Destiny's Captive

this probably had my favorite first meeting of any romance. the heroine is a pirate and steals the hero's ship, he vows to find her again and get revenge -- but then he falls in love with her

My favorite of the series! But are we surprised? The heroine knows how to use a sword and literally steals the hero’s ship right after tying him up ?

Favourite in the series. Reading a Beverly Jenkins story feels like coming home.<br /><br />Her romances always have a backdrop of struggle but I enjoy that contrast; of something so beautiful existing alongside the injustice and cruelty people of colour and Black people were subjected to.

A terrific conclusion to this series, which stars three absolutely glorious heroines. Pilar is a thief, Cuban rebel, and gun runner who steals Noah's boat and draws a sword on him at a party. Match made in heaven. She also executes, nearly literally, a fantastic "saving her man" bit of violence. A star. <br /><br />CW: spoilers here for discussion of rape.<br /><br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="9f9bdf40-46f1-4c1f-aac1-abac50c3a353" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="9f9bdf40-46f1-4c1f-aac1-abac50c3a353">Noah has a brutal backstory in which he was shanghaied and spent six months on a prison island where he was raped several times. I don't think I've seen a romance where the cishet male hero was raped before. As ever Ms Bev leads the way, because we see Noah's pain and trauma but that doesn't stop him being a terrific hero.</label><br /><br />It is notable also that though Noah finds joy and healing in his relationship with Pilar, great sex does not cure trauma. In the end Noah takes responsibility for his own emotional needs (please note he *never* dumps that on Pilar, I love this man). He confronts his past and takes steps himself to work on healing. <br /><br />This whole trilogy is an incredible example of how historical romance can work even in brutal hateful times, without sugar coating anything. A triumph.

I absolutely love Beverly Jenkins and I was so excited when I saw this was a pirate romance. In the beginning, Pilar steals Noah's ship and he's determined to find out who she is and to get it back. Little did he know he'd fall in love in the process. <br /><br />For this series, I've noticed that the beginning of the books are always so action packed and the angst between the couples is so strong, but once the couple decides to be together about halfway through, it kind of just continues on. Then, there's some action in the end to make us invested in the story again. All three stories have followed this pacing. While I love the beginning, I always find myself just kind of along for the ride for the rest of the book and not loving it as much as I did in the beginning. It's still a good story, but I would like a faster pace. <br /><br />I loved the beginning of this one and how Noah couldn't believe a woman stole his ship. Noah is definitely a damaged hero and I really loved how he was able to open up to Pilar. Pilar was a fun character and I enjoyed how she wasn't used to being a prim and proper lady. I appreciated how Noah took that in stride and actually admired her even more for her bold personality and "manly" skills. Noah's mom has had a side-story throughout this whole series and I enjoyed watching her get her HEA! And it was a lot of fun seeing all of the characters from the previous books with their families interacting with our couple in this book. The pacing was slow in places, but overall this was a great end to a great series!

heartbreakingly sweet <br />I adore this whole series... <br />4,5⭐

Um, wow.<br />I feel like I held my breath the last hour or so of this book, so heartbreaking but full of so much hope and perseverance and resiliency. So proud of you Noah♥️<br />I loved Pillar and Noah’s romance. Pillar is a woman who can hold her own. She’s tough and has so many street smarts. And I loved that her toughness is what drew Noah to her.<br />AND IM HERE FOR ANTONIO? every scene with him made me laugh.<br />And I’m an Alanza-stan♥️ loved her. Sad this is over.

This is the final book in the series. I will miss the Yates family. The youngest son an adventurer crosses paths with a female pirate. Noah has no desire to marry. Yet this strange woman intrigues him. The historical accuracy adds richness. A fine ending to a very enjoyable historical romance series.

4.5 Stars rounded up<br />How could I not love this story???<br />A pirate heroine?<br />Just perfection.<br /><br /><br />Original Review:<br />I enjoyed this installment. Romance isn't growing on me as a genre but I remain appreciative of the history included in the story

Having some issues posting to Booklikes, will post there when I get a chance.<br /><br />Trigger warning: Rape and PTSD<br /><br />So "Destiny's Captive" is the third and last book in the Destiny series. I have to say that the main reason why I didn't give this five stars is that I thought that Jenkins didn't do a great job with exploring the whole PTSD story-line. I know that this was of course written in consideration of the times of the day, but I thought everyone was acting way too much like [redacted] should just get over things. We get a glimpse into what happened and it's shocking and heart-breaking so I thought that everyone could have been more sympathetic. That said, I loved the love story between Noah and Pilar. The two of them worked well together. I also have to say that once again Jenkins does a good job of tying things into the time that the book was written. We get some ugly looks at segregation in this one with the two characters having to ride a train and being forced to segregate because they are not white. We also see how women even if they are capable, would not be able to run a business like the daughter of one of Noah's potential business partners wants to.<br /><br />"Destiny's Captive" follows the Noah Yates. We have heard and seen glimpses of him in the first two books, but not much. We know that he is gone a lot and that his family misses him. We also heard in the first two books how he was kidnapped (or crimped) and forced to work aboard a ship before his family found him. Noah feels adrift and knows that he is not the same person he was before this happened and his family feels pained that he keeps them at a distance now. When Noah's ship is stolen though by a female pirate (Pilar), he promises to find her and get his ship back. When Pilar is almost captured she and her family make their way to her uncle in Florida. Pilar is wondering what is next for her when in walks the man whose ship she stole! <br /><br />I thought that Jenkins does a great job of setting up Pilar and Noah. I do think as some other reviewers noted there's a bit too much going on in this one. And though I liked how Pilar and Noah eventually get together, I wish that we had more interactions with the brothers and sister in laws in this one since this was the last book. I thought the writing was really good and I did enjoy the romance scenes between Pilar and Noah. The flow worked for the most part until we got towards the end. <br /><br />The setting of this book seems even more brutal than the previous books in this series. Jenkins includes the practice of crimping or shanghaiing in this one and we get to read what was done to Noah and others. I read up on crimping or shanghaiing and was shocked it took to the 1900s before the practice was outlawed. We also get to read a bit about Cuba's efforts to liberate due to Pilar's backstory. <br /><br />The ending I think wrapped things up too quickly. We go from Noah being hurt to all of a sudden a secret being revealed and no one really getting a chance to deal with things. I also didn't like the fact that everyone acted as if [redacted] was in the wrong.