Author: Nicole Castroman
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: February 9th 2016
Format: eARC

Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands. Nothing could stop him—until he met the one girl who would change everything. Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, Teach dreams only of returning to the vast ocean he’d begun to call home. There's just one problem: convincing his father to let him leave and never come back. Following her parents' deaths, Anne Barrett is left penniless and soon to be homeless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne is forced to take a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks, and Anne longs for escape. How will she ever realize her dream of sailing to Curaçao—where her mother was born—when she's stuck in England? From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn to each other, they’re trapped by society and their own circumstances. Faced with an impossible choice, they must decide to chase their dreams and go, or follow their hearts and stay.

Goodreads

This was such a fabulous read and I am definitely hitting myself for not reading it earlier. It’s a pirate historical fiction taking place in the 1800s, which is definitely something I hadn't heard of in previous books so I was intruiged. It doesn't seem like my type of read but I quickly fell in love with the world and characters and am now so head over heels for the universe Nicole has created. Nicole did such a fabulous job keeping readers captivated in her story of Anne and Teach. I am so excited to talk about this book today and I hope some of you decide to pick it up!

One of my favorite things about this book was the characters. Not only were Anne and Teach both a joy to read about as they have some great dialogue and banter but some of the minor characters apart of this story were people I cared about and they weren’t really just characterless people here to create drama. I also really loved how there was diversity. Yes, Nicole Castroman was able to include a few POC characters into her story and address the fact that the whole world wasn’t all white despite the fact that her book takes place in England in the 1800s. Everyone should take note in her ability to add in POC characters in a time period where POC weren't that common.

The ending really set the story up well for the next book and I am really excited to continue reading on with this story. The only problem I had with this book was that I felt like, for a moment, Anne and Teach’s relationship felt rushed. Everything was going well, then there was a moment where everything felt rushed, and then after that it returned to feeling normal realistic. Obviously it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book but it was something that I wanted to call out. However, it shouldn’t be anything to stop you from reading this book.

All in all, Blackhearts was just a book that took some time for me to get over how fabulous it was. I definitely recommend it for anyone who likes romance taking place in less contemporary settings. Super excited about this book and other works that will be coming from Nicole!