Review: A romance steeped in adventure and rich with wonderful descriptions.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2014
Wind RavenReviewed by Gail MacMillanThe year is 1815.  The War of 1812 between British and Americans has only recently been ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on Christmas Eve of 1814.  British and Americans haven’t yet forgiven or forgotten the events of that conflict.  Therefore, when feisty Tara McConnell, a native of Baltimore, after spending a year in London as a debutante, discovers she’s to be sent home on a ship captained by the handsome Englishman Nicholas Powell, she’s far from pleased with the arrangement. Captain Nick isn’t overjoyed, either.  He sees her simply as a liability to the assignment he’s accepted from the Prince Regent.Tara, from a sea faring family, manages to win his grudging respect with her knowledge of ships and her ability to lend a hand at almost every chore aboard but as she finds herself falling under the spell of the charismatic captain, she also discovers he’s a man whose heart has previously been broken and he’s not about to risk that happening again.Wind Raven, Book Three in the Agents of the Crown Trilogy, is a classic historical romance.  It features the perfect characters to play major roles in such a story…a dashing, enigmatic hero and a beautiful, fascinating heroine.  Secondary characters are so expertly described that they could readily be recognized if they chose to walk off the pages into reality.  Battles on the high seas, romance in the sultry tropics, and mystery and danger at every turn keep the plot well paced and enthralling.  The author never allows the reader a dull moment in which to lose interest.  Ms. Walker’s descriptions of ships, locations, and nautical action are precise, her research obviously extensive and precise.  When the characters arrive in Puerto Rico, the story exudes sunshine, flowers, and the lush sensuousness of the tropical location.On another level, with Tara representing the Americans and Nicholas the British, it’s a story of two countries overcoming the animosities of the past and uniting to form strong and lasting ties that one hundred years later would find them united against Germany in the greatest struggle the world had yet seen.Wind Raven will capture the reader’s attention with the tavern scene on page one and won’t release it until the final scene draws the tale to a successful conclusion. I highly recommend it.