Beauvallet

Georgette Heyer turned from Regency England to the Elizabethan high seas for this 1929 swashbuckler. Sir Nicholas Beauvallet, an English privateer nicknamed Mad Nick, seizes a Spanish galleon and, along with its treasure, the haughty Dona Dominica de Rada. Rather than simply carry her off, he pledges to deliver her safely home and then return within a year to marry her openly. Making good on the boast means slipping into the heart of hostile, Catholic Spain in disguise, outwitting suspicious grandees and the Inquisition alike. Fast, funny, and unabashedly romantic, it shows Heyer enjoying herself with a hero who is all bravado and a heroine sharp enough to match him. A free PDF and EPUB edition are available here.