Cindy Vallar's Blog, page 34

Review of Nathan Fox: Seas of Blood

Nathan Fox: Seas of Blood by L Brittney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


At fifteen, Nathan Fox has led a most interesting and diverse life. Not only is he an actor in the same theatre company as William Shakespeare, but he’s also an agent in Sir Francis Walsingham’s Secret Service. Nor has he lived in a more fearful time. It’s 1588 and King Philip of Spain has vowed to send his great Armada against England. All of England is abuzz with rumors of the approaching invasion fleet, and everyone must defend queen and country to the bitter end. There is one chance to thwart Spain, but Walsingham has been unable to unlock the secret code that will reveal the identities of the Spanish agents who have infiltrated Queen Elizabeth’s court. Only one man, the astrologer who devised the code, can identify these infiltrators, but he has lost his mind after dabbling in alchemy and sorcery. It’s up to Nathan, his sister Marie, his partner John Pearce, an ex-soldier and expert swordsman, and Walsingham’s best cryptographer to unravel the code before it’s too late. To that end Nathan and the others sail to western Ireland where the pirate O’Malley may protect them from prying eyes and add the final touches in Nathan’s training before he and John embark on a dangerous assignment that could brand them as either traitors to the queen or English spies facing a Spanish executioner.

Aside from Grace O’Malley, readers meet several other people from history as Brittney skillfully brings to life the likes of Sir Francis Drake, Francis Walsingham, and Richard Bingham. Her fictional characters are equally well drawn and the humor and drama she weaves into her story’s tapestry compel readers to emotionally respond to what’s happening. She also provides vivid glimpses into the fear permeating England, the dangers of war and seafaring in the sixteenth century, and the deplorable conditions aboard the Spanish ships. While portions of the second part of Nathan’s mission seem slightly less plausible, she contrives these scenes with the same aplomb as the others, which lends them an air of credibility that a less-gifted writer would have difficulty achieving.

Seas of Blood is the third entry in the Nathan Fox series. Previous titles are Dangerous Times and Traitor’s Gold, but readers need not have read those stories to enjoy and understand this one. For those who want to know more about the history behind this tale, Iris Books also offers a companion book, Elizabethan World of Nathan Fox: Fact Book Three, which includes articles on Irish pirates, Grace O’Malley, English Sea Dogs, and much more.

The intended audience of this series is pirate apprentices – teens and young adults in landlubber speak – but this thrilling adventure rich in historical details will also appeal to older pirates. As Nathan himself thinks, “A mad magician; a secret code book; Ireland and pirates – who could want for more?” (33)




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Review of An Inception of Piracy

An Inception of Piracy by Michael Calpino

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In the midst of the War of the Spanish Succession, Giovanni Bartolli sails as his father’s emissary to England to negotiate a trade deal with the Royal Navy. Although he has often accompanied his father on prior missions, this is the first opportunity in which success rides on Giovanni’s shoulders, and he’s determined not to disappoint his father. But England is a foreign place and bad advice leads him astray. The Blue Pearl is not an accommodation for a reputable businessman, especially for one as inexperienced as him. Carousing with the inn’s patrons leads to overindulgence, which befuddles his brain. When he ventures outside, he is attacked and robbed of money and clothes – anything of value. Upon waking, he encounters a press gang that cares little about who he is and why he’s in England. All that matters is he’s young, able to work, and has no impediments.

He soon finds himself aboard HMS Vitol, where insubordination is not tolerated and he feels the sting of the cat across his back. It matters not that he is innocent of the charge; the boatswain dislikes impressed men and Giovanni in particular. A brief respite from the persecution comes when the ship founders during a storm. Giovanni and some of the friends he has among the other pressed men survive, but so does the boatswain and his mates. Another English warship rescues them and, for a brief time, Giovanni sees a different side of the navy since this captain treats men fairly and runs a happy vessel. All goes reasonably well until an accident kills one well-liked seaman and maims another. The men from the Vitol are shunned and the tension thickens. Only the fortuitous appearance of an enemy ship resolves the problem; the English win and the Vitols board the prize and sail for home.

