The Red Siren by MaryLu Tyndall

NOTE: I do not read Harlequin Romances, let's be clear on this right off the top.

I am big strong he-man. Building fires, driving a garden tractor round 'n round on imagined tasks, and kicking tires figure amongst my usual pastimes. I think dishes are best done with a garden hose and spray attachment and wonder why my wife panics when the little "headlight" goes out on the vacuum cleaner. Romance is for women and wimps.

Once again I got caught reading one of M.L. Tyndall's so-called romance novels; this time while I was in the hospital. I did not let the pairs of raised eyebrows deter me because in my expert opinion, Tyndall's pirate stories are adventure, alternate history . . . stuff that men read.

Okay, so I had to tear off the cover to preserve my rep.

A Frank Review of M.L. Tyndall's The Red Siren
By Frank Creed

M.L. Tyndall is home. The Christy Award finalist has returned to her beloved sea and pirate novels. As if to reflect her homecoming, the title of Tyndall's newest novel returns to the name of a ship: The Red Siren.

The Lady Em is a merchant vessel returning from the Gold Coast with a load of Ivory, gold and pepper. After surviving the African pirate-infested waters of 1713 all the way to Portsmouth England, Captain Dajon Waite encounters a burning ship. This son of a successful merchant seeking Dad's approval ignores his father's standing rule-stop for no reason-when he gives orders to assist the smoking vessel, and save a seemingly distressed red-headed beauty on deck. After all, no sane pirates would work the British navy's home waters.

The red-head turns out to be a pirate captain, whose gimmick is feigning trouble with a smoking burn-barrel on deck, tricking merchants into pulling alongside for the raiding. Not only is Dajon's cargo pillaged, the Lady Em is transformed into the pirate's newest ship. While the action pacing of Tyndall's fifth novel is more sedate than her rollercoaster Legacy of the King's Pirates trilogy, all of the above takes place in Chapter One.

Disgraced but still called by the sea, Dajon Waite joins the navy. By 1718 he has become a Christian and is captain of the HMS Enforcer, assigned to protect New World waters off the Carolina coast. Hungry for promotion, Waite is also charged with a personal favor for Charles Towne resident Admiral Westcott: protect his three lovely daughters while Daddy's ordered to sea. Faith Westcott, the eldest daughter and a red-head, captures Dajon's eye.

Dajon fails to recognize Faith as the woman pirate who stole the Lady Em. Charles Towne rumors of The Red Siren and her red-headed woman-pirate captain plundering their waters fuel Captain Waite's search, and our woman pirate hides her true identity as long as possible.

Tyndall, as usual, satisfies fans of character and plot driven fiction. Even though the New World setting is sixty years before the Revolutionary War, readers find themselves in scenes reminiscent of movies like The Patriot and Pirates of the Caribbean thanks to Tyndall's vivid description.

Waite is driven mad by red-heads of the weaker sex. The reader is driven onward by secrets dredged up by the antagonist-a powerful local lord accustomed to getting what he wants. While Sir Wilhelm's Machiavellian plans must be overcome, the real action in The Red Siren are the struggles that Tyndall's heroes fight within themselves.

While Barbour Publishing insists on shelving Tyndall's incredible fiction on the romance shelf, alternate history fans would love her literary art. Just like the Legacy of the King's Pirates trilogy, if The Red Siren is romance, so is Robin Hood. Maid Marion wishes she was half the swordswoman Faith Westcott is. If this novel doesn't land M.L. Tyndall a Christy Award, it will be a travesty of literature.

The Red Siren: Charles Towne Belle Series, Book 1
M.L. Tyndall
Paperback; 288 pages; $14.95
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc; 2009
ISBN: 978-1602601567