Marsha Canham

Across a Moonlit Sea by Marsha Canham is a 2011 publication- originally published in 1996.

Beau Spence is a woman ahead of her time!

Set in the Elizabethan era, this swashbuckling adventure has it all. Intrigue, suspense, pirates, action, adventure and steamy hot romance on the high seas!

I bought this book, according to Amazon, back in 2012. Yes, it has been gathering ‘virtual’ dust on my Kindle since then, but the main reason I bought the book back then was so that I’d have a digital copy of this older title as many books written in this time period are out of print or hard to find. It was not my intent to read it immediately, but to save it for a time when I found myself in the mood to revisit historical fiction/romance books I enjoyed back in the day.

Recently, I’ve been doing a little side project concerning older books that need to be digitized. This brought up many historical romance novels that are unavailable in e-book format- but my research also reminded me of how much I used to love those old books. So, I found myself craving a good pirate adventure- a type of HR that nobody ever writes anymore- so finally, after a decade of waiting- here we are.

Once I settled in, adjusting to writing style after many years removed from this type of novel, it all started to come back to me and it felt SO good. These older HR novels had a great deal of Historical Fiction added in, complementing the romantic elements, plus it feels a lot more authentic.

Beau is ‘one of the guys’ and even has her own invention, in a very, very, very male dominated environment. She’s not soft or biddable or aristocratic – at all- she’s outspoken and tough and gives as good as she gets. I loved her!

The story, though, of course, is certainly a romance, but the Historical Fiction elements are more dominant- with gritty battles and plenty of intrigue. This is not a romance filled with overblown misunderstandings or filled with pretty words. The banter is off the charts, and often amusing- and the chemistry between Beau and Simon Dante remains in the physical realm for most of the book, with the future uncertain, but I would have liked more of an emotional connection. There are several very explicit sex scenes, and I admit I had forgotten how steamy these books were.

This is also the first book in a trilogy-and there will be some continuation. The series won a readers’ choice award, and I see why. It’s too bad that historical romance authors today are too scared to write books like this one. Regencies are fun, for sure, and I do love the older, pure light-hearted Regencies- but I do like to read about other time periods, too. Balance and variety is a good thing people!

While older historical romances have a bad reputation sometimes, this one is pretty tame. There are some mild un-pc attitudes, but nothing you can’t look past. The prose, common for the time in which the book was written, was just a bit flowery, but nothing all that bad.

Overall, this is a fun swashbuckling pirate adventure written in a style and the style we don't get to experience anymore. Thankfully, some of the authors who were prolific writers back in the day digitized their books- so at least there are a few I can still enjoy from time to time.

For those who have KU subscription, the entire trilogy is included- so maybe, instead of spending my summer at the beach, I'll spend it on the high seas!!

*Note: Any author who has not digitized their work, please consider doing so. You may not make tons of money from them- but you aren't making ANY money from eBay, or Half Priced Books, or garage sales either. But the most important thing is that your work will be preserved!!… (mais)