Another chance encounter with the enemy results in the destruction of the prize. Giovanni fashions a raft from among the debris littering the ocean. He also rescues two friends, one of whom is badly wounded. After days at sea, a merchant ship is sighted. A small lie is soon uncovered, leading to charges of desertion and mutiny against Giovanni. The moment the vessel docks in Virginia, the captain vows he will turn Giovanni over to the authorities and see justice at the end of a noose visited upon him.

An Inception of Piracy opens with hope and opportunity that is sabotaged by an unfortunate misstep with unexpected and dire consequences that forever change one’s future path. Each inciting incident intensifies the downward spiral into piracy, yet as anger rises, hope restrains. Calpino vividly recreates the time period and his knowledge of the past paints a realistic backdrop in which the story unfolds and the characters come to life. This historical novel is a gripping portrayal spiced with deep friendships, unexpected romance, and one man’s psychological struggle to comprehend the impossible.




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Review of The Trafalgar Chronicle New Series 2

The Trafalgar Chronicle: New Series 2 by Peter Hore

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Royal Marines, whose history traces back to 1664, and the United States Marine Corps, first founded in 1775, gained distinction when the world was at war between 1792 and 1815. Past histories have often given short shrift to these sea soldiers, but here The 1805 Club allows them to take center stage. The various essays chosen for inclusion demonstrate the vital roles they played and illustrate why they participated in “every important action of fleet, afloat and ashore during the Great War.” (5) The contributors include navy and marine personnel, academics, researchers, writers, and historians.

The book opens with Julian Thompson’s “The Marines: The Early Days,” which explores the origins of the British Marines, how they became the Royal Marines, who they were, and what they did during their first 151 years. Anthony Bruce focuses on “The Marines in Boston, 1774-75,” with particular emphasis on the events leading up to and including the Battle of Bunker Hill, while Britt Zerbe examines their participation in the Battle of Trafalgar and their marginalized treatment in the age of sail in “That Matchless Victory: Trafalgar, the Royal Marines and Sea Battle in the Age of Nelson.”

In “Leathernecks: The US Marine Corps in the Age of the Barbary Pirates” Charles Neimeyer discusses the origins of their contemporary nickname and their activities in America’s war with Tripoli, which is immortalized in the “Marines’ Hymn.” Benjamin Armstrong also looks at this war, but his focus is on Commodore Edward Preble and naval diplomacy in “‘Against the Common Enemies’: American Allies and Partners in the First Barbary War.”

Two other essays discuss the naval officers who also held commissions in the Marines, even though they never served as marines themselves. John D. Bolt’s “The ‘Blue Colonels’ of Marines: Sinecure and Shaping the Royal Marine Identity” explains this practice and how Royal Marines viewed it, as well as how it affected their ability to advance through the ranks. David Clammer focuses on one particular officer, who was charged with defending England’s coastline from a French invasion in “Captain Ingram, the Sea Fencibles, the Signal Stations and the Defence of Dorset.”

“The Royal Marines Battalions in the War of 1812” by Alexander Craig looks at raids and encounters in the Chesapeake Bay and Canada, while Robert K. Sutcliff’s “The First Royal Marine Battalion’s Peninsular War 1810-1812” examines their activities in Portugal and Spain. Tom Fremantle explores the thirty-six-year career of “Captain Philip Gidley King, Royal Navy, Third Governor of New South Wales,” an ancestor who served on several ships before being sent to Botany Bay to establish a base for the convict colony.

Larrie D. Ferreriro discusses the French and Spanish navies in “The Rise and Fall of the Bourbon Armada, 1744-1805: From Toulon to Trafalgar,” while Jann M. Witt explores “Smuggling and Blockade Running during the Anglo-Danish War of 1807-14.”

Another author, Allan Adair, also writes about his ancestors. He focuses on two brothers – one a captain in the Royal Marines, the other a fourteen-year-old master’s mate – who participated in Trafalgar in “Loyal Au Mort: The Adairs at the Battle of Trafalgar.” Sim Comfort, on the other hand, turns his attention to a weapon and the man who wielded it in “The Royal Marine Uniform Sword by Blake, London, Provenanced to Captain Richard Welchman, Royal Marines.”

