There's real emphasis put on the comparisons between the sweet and innocent Anne, and the evil Patience who repulses Teach with her promises of sexual favours. Everything else is about the romance between the two of them.Īs these kind of novels tend to go, Teach is also already engaged to a rich, mean, overtly-sexual woman called Patience. The filler parts of the story feature Anne's servitude to Teach's father - lots of descriptions of her making beds, cooking dinner and cleaning rooms, whilst stealing valuable objects to save up for an escape. There is absolutely no badassery, pirating and action in this book. Teach (later to be known as Blackbeard) enjoys intimidating and stalking Anne Barrett, even after she runs away from his initial sexual advances, until she finally gives in and reciprocates his attentions. But, more than that, it's just a crappy romance. It's all romance, no actual historical fiction beyond the racism, sexism and classism floating around. It's funny how everything remotely marketable as 'YA' is these days given a pretty cover, a solid blurb writer, and voila! Truth is, some years ago, I think Blackhearts would have looked like this on the shelves: He knew he was using his size to intimidate her, but nothing else seemed to work where she was concerned.” “Trapped between the door and his body, she froze. Faced with an impossible choice, they must decide to chase their dreams and go, or follow their hearts and stay. Drawn to each other, they’re trapped by society and their own circumstances. How will she ever realize her dream of sailing to Curaçao-where her mother was born-when she's stuck in England?įrom the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Lonely days stretch into weeks, and Anne longs for escape. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne is forced to take a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. There's just one problem: convincing his father to let him leave and never come back.įollowing her parents' deaths, Anne Barrett is left penniless and soon to be homeless. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, Teach dreams only of returning to the vast ocean he’d begun to call home. Nothing could stop him-until he met the one girl who would change everything.Įdward 'Teach' Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles.

But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands.

Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors.

Blackhearts by nicole castroman