This was a beautifully written, interesting historical novel. Based on true events, the story details the lives of lovely, talented, and determined Maria and kind, intelligent and poor Sam. They have a short romance and then the characters separate to endure much hardship.

I liked the writing and the setting but the characters, their ideas and speech patterns felt very modern to me and that often pulled me out of the story. Plus, the story was heartbreakingly sad. This is a good choice for readers of historical fiction. 4 stars.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

During a visit to Cape Cod, you would doubtless hear murmurs of Samuel (Black Sam) Bellamy and his winsome beauty, Maria (Mehitable) Brown. Myths and legends abound, but it’s worth considering that tales of the Whydah (Bellamy’s flagship) were part of the legends until she and her sunken treasure were discovered in 1984. Rueckert has woven detailed research into a romance between Sam and Maria in a bid to explain Sam’s known actions. Having been pressed into service at age eight, Sam is now laid off along with thousands of Navy sailors in 1715, and needs another commission. Maria, a well-known Eastham beauty, catches his eye, they fall in love, and he asks for her hand in marriage. Spurned by her parents, he signs onto Paulsgrave Williams’ treasure-hunting expedition, later goes on the account, befriends Benjamin Hornigold, and is made commodore of the Whydah in 1716 by a wide-margin vote. Maria is forced into marriage with an older man and is trapped in a series of tragic events.

This is an exciting, action-filled clean romance with the added attraction of high seas adventure. I have a few niggles: telling rather than showing kept me emotionally distanced from the settings. One example: Sam issues an order in a howling gale ferocious enough to snap the main mast, but the difficulty of speaking isn’t felt in the narrative. Historical detail is light in places where I would have liked to know and feel more. There is occasional melodrama, and much as I wanted to be on the Whydah with Sam, I am not sure I could have weathered his introspective whining. Readers who enjoy romantic suspense and tales of pirates, albeit polite ones who carry weapons they rarely use, will relish this. Overall, a fast-paced and satisfying read.

This book is a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean, the Scarlet Letter, and the Witch Trials. I loved the love story between Maria and Sam (based on a true story)but it was a slow-burn read for me and I started losing interest halfway through the book. It seemed like everything was getting worse for the two love birds and that they would never be reunited. Even weeks later I’m not sure how I feel about the book. Discussion questions are included for book clubs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The girl just dove off the pier right before his eyes. She doesn’t sink right away; she ventures farther afield until her strength gives out. That’s when he jumps in and rescues her.

Maria Brown (also known as Goody or Mehitable) just wants to learn to swim. She’s been teaching herself, but those lessons can only go so far. Swimming allows a sense a freedom, something which is nearing an end. At seventeen, she should be married, but she’s learned that resisting is futile. Sooner or later, she will have to marry John Hallett and her life will no longer be her own.

Samuel Bellamy should be looking for a job now that the war has ended and the Royal Navy has released him from service. But jobs on Cape Cod are few and there’s something about the beautiful girl he saves that speaks to him. It’s as if they are kindred souls. To see her again, he offers to give her swimming lessons.

Despite the risk to her reputation, Maria takes him up on his offer. The time they spend together is precious, and Sam’s unique way of looking at life stirs long-buried ideas within her. Still, the clock ticks closer to the inevitable period when their paths will diverge. She already knows her future, or at least she thinks she does. For Sam, he’s offered a chance to acquire riches enough to convince Maria’s father that he deserves to wed Maria instead of the prosperous and influential Hallett. Waiting in the wings, however, is Maria’s mother. She’s determined that her daughter will follow a straight and righteous path, one where Maria will not have to endure what she has. Before long, choices are made – ones that cannot be undone – and their paths are forever altered in ways neither expects.