Two additional entries in this book provide glimpses into two men who were veterans of Trafalgar: “Marine Stephen Humphries 1786-1865” and “Captain James Cottell: The Pictorial Life of a Trafalgar Veteran.” Humphries’s account of Trafalgar, his first fight, his time as a prisoner of the French, and his participation in the march on Washington are from his memoir, one of the few written by a marine that has survived to the present day. In the other offering, John Rawlinson provides background to tie together Cottell’s life with the many sketches and watercolors that he made while at sea.

For me, these last two offerings are the most intriguing and absorbing, but all the essays enlighten readers and illuminate men who deserve more recognition, but rarely receive it. Excerpts from primary documentation are included in some, while resources consulted and other materials are listed in the endnotes. Recruiting posters, maps, portraits, paintings, and tables are among the illustrations included with the contributions. A center section of color plates, including Geoff Hunt’s painting of marines aboard a ship, further enriches the text. There is also a list of contributors with short biographies. As always, the yearbook shines a spotlight on tantalizing new naval research in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and this edition with its focus on the marines makes this a praiseworthy contribution to any library or historian fascinated with the Georgian Navy.




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Review of HMS Victory First Rate 1765

HMS Victory - First Rate 1765 by Jonathan Eastland

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The first Victory was an Elizabethan merchant ship that was transformed into a race-built galleon. Over the years, a total of seven have borne the name, but it is the last that is most remembered and remains “the oldest warship still in commission in any navy.” (10) This stately lady participated in several notable sea battles, including Trafalgar, and witnessed the death of many, particularly that of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson. Her keel was laid in July 1759; it took the oak from 6,000 trees to build her (10-15% of which remains original to this day); and her hull cost £63,176 when completed in April 1765. She spent the next thirteen years in Ordinary, waiting for the day when the Royal Navy would need her. That day arrived in 1778, the same year in which she first fired on the enemy (the French) at Ushant in the English Channel.

Reminiscent of coffee table books of yore, HMS Victory is a fascinating, “you-are-there” guide that explores this legendary warship deck by deck from bow to stern and keel to masthead. Your journey begins the moment you open the cover, inside of which is a labeled diagram of her different decks from poop to hold. A wealth of fabulous color photographs enrich your tour and illustrate every page from the front endpaper to the resource list.

The book is divided into two sections. The first is a narrative summary of her history which opens with a fascinating comparison between Victory, the most technologically advanced warship of her day, and today’s HMS Daring, a destroyer that can attack an enemy from sixty miles away. The next twenty-two pages discuss:

The Line of Battle
With a Heart of Oak
Off to War
Trafalgar: The Battle and After
The Immortal Ship

Subsequent pages, 96 in all, are devoted to splendid color photographs of the ship, accompanied by explanatory captions and brief summaries of Victory. This portion of the book explores:

The Hull (including special segments on Ship’s Carving and Anchors)
The Lower Deck (including special segments on Capstans and Guns)
The Orlop Deck and Hold
The Middle Deck (including special segments on Feeding the Navy, In the Heat of Battle, and Gun Tackle & Equipment)
The Upper Deck (including a special segment on Gunports)
The Quarterdeck, Waist, Forecastle and Poop (including special segments on Ship’s Boats and Flags & Signals)
The Masts and Rigging
Legacy and Restoration

Throughout the book, the authors explain the nautical lingo whenever it appears, so readers easily understand what’s being discussed. Measurements are given in feet and inches, as well as meters. Even though the text summarizes, rather than explaining in great detail, it contains a host of wonderful details and historic tidbits to please mariner and layperson alike. The bibliography lists published works, archival resources, and websites, but a number of the latter – including the one given in the picture credits – are no longer viable.

