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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strong characters, regency/1820s British Naval romance, June 27, 2010
This review is from: Ransome's Honor (The Ransome Trilogy) (Paperback)
At approximately 350 pages, the author packs in a lot of plot twists, and descriptive detail of life in the mid-1800s of British Navy personnel values and tradition focusing on the daughter of an Admiral who is not the traditional simpering beauty. Others have summarized the plot, so I will just say that I found all the characters appealing yet realistic, and even though we all know there will be a happy ending, the tension was well maintained by the author as to what will happen until the finale.
As other reviewers have pointed out, the author incorporates a component of the character's lives usually omitted from novels: a religious/spiritual component. When I heard this, I was a bit cautious approaching this novel. Yet after reading the novel, I think the author reflected a more realistic portrayal of life than most every other novel I've ever read which is scrubbed free of anything hinting of prayer or religious belief. Like many real people throughout the world of many religious faiths, these characters "speak" to God when troubled or when feeling grateful. I did not find this offensive or prosletizing, as it was usually quite brief and seemed natural to the circumstances---actually quite realistic. Fearful of making the wrong decision, one of the characters might think "God, please help me make the right decision, one that protects me from future regret, but one I can live with today." The character then may feel "relieved, having turned her worries over to God." That would be a representative example (although totally made up by me). So if that type of thought bothers you, you may not like this book.
Otherwise, this is a great romance, with happiness throughout the book, and you can't help cheering for the main character, who truly is a good person.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my new favorite authors, August 20, 2009
This review is from: Ransome's Honor (The Ransome Trilogy) (Paperback)
I started reading this book after finishing another historical romance (which I did not like at all) without very high expectations. And here I am less than 24 hours later writing a review - because I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. Ms Dacus (or is it Dascus? - it's spelled different on the title page) gave me characters I cared about from the first page. She also did not hit me over the head with spiritual messages or the full telling of the gospel (multiple times) as I've seen in a few recent books I've read - but it did still have a good strong spiritual theme. There was a very strong plot and it moved along at a really good pace. There were a couple of times when I thought the characters might be going off into their own thoughts a little too much but then Ms Dacus/Dascus would hit me with a twist or a surprise.
Rundown of the characters - Julia Witherington is an unusual Regency heroine because she's twenty nine years old when most of them are in their teens or early 20's. She also has run her family's sugar plantation for the last few years. She's a strong character but fits in with the time period unlike many other heroines of historic novels. SPOILER - even though toward the end, Julia acted with some naivety I like the fact that Ms Dacus had the character be woman enough to admit she probably acted foolishly.
William Ransome is a man I would go back in time to meet and fall in love with. He is everything a romance hero should be - even at the times when I just wanted to shake him. He has flaws but they are endearing flaws and realistic. It's easy to see he regrets the past and even though he's not big on change he's looking forward to the future.
Charlotte Ransome is a character that at first I didn't understand why she had her own point of view scenes - even though an intriguing bit of information is planted in her very first scene, which is hinted at throughout and finally somewhat revealed later in the story. But it wasn't until the end that I understood why she was an important character. Well played, Ms Dacus.
Even though I love William Ransome is it wrong for me to admit that Sir Drake Pembroke was my favorite character in this book? All he needed was a mustache to twirl and a set of railroad tracks to tie Julia to for him to be the perfect villain. It was so fun to get inside his head in his scenes to see what he was thinking behind everything he did. I think it was brilliant for Ms Dacus to include his point of view because that way we got to see he wasn't just a typical greedy relative of the heroine she's trying to outwit. There were reasons behind everything he did. But not only that, Ms Dacus made his scenes fun by somewhat poking fun at him within his own point of view, especially towards the end.
I just looked at Ms Dacus' website and saw that the next book doesn't come out until next July. I will be pre ordering it as soon as it's available here. And I saw she has other books out that I'm going to get to read in the mean time.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
RANSOME'S HONOR, July 20, 2009
This review is from: Ransome's Honor (The Ransome Trilogy) (Paperback)
RANSOME'S HONOR is the first in the Ransome trilogy by Kaye Dacus. At the onset, we watch as Julia Witherington anxiously awaits a proposal from William Ransome, a prodigy of her father, Admiral Sir Edward Witherington. When her dreams are dashed, she vows never to forgive William. She leaves England for her family's sugar plantation in Jamaica. It becomes her home and the love of her life.
Skip ahead twelve years. Julia is visiting England at the same time Captain William Ransome has come to port for reassignment and to see to the repairs to his ship the Alexandra. Their paths cross on several occasions and try as she might, Julia finds herself once again drawn to the dashing William Ransome, while William's decision of twelve years prior continues to haunts him. His feelings for Julia were always strong, but without wealth or title to offer her, he felt he had no right to her hand.
When Julia finds herself being pressured into a betrothal to her unscrupulous cousin so that he can inherit her substantial dowry and her family's wealth, she turns to William and offers him a business agreement. A marriage of convenience. If he will agree to marry her, she will give him her dowry and consent to an annulment in one year's time. Then, she will be free to return to Tierra Dulce, and live out her life in Jamaica.
I enjoyed RANSOME'S HONOR, though I felt the first half of the book moved a little slower than I would've liked. I continued reading because of the conflict the back cover promised. I'm glad I did. I breezed through the second half of the book, the momentum of the story carrying me quickly to the end. Of course, the formula of the book was typical of any true romance novel, but Kaye Dacus delivered it in a fresh new way. While most Regency novels speak with the voice of society's elite, Ms. Dacus chose instead to write with the voice of those who's lives and loves made up the Royal Navy. A refreshing read. I look forward to the rest of the series.
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