Fascinating concept for a book! I was really excited to read it. For the most part it met my expectations: Intriguing characters, quick enough paced plot line, some clean romance, spiritual threads, action and mystery. There were times when I felt like the book hopped around to different people and time and I had trouble following. I wish there was more of a distinction. Overall I liked the story. I like how Books in a series don’t necessarily have to be read in order. This book is the 2nd in a series but functions as a fully stand alone book. 
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I was under no compulsion to write a review.

This is a highly original, wonderfully written book. Ending was abrupt and I would have liked to see it drawn out more.

Cover

I loved the cover of this book. It is very elegant and intriguing. It promises a good historical fiction drama – and delivers.

The Back Story

Thanks for NetGalley for providing me an advanced free copy of this book. When I started reading, I noticed that it was actually a sequel to a previous book, written by another author, but this fact didn’t ruin the book for me at all. I believe that “The Pirate Bride” can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone as well.

Personal Thoughts (Spoilers?)

Pirates – I was really excited to read a book about pirates, just because it coincided with my vacation in Maui. And what a better way to start a vacation than with a pirate book!? My only knowledge about pirates came from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie franchise, so I was pleasantly surprised with this read. You can really sense the historical period in the writing, but its never overbearing or too overwhelming. Thus, a perfect beach read.

Romance – I liked the easy going romance in the book, which was a bit predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. I rooted for the main characters and their love story and felt for them.

Educated Lady – Maribel, the heroine, is very smart, well read, pretty and sophisticated. Her only flaw was that she liked to climb on trees to escape from other grownups and her responsibilities. Another flaw would make her more rounded as a character, and slightly more believable. Women didn’t get much education back then and she seems very bright for a girl of her time and position. I think that the author loved her heroine way too much, therefore making her a bit too perfect.

After finishing the book, which was filled with sweet romance and adventures at sea, I have to say that I would love to read more about these colorful characters and their endeavors. It is a great beach read that will transport you to another time and place!

This review first appeared here: https://svetareads.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/the-pirate-bride-book-review/

The Pirate Bride

Daughters of the Mayflower – Book 2

by Kathleen Y’Barbo

Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Barbour Books

Christian , Historical Fiction

Pub Date 01 Apr 2018

I am reviewing a copy of The Pirate Bride through Barbour Books and Netgalley:

In New Orleans a treasure goes missing and paths collide.

New Orleans attorney Jean-Luc Valmont hasn’t seen Maribel Córdoba since she was an eleven year old daughter of a Spanish nobleman . proving herself to be the best look out. But his days of infamy catch up with them all and end up costing innocent lives. Jean-Luc is unsure why he survived. He vows to do something good with his second chance.

Jean-Luc had buried his past life so deep that no living person will ever find it until a grown up Maribel Córdoba shows up threatening everything he holds dear.

I give The Pirates Bride five out of five stars!

Happy Reading

Maribela Cordova is a sweet 12-year old girl when her father whisked her away – telling her that her mother and grandfather were dead.  While on board the ship, they are attacked, her father presumably dead and she is taken to Captain Jean-Luc’s ship.  When a mishap sends her sailing into the water, Maribela and Jean-Luc are separated and do not see each other for eleven years.  Maribela has always thought about Jean-Luc.  Likewise, Maribela has always been on Jean-Luc’s mind, especially after he lost his wife and child, but when he sees her again, the spark is re-ignited.  Can love span eleven years? Great historical fiction read.  I love the way the author included historical facts from which parts of the story bloomed.  There is historical fiction, romance, Christian fiction, and adventure in this one.  I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley but this in no way sways my review.

My review is 4.5 Stars

Privateer, not pirate! At least that is what Captain Beaumont would tell you. The author explains that there is a fine line between the two, but not necessarily one big enough to keep either one from hanging if caught by the right person.

I loved this fun adventure that follows Maribel from the time she is just 11 years old, crossing the Atlantic with her father after the death of her mother and grandfather. It is on this journey that their ship is attacked by pirates, um, privateers, and she ends up spending the next two months on their ship, charming each of the men of the crew.

Quote from book:

“Considering what I’ve heard, I’d agree, Miss Maribel.” He nodded toward the corridor ahead. “Now follow me or you’ll get lost. And remember you just decided you’d follow orders from now on.”

“Yes I did, Mr. Bennett, but I feel like I ought to warn you about me. See, what I decide to do and what I turn out to do is not always the same thing. So if I don’t follow orders very well right now, I would like you to know I will only get better at it the longer I keep trying. I’m working on it, but I’ve got a long way to go.”

Again he chuckled. “Miss Maribel, you and me both. You and me both.”

