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, Teach and Anne must decide whether to chase their dreams and leave England forever-or follow their hearts and stay together. Drawn together by a shared desire for freedom, but kept apart by Teach’s father, their love is as passionate as it is forbidden. How will she ever achieve her dream of sailing to Curaçao-her mother’s birthplace-when she’s trapped in England?įrom the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Lonely days stretch into weeks and Anne longs to escape the confines of her now mundane life. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne takes a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. There’s just one he must convince his father to let him leave and never come back.įollowing the death of her parents, Anne Barrett is left penniless. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, all Teach wants is to return to the vast ocean he calls home. When Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of one of Bristol’s richest merchants, returns home from a year at sea, he finds his life in shambles. In this stunningly creative debut “filled with well-drawn characters…and smoldering passion,” ( Booklist ) Nicole Castroman reimagines the origins of history’s most infamous pirate-Blackbeard.

Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman