THE RANSOM BY MARYLU TYNDALL
Port Royal, Jamaica 1692 Living in a city deemed the wickedest in the world is no easy task for Miss Juliana Dutton. To make matters worse, with an ailing father and a drunken fool for a brother, she is forced to take over the running of the family business in order to survive. When a meddlesome suitor threatens to discover her secret and cast them all onto the streets, she agrees to a spurious engagement with the town buffoon, Lord Munthrope. She only hopes the man is trustworthy. The Pirate Earl, Alexander Hyde, son of the infamous Captain Edmund Merrick Hyde, is the most feared pirate in Port Royal. Disillusioned with the religion of his parents and the pleasures of the world, Alex staves off his emptiness by leading a dual life to hide his deepest secrets. A long-time enemy is out to destroy Alex and take Juliana for his own. Struggling to maintain her faith in the Divine, Juliana faces her problems bravely, but the harder she tries, the more it seems everything is working against her. Unwittingly, she and her weak fiancé become entangled in the hostility between the Pirate Earl and his enemy, while even more dangerous forces are rising up to destroy them all.
MY THOUGHTS-MaryLu Tyndall is known as the queen of pirate fiction. Personally I love her writing and can't wait until her next novel arrives!! They are always well written and the characters feel realistic. I mean, I would love to meet the Pirate Earl or Julianna in person:) That Pirate Earl could be a bit annoying at times and he was going through trials of his own but man alive, this hero is quite a dashing one!
Julianna is the daughter of a shipping merchant who is slowly dying. Her mother is long gone and though she has a brother he is pretty much a wastrel, going through their money easily while gambling. So Julianna is left to running the shipping company without letting anyone else know that a woman is in charge. Else they will lose their business. In the midst of all this she has a Navy captain pursuing her and so she accepts the proposal from a popping jay named Munny. He will announce their engagement and keep Captain Nichols off her back and at the same time she will help him keep his father at bay.
The scenes in this book are so well written I could almost feel myself there on the water, or standing in the gardens. And yes, the tavern scenes are just as well fleshed out:) MaryLu has such a way of writing that you can see the gowns on these women and feel the breeze blowing. Maybe even smell the water? And the characters are so entertaining!! Munny is such a hoot and I found myself laughing over him at times. The Pirate Earl is so endearing in all his struggles with life and the search for true peace. Julianna is one of those double characters that is strong and yet so vulnerable at the same time. Sweet and charming but able to stand up to people. She has her struggles of trying to win approval from God by doing more and more for others. And then when she finds herself falling in love with Munny I had to laugh.
There are many twists and turns along the way but it was a great trip. If you like a good pirate story, I would urge you to pick this one up. Excellent novel MaryLu!!
**DISCLOSURE: I was given a free product in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given, and all thoughts are 100% mine. Please read my full disclosure policy HERE.**
No comments:
Post a Comment