Review + Giveaway: The Rogue Pirate’s Bride
Today, I’m reviewing Shana Galen’s recent release, THE ROGUE PIRATE’S BRIDE and giving away the ARC!!
THE ROGUE PIRATE’S BRIDE
The Marquis de Valère escaped certain death in the French Revolution and is now an infamous privateer. Out to avenge the death of his mentor, Bastien discovers himself astonishingly out of his depth when confronted with a beautiful, daring young woman who is out for his blood…
Forgiveness is unthinkable, but it may be her only hope…
British Admiral’s daughter Raeven Russell believes Bastien responsible for her fiancé’s death. But once the fiery beauty crosses swords with Bastien, she’s not so sure she really wants him to change his wicked ways…
Buy:
IndieBound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
“Readers seeking wildly exciting escapades, nonstop action, rapier-sharp repartee and a heated romance need look no further.”
—Kathe Robin, RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 stars, Top Pick!
“The highborn swashbuckling hero and the resourceful, fearless admiral’s daughter make an unusual, intriguing couple, and steamy romance heats up the pages.”
—Publishers Weekly
My Thoughts:
The mark of a truly talented writer is not seeing their mark at all. Fantastic writing takes years of hard work and perfected skills. A fantastic writer makes it all look effortless. Shana Galen shows that kind of talent in the pages of this fabulous February release, THE ROGUE PIRATE’S BRIDE.
This is the third book in Sons of the Revolution series, but the first that I’ve read, so let me tell you now, you will thoroughly enjoy this book even if you have not read the first two. In fact, I venture to say you might even enjoy it more.
As a lover and eternal student of writing craft, it’s rare to find a book that takes me away. Consciously or unconsciously, I look for style, technique, voice. Within a few pages, I knew Shana Galen’s THE ROGUE PIRATE’S BRIDE had it all. But I quickly discovered it had one hell of a lot more, too. I read this book from the first page to the last and couldn’t tell you where I stopped noticing all Shana’s clever techniques, because I lost myself in Raeven and Bastien’s world.
The book begins with a heroine I couldn’t help but love—spunky, determined, courageous and foolish in the name of love, which I found completely endearing. Raeven believes Bastian, the hero, has killed her fiancé in a battle at sea and is determined to avenge his death. Bastian is impossibly intriguing. Dark and mysterious, dubbed a pirate, he is definitely in that yummy bad boy class. He’s strong and capable, arrogant and cunning. Together the two shoot sparks across the pages.
With chemistry like that, Shana’s got a hot start. But Shana amps the sexual tension when Bastien tires of Raeven’s diligence and takes her as a prisoner of sorts to play cabin girl for him aboard his ship. The combination of the interplay between the characters and the situation is fabulous fun – and never a dull moment when Raeven, the clever sprite, escapes the ship.
When the two meet again, Raeven still bent on revenge and Bastien searching for the man who killed his mentor, the two collide in another burst of lusty sparks and quick wit. Adventure, snarky dialogue and hilarious situations ensue as they are chased by Bastien’s enemies, and ultimately Raeven is caught up in Bastien’s personal fight.
But Bastien’s got another fight on his hands because not only is Raeven is a spit-fire who pushes all his buttons and challenges him in ways no other woman ever has, but she’s the daughter of a British Navy Admiral who will stop at nothing to get his daughter back from this thieving pirate.
While the entire book skipped at a fantastic pace, the last third was a can’t-turn-the-pages-fast-enough read. Shana writes action with skill, turns plot in unexpected and thrilling ways and designs fresh and fascinating characters.
One intriguing twist to Bastien’s background – if you’ve read the first two books in this series, Sons of the Revolution, you already know what this is – which is developed toward the end of the book unravels into a thoroughly satisfying conclusion, providing not just a happily ever after, but a nearly fairytale ending I found extremely fulfilling.
THE ROGUE PIRATE’S BRIDE is a true romantic adventure—fun, fresh and fascinating.
About Shana: I’m the author of numerous adventurous, romantic Regency historicals, including the Rita-nominated Blackthorne’s Bride. My books have been sold in Brazil, Russia, and the Netherlands and featured in the Rhapsody and Doubleday Book Clubs. I taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner city.
Now I write full time. I’m happily married to an incredibly supportive man I like to call Ultimate Sportsfan, and I have a beautiful daughter and a very spoiled cat.
Computers and Gadgets
>So, you all know that my laptop was stolen and I lost a bunch of valuable stuff…yadda, yadda. Old news.
Well, yesterday, when my daughter’s computer wouldn’t boot up (the one I spent hours fixing and am using until my new laptop comes – now not until the beginning of the year) I had a horrible flashback of losing the one chapter I had rewritten of the new WIP.
That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I headed to the stores. Couldn’t write anyway…right?
I had been researching netbooks, trying to decide whether or not I wanted to forgo the heavy, clunky laptops and get a little mini notebook instead, and ultimately decided against it. So, I had some basic knowledge of there makeups–overall quite similar.
I live in a small town and even the Best Buy and Circuit City that had been in the next largest city 30 minutes away closed last year. Needless to say, I was limited in my options. I looked at Walmart, Office Max, Staples and Target and much to my surprise, I found my best deal at Target.
