Although the idea of a story within a story is a good one, there are too many disjointed time gaps.. Plus, a Christian theme is awkwardly knitted within the story which somehow does not totally work.. Fun read but not enough characterization and lack of time sequencing, made this a disappointment..

Step back into the 1800s when Pirates roamed the China Sea while time-traveling to present times in Echoes Over Stormy Sea: Dual-Time Odyssey Book 1 by R. F. Whong! As the COVID-19 Pandemic begins, Debra finds herself stuck in Hong Kong after her famous Author Father’s funeral. Unable to return to the US to work on her Ph.D., Debra finds herself tasked with finishing her Father’s last novel. As Debra delves into her Father’s book and research, readers are transported to the high seas meeting Yi-Lan, a girl who has grown up on the high seas in a world of Pirates. Yi-Lan’s Father has been wanting to marry her off for years, but Yi-Lan will only marry if her husband-to-be beats her in 2 out of 3 challenges. Po-Tsai, a man whose Father captain’s a large fleet of ships, accepts Yi-Lan’s challenges and conquers them, uniting in marriage with Yi-Lan by the end of day. As Debra is going through her Father’s notes, Debra is dealing with grief of her Father and the life she left behind in the States, including her fiancé. Trying to deal everything in her life, Debra leans into her Faith and the lessons she’s learning through her Father’s writings and research.

I love the stories that R.F. Whong brings to Christian Fiction and the perspective she brings to them–and Echoes Over Stormy Sea is no different! The synopsis of Echoes Over Stormy Sea is what drew me to the book–mainly because of the Pirate aspect. I loved being swept into the culture of Hong Kong and Pirates! I love meeting Debra and Yi-Lan, but Po-Tsai was my favorite to meet due to his sweet demeanor and steadfastness in his convictions. I love learning about the culture of Pirates and Hong Kong. I liked learning neat facts–such as how “Rock, Paper, Scissors” came to be. I liked the dual-time aspect of the book and I felt that it flowed well. I also like that even though parts of the story happened off page, Ms. Whong wrote Echoes Over Stormy Sea in such a way that the Reader didn’t miss out on anything. Ms. Whong wrote the pirate scenes so vividly that I felt like I was on the high seas with the characters! I like how Debra learned from her Faith and her mistakes, doing her best to do what’s right and taking the time to make the right decision. I also like how Ms. Whong wove Christianity into the 1800s timeline, showing how Christianity made it into Hong Kong. Ms. Whong also put a warning in the book due to how some of the war scenes could trigger others and I appreciated that that was done. I highly recommend Echoes Over Stormy Sea: Dual-Time Odyssey Book 1 by R. F. Whong!

Have you read Echoes Over Stormy Sea? What did you think of the book?

I would like to thank R.F. Whong for giving me a copy of Echoes Over Stormy Sea to read and review as well as giving me the information I needed for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My review is also on my blog Leslie's Library Escape and Goodreads..