A Review of The Rebel Pirate, by Donna Thorland

The Rebel Pirate is a high-adventure historical romance that will sweep you away to the opening days of the American Revolution, and melt your heart while it does it!

Setting

In and around Boston, both on land and sea, in 1775.

Main Characters

Sarah Ward is the daughter of a pirate, well-educated, and dressed as a boy to avoid drawing the attention of the British naval crew that demasted and boarded her ship. The idiot captain she was forced to hire is dead, and the naval captain is removing her cargo. But when he tries to press her little brother into the British navy, she cannot allow it.

Captain James Sparhawk is not fool enough to try to press weathered American seamen onto his ship, but the young boys are more easily convinced to devote themselves to His Majesty’s navy. He has no family that he will acknowledge, and has devoted himself to the sea, with excellent career results. He is a superb naval commander and notices that the taller boy is a young woman just seconds before she pulls a pistol and kidnaps him.

Romance

James is taken with Sarah the instant he sees her maneuvering firmly on a pitching deck. He sends his lieutenant back to Boston with his own ship and the chest of gold they removed from Sarah’s ship, the Charming Sally, and willingly goes as a hostage to avoid starting a war. He will be free when they reach land, and until then, he will be with Sarah. She moves him in more ways than one.

Sarah has to outrun the British navy to return safely to Salem, but James’s crew damaged her rigging, and they aren’t going to make it if someone can’t climb the remaining mast and free a jammed sail. James and her little brother manage it, but her little brother falls overboard and is rescued by James. She owes him. And she is having a hard time minding that. Indeed, she might actually enjoy it.

Plot

James has broken his wrist badly while rescuing Sarah’s little brother, and she insists on getting it set by a real doctor and then getting him safely back to Boston. But Salem is Rebel territory, and getting him out could get everyone killed.

And despite being perfectly willing to smuggle, as any American seafarer was at the time, Sarah’s family is loyal to the crown. So when James’s presence is discovered, her family has to escape to Boston, too. That instantly embroils them all in the shifting tides of the siege of Boston.

Historical Worldbuilding

No one world-builds like Donna Thorland! Her research is impeccable. You will reef the Charming Sally’s topsail with James and Ned, play the complicated loyalties of General Gage and his wife off of Admiral Howe’s with Sarah, and lament along with James as they attack the grounded Diana that there is “something indecent about the sight of her keel above the water, like a forbidden glimpse of a woman’s knees.” The ships come alive as much as Boston and the human characters do. Indeed, the Sally is practically a member of Sarah’s family.

The Evacuation of Boston, by William James Alward

Tropes

You might think this is an enemies-to-lovers story, but they are attracted from the start, so forbidden love is the primary trope. Sarah also rescues a number of men throughout the story, including James (multiple times), so we definitely have a strong woman trope, as well!

Secondary Characters

The secondary characters in this story are fantastic, and they are so fully fleshed out that they are a major part of the immersive world-building. Sarah’s brothers, particularly Benjamin, leap off the page, as does her father, a notorious pardoned pirate. Her father’s shipsmate, Mr. Cheep is a stalwart protector of the family. Many of the British officers, along with their wives and lovers, are well-developed and illustrate the deeply nuanced loyalties and temperaments of people on both sides as the Revolution slid from possibility to reality.

Point of View

The book alternates between Sarah’s and James’s points of view.

In Summary

• This is an action-packed romance that unfolds through the twists and turns of the siege of Boston, and it will keep you up well past your bedtime because you will not be able to put it down!
• It is set in and around the greater Boston area, including its waters, in 1775.
• Sarah and James are both strong, complicated characters, devoted to each other, but with the law standing between them. You cannot help but root for them!
• No one immerses you in a historical moment like Donna Thorland. Want to feel what the beginning of the Revolution was like? Read this!
• This is a forbidden lovers trope, and very definitely a strong woman romance. Sarah is no passive damsel waiting for rescue.
• On a scale of 1 to 5, the heat level in this is about a 2. It is definitely open door, but it is more sensual than sensational. There are blunt descriptions of violence, but it is not particularly graphic or gratuitous.

Keep them Coming!

Love historical romance? Check out Passion’s Return, a six-chapter short story set during the French & Indian War. That is the war that laid the foundation for the American Revolution. As we embark on the 250th anniversary of the United States, this is the perfect time to read it. Its release date is February 14, and it is yours for no money whatsoever. Be sure to check it out!

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Image: The Evacuation of Boston, by William James Alward, via Wikimedia Commons

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