THE GUN KETCH

Alan Lewrie, the amiable rakehell who sailed through The King's Coat, the King's Commission, and The King's Privateer, is back with his own command, a lovely ketch, and—what's this?—a wife. Married? Alan Lewrie? George III's handsome young naval officer, the sailor no woman can resist? It's true. Lewrie's fans will not be surprised to know that the lucky woman is plucky, colonial Caroline Chiswick. Miss Chiswick, whose loyalist family Alan rescued from the collapsing Carolinas during the American insurrection, has been living in rural Surrey on the sour generosity of her uncle, a grasping farmer who would like to see her married to the odious son of his wealthy, titled neighbor. Fortunately, Alan drops in on his way to Portsmouth, where he will take command of the ketch Alacrity. Caroline, who has been angling for Lewrie since she first saw him, reels him in. It wasn't hard. She's uncommonly pretty, smart as a whip, and every bit as randy as he is. Alan takes his bride on Alacrity's shakedown cruise across the Atlantic to the Bahamas, where he and the ship will be stationed for the next three years. Caroline gets dreadfully seasick, and Alan learns that he has a dashed fine first officer in young Lt. Ballard. Once in Nassau the newlyweds set up housekeeping and have adventures. The Bahamian adventures have to do with a rotten commodore, a villainous Irish merchant, a terrifying assault on the new Mrs. Lewrie, fatherhood, and a seemingly endless supply of pirates. Shipshape. Oh, and don't worry: the unabashed raunch that makes Lambdin's well-researched stories so pleasant has not vanished—Lt. Lewrie has not completely reformed.