I am really excited to be hosting the #BlogTour for Discerning Grace (Book One of The White Sails Series) by Emma Lombard #BookReview #HistoricalFiction @LombardEmma @maryanneyarde

 

 

 Discerning Grace

(Book One of The White Sails Series)

By Emma Lombard

 

 

As the first full-length novel in The White Sails Series, DISCERNING GRACE captures the spirit of an independent woman whose feminine lens blows the ordered patriarchal decks of a 19th century tall ship to smithereens.

Wilful Grace Baxter, will not marry old Lord Silverton with his salivary incontinence and dead-mouse stink. Discovering she is a pawn in an arrangement between slobbery Silverton and her calculating father, Grace is devastated when Silverton reveals his true callous nature.

Refusing this fate, Grace resolves to stow away. Heading to the docks, disguised as a lad to ease her escape, she encounters smooth-talking naval recruiter, Gilly, who lures her aboard HMS Discerning with promises of freedom and exploration in South America.

When Grace's big mouth lands her bare-bottomed over a cannon for insubordination, her identity is exposed. The captain wants her back in London but his orders, to chart the icy archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, forbid it. Lieutenant Seamus Fitzwilliam gallantly offers to take Grace off the fretting captain's hands by placing her under his protection.

Grace must now win over the crew she betrayed with her secret, while managing her feelings towards her taciturn protector, whose obstinate chivalry stifles her new-found independence. But when Grace disregards Lieutenant Fitzwilliam's warnings about the dangers of the unexplored archipelago, it costs a friend his life and she realises she is not as free as she believes.

 

There is adventure. There is romance. This is an evil villain. A pirate. And a heroine who is determined to take control of her own destiny.

This novel was so much fun. Grace, the ever resourceful protagonist in this book, manages to dupe the entire crew of HMS Discerning into thinking that their latest recruite (her) is a teenage boy. Even Lieutenant Fitzwilliam, an acquaintance from Grace’s in her former life, does not recognise her!!

When Grace’s true identity is discovered, Seamus finds himself slightly flummoxed, as he tries to decide what the best thing is to do with this stowaway. Does he send her back to her family, knowing she will be forced to marry Lord Silverton (who is a truly disgusting man, who is not averse to rape) or does he marry her himself? decisions, decisions, decisions!!

I loved this novel because it does not let up. It is one exciting adventure after another, and I had no idea where the story was going. And the plot twist at the end—I did not see that coming.

This is a wonderful book from a very talented author. I loved it and I am sure you will love it as well. 

 

Click on the Universal Buy Link and it will take you to your favourite online bookstore. 

 

Emma Lombard

 

Emma Lombard was born in Pontefract in the UK. She grew up in Africa—calling Zimbabwe and South Africa home for a few years—before finally settling in Brisbane Australia, and raising four boys. Before she started writing historical fiction, she was a freelance editor in the corporate world, which was definitely not half as exciting as writing rollicking romantic adventures. Her characters are fearless seafarers, even though in real life Emma gets disastrously sea sick. Discerning Grace, is the first book in The White Sails Series.

 

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