First published in 2011, this entry in Seaforth’s Historic Ships series remains a vital resource and a wonderful tour of HMS Victory. This reprinting allows new readers to explore, learn about, and understand how important she was and is to maritime and naval history. Whether you’ve had the pleasure of visiting this grand lady and want reminders of what you saw, or just want to experience what she must have been like when her officers and crew walked her decks, HMS Victory: First Rate 1765 is a worthy treasure without a significant monetary sacrifice. It is a book you will savor and enjoy for years to come.




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Review of The Lockwoods of Clonakilty

The Lockwoods of Clonakilty by Mark Bois

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


According to the doctors, he should be dead, but God and Lieutenant James Lockwood have other plans. Wounded at Waterloo, he returns to Clonakilty, Ireland to begin the slow road to recovery. His beloved wife, Brigid, and his five children, as well as their housekeeper, tend to his needs and get reacquainted with him after his long absence fighting the French. But the Ireland he left is not the same, and the peace he so desperately seeks is elusive. Rebels violently interrupt a dinner party at his father’s house and taunting letters threaten his family.

Charles Barr, once a captain in the British army, has been court-martialed and dismissed from service. He blames Lockwood for his disgrace – an added layer to the enmity he already feels for the lieutenant who married Brigid, the woman Barr wanted for his own. His jealousy and hatred intermingle with the syphilis attacking his body and he soon begins a downward spiral into violent madness. He sets in motion a vindictive plan to destroy not only James and Brigid, but their children as well.

Cissy Lockwood, the middle daughter and a lovely young woman, is caught between the English and the Irish. She’s half of each in blood, but a Catholic in a country where a minority of Protestants lord it over the native inhabitants. The local priest attempts to sway her to the rebels’ side, which only raises her ire. Change may be coming and she will soon have to decide where she stands, but she refuses to spy on family and friends.

Horrific accusations are made that threaten James’s career and his marriage. To avoid a terrible scandal, he is offered a position in India with the East India Company. Accepting the offer means permanent exile. To refuse means not only his arrest, but that of his wife as well. Cissy remains in Clonakilty to take care of their ailing housekeeper – a decision that puts her in grave danger because she’s the only one still accessible to Charles Barr.

The Lockwoods of Clonakilty is the second book in a series, but easily works as a stand-alone volume that transports you back to Ireland before the Great Famine. Bois’s three-dimensional characters sweep you into their lives, and he deftly guides them to a riveting climax filled with interesting twists. Like the seanachaís of his ancestors, Bois spins a tale that draws you into an inescapable web where unraveling the mystery and hate-filled vengeance of a madman becomes as vital as food and drink.




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Review of Female Tars

Female Tars: Women Aboard Ship in the Age of Sail by Suzanne J. Stark

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


During the Age of Sail, the British Royal Navy was decidedly a man’s world. One might think this meant women were not aboard these wooden vessels that ruled the oceans and protected the world’s largest empire. Female Tars shows the contrary to be true. The Admiralty and officers may have ignored their presence or not even been aware they were aboard, but women did live and work on navy ships during the seventeenth century through the middle of the nineteenth.

Stark’s book, first published in 1996, is a succinctly written and engrossing academic study for scholars as well as lay readers. Four chapters comprise this easy-to-read exploration: Prostitutes and Seamen’s Wives on Board in Port, Women of the Lower Deck at Sea, Women in Disguise in Naval Crews, and The Story of Mary Lacy, Alias William Chandler. The endnotes provide fascinating historical tidbits that don’t readily fit within the main narrative. They also provide the source material documenting the text, although no separate bibliography is included. In addition to the index, black-and-white illustrations depicting women with seamen further enhance the chapters.

The largest category of women found on ships was prostitutes, who spent time on the lower deck where the sailors lived whenever a vessel put in at a port. This was a period when shore leave was rarely granted since most captains believed the crew would desert. To prevent this and to keep the men happy, boatloads of women came out to the ship to entertain and console them. To a lesser degree some of these females were the actual wives of the seamen, but for them to have this opportunity to visit with their husbands was a rarity, as Stark so ably demonstrates. Within this chapter she discusses the reasons for allowing women to board the ships, which also entails what life was like in the navy and pertinent Admiralty regulations. The inclusion of contemporary quotations allows Stark to contrast how men of the lower deck viewed these women with the viewpoints of commissioned officers. Her discourse also covers what life at home was like for all these women and their families, as well as the reforms that eventually led to the cessation of this practice.

