Sarah Ward is in a tough situation. After having the ship
she was on invaded by British naval officers, she kidnaps
one of them in order to save her younger brother from being
taken. What she doesn't realize is the man she kidnapped,
James Sparhawk, might be the one man that can help her and
maybe even love her.
THE REBEL PIRATE by Donna Thorland is one of the hardest
historical fiction novels I've had to put down. From the
excellent world building of Boston in 1775 to the incredibly
frustrating and touching romance between Sarah and James, I
found myself surprisingly in love. While I normally love
historical fiction, I have not read anything from this
particular time and place. Now that I have, I want to read a
lot more of it, especially if it is by Thorland.
Though the novel is a longer one and the second in a series,
it reads smoothly, and I never felt left behind on any
details that might have been included in the previous novel.
Thorland does a great job of narrating and keeping the
pacing and action going to move the story along quickly. To
compliment this, Sarah and James make wonderful main
characters. Sarah is full of spunk and spirit, while also
having a strong noble side. James has a hard past, but a
strength to move on in the future. Some of the twists thrown
in the plot will make you gasp out loud and furiously turn
the page for more.
Overall, I really love THE REBEL PIRATE. I love the
characters and the narration, and I can't wait to read more
from this author. If you enjoy historical fiction, from this
time period or not, I would highly recommend this novel.
1775, Boston Harbor. James Sparhawk, Master and Commander in
the British Navy, knows trouble when he sees it. The ship
he’s boarded is carrying ammunition and gold…into a
country
on the knife’s edge of war. Sparhawk’s duty is clear:
confiscate the cargo, impound the vessel and seize the crew.
But when one of the ship’s boys turns out to be a lovely
girl, with a loaded pistol and dead-shot aim, Sparhawk finds
himself held hostage aboard a Rebel privateer.
Sarah Ward never set out to break the law. Before Boston
became a powder keg, she was poised to escape the stigma of
being a notorious pirate’s daughter by wedding Micah Wild,
one of Salem’s most successful merchants. Then a Patriot mob
destroyed her fortune and Wild played her false by marrying
her best friend and smuggling a chest of Rebel gold aboard
her family’s ship.
Now branded a pirate herself, Sarah will do what she must to
secure her family’s safety and her own future. Even if that
means taking part in the cat and mouse game unfolding in
Boston Harbor, the desperate naval fight between British and
Rebel forces for the materiel of war—and pitting herself
against James Sparhawk, the one man she cannot resist.
READERS GUIDE INCLUDED