Sea of Ruin

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date: April 28, 2020

Genre: Historical Pirate Romance

Blurb: 

Bennett Sharp is on the run.

Wanted for piracy, she fears neither God nor death nor man. 

Except Priest Farrell. 

The unfaithful, stormy-eyed libertine hunts her with terrifying possessiveness. Nothing will stop him from coming for her. Not his unforgivable betrayal. Not when she's captured by the ice-cold pirate hunter, Lord Ashley Cutler. 

She must escape Ashley's prison and Priest's deceit. But can she walk away from their twisted desires?

Two gorgeous captains stand on opposite sides of the law. When they collide in a battle to protect her, the lines blur between enemies and lovers. 

Passion heats, secrets unravel, and hearts entangle until they break. 

Can love prevail in the sea of ruin?

Review:

There are TONS of triggers in this book, please read the trigger warnings. There will also be spoilers in this review.

I saw this book recommended by one of my favorite authors, Kate Stewart a while back and got in when it was on sale for $.99. It sat on my Kindle for a few months until I decided, what the hell, I'm doing it and dove in. 

The beginning of the story picks up when our heroine, Bennett is only 14 and is preparing to meet her possible future betrothed, a 40 something year old man (ugh, gross). Bennett longs for the seas and following in her father's footsteps. During this time, when she's so very young, she is put through almost every hell imaginable. Her father is captured and hung, she's brutally attacked and sexually assaulted by her future husband and her mother, swept away by grief over losing the love of her life throws herself from a cliff right in front of Bennett. Already A LOT to handle in the first 10% of the book. 

For some people that alone would be enough to put the book down and walk away. I saw the fire in Bennett and knew that reading her story would take me on an adventure. I was right, but I was also torn apart with the brutality of the events she has to go through in her 21st year. 

Bennett has been on the run for 2 years from Priest Farrell, her former crew member and husband. It's not known to many and is her best kept secret until he finds her and tricks her into letting him back on her ship. The sexual tension between these two was palpable. I had so much anxiety reading about how Priest was in love with Bennett and someone else. Pam Goodwin's ability to write the pain between both of them was so wonderful, I actually felt sorry for a cheater! UNHEARD OF. 

After a short time Bennett finds herself a prisoner of Lord Ashley Cutler, a known pirate hunter. The first scene with her on his ship is painful to read. Again, she's held by several men and sexually assaulted, but is saved at the last minute and taken into the Lord's chambers. Throughout their journey a relationship starts to grow and blossom. I got irritated several times with the way Ashley spoke to and used Bennett. However, their chemistry sizzles as well causing Bennett to being to realize that it's possible to love two people. 

The absolute worst part of this book was when she was brutally raped over and over after Ashley allowed her to be taken onto another ship while he searched for Priest. I had to step away several times to make it through the brutality of her situation and sadly it still wasn't the end of her torture, just the torture of one villain. She goes through being beaten on an enemies ship shortly after being saved from sinking on the ship where she was raped. Like I said, A LOT TO HANDLE. I kept thinking, "when is she going to stop suffering?!"

This book is a MFM book and DOES end with a HEA. Although you have to push through hell to get to the happiness at the end. Am I glad that I read it, yes. I thought the writing was wonderful and I was pleasantly surprised that I could actually get into a Pirate Historical Romance, making it the reason it got 4 stars for me, but there were several scenes that were hard for me to get through. and I'm not sure I'd read it again. Pam Goodwin is a very talented writer and I'm looking forward to reading more from her, but again please be aware of the triggers! 

Sea of Ruin

Pam Godwin