Rueckert masterfully whisks together historical facts with legend and lore to create a spellbinding and realistic tale that breathes new life into Maria Hallett and Sam Bellamy. Along the way, we experience the cruelties and hardships of social life on Cape Cod, as well as the desperateness that drives people toward alternatives they might never have pursued otherwise. If the Tide Turns takes place between 1715 and 1717, and readers meet real life pirates such as Paulsgrave Williams, Henry Jennings, Benjamin Hornigold, Edward Teach, John Julian, and John King (the youngest known pirate). Time and again, the story transports readers with its you-are-there sensation. Even if you know the story of Sam and Maria, Rueckert will make you think again. Unexpected twists and harsh realities are deftly entwined with hope and aspirations to create a story of enduring love.

“They fear what they do not understand.”

This story is told in third person alternating points of view following two characters on their separate journeys after their initial relationship hits a roadblock and circumstances lead them in different directions for a prolonged period. There’s a romantic element but most of the timeline is spent apart in separate stories with no contact. I switched between the ebook and the audiobook which was narrated by Pilar Witherspoon. This was my first time listening to this narrator and I enjoyed her pleasant tone.

This is another one of those books where had I lived at the time, I would have been burned as a witch at some point during the story. It takes place in a small community in Massachusetts beginning in 1715. I really enjoyed Maria’s story though at times I was rather perplexed by the conflicting sentiments and actions of her parents as well as a sister who comes in and out of the story disapproving at will. Maria was a woman with obvious interests and pursuits that did not benefit a woman living during those times, so shortly after the events of Salem. She falls for a boy that her parents deem inappropriate and puts all her unwavering faith in his promises, sometimes to her detriment.

I also enjoyed the story of Sam as he leaves the community in search of his fortune so that he may come back for Maria and make a life with her. Unfortunately, his path to earning his fortune takes a turn towards piracy, which I loved reading about. He has encounters with Blackbeard and others that delighted my pirate-loving heart. I had only a cursory knowledge of Samuel Bellamy before reading this fictional account of his exploits, but I really enjoyed learning more about him.

Recommended to historical fiction lovers who enjoy stories of the early colonies and pirates.

Thank you to Netgalley, Kensington Books, and Recorded Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

I didn’t know anything about this book before reading. This book quickly hooked me in with the FMC. She is strong and determined to live the life she wants, I loved the MMC because he encouraged her and wanted to be better for their future. This novel also made me cry and see how true forgiveness can help people. One of my favorite reads of the year.

If The Tide Turns
By: Rachel Rueckert

4 Stars

This was a story of romance, survival, and hope. Maria meets Sam and it seems to be love at first site. Swimming lessons, times on the dunes, and passion find these two until life pulls them apart. Sam leaves and becomes a pirate, promising to go home only when he can be enough for his Maria. While he is away, she finds herself facing many obstacles that change her. Only time will tell if these two will be together again.

This was such a good story. Maria is her own hero. She survives despite so much pain, neglect, and sorrow. This was a book that tells the untold story of two lost figures of history. Full of history, drama, pirates, danger, and redemption this book was an awesome read. Interesting characters with a well written and researched storyline will hook any reader, as it did with me.

*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

'Such wild vastness, possibility and danger. Adventure and misadventure. Everything she shouldn't feel drawn to as a girl'.

It's 1715 in Eastham, Massachusetts and at 17 years of age, Maria Brown is discontent. She knows her parents are already plotting to arrange a 'good' marriage for her. She knows that this was always to be her fate but as she basks in the frigid Atlantic, gazing toward the endless horizon, she can't help to feel bereft at the thought, 'true freedom means living the life you want to live, not the life others have decided for you'. A chance meeting with a kindred spirit, young sailor, Sam Bellamy, ignites this nameless yearning, intertwining their destiny yet propelling them on different tangents. Maria quickly learns that these are still very dangerous times for an independent-thinking woman and Sam becomes infamous. This is a story of searching for freedom, and its cost.

I so wish this story's endnotes were written as a preface. Often, after I read historical fiction, I'm delighted by the endnotes; exploring the author's inspiration and research, as well as getting a better account for what has been presented as true and what has been left out or altered. However, in 'If the Tide Turns' these notes reveal so much about the type of person Sam Bellamy (Blackbeard) seemed to be, it utterly changed how I regarded the book. What I read as anachronisms of his thinking, and therefore a detraction to the story, were founded in fact. Game changer.

