Monday Give Away!

Because I’ve been lazy about If You Like… and because we need some cheering up on Mondays… and because I have wonderful author friends with books coming out… welcome to Monday Give Aways!

For the next few weeks, we’re going to be having a series of Monday give aways. There’ll be a new book every Monday.

To kick off our series, we have a copy of The Rebel Pirate, by the inimitable Donna Thorland.

Here’s the official blurb:

rebel pirate1775, Boston Harbor. James Sparhawk, Master and Commander in the British Navy, knows trouble when he sees it. The ship he’s boarded is carrying ammunition and gold…into a country on the knife’s edge of war. Sparhawk’s duty is clear: confiscate the cargo, impound the vessel and seize the crew. But when one of the ship’s boys turns out to be a lovely girl, with a loaded pistol and dead-shot aim, Sparhawk finds himself held hostage aboard a Rebel privateer.

Sarah Ward never set out to break the law. Before Boston became a powder keg, she was poised to escape the stigma of being a notorious pirate’s daughter by wedding Micah Wild, one of Salem’s most successful merchants. Then a Patriot mob destroyed her fortune and Wild played her false by marrying her best friend and smuggling a chest of Rebel gold aboard her family’s ship.

Now branded a pirate herself, Sarah will do what she must to secure her family’s safety and her own future. Even if that means taking part in the cat and mouse game unfolding in Boston Harbor, the desperate naval fight between British and Rebel forces for the materiel of war—and pitting herself against James Sparhawk, the one man she cannot resist.

I’ve been lamenting for a while the lack of true swash and buckle in fiction. Aside from William Dietrich’s Ethan Gage series, no one has really taken on the mantle of Sabatini– so I’m so grateful to Donna, for, as she puts it, going “far into Sabatini territory”.

For a copy of The Rebel Pirate, here’s your question:

Who’s your favorite swashbuckler?

(Books and movies are both acceptable.)

One winner will be chosen at random from among the comments. Winner to be announced on Wednesday!

If you don’t win, fear not: The Rebel Pirate appears in bookstores tomorrow, March 4.

Stay tuned for more Monday give aways, including Tracy Grant’s The Berkeley Square Affair, Bee Ridgway’s The River of No Return, and Beatriz Williams’s The Secret Life of Violet Grant.

62 Comments

  1. Céline on March 3, 2014 at 10:27 am

    I’ll have to go with D’Artagnan and Athos, from Dumas’ novel The Three Musketeers…. D’Artagnan for his youth and his boldness, Athos… for his past and his feelings…

  2. Nikki B on March 3, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Hmmm. I would have to go with the Scarlet Pimpernel, although I am not quite sure he quite fits this category. But, it seems to me, he has a lot of swash and buckle!

  3. Laura on March 3, 2014 at 10:43 am

    Wesley from the Princess Bride! (Or Indigo)

  4. Whitney on March 3, 2014 at 10:52 am

    Captain Blood from Rafael Sabatini’s classic swashbuckling novel of the same name.

  5. Pam on March 3, 2014 at 11:29 am

    The Dread Pirate Roberts, obvs.

  6. Rachel Adrianna on March 3, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    Robin Hood- swashbuckler of the forest! Or either the Errol Flynn or Jonas Armstrong variety 🙂

  7. Ashley Pohlenz on March 3, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow!

  8. Melony Teague on March 3, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    Does Captain Jack Sparrow count?

    I think he is quite extraordinary…and not just because he is played by Johnny Depp in the movie! LOL

  9. rachel on March 3, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    I liked Linda Chaikin’s Buccaneer’s series.

  10. Jessica Claypole on March 3, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    D’Artagnan!! He’s the dandiest swashbuckler of them all 🙂

  11. Gina on March 3, 2014 at 12:38 pm

    My favorite? Hmm, either Captain Jack Sparrow, or perhaps Jacky Faber from that YA series I loved as a kid.

  12. Jillian on March 3, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    Inigo Montoya – Princess Bride!

  13. Janet on March 3, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    I have to agree that it’s a tie between Sir Percy Blakeney, Baronet, and the Dread Pirate Roberts. All the others are fine swashbucklers but don’t have the panache as these two.

  14. Heather on March 3, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Westley/Dread Pirate Roberts from “The Princess Bride” or Robin Hood as played by Errol Flynn in “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” Both were fabulous, with their devil-may-care attitudes & excellent swordplay!