Chapter two focuses on warrant officers’ wives, who often accompanied their husbands. For many, the ship was the only home they ever had and they raised their families within these wooden walls. Aside from comparing these wives with those of soldiers, Stark explores the tradition of women going to sea (which dates back to medieval times), the regulations concerning this, and the wives’ daily routine (meals, recreation, sexual harassment, childbirth, and participation in battles). She also touches on women in the French navy during this time period. The final segments of the chapter summarize how this tradition came to an end and why these valiant women who deserved the General Service Medal failed to receive it.

The third chapter focuses on women in disguise. Only a few accounts survive as evidence that prove they existed, but it’s likely others also donned male attire and joined the navy. Either their stories were never recorded, or their true identities were never revealed. In presenting this information, Stark asks and attempts to answer three questions:

How were they able to pass as male on crowded ships where privacy didn’t exist?

Why did they volunteer and go to great efforts to remain on board when many men were pressed into service and deserted whenever the opportunity arose?

How did their fellow seamen, their officers, and society as a whole view these women once their true gender was revealed?

Her first offer of proof of these women seamen come directly from the archives of the Royal Navy. They are Gentlewoman Anne Chamberlyne (1690), a nameless Gentlewoman (1690s), a Marine known as William Prothero (1760-1761), and a black female seaman known as William Brown (1804-1816 [or later]). In addition, Stark discusses Hannah Snell’s “Muddled Biography” and Mary Anne Talbot’s “Spurious Autobiography.”

The final chapter focuses on Mary Lacy and showcases excerpts from her autobiography, first published in 1773. After running away from home in 1759, she eventually assumed the persona of a male and enlisted in the Royal Navy. The chosen selections document various stages in her career, which includes her time as an apprentice and a shipwright, and informs readers of her goals, attitudes, and opinions about what she experiences and witnesses. They also provide insights into why she joined the navy and why she continued to serve in spite of the severe hardships she endured during her twelve years of service.

Stark masterfully disentangles the myths and facts about women of the lower deck of warships. She also enlightens us as to why they chose this harsh life. Finally and perhaps most importantly, she illuminates the social context of these lower-class women and the limited roles open to them. Female Tars is an invaluable addition to any collection dealing with the Royal Navy, women at sea, women’s history, and life during the Age of Sail.




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Review of Paulina and the Pirate's Hat

Paulina and the Pirate's Hat by Eric Ode

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Paulina loves to read, especially if her book takes her on an adventure. She gets so caught up in the story, she forgets to look where she’s going. When this happens one day, she finds herself aboard a ship. But not just any old vessel. The Rusty Cuttlefish belongs to pirates, and the captain is decidedly unhappy because she’s sitting on his hat!

Once the squashed hat is retrieved, Paulina announces that it is most certainly the wrong hat for a pirate captain. The crew agrees and, on her recommendation, they set sail for the best places to find the needed wool, feather, and lace for a true pirate captain’s hat.

Children, old and young, who often have their noses in books will definitely identify with Paulina. The story sounds like a grand adventure, but is basically a sedate quest, although some of the bright, colorful artwork suggests more excitement in faraway places like Puddle Jump Island and the Komoromoro Jungle. Paulina watches rather than fully participates until the very end of this tale where a surprising twist occurs. The pictures contain a few familiar pirate tropes, such as a peg leg and tattered clothing, but while the pirates wear old-fashioned attire, she dresses in t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. The characters come from a variety of ethnicities. The text is fairly easy to read, but young pirates (ages 3-8) can easily tell the story just from looking at the artwork. At the book’s end, Ode includes directions on how to make your own pirate hat from old newspapers, which makes Paulina and the Pirate’s Hat a fun way to integrate reading with art.




