The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Adventures Pirate Tales, #6)

by P S Bartlett

[Cocktails and Books]

Four female cousins (Miranda, Ivory, Cassandra, and Keara) are determined to maintain their independence. The four become pirates and when one of their own is lost the girls won’t stop until they are reunited. The captain of their group, Ivory, has been captured by Captain Maddox Carbonale. When the two of them meet a test of wills ensues. Ivory aka “the razor” won’t back down from a fight with anyone, but she is surprised when she has to fight the feelings she has for Captain Maddox aka “blacksnake”.

I liked all of the girls. Miranda was my favorite. Miranda wasn’t afraid to be a woman and a pirate. She fought as hard as any of the others, but she definitely had her share of adventure and fun. Ivory was the main female character, but I felt like she was just too emotional. One minute she was fighting “Blacksnake” and the next minute she was in his bed. Then she cried and broke down when the girls went back to their home where it all began.

The male characters weren’t the least bit interesting. Captain Carbonale was a cat (Lasher) carrying alcoholic. He had a lot of emotional baggage. He was stubborn to a fault and foolish. I just didn’t see any redeeming qualities in him nor did I see any reason that a woman would feel attracted to him. The dialogue for Master Green (Captain Carbonale’s friend and shipmaster) was terrible. I couldn’t count how many times the author had him pleading with Captain Carbonale to change his mind about how he was treating Ivory. Maybe I didn’t care for his dialogue because I just didn’t care for the union between Ivory and Captain Carbonale, and I felt like Master Green was begging Captain Carbonale to save Ivory.

I don’t think the author did enough to develop the relationship between Ivory and Captain Carbonale. It was just awkward from beginning to end. I also think that throwing in romances with the other three cousins made the book more difficult to follow. I felt like my loyalty was being split. I liked Miranda so much I really wanted to read more about her and her romance instead of Ivory. I wish the author would have done a series and let each girl’s relationship develop over time instead of trying to squeeze 4 relationships into one book with a side of suspense.

Reviewed by Michelle for Cocktails and Books