  15. Chelsea on March 3, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    Captain Blood! Errol Flynn so swoonworthy!

  16. April on March 3, 2014 at 1:01 pm

    The farm boy will always be my favorite…

  17. Denise Metcalf on March 3, 2014 at 1:03 pm

    I think it is a toss up between Errol Flynn’s Captain Blood and Anthony Andrews as the Scarlet Pimpernel. Both are to die for. And their book characters are pretty wonderful, too!

  18. Meredith A on March 3, 2014 at 1:08 pm

    Robin Hood, any version. The Three Musketeers + D’Artagnan, of course. The Scarlet Pimpernel, naturally. Aaaaaaaaand Amy from The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, who is not really a typical swashbuckler because she is a girl and not particularly piratical, BUT has all the romantic, adventurous, trouble-making and charming qualities that the BEST swashbucklers possess.

  19. AngelB on March 3, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    Endmond Danres’ Sinbad the Sailor in The Count of Monte Cristo.

    • AngelB on March 3, 2014 at 7:09 pm

      Yes, I posted this from my phone during a meeting. Edmond Dantes.

      🙂

  20. Mary D. on March 3, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    I love the Scarlet Pimpernel and almost any swashbuckler played by Errol Flynn!

  21. Christy on March 3, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    Wesley from The Princess Bride.

  22. Ella on March 3, 2014 at 1:45 pm

    The Dread Pirate Roberts – The Princess Bride

    Or

    The Purple Gentians butler, when the mood strikes him.

  23. Kayse on March 3, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    Sir Percy Blakeney, of course!

  24. Catie on March 3, 2014 at 2:09 pm

    Westley from Princess Bride, “As you wish!”

  25. Lorri on March 3, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    Sir Percy Blakeney, and the Three Musketeers! Agreed with Ella on the Purple Gentian’s butler as well.

    Also, how could I forget Miss Gwen Meadows?

  26. Kimberly on March 3, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    Captain Jack Sparrow. I love a little humor with my swash and buckle.

  27. Desiree on March 3, 2014 at 2:28 pm

    Wesley form Princess Bride and Capt.Jack Sparrow

  28. Sheila on March 3, 2014 at 3:07 pm

    I have to go with Capt Jack Sparrow !!, or else Captain Hook!

  29. Janie Burke on March 3, 2014 at 3:14 pm

    Older movies Errol Flynn in Robin Hood and Tyrone Power in Black Swan and more recently Orlando Bloom and Capt. Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

  30. Renee on March 3, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    How can I not say The Scarlet Pimpernel himself?!

  31. LynnS on March 3, 2014 at 4:15 pm

    Robin Hood-as played by Cary Elwes

  32. Beth on March 3, 2014 at 4:18 pm

    Errol Flynn from Captain Blood, for sure

  33. Betty S. on March 3, 2014 at 4:23 pm

    Sir Francie Drake, of course, for a real life swashbuckler. But if I have to choose a book/movie character I vote for Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews)or Richard, the Purple Gentian!

    Would really love this book! Thanks for the chance!

    • Betty S. on March 4, 2014 at 8:47 pm

      I should also have mentioned ‘the Frenchman’, Jean-Benoit Aubery in Daphne DuMaurier’s Frenchman’s Creek which I reread last fall. A truly romantic swashbuckler!

  34. Celeste on March 3, 2014 at 4:27 pm

    I am a sucker for a romance novel with a pirate theme. The first one to come to my mind is James who becomes a pirate in Eloisa James’s The Ugly Duchess.

  35. Ca3nea on March 3, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    Captain don Diego Alatriste, from the Alatriste series by the Spanish author Arturo Pérez Reverte 🙂

  36. Meg Winikates on March 3, 2014 at 5:39 pm

    So many good choices mentioned already! I’ve always been partial to the more straight-laced of the swashbucklers, though, so my votes go to Will Turner (POTC) and Horatio Hornblower (book and miniseries versions). Reckless when in pursuit of love and duty, fierce and clever.

  37. Rebecca P on March 3, 2014 at 6:26 pm

    I’m on Team Captain Jack Sparrow. Love that guy.

  38. Molly J on March 3, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    Definitely Charlotte Doyle, teenage swashbucklette, from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Reading about how she adapted to a bad situation really inspired me when I was that age. I found a kindred spirit in how much spunk she had!

  39. Lara on March 3, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    My favourite swashbuckler is Jane Wooliston from Pink Carnation.