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Review of Spider

Spider by Leah Devlin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Book two in The Chesapeake Tugboat Murders returns readers to the quiet town of Glen River in the Upper Chesapeake Bay. This is a sleepy place filled with quirky residents except for once a year when they celebrate one of their founding fathers – Giles Blood-hand, a notorious pirate who settled here in the 1600s with many of his fellow pirates. They brought with them an enormous treasure comprised of emeralds, rubies, pearls, gold, and silver, initially stolen from Spaniards and later taken from another pirate, Bartholomew Dodd, whom they left for dead before sailing north. These buccaneers became fishermen, carpenters, and farmers and their treasure was cached in a secret place and used when needed. Descendants of the original pirates include Alex Allaway, a marine biologist with a phobia of spiders, and Will Wilkins, a detective with a young daughter. They oversee this stash of valuables, doling it out when necessary and protecting it from the many treasure hunters searching for it. Alex and Will also have an on-again off-again affair, because Alex’s unusual upbringing makes her reticent to take the plunge.

Nina Vega, who was Alex’s college roommate, has moved to Glen River to teach at nearby Tolchester College. Not only does she wish to become a full professor of sociology, but she also needs to expand the parameters of her research on fishing communities. Soon her arrival, she and Alex go boating on the bay aboard Alex’s tugboat Vital Spark. Shortly after Alex points out an abandoned cottage on a cliff overlooking the Chesapeake, a woman steering a yacht causes a near accident. The ensuing waves crash ashore and topple the house from its precarious perch; once the waves subside, Nina and Alex discover that several bodies were buried under the house.

Glen River’s chief detective, Jay Braden, arrives with his partner Will, the medical examiner, and a forensics team. The investigation turns up several interesting facts. Only one body shows signs of foul play. No one has seen the owner of the cottage in years, but the property taxes have been paid regularly. Among the detritus found on the surrounding land are rope, tape, and cylinders with holes in the top that might have been used to store creatures. The identities of the dead are unknown, but as Lisa Paco – the police force’s gum-chewing mystery buff who’s a wiz at researching on the computer – delves deeper into these mysteries, she begins to suspect that one of the deceased may be her father, who went missing many years ago. If correct, her mother may be the murderer and there is no way Lisa will ever let “the best mother in the world” be arrested.

The nuisance yachter is Pamela Dodd, whom the residents see as a successful model who comes every summer with her current boy toys to hunt for treasure. (She oversees while the guys do all the work.) While her hunt for this pirate hoard is real, her reasons are known only to herself. She’s actually the multi-great granddaughter of Bartholomew Dodd, the rightful owner of the pirate treasure. Now that he’s long dead, it belongs to her. When Alex plays a trick on her to discourage her hunting, it brings Alex directly into Pamela’s crosshairs and no matter what she must do, Pamela intends to locate and seize the treasure for herself.

Unlike the first title in the series, which was predominantly Alex’s story, Spider centers more on Nina and the college. On her first day of work, she ends up in the hospital after a roof slate slices off her finger, resulting in the loss of her engagement ring. Not only must she adapt to this injury, but she also must adjust to the realities of her new job – out-of-date technology, a crumbling office building badly in need of repairs, and a president and her staff (the Weird Sisters) who seem far more interested in meeting quotas and adhering to rules than they do with learning and research. And just when Nina needs him the most, her fiancé, who hasn’t yet arrived in Glen River, goes strangely silent.

Spider is as much a tale of relationships and interactions as it is about miscommunication and misinterpretation. It also ably demonstrates the extreme lengths some people are willing to go to when trying to locate legendary gold or to protect those they love. Devlin does a fantastic job spinning the disparate threads into an intricately woven mystery that’s a challenge to solve. The many twists and turns mirror a demented mind of keen intelligence. Only the lack of good proofreading, especially in the last third of the book, mars this whodunit where even the weapon is as offbeat as the unique characters populating Glen River.




