Swept to Sea

Heather
Manning
Genre: 
Inspirational

Lady Eden Trenton is terrified of her fiancé, Lord Rutger, for good reason and has the bruises to prove it. When her father and friends don't believe her claims she does the only thing she can.  She runs.  She stows away on a ship she prays is bound for Port Royal in the Caribbean. Captain Caspian Archer, a sea captain recently turned from pirating to being a privateer bent on revenge, finds her in the hold of his ship. With his young son on board, Caspian obviously has a soft spot.

Ms. Manning has a knack for feminine characters who are well drawn and life-like, however the men sometimes take on those female attributes with their wordy dialogues and unsubstantiated judgments. There are some redundancies, inconsistencies, and actions not true to characters or time period. For example, Manning reminds us that Lady Eden is a lady and yet the author continually takes unladylike privileges with the unruffled character and the plot tends to feel as though it is a contemporary romance set in Historical times. Giving the reader more of Caspian's thoughts would also have added more depth and understanding. Manning does a beautiful job of describing unsettling scenes without being overly graphic, a task whose balance deserves praise. Although the resolution feels somewhat cliché,  the story is tender and well designed overall.  This is a sweet read whenever a quick escape is needed!

Shaunna Gonzales