The characters in this book were wonderful! From the feisty and precocious, Maribel to the gentleman privateer, Jean, to the former slave, Mr. Bennett and the rest of the crew, each one was developed so well you couldn’t help but feel that you knew them. There were many twists and turns in this story, with many things not what they seemed.

This second installment of The Mayflower Brides series was a very enjoyable read. The common thread in these stories is one of family, allowing each book to stand by itself, though the first book was enjoyable as well, so it makes sense to read them all.


This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net


I would like to thank Netgalley for giving me this item. My opinion and review were not influenced by this gift.

I enjoyed this story far more than I liked the first book, but it definitely isn't the greatest plot or character wise. I definitely think it was a improvement writing wise and I liked the characters and plot more than the first book in the series.

Kathleen Y'Barbo is a talented author and this book does not disappoint and just proves it. There are two main characters in this book and they are very well developed. You almost feel like you are there. The few supporting characters are done well also. 

The book was an advanced reader copy so I cannot comment on the editing, but what I saw so far, it will be well done. 

The book is a Christian romance and does not disappoint. The romance part is a bit of a stretch but very well done. The Christian part is not preachy but shows that the characters believe in God. It isn't just a "clean" book but does show they are active Christians.

The plot is a very new idea to me. Starts and ends on the seas. The title does give away the ending to some degree but with a nice twist. There are a few strings that I wish were more neatly tied at the end but they do not distract from the book. It's just my opinion. 

I chose to read and review this book through Netgalley.com and I thank them for the opportunity.  I do not give a synopsis in my review as you can read that on the book description. I give you my opinion on if the book was worth reading or not. This book is worth your time and money. Enjoy.

The Pirate Bride was such a great book. It is book two in the Daughters of the Mayflower series, but it could easily be read as a standalone. The characters are just delightful, the supporting characters are endearing as well.  The book is so well written that it is hard to put down. 

Maribel Cordova is a young girl who finds herself on a ship with her Spanish, father. He has told her that her mother and grandfather have died. While on the ship Maribel, who is full of sassy personality, befriends a young man who works on her father's ship. While they are on the ship, they are approached by the "Ghost Ship" that is captained by Jean Luc. A fight between Jean Luc and Maribel's father takes place. Maribel witnesses the death of her father. She and her friend find themselves aboard the "Ghost Ship" with Jean Luc as captain. Both Maribel and her friend earn a position on the ship. While on the ship, Maribel firmly grabs Jean Luc's heart. When their ship is attacked Maribel falls off of the ship and Jean Luc is gravely injured. He believes Maribel is dead. 

Maribel is raised into womanhood in a convent by a wonderful group of nuns. She accepts a teaching position there but her sassy spirit is still firmly in place. She recalls her time on the ship fondly but has been told that that time never occurred and it is in her imagination. Jean Luc has also healed up. He has gone on with his life but his heart has not forgotten Maribel. When the two meet again years later in New Orleans, they find themselves working together to protect Maribel and to uncover family secrets. The love and affection they feel for one another rekindles and Maribel finds herself to be a pirate bride.

This book was not what I expected. Contrary to the title this book was really about a girl with a rosy view of pirates, sorry Captain, I mean privateers. Maribel is a fun child. She is spunky and well read and certainly a handful. A good portion of this book is her time at sea. At the very end she will find the Captain she knew as a child now that she is grown. The book was a fun quick read, especially the first part aboard the ship. The ending is a bit rushed and convoluted. With the information she finds there should have been more resolution with her family. Given that the book starts with a 12 year old child and a grown man it’s hard to follow the logic that they should find themselves romantically involved in the end. This book certainly did not write that in a way that made sense. Having her end up with her childhood friend would have made more sense. As she was told one should not confuse childhood feelings with that of an adult woman. This book also lacked in plot. Not much happens after the childhood adventures. It also really needed more dialogue between characters. I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read the book to the entire end.  I actually loved this book and what saved it were the characters.  The story telling itself went into excessive detail with each and every movement of the character being step by step described but I loved the characters too much to stop reading.  There were also the characters that you hate to love and you had to make sure that Karma came.  The character and plot development were exceptional and I almost felt tears at the end.  I think that in the years to come this author will be one to watch.

The enjoyable storyline of intrigue, greed, and mystery that focuses on an honest, kind-hearted privateer,  operating throughout the  Caribbean. The author does an admirable job weaving history,  government, and trade, with charity, wisdom, and kindness. Love, family, and respect round out the pirate's attributes making the ending somewhat unpredictable yet plausible.

