actually gets raped in this book, and the pirates are still reasonably humanized without making them sugar-coated Disney caricatures of pirates. The authors worked hard at making all that sufficiently credible, and I believe they did succeed. This one is still a keeper.

Must Read!

This AB has everything: plot, performance, charm and humor, witty dialogue, awesome characters... a must read.

You will not regret this purchase

There are many out there with better skills of the written word to describe what a gem is this story. This novel has been dubbed a classic in the historical romance genre for a reason; it's a definite "must read".

Not only is the book well written, but the narration is also very well done. You don't always get that with audio books. I'm not going to give a synopsis of the plot or anything akin to it. Just know you will not be disappointed in the story or the narration.
NPR had a blog post about the book when it was rereleased in 2014. That author gave a better description of why you'll enjoy the book than I ever could.

The Best.

It's as good as when it first came out - and I read it twice then and still have the paperback. The men are delicious, the story compelling, and the narrator superb. It remains one of my favorite romances - up there with Georgette Heyer's books and one I am sure I will listen to again.

A Favorite.

Very enticing. Akin to a Bronte novel but steamy instead of grim. A delicious thorough listen.

Better and funnier than I expected

I'd have rated this 5/5 but I got tired of the slow, chaste love scenes pretty quickly--practically still chaste even after Devon and Merry got married. I fast forwarded through three or four of them. I'm not fond of most romances anyway, but in spite of that, I liked the characters, I liked the story line, I liked the humor in unexpected places, I liked the relationships between Merry and the pirate crew. Some of it was unrealistic, of course--people bathing, sweet breath upon waking but never brushing their teeth. At least they had to pee once in awhile. Still, it's a fun read, especially when on board the pirate ship.

This was first published in 1984. The Windflower (Devon's name for Merry) had been recommended to me over 30 years ago. It has sounded fun at the time but I was never able to find it or any books by London (pseudonym for Tom & Sharon Curtis). I only searched for the title on here on Audible on a whim--and was surprised and pleased to find it.

By the way, the man shown on the cover doesn't fit the image I had of Devon at all.

Best Pirate Romance Book EVER- HANDS DOWN

I have the original book and all of the books from Tom and Sharon Curtis from the 1980's. I always wished that they would have written a sequel to Windflower called Cat's Story. I had forgotten until listening to it how much I enjoyed the humor in this book. Utterly delightful. I so wish Nicholas Boulton had narrated it because they it would have been perfect. Merry's accent was off as was Devon's. Given Merry was raised by her British aunt and it was only 1813 I felt that the southern drawl was too much. But otherwise the narration was fine. And the humor and story are so wonderful that I just didn't want it to end.

EPIC... IN A CLASS OF IT'S OWN

To me this is a Gone With The Wind meets Pirates Of The Caribbean type of epic love story, set in 1812, and, as you're plunged, immersed and held captivated in the well-written imagery, it sweeps you away on a journey from Virginia to New York, the Caribbean, sailing many Oceans and Seas until finally you arrive, tempest tossed, in London where the twists and turns continue.

It starts off as the Heroine's life is described.... Merry who's a sheltered, well-bred, sweet, innocent, yet feisty and courageous,18 year old virgin whose life is about to abruptly and forever change. Then the unbelievably talented authors start to add to the unpredictable, exciting and very vividly described (sometimes almost poetic) story as they build into the listen drama, adventure, mystery, misunderstandings, politics, secrets, war, lol humor, tragedy, an evil villain... or two?, shocks and surprises, romance, love, honor, compassion, side plots and a rich and sometimes sarcastic dialogue.

Entwined throughout are the many colorful and multi-layered characters with their flawed yet fascinating and complex personalities and histories who will entertain, sadden, shock, thrill and anger you as they grow into loveable friends whose destiny's become important to you. One such person is the alpha Hero, the wickedly handsome charismatic bad boy Devon he's a Pirate with many secrets and a Pawn in someone's elaborate game.

Merry and Devon's dramatic, bitter-sweet, heartwarming, turbulent and tantalising, love story with evocative sex scenes that are oh so very sensual rather than explicit but their instant attraction and sizzling chemistry is plagued by obstacles, challenges and heartache that's sure to get your pulse-pounding. But, despite every hindrance caused by them or thrown at them, their slow character development will eventually give them a deep love for one another and a hard won HEA ending.

Worth a credit? If you love unbelievable, implausible but, despite or because of this, you think they're enjoyable and entertaining historical romances (as I do), then this listen has everything you could want or crave so YES invest the credit and your time as the rewards are great - it's beautiful, mesmerising and memorable. Finally.... during the daunting three part 18 hrs and 40 minutes there wasn't a single word that I would either add or change.