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Review of Savage Winds

Savage Winds by Michelle C. Reilly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ana Salvatore, a marine biologist, and her uncle return to his boat after scuba diving off the coast of Grand Bahama only to confront two armed strangers. Born into one of the leading mob families, she has tried hard to distance herself from the unsavory ties that eventually killed her parents, but now they are after her beloved Uncle Louis, who raised her. In the ensuing struggle, an explosion flings Ana into the depths of the Caribbean. When she comes to, she finds herself in a captain’s cabin, although not aboard her uncle’s vessel. This is a ship of wood and sails where the captain has a strange English accent and he and his men wear outfits from the past. At first, she assumes they are re-enactors, but soon discovers that she has traveled back in time to the early nineteenth century.

Jacen Stirling has little time to deal with the beautiful woman whose unfamiliar words and skimpy outfit puzzle him. His country is in the midst of a war with Great Britain, and he must determine whether Jean Laffite’s offer of assistance is real – a pursuit that requires him to infiltrate the pirate enclave at Barataria. To gain Laffite’s trust, Jacen pretends to be a fellow buccaneer and must arrive at the pre-arranged rendezvous before time runs out. Rescuing Ana and having her aboard a ship full of men is a complication he doesn’t need, yet he cannot spare the time to see her safely ashore and still make his appointed destination.

A brief stop at Nassau to take on supplies adds to the urgency of his mission. Amassing in the harbor is a fleet of many Royal Navy ships, most certainly the invasion fleet bound for New Orleans. Jacen assigns Ana the duties of a ship’s surgeon, which leads to some comical situations when twenty-first-century medical practices clash with nineteenth-century proprieties.

Wary of being on her own in a time where she doesn’t belong, Ana insists on going with Jacen when they arrive off the coast of New Orleans. To earn Laffite’s trust, he agrees to do the pirate’s bidding, and to ensure that Jacen obeys, Laffite keeps Ana as collateral. Should Jacen fail, she will be delivered back to his ship . . . dead. In his absence, she ministers to the slaves on a nearby plantation. She also befriends both their children and the master’s rebellious daughter, as well as engaging in risky business of her own – teaching slave children to read.

Savage Winds introduces Reilly’s new series, Savage Times – time-travel romances where heroes and heroines forge bonds while confronting dangerous situations in unaccustomed surroundings and historical periods. Her intriguing portrayal of Jean Laffite combines dangerous and deadly with charismatic and courteous, differing from the usual impression of the descriptor “gentleman pirate.” She also adheres to the belief that Dominique You was one of the Laffite brothers, although the Jean Laffite journal and Stanley Arthur Clisby’s biography state that You was the oldest, rather than the youngest, of them. There are several historical inaccuracies. Tricorn hats were not part of American military uniforms of this period; holystones – used to scrub the decks of wooden ships – were blocks of sandstone, rather than bristle brushes; and in 1814, William Claiborne was governor of the state of Louisiana, not the territorial governor.

For the most part, these are minor slips when examined from the perspective of the entire story. Ana’s unfamiliarity with society and history provides both comic relief and grim awakenings between the world she knows and the new one in which she finds herself. Getting back to her own time period never seems a priority, perhaps because there is no simple answer of how one travels through time when disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle and she has no family left to go back to. This makes for a more believable story. For me, the second time-slip is much stronger, fantastically portrayed in a way that makes us look anew at our own world and the technology we take for granted.

This spicy romance successfully intertwines humor and drama to spin a web of intrigue and danger. Aside from the historical aspects of the story, I was drawn to the sketches that Jacen draws. The reason for their inclusion remains unclear until the final pages, which then makes perfect sense but kept me guessing (not an easy feat to achieve). As the historical events of the War of 1812 unfold, disparate forces must work together to protect the fledgling United States, while Ana and Jacen struggle to keep both themselves and their burgeoning love alive.




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Review of Redeeming the Pirate

Redeeming The Pirate: A Women's Action & Adventure Romance by Chloe Flowers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Several days before someone pounds on the abbey door late at night, a Jamaican white witch warns Sister Eva about a darkly shadowed man carrying a sick child. When the knock comes in November 1814, Eva opens the door to Captain Gamponetti, whose menacing manner and expectations of immediate obedience frighten Eva. But she is a healer and if her assumption is correct, the young girl suffers from contact with the deadly Manchineel tree. Saving her requires Eva to first bring down the fever. This necessitates a journey, with the daunting captain and her patient’s brother, to nearby caves where the cool pools of water will bring down the girl’s temperature.