I immensely enjoyed this book.  It was so cool being able to see the heroine Maribel Cordoba both as a child and as a young adult.  I easily grew to love her exuberance and excitement.  Seeing life as an adventure was such a fun point of view and I had difficulty putting the book down.  Jean-Luc Valmont was also easy to love.  A stern Capitan, but also a gentle and caring man, what’s not to love?  I was whisked away to another time and taken on a great adventure on the sea.  Seeing faith through the characters eyes as they lived their lives was a great reminder that He is with His children always.  This book was not what I expected, and I loved every minute of it.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Historical Romance.  The characters were unique and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them yet.  I would love to see a sequel with the secondary characters (hint hint).  I received a complementary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

I have yet to read the first book in this series but I must do so now.  This book had all of the elements I enjoy. Romance, intrigue, suspense, pirates (who doesn’t love a pirate?)., and historical fiction.  It was fun and fast paced and a great beach read.

This is a suspenseful and engrossing story. Jean Luc's is a fascinating character, he's cocky, amusing, caring and honorable. He's a lawyer who prefers to spend his life on the high seas. Maribel is bold, smart, saucy and stubborn. As a child Maribel ended up on Jean Luc's ship, where they developed a bond based on mutual respect and admiration. An accident and conspiracy separate them for years, but eventually they meet again, and the drama and intrigue heat up again. They have an unusual relationship from the beginning that is entertaining and captivating. The storyline captures your attention and the characters capture your heart.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntary opinion of it.

The Pirate Bride   (Daughters of the Mayflower #2)
by Kathleen Y’Barbo

Release Date:  April 1, 2018

My rating:  5 stars

SUMMARY:   Adventure on the high seas, privateers, a feisty heiress, and lost treasure, oh my!  What is not to love!? This second book in the Daughters of the Mayflower series can be read without reading the first. (But, if you’re into family trees, you’ll want to!)  It is now one hundred years later, and 11-year-old Mayflower descendant Maribel Cordova loves reading, particularly books about pirates and adventures.  Little does she know, she’s about to become a pirate—um, privateer—and have a great adventure!  This book covers about ten years.  I can’t say a whole lot about the story because I don’t want to give anything away.

MY THOUGHTS:   Maribel is a spitfire you’ll fall in love with.  I enjoyed this book even more than the first one, and I wasn’t expecting that.  I laughed and I sighed...I might have even shed a tear or two. It kept me turning the pages to see how it all would end. It’s a story of redemption and second chances.  This book is recommended to anyone who likes ocean adventures, pirates, or genealogy.  I’m looking forward to book 3!


===============
At my request, I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. This review reflects my honest thoughts and opinions on the book, and I received no compensation for this review.

It's been a little while since I've stayed up all night and read a book. Spring break was last week for my kids and with lots of projects and activities planned as a family, I hardly even sat down to read at all. Not even audiobooks. Well Saturday evening after all the kids were in bed, I told my hubby that I was disappearing in a book. Ha! I had just finished a collection of novellas that I read so piecemeal that I just wanted to sit and devour a book. Now, I hadn't intended to read the whole thing in one sitting. Nope. Just wanted to read a few hours and then bed. Well, that was one good intention that went out the window when I was hooked from the very beginning of this book and kept saying, "just one more chapter because I have to know what happens next." I honestly did not want to set it down and wait. And, what's more, I didn't want the book to end.

Now, I will say that there were a couple things that I wanted more clarification for and something with her father didn't quite add up, or maybe I should say, it just needed a little more info/clarification. But other than a couple very minor things, this book was wonderful! Unputdownable! I enjoyed the first book well enough, but it didn't suck me in like this one did. The story line and setting, the characters and their personalities...just loved it! I actually want to go back it pick it up again right now.

I think I might need to add a few more pirate books into my reading list in the near future. I love them. Captain Jack Sparrow, eat your heart out because captain Jean-Luc is here to save the day!

Revenge, devious characters, pirate books, precocious children, loving parents and grandparent, ships galore, Havana, New Orleans, orphanage, Nuns, Islands, cannonballs, topmast, stars, friends, slaves, rag tag band of pirates (er um, excuse me privateers), French, Spanish, enemies, scheming thieves, money, beauty, time, adventure and love.

Mirabela Cordova is pulled away from everything she knows and loves when her father tells her that her mother and grandfather are dead and she must relocate with him. Thus she finds herself crossing the ocean, caught up in a pirate attack, losing her father and joining said pirate crew. Captain Jean-Luc, leader of said pirate crew doesn't know what to do with this redhead precocious child who has his crew bowing to her every whim and willing to mutiny for her sake. 

