A Hard, Cruel Shore (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures (Hardcover)) by Lambdin, mode Dewey

"You could get addicted to this series. Easily."---The New York Times Book Review

The year 1809 starts out badly for Captain Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, and his ship, HMS Sapphire. Theyve extracted the sick, cold survivors of Sir John Moores army from disaster at Corunna, got hit by lightning while escorting the army to England, and suffered a shattered mainmast which may end Lewries active commission if a replacement cant be found or fashioned soon. Admiralty needs troopships, not slow, old Fourth Rate two-deckers, so Lewrie must beg, borrow, steal, and gild the facts most glibly if he wishes to keep her and her skilled crew together.

Just when he imagines hes succeeded, new orders come appointing him a Commodore over a wee squadron assigned to prey upon French seaborne supply convoys off the treacherous north coast of Spain, better known as the Costa da Morte, the Coast of Death, where the sea may be more dangerous to him and his ships than the French Navy! Basing out of newly won Lisbon, where Lewrie hopes his mistress from Gibraltar, Maddalena Covilha, might move, hes sure of one thing: Its going to be a rocky year that, hopefully, doesnt involve wrecking on the rugged shores of Spain!