Today's Special - - The Rebel Pirate Blog Tour

The Rebel Pirate
Renegades of the Revolution - Book 2
By Donna Thorland
Publisher: NAL
Release Date: March 4, 2014

Secrets, betrayals, intrigue, heartbreak, love, loyalty, hope.  All are themes in play in Donna Thorland's fascinating new novel, The Rebel Pirate.  Set in 1775 in Colonial Massachusetts, the story plays out against the backdrop of the tumultuous days leading up to the American Revolution.

The daughter of a notorious pirate, Sarah Ward wants only to care for her family and begin a secure, respectable life as the beloved wife of successful merchant Micah Wild.  But when Sarah's family loses their fortune, Micah breaks her heart by marrying her best friend then puts Sarah and her younger brother in danger by smuggling arms and Rebel gold aboard one of her father's ships. When that ship is overtaken by a British ship it is only through the quick thinking of Sarah, disguised as a boy, that the tables are turned.

Master and Commander James Sparhawk is a well-respected British Naval officer but not without his enemies, most notably his second in command.  When James makes the decision to avoid bloodshed by sending the captured gold back to his ship with his lieutenant and crew, he places himself in the gun-holding hands of Sarah Ward and her promise that he'll be put ashore unharmed at the first port.  What he doesn't know at the time is that the gold will go missing with the blame being cast on James and labeling both him and Sarah as traitors to the Crown.

As Sarah and James grow closer their loyalties are put to the test.  Loyalty to opposing sides in the coming war and loyalty to one another. Sarah's father's health is deteriorating, she suspects one brother is involved in secret Rebel activities while the other is at risk of being impressed into the British Navy.  They are her priority and keeping them safe is paramount.  She's falling for James as he is for her but he cannot offer her marriage.  His name is not his own to give away and if he chooses to publicly reveal his true identity  it could place Sarah in danger.  When James is imprisoned and Sarah is at risk of the same, rescue and protection come from an unexpected source and difficult decisions must be made.  Caught between British officials and Colonial rebels, between the reality of their present and the secrets of their pasts, they must play both sides in a dangerous game to have any hope of avoiding the hangman's noose.  But there are still twists and turns, secrets, betrayals and unexpected revelations that will test the strength of their feelings and lead to a heart-stopping conclusion.

Donna Thorland is a master at creating a sense of time and place.  In The Rebel Pirate, she plunges the reader into the heart of a country on the precipice of war in a winner take all fight for independence. Her writing is crisp, the action realistic and well paced with vividly drawn characters who fairly leap from the page.  Thorland seamlessly interweaves real people and historical events with fiction to create a compelling story that captured me from the start and had me flipping pages as fast as I could until I reached the very satisfying conclusion.  In fact, her fictional characters and events blend so effortlessly with real ones that after reading one of her books, I expect to open a history book and find them listed in its pages.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Donna Thorlands's books The Turncoat (read my review here) and The Rebel Pirate.  If you haven't tried her Renegades of the Revolution yet, I highly recommend both.

~PJ

What about you, readers?  Do you enjoy books set in Colonial America?  Have you read Donna Thorland's books yet?  Are there other books set in this time and place that you would recommend?

One randomly chosen person leaving a comment will receive a copy of The Rebel Pirate.  (U.S. address only)


Following is a short Q&A with Donna Thorland:

What made you decide to write the Renegades of the Revolution series?

I wanted to read a swashbuckler set in 18^th century America but no one was writing them.

How is THE REBEL PIRATE different from the first book in the series, THE

TURNCOAT? Do you think the novels work just as well alone as together?

Both novels are standalones. THE REBEL PIRATE takes place earlier in the Revolution, when no one on either side of the conflict was quite sure if they were at war or not. What they share is strong heroines and a view of the American Revolution as a civil war rife with forgotten intrigues. They do work well together, and also share some background characters: both historical, and invented.

        What inspired the character of Sarah Ward? What about James Sparhawk?

When I worked at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem I managed the interpretation of our historic houses. (http://pem.org/visit/historic_houses) It was in intimate window into the lives of 18^th century women in a privateer port, and when I started to write THE REBEL PIRATE I drew on that experience. The Crowninshield-Bentley House in particular served as a model for Sarah Ward’s home.

http://mass.historicbuildingsct.com/?p=1958

James is part Alexander Hamilton, whose childhood—and probable bastardy—on Nevis shaped his character and formed his revolutionary ideals. And James is also a little bit James Annesley, the heir to the Earl of Angelsey whose story inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped.

