I Can't Wait For... DARK SHORES

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.

I heard about this book a couple months ago in a newsletter and immediately put it on my TBR and Amazon lists...

Dark Shores

(Series)
By Danielle L. Jensen
YA Fantasy
eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 368 Pages
May 7,  2019 by Tor Teen



Blurb
Piracy, blackmail, and meddling gods meet in Dark Shores, a thrilling first novel in a fast-paced new YA fantasy series by USA Today bestselling author Danielle L. Jensen.

A PIRATE WITH A WILL OF IRON
Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense, a ship beholden to the Goddess of the Seas. Her people are born of the waves, and they alone know how to cross the impassable oceans between East and West.

A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET
Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his only family, and even they don’t know the secret he’s been hiding since childhood.

A DANGEROUS QUEST
When a power-hungry ruler captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they help him conquer the unknown West, the two are forced into an unlikely--and unwilling--alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.

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Book Review: Daughter of The Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Blurb:

There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I've gotten what I came for.

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

In Daughter of the Pirate King, debut author Tricia Levenseller blends action, adventure, romance, and a little bit of magic into a thrilling YA pirate tale.

My Review:

Yo ho ho, it's not a pirate's life for me. 

This book held a lot of promise and for me it just didn't work. I was expecting humor and adventure when everyone insisted that Alosa was like a female Jack Sparrow but if there was any humor in the book I didn't see any trace before I DNF'd it at 25%.

Alosa was a very unlikeable character. From page one you hear how great of a pirate she is and how better of a swordsman she is or how smarter she is than everyone else. But to me that read as such cockiness that I couldn't sink into her story at all.

Alosa allows herself to be kidnapped so she can find part of a map that will allow her father return to the island where sirens hide all of their treasure. But the crew of the Night Farer isn't what she was expecting. The captain is a jerk - but he's a young jerk. Then there is Riden, the first mate and also the captain's brother. I think he was meant to be Alosa's love interest but it just never developed much into romance as far as I saw because Alosa is just so full of herself. 

Also, you'd think that if you had a prisoner in your brig you'd have someone guarding her, not falling asleep so she can let herself out of her cell and search the ship all night. That seemed a little unbelievable. 

I'll admit, this isn't the first pirate-themed book that I've read and disliked, but I figured the other one I didn't like was because it was a historical fiction that didn't make a lot of sense. This was supposed to be YA Fantasy and I didn't even really see it as that. I even tried reading the last chapter to see if I liked the ending enough to pursue getting to it and even that didn't work for me.

Overall, if you loved a female lead that's cocky, arrogant, and self-absorbed, Alosa is your girl. This book could have been so great, such an adventure, but it let me down.

My Rating:

DNF @ 25% - No Star Rating

"What I'm Reading" Wednesday #78

I am in complete book hangover territory after finishing The Dazzling Heights yesterday and I almost don't want to start a new book yet. I just want to stay in the perfect bubble of that world. But I have to keep moving through my TBR stack so this "WIR"-Wednesday I'm reading...

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Blurb:

There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I've gotten what I came for.

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

In Daughter of the Pirate King, debut author Tricia Levenseller blends action, adventure, romance, and a little bit of magic into a thrilling YA pirate tale.

Why I Chose This Book:

I got this book in March's OwlCrate Box and it was one of my winter books-to-read, so I think it's about time I gave it a try. I'm kind of on the fence because the last pirate-themed book I read I ended up having mixed emotions about, but that was Historical Fiction and this is YA Fantasy so I'm interested to see the difference. I just hope there is enough romance in this book to satisfy me.

BOOK REVIEW: The Rebel Pirate by Donna Thorland

The Rebel Pirate by Donna Thorland

Blurb:

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.

My Review: 

The Rebel Pirate begins as Captain James Sparhawk has finally caught up to and boarded the ship he's been chasing around Boston Harbor. The year is 1775 and the Revolutionary War has not yet begun so the British Navy, which James is a member of is still in charge over the colonists.

Aboard the Charming Sally James finds a French trunk full of Spanish gold, 150 tons of musket flint, and an incompetent dead captain. After tossing the flint overboard and confiscating the gold James attempts to take a young boy into service for the British Navy. The boy next to the one he intends to take turns out to be a beautiful woman who will do anything to save her brother, even take a British Navy Captain hostage. 

Sarah Ward is the daughter of a pirate and the spurned ex-fiancee of the man who forced her family to carry the contraband on the ship in the first place. Taking a Navy Captain hostage was never part of the plan and finding him attractive is the last thing she needs.

For James the attraction is mutual and soon he'll do anything to keep Sarah from harm. But with a secret past of his own he doesn't want to allow himself to have what he desires most. Will he be able to keep Sarah safe and out of dangerous hands? 

I liked this book but I didn't find it "blow my mind" amazing. I don't usually read books set during the American Revolution but the description interested me a lot. The writing definitely takes you back to colonial Boston, when I close my eyes I can see it, smell it, taste it, so I give the author credit there. At times found the book dull and I had to skip ahead a little but I loved the relationship between James and Sarah. I saw the instant attraction. For me it was hard to keep who was on what side straight; rebels, colonists, loyalists, Americans, British, Englishmen/women. Were the colonists actually called Americans before the Revolution? Were the people called Englishmen/women loyal to the British or the colonists? It was a bit confusing at times but maybe that's just me. Anyway, this is a good read for fans of historical fiction, especially people with an interest in the Revolutionary War era.
My Rating: 3.90 of 5 Stars