    She may not wield the proverbial sword, but her mind is lethal like that of a sharp blade as she strategizes against those who spread evil and mayhem!
    She embodies the spirit of the romantic adventurer with great flair and isn’t that the definition of a swashbuckler.

  40. Laura on March 3, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    I love the Scarlet Pimpernel and Wesley from the Princess Bride

  41. Am7 on March 3, 2014 at 8:43 pm

    Leonie from These Old Shades

  42. Susan Gorman on March 3, 2014 at 8:52 pm

    I am on team Jack Sparrow, too.

    I really like Shana Galen’s pirate adventures, too.
    Lord Nicholas Martingale is my favorite pirate in her books!!

  43. Suzanne on March 3, 2014 at 11:11 pm

    My favourites are Rupert Of Henzau in The Prisoner Of Zenda, yes I know he was the villan but he did it with such style, and Sir Francis Drake as I am related to him.

    My great great grandmother was one Louisa Drake and she was descended from one Francis’s brothers. I can’t remember his name but he died young at sea and Francis apparently made sure his children were looked after. If he hadn’t I wouldn’t be here. It is amazing the people you find in your family tree if you go back far enough!

    • Betty S. on March 4, 2014 at 1:19 pm

      Thanks for the interesting information, Suzanne, as Sir Francis Drake was my favorite. It’s quite something to read about family loyalty that I think was more in evidence in times past. There is a folk song about one Francis Martin who “turned pirate on the salt seas” after drawing lots with his two brothers to see who would go to sea to support the family – don’t know if this song is based on any truth as I haven’t researched it. However, it was great to hear about your family connection. Thanks for sharing.

      • Suzanne on March 4, 2014 at 11:50 pm

        Betty,

        My mother traced the family tree for about 15 years before we found the connection. It had always been family legend but we couldn’t prove it before. She traced down from Francis’s family to a point in the mid 19th century, then our family back almost that far. Then we went to England and found it in the shape of a gravestone in Burley, Rutlandshire. Had there been anybody else there they would have thought we were completely nuts jumping up and down and having hysterics in a lonely cemetery in the middle of nowhere!

        • Betty S. on March 5, 2014 at 9:46 pm

          That is so exciting – glad you found it!

  44. Michelle on March 4, 2014 at 12:52 am

    Cary Elwes as Robin Hood!

  45. Paige on March 4, 2014 at 1:55 am

    I am reading Danelle Harmon’s Heroes of the Sea series and am all about swashbuckling right now. I think I Will go with The Pirate Queen’s Sir Graham. But the pirate queen of the Caribbean herself, Maeve Merrick, is pretty “swash.”

    • Betty S. on March 5, 2014 at 9:47 pm

      Congratulations, Paige. I looked up the series you mentioned and definitely want to get into that!

  46. Jessica C on March 4, 2014 at 6:45 am

    Wesley from the Princess Bride for old-school swashbuckler, and Indiana Jones for a more modern swashbuckler.

  47. Kari P. on March 4, 2014 at 12:29 pm

    I really love Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey… James Mallory is such a great character! Also I really love the whole Mallory series!

  48. Alice on March 4, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    Zorro. He never gets old and never seems to go out of style.

  49. Kristy on March 4, 2014 at 3:05 pm

    The Scarlet Pimpernel as played on stage by either Douglas Sills or Ron Bohmer. Nothing like being able to get a hug from Percy Blakeney himself at the stage door.

  50. Ashley on March 4, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    Frederic from Pirates of Penzance. I like a swashbuckler with a tenor voice. 🙂

    • Lauren on March 5, 2014 at 12:15 pm

      Me, too! (Even if he is just a little boy of five.)

  51. Yvette R on March 4, 2014 at 6:14 pm

    As a die-hard GH fan, the first thing that came to mind was Jack Carstares in The Black Moth. Of course then I thought of Errol Flynn in his many sword wielding roles, and the 1930s Scarlet Pimpernel, Leslie Howard. I can’t make up my mind.

  52. Emily on March 4, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    I have to say the book version of the Scarlet Pimpernel!

  53. Marianne on March 4, 2014 at 11:42 pm

    Wesley, the Dread Pirate Roberts.

  54. JD La Haie on March 5, 2014 at 9:27 am

    Beauvallet, from Georgette Heyer!

  55. April Turner on March 5, 2014 at 11:49 am

    Grace O’Malley for real pirate (Irish pirae that heckled Elizabeth 1)

    And tie between Westley and Captain Jack Sparrow

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