Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

The Highlander’s Pirate Lass by Heather McCollum

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Tudor Era (1485-1603)Leave a comment

Series: The Brothers of Wolf Isle #2

Publication Date: 8/23/21

Period:  Tudor – 1547 Highlands

Number of Pages:  271

Barbara’s Rating: 5-Stars

It has been about two/three years since our last visit to Wolf Isle and the Macquarie brothers.  Adam and Lark (The Highlander’s Unexpected Proposal) are still in newly wedded bliss – driving the rest of the brothers, Beck, Drostan, Callum, and Eagan, to distraction with their canoodling.  Beck has spent the last two years in a labor of love – he’s built his own ship – a three-masted carrack — and she is a thing of beauty.  Beck loves The Calypso more than anything else – well, anything except his brothers.  The Macquarie curse is still in full force.  The half-dead willow tree still has the newly formed buds on it from Adam and Lark falling in love, but those buds haven’t opened or progressed in healing.  It appears that ALL of the Macquarie brothers will have to find love before the curse is broken.

Beckett (Beck) Macquarie is happy to be on his new ship – flying through the water.  She is tight, sleek, light and plies through the water like a hot knife cutting butter.  The mission he has set for himself and the Calypso?  Find and destroy the French pirate Jandeau because he caused harm to Beck’s family.  Jandeau kidnapped Lark and had every intention of torturing her and selling her into slavery.  Beck won’t rest until he destroys Jandeau.

While Beck and his crew are out patrolling, Beck spots a woman signaling from a rock formation on an uninhabited island.  Beck and some of his trusted men row over to the island and find two women and three children who all tell him that a pirate took over their ship and abandoned them there.  After some observations and a few questions, that story just doesn’t ring true, but Beck cannot leave them on the island with no food.  His only option is to take them back to their family seat, Gylin Castle on Wolf Isle.

When she was twelve-years-old, Eliza Wentworth endured a horrible tragedy.  The pirate Jandeau attacked the ship she, her brother, and her parents were on.  They murdered her father outright, violated her mother beyond belief before killing her, and took Eliza and her 3-year-old brother prisoner.  She was so fortunate.  She was rescued by Captain John Pritchert, an English privateer – and she has sailed with him since then.  Captain John’s mission is to rescue women and children who have been taken by pirates, so Eliza has quite a little family now.  Yes, they are all her family – the sailors on the ship as well as the other woman and three children who live aboard ship with them.  When Captain John dropped them off on the uninhabited island, he left them with enough food to last for two weeks.  He’d be back for them before they ran out of food – except – he wasn’t.  Eliza is so very worried about him.  Had Jandeau attacked the ship?  If so, did any of them survive?  She has to find him!

Beck is immediately smitten with Eliza.  She’s unlike any woman he has ever met, but he also knows he has to keep his distance.  First, if he tried anything, she’d gut him.  Second, if they want to break the curse, he absolutely cannot father any by-blows.  Since Eliza fully intends to resume her life aboard Captain John’s ship, Beck knows there is no chance for them to wed.  So, he’ll just have to keep his distance.  HA!  We all know how well that is going to work out.

This fast-paced story will keep you reading well past bedtime.  You’ll absolutely adore Beck and Eliza and you’ll hold your breath right along with them as Jandeau makes an appearance.   There is a heartwarming romance, scurvy pirates, jealous wenches, ship theft (is there a word for that?), sacrifice, and fierce loyalty.  You can’t get much better than that.  I hope you’ll love this story as much as I did.  I can hardly wait for the third book featuring Callum Macquarie and Anna Montgomerie!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Sign Of The Raven by L.C. Sharp

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Mystery2 Comments

Series: Ash & Juliana #2

Publication Date: 8/17/21

Period:  Georgian London, 1749

Number of Pages:  250

** 5 Stars **

Goodness!  I surely do hope this turns out to be one of those very long-running series because I absolutely adore Ash and Juliana.  The mystery is intriguing, the villain is vile, and the secondary characters are a mixed and interesting bunch.

Sir Edmund (Ash) Ashendon is constantly searching for justice – whether it is finding the perpetrator of a crime or defending someone he is sure has been falsely accused.  It is the driving force in his life because he is trying very hard to make up for the really important one, the one he couldn’t save.  He solved it too late and guilt still eats at him. 

Ash and Juliana married almost a year ago after Ash saved her from the gallows (The Wedding Night Affair) when she was accused of murdering her husband on their wedding night.  Juliana had been horribly brutalized, but she swore she didn’t kill her husband – and Ash believed her.  They ended up in a marriage of convenience because her parents were immediately auctioning her off to the next brutalizer before the funeral had even been held.  Juliana couldn’t stand to be touched in any way and since Ash never planned to marry because of his dedication to his work, having no intimacies between them was fine with him.  Since she was very intelligent and observant, she’d make a good partner for him in his work – especially within the ton because she and her family are from the highest echelons.

It seems everyone in London knows of Ash’s penchant for helping Bow Street with the more ‘interesting’ cases.  He had taken his family – Juliana, his sister Amelia, and younger brother Gregory – to Vauxhall to attend a fireworks rehearsal, where he was soon approached because there had been an ‘incident’.  Oh!  There was an incident alright – a dead body.  While most would have put it down to a robbery gone wrong, Ash was certain it was murder. 

Ash and Juliana pursue their investigation regardless of the rank of those they are questioning.  From dukes, to street urchins, to the infamous Raven, everyone was suspected until they could be cleared.  When another murder is done, Ash and Juliana know their main suspect is getting desperate and they have to put a plan in motion to catch them out.  The culprit might surprise you – or it might not – but you’ll love getting to the identification.

There was so much I enjoyed about this book!  I loved that the villain didn’t get off with no punishment.  I loved that Juliana has come so very far in her healing process and that she and Ash have found they care more for each other than they thought.  I loved the new relationship between Ash and the newspaper man.  I loved that we learned the identity of the Raven – but – he sure left us hanging about what would be next.  Oh! My!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.  Having both a romance and a mystery is a double treat!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.