Chloe Neill brings her trademark wit and wild sense of adventure to a stunning seafaring fantasy starring a dauntless heroine in a world of magic and treachery.
Kit Brightling, rescued as a foundling and raised in a home for talented girls, has worked hard to rise through the ranks of the Isles' Crown Command and become one of the few female captains in Queen Charlotte's fleet. Her ship is small, but she's fast--in part because of Kit's magical affinity to the sea. But the waters become perilous when the queen sends Kit on a special mission with a partner she never asked for.
Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, may be a veteran of the Continental war, but Kit doesn't know him or his motives--and she's dealt with one too many members of the Beau Monde. But Kit has her orders, and the queen has commanded they journey to a dangerous pirate quay and rescue a spy who's been gathering intelligence on the exiled emperor of Gallia.
Kit can lead her ship and clever crew on her own, but with the fate of queen and country at stake, Kit and Rian must learn to trust each other, or else the Isles will fall....
I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
Chloe Neill treads new waters with her debut historical fiction, with just a hint of magic, novel The Bright and Breaking Sea. Widely known for her paranormal series Chicagoland Vampires and Heirs of Chicagoland, Chloe tackles the new genre with finesse!
Kit is captain of her own ship in the queen’s command and has a talent for taming the sea. Her next voyage however will be a rescue mission, to save a man loyal to the crown, yet she has to bring along Grant, who is a good friend to the kidnapped man, and a solider to boot. The two do not get along well, at all. So naturally, we know that they eventually will! Lol.
The rescue mission is of course, only one of the voyages Kit will have to undertake. There’s plenty more missions to come as there is a traitor out there who is doing whatever possible to take the crown away from the queen. Coupled with high action voyages on said sea this is a read that will keep you entertained.
That being said, I have to admit, this one just wasn’t for me. I love Chloe’s vampire worlds and the magic and people in it. This book sadly just didn’t have that same kind of thrill. Yes, it’s a new genre, new world, new world order…I get that. The description touts magic being involved though and I was greatly expecting there to be a lot of magic in this one. Yet, it almost seemed like it was added as an afterthought. Kit has an ability to help “tame the sea,” if you will. She doesn’t use it very often, nor do we talk about it very often. It’s almost like Fight Club.
I did like the dynamic between Kit and Grant though. There’s always something to those relationships that start with animosity but soon grows into something more. Though they are not very lovey-dovey like even when they start to admit there might be something there.
Another thing that just wasn’t in my favor was the pacing. This was a very slow paced read in my opinion. I guess maybe that’s the trend in historical fiction novels? There was a lot of emphasis on describing this and that of the ship and the sea, and the weather, and the sailing process…it was just a little too much for me. I like my novels to be driven by character or plot more than the setting.
I have to admit that I did start skimming some pages towards the end, mostly skipping over the overlong descriptions. I got the gist of the situation at hand and was only mildly surprised when a traitor popped up. Honestly, when I saw them (yup, using improper verbiage here) in the beginning, I had me a Scooby Doo moment and thought they did it! I don’t know what they did, but they are a suspicious character.
The ending was one of those nice kind of endings that you tend to get in a new series. That you think the waters are calm at last, but there’s yet another storm brewing just on the horizon and there will be lots more to come in the future. Sadly, I don’t think this will be a voyage I will be continuing. Though Chloe is still one of my favorite authors, this series just isn’t for me.
However, if you find yourself needing a good historical fiction read with just the tiniest taste of magic, then The Bright and Breaking Sea will be the read for you!
Overall Rating 2/5 stars
The Bright and Breaking Sea releases November 17, 2020
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