I read this about 20 years ago and I loved it.  I think it was because the hero reminded me of my husband, tall, golden hair, golden eyes. (snicker, snort, I love him but I am not so romantical about him anymore. :)_)

Anyway he was some kind of English lord but went the pirate route, and the usual seduction of the heroine stowaway on his ship.

He was a friend of the governor of Bermuda and they stopped off there to visit.

I just remembered his most distinctive feature;  when he would go above board ship to fight with rival pirate ships (these pirate books are so...fantastical!) he would don his "chain-o-lights" , a giant string of diamonds that was worth of course a fortune!

He might have had a twin.

Anyone?

It sounds a lot like an old Johanna Lindsey A Gentle Rogue.  Did she have a lot of brothers? This is a great book. it is one of Lindsey's Mallory books. I hope this helps!

Heartsick and desperate to leave her sorrows on England's shores, innocent Georgina Anderson seeks passage on the "gentleman's ship," Maiden Anne, disguised as a cabin boy. The captain, however, is no gentleman; he's the ex-pirate and irrepressible rake, James Malory.

The black sheep of a proud, tempestuous family, Malory soon sees through Georgina's masquerade and is enchanted by the courageous, high-spirited lady he has forced into intimate servitude. But though he has sworn he will never be enticed into matrimony, Captain Malory has finally methis match on the high seas -- undone by the passionate heart of one remarkable beauty whose love of freedom and adventure rivals his own.

Thanks Angie, but I don't think that's it.  Now I remember, his name was Christoper "Kit" something or other.

Maybe "The Windflower" by Laura London aka Sharon and Tom Curtis?

Here's a review that a fellow PBS'er wrote...

The story of Merry, an American Revolutionary Patriot reluctantly packed off to England by an Anglophile aunt, and her adventures aboard a rather genteel privateer, is funny, charming and exciting. The pirate ship is crewed by various aristocratic bad-boy scions; one of them, Cat, is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters. Merry makes friends, gets sick, and does her best to avoid the attentions of Devon Crandall, second-in-command to the feared Reed Morgan who is not quite the black-hearted devil he appears.

Edited to add, or maybe a Kathleen Woodiwiss book?

GAH! I read that book too.  Now your going to send me on a search through all my pirate novels to see if I still have it.

Julie, any success on finding your book?

No, I am still looking and wracking my brain for more clues. :)

Is it one of Jude Devereaux's?  I just posted an older one this week that had a description that sounds awfully familiar!

I think if I see the author's name I may remember.  I thought it might be Karen Robards but no.  I don't think it is Jude D. but let me look at some of her titles.

It sounds soooooo familiar......

ok the only book I know I have on my shelf that mentions the name Kit is a Bertrice Small novel, but he wasn't a pirate.  GRRR I wish I could remember the book

bump

Is it this one?

Lady Vixen

I saw in one of the reviews his name was Christopher and there's mention of Bermuda.

You guys are great trying to come up with this.  Lady Vixen is a possiblility although I don't recognize the cover.  Maybe!   I'm gonna try to track it down and get more info.  I've googled "chain-o-lights" - I distinctly remember that crazy name - but find nothing.

Thanks!

It is just that this book sounds so familar....It's going to drive me carzy utll it is found! Please keep us updated!

I found it! 

drumroll please

Devil's Deception, by Susannah Davis, from 1990.

Found a great website with synopses of dozens of pirate books.  I'm glad I found it in the D's.

Thanks to all!

Now we're all going to be looking for that book, lol! I'll have to remember that one because it sounds good!

Awesome! I love when people find their missing titles!

Great! Good For You!