A Romance genre but a entirely different books from all the ones I have read till now by the same authoress. The timeline in the novel is 1516 and the setting is Spain and it is the time when England is at war with Spain. So, the novel is full of danger and action and adrenaline.
El Beauvallet is a renowned and feared pirate of England who wreaks havoc with the Spanish ships. But, in truth, he is the brother of an earl is very much respectable and a perfect gentleman. On one such journey on Spanish waters, he comes across an ex-governor of one of the places in Spain and his beautiful daughter. He promises to drop them on the Spanish land and in the course of this journey, he falls in love with the beautiful Dominica. And, when he is bidding them farewell after dropping them in one of the ports of Spain, he promises that he will come back for Dominica. And, he goes back to England where he hatches a plan to enter Spain and bring Dominica back to England.
It so happens that he is most feared among the Spaniards and it is not easy for him to get into Spain. If anyone realizes that he is Beauvallet, he would be immediately condemned to death. So, he goes to France and acquires false papers as a France citizen. But, he has to be wary of French ambassador in Spain. And, on the course of his journey to Madrid, he has his servant, Joshua. So, while on this journey, they stay at an inn for a night where accidentally Beauvallet ends up killing a young man. By providence, this man was going into Spain to meet King Philip, king of Spain, on a secret mission. So, Beauvallet steals these papers and changes his identity to suit the carrier of the secret to Philip. He enters Spain without any problems and soon goes to the king. There, he is bid a very warm welcome by the king and gets introduced to the political circles. He makes a very good impression on the people of Spain and soon finds out that Dominica is under the charge of her aunt after her father's death and she is soon to be wed to her cousin, Deigo, without her assent.
So, Beauvallet procures an invitation for the ball being held at Dominica's aunt's place and goes there and meets her. Dominica is over joyed to see him and on the same times, faces a lot of despair thinking about the danger surrounding Beauvallet. Beauvallet succeeds in charming her aunt Beatrice and soon gains entry into her house. Deigo, on the other hand, hates Beauvallet passionately. So, the great times are over and the danger becomes more grave when one of the man who has fought Beauvallet on the seas recognizes him. So, Beauvallet is immediately imprisoned and spuces are dispatched to confirm his identity. In the mean time, Beauvallet is kept with comfort in one of the houses of the governor himself.
Beatrice realizes that Beauvallet is the lover of Dominica and hurries off to take Dominica to Vasconosa to get her married to Deigo. This piece of news is conveyed to Beauvallet through Joshua and on the same night, Beauvallet breaks out from the house prison where he is kept and runs off. Joshua keeps everything ready so they are able to run away at breakneck speed after Dominica. In the mean time, while Dominica is on her way to Vasconosa, she is captured by Deigo who impersonates a highwayman and is taken to a hunting lodge where she is kept locked up until she agrees to marry him. On the other hand, Beauvallet reaches Vasconosa and asks Beatrice about her niece. Beatrice doesn't say anything about their whereabouts but Beauvallet had already heard of the hunting lodge kept by Deigo and guesses that's where Dominica and her abductor woud be found and he proceeds to the place. And, in this all melee, the king's men are after Beauvallet and manage to track him down when he reaches the hunting lodge.
After killing Deigo and dispatching Dominica with Joshua, he manages to put up the king's men on the false trail and comes back to Vasconosa and rides back to the pirate port where his ship was waiting for him. But, this port was known to the Spaniards owing to the time when Beauvallet had dropped Dominca and her father on this land, so the soldiers were present there already to capture Beauvallet. But, obviously he evades them and reaches his ship and next day, he gets married to Dominica on the ship and goes back to England to live happily ever after.
The action in store for the readers is great and you would find no flaw with the flow of the story and the author excels at creating the required atmosphere which makes the novel very much real to read with pleasure.
Beauvallet, pronounced Bo-val-ay, is just the kind of swashbuckling adventurer as was played by Errol Flynn in movies. He's a likeable rogue with his heart in the right place. A friend of Sir Francis Drake and the favourite of Queen Elizabeth the first. The pirating doesn't sit well with our standards of today but you have to suspend your cynicism and remember these activities are an historical fact."Beauvallet" is a rollicking ride and I personally enjoyed it immensely.
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