Once a pirate and now French privateer, Drago Viteri Gamponetti is a condemned man – not by the law, but by his own heinous deeds. Although Jacqueline and Julian are not his children, they are his responsibility until he can return the twins to his friend and their uncle. First, he must rendezvous with the trader who will purchase his cargo of sugarcane and then he must meet with three French agents. He hopes this will be his last mission for King Louis before he will finally be permitted to pursue a more legitimate line of work.

The witch appears on the road to the caves and warns Drago that the time to choose approaches. If he makes the wrong choice, he will die. His only hope is a beacon of light, but salvation will come only after he betrays an ally, breaks a vow, and helps an enemy. She also slips Eva herbs to make tea to help cure Jacqueline and to make Drago do Eva’s bidding. Before she can inquire into the specific herbs, the witch vanishes.

Eva is reticent to give the tea to Drago, but he has a ship and she needs transportation to New Orleans as soon as possible. A dying Frenchman seeking absolution has revealed that the French king has sent agents to steal sacred relics from the cathedral. She is determined to prevent this, even at the risk of her own life. Setting foot in the city could bring her face-to-face with the man who tried to kill her ten years ago for losing a precious map.

After Drago drinks the tea, a compromising comedy of errors ensues and he pledges to take Sister Eva to New Orleans. This doesn’t seem to be a problem until only two of the three French agents meet with him and he must not only transport them to New Orleans but also assist in the theft of the relics. His initial reaction is to refuse, but the king has sent his trusted assassin to either bring him the relics or kill Drago and his agents. Since his soul is already doomed, Drago thinks it may be safer to betray Sister Eva rather than his king.

When he delivers his cargo to the trader, Drago discovers a fleet of British warships in the harbor. He also learns the reason for their gathering and how they intend to use the sugarcane. Since he still has a modicum of conscience, he vows to prevent France’s enemy from utilizing it in their planned invasion of the United States. Nor can he endanger Sister Eva or the twins by taking them with him to New Orleans. In the coming battle 2,000 able-bodied, but untrained, men will defend the city against more than 10,000 battle-hardened, veteran soldiers. What he doesn’t factor into this decision are the twins, who refuse to be left behind. Determined to return to their family and defend their country, Jacqueline and Justin stow away on Drago’s ship; when Sister Eva cannot find them in the abbey, she and an older nun go in search of them. Which puts all four aboard the vessel when Drago sets sail. By the time he discovers their presence, it’s too late to put them ashore. They are in a race against the British invasion force to reach New Orleans first.

Redeeming the Pirate is a captivating retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Part of the Pirates and Petticoats series, this historical romance is a poignant love story, a gut-wrenching depiction of war, and a tale of redemption. From that first knock on the abbey door to the aftermath of the Battle of New Orleans, the characters draw you into the depths and breadths of this story so we experience all their joys and pains. They make us laugh or cry, depending on how they interpret the predicaments in which they find themselves. Most authors focus on the primary battlefield (Chalmette) and final confrontation in this final major conflict of the War of 1812. While Flowers covers all the skirmishes that comprise the Battle of New Orleans, she focuses on two aspects often overlooked in or omitted from other novels. One concerns the fascines (ladders) the British intended to use to scale and overrun American defenses. While Drago’s plan to infiltrate the British encampment and destroy those fascines seems a bit naïve for someone as knowledgeable, astute, and jaded as Drago, Flowers presents an interesting and plausible reason as to why the enemy failed to implement this part of their plan. She also incorporates the British attempt to seize the American position on the West Bank of the Mississippi and turn those guns on Jackson’s forces at Chalmette, which would have led to a far different ending to the war. These portrayals permit her to vividly show us what it might have been like for anyone taken prisoner by the British and how sometimes the intervention of a divine source often makes the difference between success and failure.

Redeeming the Pirate is one of the best romances and historical novels I’ve read this year and I highly recommend it. It is also worth noting that Flowers will donate 15% of her book sales to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.




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