Other stops on Donna Thorland's The Rebel Pirate blog tour:

BLOG TOUR DATE	BLOG
March 3	Bitten by Books http://bittenbybooks.com/
March 4	Fresh Fiction http://www.freshfiction.com/
March 5	Book Binge http://bookbinge.com/
March 6	My Book Addiction and more http://www.mybookaddictionandmore.com/
March 10	Writer Space https://www.writerspace.com/
March 11	Romance Dish http://www.theromancedish.com/
March 12	The Royal Review http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/
March 13	Savvy Verse and Wit http://savvyverseandwit.com/
March 14	The Maiden’s Court http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/

Review - - The Turncoat

The Turncoat
Renegades of the Revolution - Book 1
By Donna Thorland
Publisher:  NAL
Release Date:  March 5, 2013



1777 Philadelphia

Kate Grey is a sheltered young Quaker woman with no taste for war.  Well educated, she enjoys debating strategy with her father and stays informed of the facts surrounding the fight for freedom but all that is far from her county home...until the night Peter Tremayne and his British troops show up at her front door.  Smitten with the handsome young officer, Kate feels the first stirrings of desire and is on the verge of succumbing to his seduction when a Rebel raiding party sends Peter and his troops back into the night.  Unbeknownst to Kate, "Aunt Angela," a master spy in whose care her father left her when he re-joined Washington's Army, has stolen military plans that Peter was carrying, sending Angela and a reluctant Kate fleeing into the night as well.  Events that follow open Kate's eyes to some harsh realities and by the time they reach General Washington, Kate is ready to offer her services to the cause.

Narrowly escaping a court martial and hanging after the theft of the military dispatches he was carrying, Major Peter Tremayne, Lord Sancreed, returns to Philadelphia after several months with orders to find the woman who betrayed him.  It's the only way he can redeem himself with his British superiors.  He never named Kate while being interrogated, focusing instead on Angela even though he believes both women guilty.    Still, he's sickened by the idea that he could be the cause of either woman being captured, almost undoubtedly tortured and ultimately hanged, especially Kate, the young woman who still lingers in his mind.  At least she is safe on her father's country farm.  Or so he thinks.  When he attends a ball given by General Howe, he's shocked to come face to face with Lydia Dare, a glamorous, sophisticated woman who is engaged to his cruel cousin; a woman Peter knows as sweet, unassuming Kate Grey.

Thorland has captured a tumultuous time in the history of the United States when ordinary citizens risked their safety, their reputations, their very lives by spying for the Rebels in America's fight for independence.   By the time Peter returns to Philadelphia, Kate has been trained, socially polished and is firmly entrenched as one of General Washington's most effective spies.  The initial attraction between them remains and feelings grow as they spend time in each other's company yet they remain firmly on opposite sides of the war with duty and desire battling for supremacy. It's a dangerous game they play, both politically and privately, with high stakes and the potential for deadly consequences around every corner.

I'm fascinated by this period in my country's history.  In my opinion, there aren't nearly enough books set during the American Revolution. Thorland has created a fascinating heroine who, while not a real person, is based on female spies who were instrumental in gathering information for the American side during the Revolution.  Kate, who at first seems a straight-forward, intelligent but naive young woman, is slowly revealed to be a complex, extraordinary patriot who gives her all for her country, at times with devastating consequences.  While there is definitely a romance and an eventual happy ending, it's Kate who kept me riveted to the pages rather than the couple of Kate and Peter.  The actions of the villains are true to time and place and Thorland, to her credit, presents realistic (though sometimes difficult to read) scenes rather than a modern, sanitized version of events.  Thorland also skillfully weaves her main fictional characters with real people (George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, British spymaster John André and more) and a richly detailed secondary cast to bring us a fast-paced story filled with historically accurate intrigue, betrayal and heart-stopping suspense.

I received a copy of The Turncoat from NAL in exchange for an honest review.  One person leaving a comment will be randomly chosen to receive that copy.  

Do you enjoy books set during the American Revolution?  In what location / period of time would you like to see more romances set?

~PJ