2023 book 37

 Rebecca Thorne's A Pirate's Life for Tea

So I didn’t like this as much as the first one, though it was still fun. There’s a romance, between a constable and the pirate she’s chasing down (her childhood best friend), the couple from the first book is there still trying to complete their mission from the first book, and also enjoying some meddling. The pirate stuff is great, but the plot just doesn’t feel as tight as the first one, and some of the characters aren’t as well-developed, particularly the constable. And the new romance is very tell, not show. It didn’t hold my interest as much as the first one. Things pick up toward the end once the focus is more squarely back on the characters from book one, and the hint of the third book was certainly intriguing, so I’m hoping that one will be more satisfying. B/B+.