I am giving this one five stars. I didn’t get to it in time to give a full review and I apologize for that

Wow! This was a great debute novel. I really didn’t know what this was going to be about, I mean I knew it was an historical fiction but I was blown away. It was a uniquely written in a way that held me completely captive. It took place in the Bahamas in 1791 where slavery was still a thing and white women were also basically treated as property. The writing brought me right to the beaches and the humidity. I felt the warm breeze and the desperation of the characters. The struggle of the marriage and the hopeless of the situations. And then I reached the end and can’t wait for book 2.
Thanks to BooksGoSocial via NetGalley.

I finished this book but it left me frustrated.
Some of the book is good, the depictions of certain characters and some who are actually genuine.
Eliza was a twit and acted idiotic throughout most of the book. She gives no thought to her situation and expects others to bail her out. She also loves to place all the blame on Charles, who I actually had a lot of empathy toward.

3.5 stars
This novel is the first in a historical fiction series set in the Bahamas in the 1790s. Eliza Hastings weds Lord Charles Sharpe, who is from an old Colonial family in Nassau and stationed there as a Lieutenant Colonel of the British Army.

I was drawn to the mix of Jane Austen-ish marriage but with the bride going from England to the West Indies right after the golden age of piracy! It was a time when colonialism and slavery were well established in the region, and Giordano centers a lot of her novel around this.

Eliza moves into her new husband's family estate but has trouble accepting his ownership of slaves and his treatment of them. This is not written too unrealistically for the times either, with Eliza trying to adapt to and accept the ways of the West Indies colonists, being very naive about the situation she chose to marry into, but ultimately being unwilling to accept this worldview.

Eliza is also unwilling to be a good wife who does as her husband says. She wants to swim in the ocean, explore pirate caves and talk back to prominent people in Nassau. This combined with her seeing what appears to be ghosts and flashes of past events leads to an eventful novel that never lets up.

The story lacks a bit of focus though, with some things being introduced and not followed up on in a satisfactory way. Too many threads that don't come together very well. But I enjoyed what is there, and I loved the strong female main character and the descriptions of the island.

Themes of colonialism, female independence (or lack thereof) and historical West Indian culture make this novel well worth reading. I'm looking forward to the next book to see where the author takes the story!

Thank you to BooksGoSocial, the author and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for review consideration of this book that's been out for awhile! All opinions are my own.

This cover was love at first sight for me and the story made me fall in love even more! My heart was pounding and every step of the way I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen next!

Amazing historical fiction - this will be a reread for me!

I wanted to chuck this book across the room after finishing it! This debut novel had so much potential. I was so IN for the first half but slowly it fell apart. The writing was solid and the storyline was interesting but the characters were irrational. I couldn’t understand their decisions, motivations or reactions. I found the whole thing nonsensical by the end. This one wasn’t for me.

Eliza travels to 18th century Bahamas with her new husband, not realizing what a brutal, cruel man he is. Enduring her loveless marriage, Eliza finds solace in the ocean, swimming for hours. Encountering more brutality and intrigue makes her life on the island very uncomfortable and dangerous. Ultimately, a good book but I was a little disappointed in the ending, only my opinion.

This book was like a rollercoaster, but not in a fun and exciting way. In the a lot comes out of nowhere and changes the entire story kind of way. Eliza's characterization at first was kind of annoying, but once we made it on the ship it picked up a little bit. As the book progressed it got weirder. Eliza seeing spirits and having dreams of the past felt kind of out of place with everything else that was happening, and her attitude towards her slaves was pretty tone deaf. Sometimes she lamented their experience and talked about how terrible slavery was, but on the next page she'd get snippy with them. I distinctly remember a part where she feels sick talking about owning another person, but another part where she yells at one of her slaves that she works for her.
I liked the romance mostly. Jean was an interesting character. but even that was a little off for me. With so many descriptions of how terrible Eliza's relationship with Charles was, I was kind of shocked to see her relationship with Jean progress the way it did. Sure, they talked at that party for hours and definitely had more of a connection that Charles and Eliza, but knowing Eliza's experiences with Charles, their first time together could have been more tactfully handled.

TW sexual assault, rape, rape mention

I received this from Netgalley.com.

Set in the Bahamas in the 1700's we get a good picture of life, -including slavery-, and fauna as well as the beauty of the crystal clear Caribbean sea.

Good read.

3.75☆

A beautiful story about female empowerment.

All the characters in the book are incredibly complex which is very important in a story about abusive relationship dynamics. Both the male abuser and his victim (the main character) are more than simple caricatures for which I'm incredibly thankful for.

The story as mentioned by other reviewers is also filled with unexpected twists and turns for which I was pleasantly suprised by! Filled with adventure, talks of misogyny and female liberation, romance and even pirates this book is an absolute page turner perfect for those new in the historical fiction genre!

The ending left in a cliff hanger and I cannot wait to see how the story progresses in the sequel! Absolutely recommend!