'I am bone tired of the world how it is, how it tramples people in the name of progress'.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. At first glance, I thought it was YA, then I thought it was a pirate romance, then I realized it was not only adult, but SUPER sad, and basically about two people living completely different lives for two years after a brief romance. The writing is good, and both stories are interesting and compelling. However, after reading the author's note, I wish that she had taken more liberties with this entirely fictional account to make it more romantic/dynamic than "we met, we got together for a minute, now we're separate until the last few chapters." Because their time together felt so short, I didn't get to connect with them as a couple, but their individual stories were filled with drama. There was a lot of sadness for each of them, and I definitely was more interested in Sam and his journey to piracy. Seeing Maria be beat down by almost everyone around her was difficult, especially as she suffered loss after loss. A well-written story that suffers from unfulfilled expectations and a confusing first act.

This novel immerses the reader into the aftermath of the Salem witch trials and into the piracy of the 1700’s. It is a moving and poignant tale of forbidden love, social justice and freedom. The writing is atmospheric, with vivid descriptions.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Calling all pirate story lovers! And lovers of stories about early colonial America too. If The Tide Turns will satisfy both with this fictionalized version of the life of Samuel Bellamy and his reputed love interest Maria/Mehitable Brown. So if you’re a fan of star-crossed lover stories, this will also appeal to you!

I was sucked into the story right from the start. The time is 1715 to 1717, when despite decades having passed since the Salem Witch Trials, there was still widespread belief in witches and very strict religious and societal pressures to conform in the Massachusetts Bay colony. Maria’s parents want her to marry a much older widower, a wealthy and influential man in their town. Maria absolutely does not want to do this! She was a wonderfully independent spirit, which was not an easy road for a woman in that place and time. (She wants to learn to swim, GASP!) A lot of the story takes place on Cape Cod, in the area in around Eastham and Wellfleet. Once Sam sets out as a pirate, we get to travel with him to various Caribbean locations. Life aboard ship and daily life in Eastham are described so well that I had no trouble picturing them.

Many real historical figures show up in these pages, including famous names like Cotton Mather and Edward Teach (“Blackbeard”), as well as less widely known ones. We get a bit of information about how the indigenous people were treated and how the colonists destroyed the environment on the Cape, turning meadows into farms with methods that depleted the soil and turned many areas into sand. I enjoyed having the perspective of the fictional Abiah, and appreciated learning about the Wampanoag people. While we follow Sam’s travels, we come across the evils of slavery.

The chapters alternate between Maria’s POV and Sam’s.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient, and allowed me to continue with the story even when I could not sit down and read - or when I could not listen. The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Pilar Witherspoon.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book and to Recorded Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to a review copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

When Kensington Books asked me to write a blurb for Rachel Rueckert’s debut novel, I jumped at the opportunity. Although I don’t read many romance novels, I do enjoy stories that take place in or near the water. The feel of the salty breeze and the mist stinging your face---that sort of thing. Set during the waning days of the Golden Age of Pirates (1689-1718; who knew there was such a thing?), If the Tide Turns is the “captivating true story of real-life pirate Samuel Bellamy, combining high seas adventure, star-crossed longing, surprisingly timely questions about social justice and freedom, and the emotionally satisfying tale of one strong-willed young woman
determined to choose her own path.”

This is the blurb I wrote: “Two lovers, separated by their stations in life, fight their way back to each other’s arms. On land and on the sea, Sam and Maria overcome the hardships of the mid-1700s. Rueckert’s new novel is a tale of daring, courage, aching loneliness and two people willing to face any obstacles to be together.”

It’s 1715 in Eastham, Massachusetts. Maria Brown is the beautiful, hard-headed daughter of a wealthy family who has arranged a marriage for her. She doesn’t want any part of the much older (shall we just say old?), also wealthy and abusive John Hallett.

