Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman

Blackhearts

by Nicole Castroman

In this stunningly creative debut “filled with well-drawn characters…and smoldering passion,” (Booklist) Nicole Castroman reimagines the origins of history’s most infamous pirate—Blackbeard.

When Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of one of Bristol’s richest merchants, returns home from a year at sea, he finds his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, all Teach wants is to return to the vast ocean he calls home. There’s just one problem: he must convince his father to let him leave and never come back.

Following the death of her parents, Anne Barrett is left penniless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne takes a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks and Anne longs to escape the confines of her now mundane life. How will she ever achieve her dream of sailing to Curaçao—her mother’s birthplace—when she’s trapped in England?

From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn together by a shared desire for freedom, but kept apart by Teach’s father, their love is as passionate as it is forbidden. Faced with an impossible choice, Teach and Anne must decide whether to chase their dreams and leave England forever—or follow their hearts and stay together.

Reviewed by bookishzelda on

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Blackhearts wasn’t exactly what I was expecting but not in a bad way. It’s on origin story so nobody is singing, yo ho ho and a bottle of Rum. The story actually takes place not only on land but at wealthy estates. It does have a large amount of romance in it.

Nothing like a saucy fierce leading lady to endear me to a book. I loved Anne and the way she wasn’t going to be pushed around. She is the daughter of the prosperous merchant and a slave from the West Indies. She had a good life with her mother and father until her father dies and her half brother throws them out. So Anne might be forced to work as a maid but she has this inner strength of knowing her true worth and that she does not belong anywhere that doesn’t treat her with respect.

Teach is trying to find his way out from under his Father’s thumb. The relationship between the two of them is interesting because I think that they really do care about each other. Teach just has a different opinion about what will make him happy. He seems to go along with things but underneath is trying to find a way to escape. He doesn’t outright stand up to his father the way Anne does. She is really the stronger of the two. I kept thinking what could happen to make Teach a hardened pirate, Anne I could see it without a doubt. It was interesting to see Teach develop.

I liked the historical fiction aspect of the book. Not much is known of Blackbeard's life before piracy but you see the known details woven in. Convenient he had a ship called the Queen Anne’s Revenge, it made me smile to think of it in a different way.

This had the definite makings of an epic romance. There are no crazy love triangles or misunderstandings. It’s just a sweet story of two people who are fighting against a current to be something more than they are.

I really liked Blackhearts, although it wasn’t what I was expecting as far as the pirate aspect goes. It’s a very sweet romance with one really awesome leading lady.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 14 February, 2016: Finished reading
  • 14 February, 2016: Reviewed