Pam Godwin is a dark romance writer who doesn't really pull punches. Her brand of "dark" isn't just a guy who kidnaps a girl and then they fall in love without any real pain, she isn't writing about white slavery where the slaver falls for the woman he procured. There is real pain, both physical and emotional here. However, if you can handle it, you will be rewarded with a great story about love, friendship, redemption, forgiveness, and not letting go of your dignity despite overwhelming odds. Read the list of my shelves to get a better picture. I do have a lot of spoilers in general on the shelves but not so many that the plot is ruined.

The overall list of spoilers are:

Physical: Intense scenes of totrure, abuse and rape for both the heroine and other women who are slaves being transported

Emotional: complicated romantic relationships, falling in love with another person while married/separated with another. Some might say cheating, but others might be more fogiving because it is on the side of the heroine and not the hero (although he cheated in the past). ( )

5 Solid Stars!

I LOVED IT!
This would make a Great Movie!
The steam, adventure every detail about this story is
Sheer Perfection!

Oh how I hope to get more in this series.
After all, it does say #1, so looking forward to a #1! ( )

5 stars

I will need to mull this gook over until I can process my thought. I'd all historical romance was written this way I would never of stopped reading it. Female pirates, mystery, angs, some triggering events, AND a love triangle in more ways than one? Hell yeah. This author knocked it out of the park. ( )

Dang, that was a ride. I really wasn't entirely certain what to expect going in, and even over halfway through I still wasn't sure what a happy ending would even look like for these characters! But it really grabbed me. I didn't want to stop reading it, and my mind rolled it around when I wasn't reading. TW for everything- rape, suicide, torture, imprisonment, lots of grisly details of violence. The heroine makes some rash/reckless decisions that are unwise sometimes, but she's also strong, and brave, and loyal to her people, and that made up for a lot. At one point her affections developed at lightning speed and with very little reason to earn it, and the villains all seem to be sadistic psychopaths of evil rather than more dimensional characters. But still, like I said, it was kind of captivating to watch unfold. Sometimes like a car crash!, lol, but other times just as an engaging story. ( )

All the stars!

Great action, great characters, great sex, and an enjoyable, if somewhat predictable plot arc. And brutal darkness. These are not PG movie pirates and their lives are awash in violence, torture, mutilation, death and despair, all of which I felt thanks to author Pam Godwin's superb storytelling. ( )