I’m no computer whiz, but from my research I’ve gathered that mini’s aren’t all that different from each other. They don’t have a lot of bells and whistles. Most have the same processors, same RAM, etc. The big differences are in the operating system, the battery life and software.
I’m not married to any particular OS. I’ve used Microsoft since the dawn of time and have loved all of them (except maybe millennium). So, to me, whether the netbook ran XP or 7 or whatever, wasn’t a concern. I did have someone tell me (can’t remember who, but he was a computer geek) that laptops don’t run as well with 7 as they do with XP. Whatever. I’m going for the deal.
I bought: HP 110 mini with 6cell (longer life) battery.
I looked at the Acer, the Dell, the Toshiba and the HP. The important elements for me were the keyboard comfort and battery life, as I use it for writing 1st, surfing 2nd.
The Acer’s keyboard is just a tiny bit smaller…and these keyboards, while they love to taut 92% of the original keyboard size, you definitely feel that 8% loss. Even another 1% is too much.
The Toshiba keyboard had raised keys. And that, in my opinion, is just wrong.
I’m a big Dell fan and liked the keyboard size and feel, but the only one I could find available for immediate purchase at a decent price was at Walmart and they only had the Nickelodeon series. Now, I love Nickelodeon, raised my kids on their cartoons, but I think it would be difficult to be considered a serious writer with neon green slime running down the cover of my laptop. Just sayin‘….
Ultimately, for price, keyboard size and quality, I went with the HP. Here’s a quick comparison for you:
HP 110:
Target: $330 w/6 cell battery
Walmart: $350 w/3 cell battery
Extended warranty:
Target: $45 – 3yr including all accidents except liquid spills
Walmart: $60 – 2yr w/ no accidental coverage – normal wear and tear only
The office supply stores were 1) little more expensive and 2) charge more for their extended warranties.
So, there you have it…my take on choosing a mini for your writing/surfing needs.
Pretty happy with mine, although I didn’t call Dell and cancel my order for the regular laptop. A mini is a great little machine for portability and flexibility. It’s not a replacement for a full-fledged computer. At least, not yet.
>Computers and Gadgets
>So, you all know that my laptop was stolen and I lost a bunch of valuable stuff…yadda, yadda. Old news.
Well, yesterday, when my daughter’s computer wouldn’t boot up (the one I spent hours fixing and am using until my new laptop comes – now not until the beginning of the year) I had a horrible flashback of losing the one chapter I had rewritten of the new WIP.
That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I headed to the stores. Couldn’t write anyway…right?
I had been researching netbooks, trying to decide whether or not I wanted to forgo the heavy, clunky laptops and get a little mini notebook instead, and ultimately decided against it. So, I had some basic knowledge of there makeups–overall quite similar.
I live in a small town and even the Best Buy and Circuit City that had been in the next largest city 30 minutes away closed last year. Needless to say, I was limited in my options. I looked at Walmart, Office Max, Staples and Target and much to my surprise, I found my best deal at Target.
I’m no computer whiz, but from my research I’ve gathered that mini’s aren’t all that different from each other. They don’t have a lot of bells and whistles. Most have the same processors, same RAM, etc. The big differences are in the operating system, the battery life and software.
I’m not married to any particular OS. I’ve used Microsoft since the dawn of time and have loved all of them (except maybe millennium). So, to me, whether the netbook ran XP or 7 or whatever, wasn’t a concern. I did have someone tell me (can’t remember who, but he was a computer geek) that laptops don’t run as well with 7 as they do with XP. Whatever. I’m going for the deal.
I bought: HP 110 mini with 6cell (longer life) battery.
I looked at the Acer, the Dell, the Toshiba and the HP. The important elements for me were the keyboard comfort and battery life, as I use it for writing 1st, surfing 2nd.
The Acer’s keyboard is just a tiny bit smaller…and these keyboards, while they love to taut 92% of the original keyboard size, you definitely feel that 8% loss. Even another 1% is too much.
The Toshiba keyboard had raised keys. And that, in my opinion, is just wrong.
I’m a big Dell fan and liked the keyboard size and feel, but the only one I could find available for immediate purchase at a decent price was at Walmart and they only had the Nickelodeon series. Now, I love Nickelodeon, raised my kids on their cartoons, but I think it would be difficult to be considered a serious writer with neon green slime running down the cover of my laptop. Just sayin‘….
Ultimately, for price, keyboard size and quality, I went with the HP. Here’s a quick comparison for you:
HP 110:
Target: $330 w/6 cell battery
Walmart: $350 w/3 cell battery
Extended warranty:
Target: $45 – 3yr including all accidents except liquid spills
Walmart: $60 – 2yr w/ no accidental coverage – normal wear and tear only
The office supply stores were 1) little more expensive and 2) charge more for their extended warranties.
So, there you have it…my take on choosing a mini for your writing/surfing needs.
Pretty happy with mine, although I didn’t call Dell and cancel my order for the regular laptop. A mini is a great little machine for portability and flexibility. It’s not a replacement for a full-fledged computer. At least, not yet.