Inhaltsangabe:
Wir schreiben das Jahr 1801, der Krieg zwischen Napoleon und England wütet noch immer und Captain Smith wird innerhalb der Royal Navy auf einen anderen Posten abkommandiert. Von seinen Offizieren nimmt er William Marshall und David Archer mit auf das neue Schiff. Beförderungen bringen es mit sich, dass man eine weniger aktive Rolle im Getümmel einnimmt, aber für William und Davy ist ihr Aufstieg mit einem größeren Haken verbunden als für die Meisten: Sie sollen in geheimer Mission einen Saboteur an Bord des Schiffes entlarven und um das zu bewerkstelligen, müssen sie sich so verhalten, als wenn sie ein heimliches Paar wären. Was ihre Vorgesetzten nicht wissen und auch niemals erfahren dürfen, ist wie nah ihnen das beiden geht, denn sie sind seit einer abenteuerlichen Entführung durch Piraten tatsächlich ein Paar. Wir ihr doppeltes Spiel auffliegen oder fassen sie den Verräter, der die ganze Mannschaft in Gefahr bringt?

Persönliche Meinung:
Das Buch ist eine Fortsetzung zu Ransom, welches eine ehemalige Hornblower-Fanfic ist. Man kann gut ohne Kenntnisse der Serie auskommen und auch das andere Buch muss man nicht gelesen haben, um in die Geschichte einsteigen zu können. Die Story selber ist verhältnismäßig kurz, aber nicht die kürzeste, die mir bisher in gedruckter Form untergekommen ist. Zum Vergleich: Ransom ist ca. 94.000 Worte lang, Winds of Change kommt nur auf ca. 49.000 Worte, deswegen bietet sich aus Preisgründen hier eventuell eher die eBook-Variante an. Qualitativ steht die Geschichte ihrem Vorgänger jedoch in nichts nach und wer gerne "Age of Sail"-Fiction mit homoerotischem Plot liest, ist hier gut bedient.

Liebe und Triebe:
Established Relationship. Die beiden Männer sind bereits vor Beginn der Geschichte ein Paar und die Spannung ergibt sich aus der Frage, ob sie es bleiben. Sexszenen gibt es mehrere, aber sie sind von der Situation und dem Vokabular für die Zeit angemessen. ( )

This story picks up after "Ransom" with Davy, William and Captain Smith transferred to another ship of war to try and flush out a saboteur. Ironically, to do this Davy and William are asked to act as though they are having an illicit shipboard romance to accomplish this which is both a blessing and a curse to their "real" illicit, and potentially deadly, feelings for each other.

Once again this story was extremely well written and interesting. Being a sequel there was not any of the character building and it was told primarily from William's POV which made the book significantly shorter. I did rather miss having more of Davy's POV as he has a lighter attitude to counter William's angst (which there was lots of!), but once you get into the story it is clear why the book had to be written this way. Just as a heads up, the bedroom scenes are quite explicit and might tend to make some people a bit uncomfortable. I also had a bit of a feeling I had missed something, again with regard to past events being mentioned during the story. However, at the back of the book is a blurb about an anthology the author did with these characters which explains this. Certainly something I intend to buy in the near future! If you have an open mind to read gay, historical romances I would highly recommend reading both "Ransom" and this story. I have greatly enjoyed them! ( )

Sequel to last year's Ransom, this novel continues the story of Davy and William. It still feels like fanfic to me, but it was sweet. ( )

What a spectacular follow-up to Ransom!! While Ransom was an adventure story in which a forbidden M/M relationship occurs, Winds is definitely an M/M romance where an adventure occurs. Will and Davy are now a couple, although to protect their lives they must keep it a secret. This makes the relationship especially touching because they have so few opportunities to show their love for one another while on ship. They both feel the strain of it, and have doubts about their future together. But, this is a romance with the prerequisite (thank goodness!) happy ending.

Winds opens with Will and Davy being transferred to a new ship along with the heroic Captain Smith. Their new ship, The Valient, has a serious problem though--a blackmailing saboteur. Naval Investigations issues secret orders for Will and Davy to "pretend" to be lovers to draw the traitor out! But such subterfuge will put their lives in danger - both from the traitor, and the possibility that someone else may discover them not knowing of the secret orders. Battles on the high seas, dangerous sexual temptation, and murder all add up to an exciting, action packed novel.

As a romance novel, this is way above par. The plot isn't just thrown in as an excuse for hot sex (not that I mind hot sex!) There is a rich backdrop to Will and Davy from the start that gives depth to the characters and the writing is high quality. This is more than love at first sight, and the couple must face more than the standard "angst" and societal prejudice against gays. They could literally be killed for their passion, and that makes their love more credible. There is more sex in Winds than was possible in Ransom, and it is very well done. Will and Davy finally have someone they can trust with their secret and the historical setting makes a wonderful back drop. Finally, their Naval careers offer the potential for many more adventures (hint, hint, Lee Rowan). Highly recommended! ( )