ABOUT
Title: Blackhearts
Author: Nicole Castroman
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: February 9 2016
Synopsis:Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands. Nothing could stop him—until he met the one girl who would change everything.
Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, Teach dreams only of returning to the vast ocean he’d begun to call home. There's just one problem: convincing his father to let him leave and never come back.
Following her parents' deaths, Anne Barrett is left penniless and soon to be homeless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne is forced to take a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks, and Anne longs for escape. How will she ever realize her dream of sailing to Curaçao—where her mother was born—when she's stuck in England?
From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn to each other, they’re trapped by society and their own circumstances. Faced with an impossible choice, they must decide to chase their dreams and go, or follow their hearts and stay.
Don't mind me, sobbing in the corner over here. I'm just a tad heartbroken over here.
Let me just start off by saying that Blackhearts is phenomenal. I love this book. It's been a while since a book has grabbed me by my heartstrings and doesn't let go. I started reading this on the bus to school and then I couldn't stop reading it when I got to school. I decided to go to school early to write an essay that I hadn't started yet, but I still hadn't started it, because I HAD to know what was going on next.
BLACKHEARTS tells the story of Edward "Teach" Drummond, before he became the legendary and notorious pirate, Blackbeard. It also tells of Anne Barret, the illegitimate daughter of a merchant and a slave from Curaçao. With her parents dead and no money to her name, she finds herself working on the Drummond estate as a maid. All she wants is the freedom to choose her own life and to travel to the place her mother was born, just as all Teach wants is out of his arranged engagement and to sail the seas as captain of a ship.
The chemistry between Anne and Teach is palpable. From the first moment they met each other, there was a tension between them that most certainly developed into something more. I loved reading their interactions and the slow development of their relationship. I ship the two so hard.
I love Anne. She's intelligent and educated, thanks to her father teaching her how to read and educating her. She's stubborn and it's clear to others and to Teach that there's something about her that makes her more than just a maid. Anne is a realist and she's very aware of her situation and what she must do in order to get her freedom.
Teach is the son of a successful and wealthy merchant, whose father has aspirations of becoming an aristocrat. This leads Teach to rub elbows with some of the more elite families of Bristol. Despite the fact that he doesn't want the marriage arranged between him and the daughter of an aristocrat, he is under the thumb of his father, especially if he has any hopes of acquiring his inheritance.
I love this novel and it'll be one that I'll be thrusting upon my friends in the very near future. The ending of this novel left my heart in pieces, but it was well worth it. BLACKHEARTS pulled me in from the first chapter and sucked me into the world of Anne and Teach and still has yet to let me go. I hope you guys read this novel and love it just as much as I have.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicole was lucky enough to come with her very own best friend...she has a twin sister who can read her mind and finish her sentences for her.
At the age of 13, she went to Europe for the first time and it changed her life. She loves learning about different people, languages and cultures and speaks fluent German. She knows enough Spanish to get herself into trouble and can still read the Cyrillic alphabet from when she studied Russian.
She received her B.A. from Brigham Young University and has lived in Germany, Austria and two different places called Georgia. One is located on the Black Sea. The other is the state of Georgia where she now lives with her handsome husband and two beautiful children who continue to amaze her.
Happy Reading!
I wish I had requested this when it was on Netgalley, but at that time I thought it was entirely about pirates and I wasn't interested. Now that I know it is about Blackbeard's pre-pirating days I am intrigued. I will probably be getting this from the library. Thanks for the review. :)
ReplyDeleteYay! I hope you enjoy the novel! :)
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