Maribela was such a fun character. She begins the story at the age of 12 and is just a spitfire and a handful, but most importantly a good friend. She endears many hearts to her precocious ways and becomes in a way the heart of the ship. Many adventures abound until nefarious schemes are put into play and her life on the ship is turned topsy-turvy.

Jean-Luc has many secrets and will work very hard to keep them all hidden. For his safety, his family's safety, the safety of the crew, but most especially for young Maribela. When schemes come against him and he loses Maribela, his life balances on the edge of death and defeat. Years later everything he's believed and known will change by a chance encounter. But he must work quickly to uncover the plots that have been building for years if he is to have a chance to fix what was wrong.

I really enjoyed this one. Hence, me staying up all night...like ummmmmm, maybe I shouldn't tell you how late. *blushes* Ok, I stayed up until about 2:30. I just couldn't help myself. Well, actually, I read the book until 2:30 at which time I finished it. Then I laid in bed thinking over and over about it and wishing that there could be more. I wanted more, I had questions and I wanted answers. It ended in a way that worked but after growing to enjoy these characters, I wanted more. No, I didn't stomp my foot on the ground like a petulant child who didn't get their way. Although, I might have been tempted. Ha! Just kidding. I guess it's left to my imagination to decide what happens.

Something that I didn't realize when I picked up this second book (they can be read as stand alone novels-at least the first two that I have read-we'll see about the others when they come out), is that the characters are related. Maribela is the great-grandaughter of the couple from the first book. So that was a fun connection. There's just a very minor mention of them. I am excited to see if that familial connection continues on in the third book, The Captured Bride. I have the third one waiting for me as I received an ARC of it. Can't wait to read it!

Obviously I highly recommend this book for sure. A fun read that hooked me from the beginning. Some reviewers have said that they didn't get hooked until Maribela was finally in New Orleans, which is almost half way through the book. Nope, I was hooked right away. I loved her character. Innocent, naive and a spitfire that melted my heart. If you're looking at reading this series, or a couple of the books, I have to say read this one for sure! And probably the Captured Bride as well because Michelle Griep is a favorite author. This is my first full length novel by Kathleen Y'Barbo, although I think I might have read a novella by her (not positive though), but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed her writing style a lot. If you're a fan of hers then I think you'll be in for a treat with this one.

Content: Clean. Religious aspects throughout but it was not preachy. I really enjoyed how it was woven into the story and fit perfectly for the characters and time period. Mostly just talking about allowing God to judge and for us to not hold onto our anger, that he will take care of everything. Some battles, on land and sea but nothing overly graphic. There is some death. No sexual content.

I received a copy from the publisher, Barbour Publishing, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

My imagination and my heart were captured and swept out to sea on a Pirate (cough, clears throat, errr) Privateer ship! I enjoyed the action and the drama in the story. I was a greedy book dragon devouring every word! These fantastic characters will take captive of your heart.

In the beginning, I felt sad for Maribel, orphaned at a young age. Yet I cheered for her as she quickly rose above the devastation and we got to see her fiery personality and spunk. She is such an endearing character and one that will stay with you long after you finish the story.

Jean-Luc is a strong and dashing hero. Watch out ladies, he may just abscond with your heart!

This delightful, fast-paced story is sure to entertain and delight. I highly recommend you find a copy of this energetic 5-star adventure to enjoy for yourself as soon as you are able.

(I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including Netgalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own.)

This is the second book in this series, however, the only thing really connecting the two is the family tree, so you could pick this one up and not be lost at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was so good. I was surprised how long we were with Maribel as a child and not an adult, pretty much half of the book was her very young. But I understood why the more I read. It really established the relationship between Jean and Maribel.

That being said, I couldn’t wait for them to meet again when she was an adult and it did not disappoint.

This was a quick read for me because it was so engaging.

I can’t wait to read the next book (all books are by different authors).


A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley.com. All opinions are my own.

Such a fabulous read!!  It truly is an adventure story - orphans lost at sea, pirates, mistaken identities, smugglers!  This is such a rich setting in the Caribbean and New Orleans, and the characters are well-developed over the course of the story.  The story takes place over an 11-year time span, but the plot never lags.  I loved that there's a touch of romance to the story, but it's not the focus.  
Without spoiling the plot, I was sucked in completely through the cases of mistaken identity and "ships passing in the night", quite literally.  My heart went right out to the characters just begging and hoping they would find one another.  
I would also like to thank the author for characters of faith.  The characters rely on God and their faith is a significant guiding force in their decisions.  This is such a fantastic story.  I'm really enjoying seeing that the books in this series are written by different authors, but with some common characters and themes.  Each of them bring their own style to the characters, creating an intriguing series.  Looking forward to reading more!