ARC Review--Blacksouls by Nicole Castroman

Hello all! It's a very HAPPY RELEASE day to Nicole Castroman's Blacksouls! The epic followup to the swashbuckling pirate story that followed Teach and Anne as they defied the odds by falling in love! If you've read Blackhearts already, then you know what a tremendous cliffhanger we all faced, luckily I decided to wait until this one released to read it! Lol! This is one you will not want to miss! Check out my review below:

Nicole Castroman brings the dangerous pirate ports of the Caribbean to life in this vibrant sequel to Blackhearts—the reimagined origin story of history’s most infamous pirate, Blackbeard.

Edward “Teach” Drummond is setting sail to the Caribbean as first mate on the most celebrated merchant ship in the British fleet—until he rebels against his captain. Mutiny is a capital offense and Teach knows it could cost him his life, but he believes it worth the risk in order to save his crew from the attacking Spanish ships.

Sailing on the same blue waters, Anne barely avoids the Spanish attack, making it safely to Nassau. But lawless criminals, corrupt politics, and dangerous intentions fill the crowded streets of this Caribbean port. Soon, Anne discovers that the man entrusted to keep the peace is quite possibly the most treacherous of them all—and he just happens to hold Teach’s fate in his terrifying hands.

Life and death hang in the balance when Teach and Anne are given a dangerous mission. It’s a mission that will test their love, loyalty and devotion, forcing them down a path neither one could have ever imagined. 

I received this eARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Diving into Nicole Castroman’s Blacksouls right after reading Blackhearts was the best decision ever! As you might have known, Blackhearts ended with a pretty dicey cliffhanger! Our star-crossed lovers, Teach and Anne were separated due to evil circumstances and now we all wait with bated breath until their reunion.

While Anne had been sailing away, on the wrong ship, to her mother’s homeland she made friends with a sibling pair, Coyle and Cara. The trio began to look out for one another and they even brought Anne along with them to the uncle they had been going to see to work for him in a tavern. Anne is struck with awe upon coming Nassau. There’s a variety of people and everything is just so new. Though it isn’t all paradise as she’s soon to find out.

In the meantime, we see Teach sailing on his father’s ship while the captain is sure to get them all killed when it looks like the Spainards were gunning for their ship. It’s Teach’s quick thinking that keeps the crew alive, but sadly, the danger is only just starting when Teach thinks it’s passed. Upon docking, he and the crew are arrested for mutiny and Teach will have to make a deal with the devil, in the form of a governor, in order to save himself and his crew, and essentially, Anne!

It took a while before Teach and Anne were finally reunited! It was most agonizing, because let’s face it, this is a love story in a sense! It’s also a great swashbuckling pirate origin story filled with adventure as well! By the time our couple finally reunites and you think a breath of relief might escape you, you’d be wrong! The danger is only just starting because soon there’s murder and mayhem to be had that brings upon these characters a direct sense of chaos!

I was left kind of stunned by the end of this one! Like its predecessor, the pacing was once again a little more slower than your usual adventure read, but I can say there was a great deal more action and tension than we had in the first one! Things are tense! Our characters have developed fairly well over the course of the first novel, but we continue to watch them grow in different areas. I will say though, that the adventure thrill is definitely stronger in this one than what we saw last time! Much more time spent at sea and going to new places. Though, granted, it’s not a lot of traveling, but more than we had in the first book anyway!

It was such a rush to see the new culture and experience things through Anne’s eyes! She’s never been anywhere besides her England where she was born, so anywhere besides there is a new adventure for her. I enjoyed seeing the colors and exoticness of Nassau through her eyes. I’ve never been anywhere tropical myself, so I loved living through her in this one!

There’s still a great deal of danger in their relationship for being who they are. But I love seeing Teach and Anne overcome those prejudices. It doesn’t hurt that their new friend, Alastair has a wife who’s of another race as well. It was like they could see who they would become some years down the line. There was at least one scene that still stands out to me as being terrifying. It just goes to show you how scary things were way back then. And I’m not talking about just the pirates either.
 
The ending was quite exciting too! Things were happening so fast! And then just when you think we’ve come clear of near and sudden danger…The End! Okay, granted it’s not that bad! I mean if you’ve read Blackhearts, you’ll know that ending was pretty tough to swallow! Especially since at the time we didn’t know how many books there were going to be! Well now we know there’s three (as of now!) and I can tell you this one ends perfectly!! There will be no screams of agony or tears, at least I hope there’s not for you guys! Because trust me, I am an emotional reader and at the slightest edge of a cliffhanger I am moved to fits and screams, and maybe a bit of rage. There was none of that for me here! Yes, I am excited for the next one but I can honestly say that I will be (mostly, sorta, kinda) “patiently” waiting for it!

The adventure continues in the awe-inspiring Blackbeard origin story with Blacksouls! This will be a read you will not want to miss out on!

 
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars


About the author:

Nicole was lucky enough to come with her very own best friend...she has a twin sister who can read her mind and finish her sentences for her.

At the age of 13, she went to Europe for the first time and it changed her life. She loves learning about different people, languages and cultures and speaks fluent German. She knows enough Spanish to get herself into trouble and can still read the Cyrillic alphabet from when she studied Russian.

She received her B.A. from Brigham Young University and has lived in Germany, Austria and two different places called Georgia. One is located on the Black Sea. The other is the state of Georgia where she now lives with her handsome husband and two beautiful children who continue to amaze her. 

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Tour Schedule:

Week One:
4/10/2017 - Fiktshun--Guest Post
4/11/2017 - a GREAT read--Review
4/12/2017 - Adventures of a Book Junkie--Interview
4/13/2017 - The Cover Contessa--Review
4/14/2017 - Two Chicks on a Book--Interview 

Week Two:
4/17/2017 - YA Book Madness--Review
4/18/2017 - Good Choice Reading--Guest Post 
4/19/2017 - Mundie Moms--Review
4/20/2017 - YA Books Central--Interview
4/21/2017 - Seeing Double in Neverland--Review 

 

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