Lt. Leary Commanding by David Drake

As a reward for saving the republic from devastation and all that, Lt. Leary has been granted command of the ship which he captured, and his partner in heroism, Adele, has been awarded a commission in the Republic of Cinnabar Navy. And they sally forth on another adventure to the greater glory or the Republic.

This time Leary's ship, the Princess Cecile, is sent on a diplomatic mission under the fleet command of a crusty old naval idiot - and they encounter a rather rough form of diplomacy - but of course, nothing is quite that simple. Naturally, they pull it off in the end.

I am looking forward to the rest of the series - which at this point numbers some ten books. But - I like space opera ---