Maria has her heart set on a young, orphaned sailor, Sam Bellamy. They met as Sam had been laid-off (yes, laid-off from his previous ship when it docked and no longer needed his services) and searched for another ship. The two are drawn together. Sam to Maria for her beauty and her self-determination. Maria to Sam for his idealistic opinions. The two are smitten with each other. Sam wants to marry her, but her father forbids it, in fact banishing him from their home. Maria, characteristically, vows to wait for him, to wait until he can make his fortune and offer everything her father deems, she should have.

Eager for success, Sam becomes involved with a pirate ship. But Sam isn’t your ordinary run-of-the-mill pirate. He is only interested in taking other ships’ bounties, not lives nor ships. His reputation as a “nice” pirate precedes him.

Maria leaves home, bent on following him from port to port. It’s a dangerous path she has chosen--- a woman traveling alone.

If the Tide Turns has all the aspects of a swashbuckling delightful read as Sam and Maria fight for their love. If the Tide Turns gets 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

This is my first book by this author. I thought the story started off strong. It is a well written historical romance fiction involving a dual POV between Sam and Maria. It was set in a time (1700s) when women were being ostracized for stepping outside the typical norms of society. Examples of Unwed mother and being considered a witch. I enjoyed the historical look at that era, but I had issues connecting with the characters.
Thank you NetGalley, Rachel Rueckert and Kensington Books for providing me a copy of the ARC for an honest review.

If The Tide Turns by Rachel Ruekert
Stars: 5

I am fully in my pirate days at the moment apparently. Just as I was finishing Woodward’s Republic of Pirates and Gibbin’s History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks, I saw this book on NetGalley. The tagline read “A Thrilling Historical Novel of Piracy and Life After the Salem Witch Trials” and I thought, fun, swashbuckling adventures and just requested it without reading the blurb. I received both the audio and the ebook and so I began immersing myself in the world of Sam Bellamy and Maria Brown.

The book covers a short time period, 1715 to 1718, and alternates between Maria and Sam’s POV; these two meet, fall in love, and then part, vowing to reunite in a year. Sam promises to return to Maria after he has made his fortune, so they can live together, free from the censure of the town of Eastham on Cape Cod. But in their time apart, Sam becomes one of the most famous pirates of his time. And Maria must endure the shame and banishment that comes to one who steps outside the conventional norms in Puritan society. Woven through their tale is the story of the land that was taken by the white settlers from the Indigenous peoples all throughout Massachusetts. The treatment of not just the Wampanoags themselves but the very land they had lived on for centuries is a shameful reminder of our settler past.

So I went into this expecting pirate raids and a fun story. I came away with an ache in my heart for what women and people of color had to, and continue to have to, endure when they don’t “stay in their lane.” The what could-have-beens associated with Bellamy’s crew and their desire to establish as a pirate republic made me sad for the world that took too long to abolish the slave trade and slavery itself. As a woman, the ostracization that Maria experienced because she wanted different things than she was told to want, how her vibrancy and curiosity was treated as a determent, even an evil, is hard to read. Maria may or may not have been real, but what she experienced could not have been unique to her in the eighteenth century and the fortitude she exhibits is the heart of this story, one that I hope many people will have a chance to read.

This book has moved me more than I can say and I am going to be singing its praises to everyone! And since I live not too far from Provincetown, I will be making a trip to see the wreck of the Whydah and heading again to Wellfleet to start at Marconi Beach and stare out into the sea and imagine their story.

The Golden Age of Piracy. Salem Witch Trials.

High seas pirate king Samuel Bellamy is bewitched with beautiful and strong-willed Maria Brown. This novel sang to me of social justice and how badly two entwined fates can get so brutally twisted awry from one another.

Wealthy families and disloyal mothers. Sea ports and ships and gossiping wives tales. A forced marriage with an old horrible man because a beautiful soul grows within the womb of a heartsick woman, close to being disowned by parents embarrassed by her love.

A sister who refuses to give up. Whipping and breathless babes. A deceitful, lying letter. Raging waves, stealing the lives that are thrown overboard a ship of a man who left his heart behind. Storms rage on whilst a jilted lover bears the pain of lives lost and the sting of torture marrs her backside.

