Captain Eric Hamilton is a powerful force in the U.S. Navy, having earned himself a reputation of being a hard-nosed chauvinist. He’s commander of the USS Larsen, a destroyer, currently deployed in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Abby Carlton has just escaped from the man who held her captive for a year. Abducted while travelling in Paris, she was given to an Arab man as a gift, until one night she makes her desperate escape.

While on patrol one morning Captain Eric Hamilton discovers a dinghy floating aimlessly. Abby is found, battered and in an advanced state of pregnancy, lying in the bottom of the dinghy. From the moment she lay on the deck of his ship her innocence finds a way to penetrate his hardened heart. But time is running out. Eric is falsely accused of sexual assault and the CIA wants Abby and the baby for bait to flush out her captor.

REVIEW

“Eckhart hits one out of the ballpark with this great story.” ****—RT Book Reviews

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The first chapter of The Captain’s Lady drops us in the Northern Arabian Gulf in 2004 with Abby Carlton. She’s obviously hot, thirsty, and in pain. And just to make things more interesting, she’s pregnant.

What is she so afraid of? Who’s coming? And how in the world did she end up stranded on a dinghy in the middle of the ocean? You’d be hard-pressed not to give in to your curiosity to answer the questions sure to be ignited by the mysterious opening chapter of this love story. First-time novelist Lorrhaine Eckhart baits the hook with surprising skill. She does an impressive job developing the characters you will grow to love (and those you will grow to hate as well). And with a razor-sharp descriptive voice she expertly weaves the plot and pulls the reader right into the story. I felt like I was on the ship watching the intrigue between knight-in-shining-armor
Eric and damsel-in-distress Abby unfold.

From the moment Abby is brought onto Eric’s ship they seem to be fated; when given a brief peek into their pasts we learn why. They both have familial baggage that affects them profoundly. The reader learns that they are far more alike than it would seem on the surface. Neither of them has their parents in their lives, nor have they ever formed any strong romantic attachments.

Eric’s firm opinion of gender roles sets the stage for Abby’s brief stint as heroine. Once our antagonist sets her sights on revenge, everything Eric knows is suddenly in jeopardy. Abby is then faced with the opportunity to repay her hero for saving her and her baby, and rises to the occasion.

Eckhart has achieved something special here; her gripping, modern-day fairy tale has made a romance fan out of me. The novel will send you to bed dreaming of your own knight in shining armor . . . if you can put it down to go to bed. Suggesting that your husband read this book with you would probably be futile. But any of your friends who has a romantic bone in her body will fall in love with it. If you’re looking for a sweet escape, The Captain’s Lady is a must-read.

Reviewed by: Dominique Rambert
balancingactzine.webs.com

EXCERPT

“We have no reports of a ship in distress in the area, Captain.”

“What about fishing boats?”

“No, sir, no reports.”

Looking once more at his first officer, Eric issued curt orders, the harshness grating in his voice. “Send a rescue team to check it out.”

Handing the binoculars off to one of the crew members, he strode with determination off the bridge, heading directly to the ship’s launch. His well-trained crew scurried about. Joe appeared at his side and they watched from the rail as the small rigid hull sped off in the direction of the dinghy. His pulse rose and the dampness on his back soaked through his short-sleeved shirt.

“So what do you think?” Joe leaned on the rail, uncertainty clear in the crinkle of his brows.

“Don’t know, dammit.” Eric focused on the scene unfolding in the distance. Again he commandeered the binoculars from Joe and scrutinized the three-man team approaching, then securing the boat to the dinghy.

His senses were keen; over the years, he’d learned to trust them. The uneasiness that crept its way into his gut, the hairs now standing up on the back of his neck and the racing of his heart; this unshakable feeling was telling him that things were about to change"drastically. Puzzled, he felt the mounting frustration build inside, along with something else he could not quite put his finger on. Shaking his head, he realized it was not a feeling of dread.

The crackle of the radio interrupted his speculation. A voice from the rescue team came over the line. “There’s someone in here, a woman, and she’s in bad shape.”