Blackhearts

Blackhearts left a broken heart and an intense thirst for Queen Anne’s Revenge.

Book Blurb from Chapters Indigo

When Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of one of Bristol’s richest merchants, returns home from a year at sea, he finds his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, all Teach wants is to return to the vast ocean he calls home. There’s just one problem: he must convince his father to let him leave and never come back.

Following the death of her parents, Anne Barrett is left penniless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne takes a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks and Anne longs to escape the confines of her now mundane life. How will she ever achieve her dream of sailing to Curaçao—her mother’s birthplace—when she’s trapped in England?

From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn together by a shared desire for freedom, but kept apart by Teach’s father, their love is as passionate as it is forbidden. Faced with an impossible choice, Teach and Anne must decide whether to chase their dreams and leave England forever—or follow their hearts and stay together.

As a history and pirate enthusiast, I was over the moon when I read the synopsis for this novel. I was immediately excited about Anne, seems Blackbeard’s most ruthless pirate ship was called The Queen Anne’s Revenge. Amazing foreshadowing and world building on Castroman’s part. I was not disappointed with the historical side of the novel. In fact, I was thrilled because Blackhearts was filled with subtle historically accurate moments that made my inner history nerd melt with happiness.

Teach was a little bit of an ass…but likable, torn between family duty and individual passion. Anne was strong, witty and unyielding to the prejudice of her historical position, reminding me of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the real life heroine behind the 2013 movie Belle. I was expecting the plot to be a little more adventure driven, taking a dip into Teach’s introduction in piracy. Blackhearts was very much a romance driven novel, plotting the beginning of Teach’s heartbreak, which I think is essential to his eventual transition to piracy. And who doesn’t love a good slow burn romance? The tension, the bickering, the eventual realization and then the undeniable need to be together. So satisfying. Until the ending.

The ending sets up perfectly for a sequel, which Nicole Castroman announced on her Twitter/Facebook on March 18th! A sequel that I absolutely will be reading. The official title will be BLACKSOULS. Currently submitting a petition for the subtitle to be “An Introduction to Pining and Piracy”. I can’t wait to see how the concept of Queen Anne’s Revenge unfolds. GIVE ME QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE. Please.

If you like emotional pain (the ending) and historical romance then this book is for you. If you are strictly looking for an adventure novel and hate romance, I would say look elsewhere. But then I really think you might miss out on the piratey goodness that I predict is coming in Blacksouls.

Until next time,