The power of faith and the power of love keeps a strong woman alive in a cold bitter world content to excommunicate her. A surprising alliance and friendship saves her, unwilling to leave her struggling and gives her purpose, rather than just surviving.

The will of Maria gripped me and I could not look away from this book for a moment. Her tenacity and unwillingness to give up, how she kept going inspired me in my daily life. She is a survivor, with or without the man she swore to never give up on, even when the world stopped at nothing to convince her of his absence.

This is a difficult book to read, with the loss and the tragedy and the torture. It was hard to read, though I am glad I did. I recommend readers finish this book at least once. It is inspiring and encouraging, despite the darkness the world insists upon us as humans. 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rachel Rueckert for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for If the Tide Turns coming out March 26, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I love pirate stories! So the plot sounded really fun. I thought it started off really well. I loved that Sam was teaching Maria how to swim. I’m not sure how much time really passed, but it was a little too instalove for me. I think the parents weren’t as fleshed out as I thought they’d be. I’m not really sure what their motives were. They seemed to hate their daughters for little reason. There was certainly a lot of tragedy. I don’t want to give anything away, but at times it felt like Sam was having all the fun. I didn’t really enjoy that for Maria and what she had to go through. There was also a lot of time spent apart. I would’ve liked to see a little more adventure together. I liked the story, but wasn’t in love with it. I would check out other books by this author though.

Overall, this is a well written book of historical fiction that tells the story of Sam Bellamy and Maria- two star crossed lovers, based on a mix of historical facts, myths and suppositions, intent on highlighting the desperate and disparate positions of marginalized people in the era of piracy and colonialization in the US.
Sam meets Maria, a woman who's intent on having a few experiences before she must settle down and marry a much older and very uninteresting man who has high standing in her very religious colonial community. He teaches her swimming, they come to love each other, and because of his lack of standing, he leaves on a fool's errand in an attempt at a chance at "quick cash". Unfortunately he leaves Maria pregnant and unmarried, and in the age of bad communication options, this is not a good thing at all (cue storm clouds). Maria hastily marries, and eventually miscarries forcing her to face the shame and punishments heaped on women in that time. After a brave escape, she exiles herself and learns the hard lessons of survival. All the while, Sam becomes Black Sam Bellamy- a feared pirate, which he also feels is somewhat shameful, but needed for his survival. Will the two ever meet again? You'll have to read to find out!
The book had a bit of a YA feel to it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, in general I felt like things were possibly made more black and white than the likely actuality of anyone's situation, which made the story very easy to follow, but made it feel as if it lacked a certain depth, and the writing seemed to be at exactly the 8th grade level, which is not to say it wasn’t good, it just seemed sort of perfect for YA.
This book would make a good book club book, it's a fast, easy read with lots of action and adventure to engage the reader. It lends itself easily to topics of discussion of equality, conformity, justice, and community.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF'd at 25%

2.5 out of 5*s
I liked the idea of this book but honestly it was just too mundane for me. The story was so hard to stay engaged with because nothing ever made me go "omg I want to keep reading to find out what happens". The book is split up into 4 sections & through the first section only one kind of big thing happened but the outcome didn't push me to continue. I did continue up until the second chapter of the second part where I just felt like I lost all interest. Another thing that wasn't pushing me to finish was the fact that Sam & Maria are supposed to be madly in love but you really don't feel any connection between them at all & everything about them is very very surface level. I really wanted to love it but it was just not it for me.

Pirates! Based on the life of Sam Bellamy, it's an interesting look at piracy in the 1700s but also at the lives of women in the period. Maria, who fall in love with Sam, is struggling against the expectations of her father and her Cape Cod community, An adventure and a love story all at once, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

This was an interesting story set in a time when suspicions about people practicing witchcraft was very much a part of life. The main character , Maria, is determined to have fun before she ends up in a marriage her father wants for her with an older man who has basically cheated her family. Maria's father, I'm sure, is hoping for a better relationship at the expense of the daughter he adores.It all changes when maria falls in love with a younger, penniless male, and refuses to do what her father wants. .

Well written with good details.