Ransome's Honor (The Ransome Trilogy) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This first volume in Dacus's Ransome Trilogy combines an engaging period story with charming characters, and likely will leave Christian romance fans wanting more. In 1802, William Ransome, a young lieutenant in the Royal Navy, is presumably on the verge of marrying his captain's daughter, Julia Witherington, when, concerned he would be doing so for financial security, he dashes her hopes by deciding not to propose. Dacus picks up the story 12 years later when Julia is 29 and still single and Ransome is a captain returned from the war with France. Circumstances throw them together again in Portsmouth, England, and what follows is a predictably Austenesque romance between two people obviously meant for each other, but fighting the inevitable. Adding to the tension are conspiring relatives who want Julia to marry a fortune-hunting cousin in need of her money. Dacus's descriptions of navy life and her character sketches are most appealing, but her references to prayer and the Bible that provide Christian elements in the novel sometimes seem forced and more like frosting than essential leaven.
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Product Description

The Ransome Trilogy from exciting new author Kaye Dacus combines the wit, romance, and social commentary of Jane Austen with the sea-faring adventure of Horatio Hornblower.

July 1814. The war with France has ended, and Captain William Ransome, known for never letting women aboard his ship, has returned to Portsmouth, England. Julia Witherington, considered an old-maid at 29, discovers that she must marry immediately to receive a large dowry. Julia knows that the only man she doesn’t want to marry is William Ransome. And the only man her father will approve of is…William Ransome.

When the couple strikes a financial deal to feign marriage for one year, the adventure begins. These stubborn people face humorous and hard situations that reveal what else they have in common—a growing affection for one another. This intriguing tale of faith and loyalty is a wonderful new offering for readers of all genres.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (July 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736927530
• ISBN-13: 978-0736927536
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #498,902 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars RANSOME'S HONOR, July 20, 2009

By	Tamara Tilley (Hume Lake, CA) - See all my reviews

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my new favorite authors, August 20, 2009

By	Kady Neil - See all my reviews

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, good wholsome romance, August 16, 2009

By	Jennifer Hofmann - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ransome's Honor
Kaye Dacus
Christian Historical Fiction
342 pages

It's no secret that I love historical fiction. I'd been eagerly awaiting my copy of Ransome's Honor by Kaye Dacus. My wait and expectations were rewarded. Ransome's Honor is a wonderful story about love, pride and forgiveness, and I can honestly say it's one of the best Christian romance books I have read in a long time.

At age seventeen Julia Witherington expects William Ransome to propose to her, but the fateful night ends up being anything but romantic. Twelve years later, William has returned, still in love with Julia. With unscrupulous relatives after her inheritance, Julia takes drastic measures and gets William to agree to a false marriage to avoid marriage to her devious cousin.

Set in 1814 Regency England, Ransome's Honor is full of sweet romance and hair raising tension. The plot moves at a good pace, never slowing down or dragging. The tension continues to build from page one to the end. Kaye captured the Regency era beautifully. The time period came to life in my head through her descriptions from the clothes, to parties.

Part of what made this story so memorable for me where the two main characters. Julia and William grabbed me from the first pages and I couldn't help but care about them and want to follow their journey through the ups and downs. I love that William and Julia sought God for guidance in their times of trouble as well.

I read a review that described Ransome's Honor as "Persuasion with some Pride and Prejudice as well as a bit of Sense and Sensibility put within." If you love Austen's books you'll enjoy this romance. It has everything you can ask for: adventure, romance, and intrigue with love, trust, forgiveness and most of all honor. Once you start this book don't plan on accomplishing anything else until you finish it. I'm warning you, it'll be impossible to put the book down.

And one closing thought - as a military brat, a book that has the King's Navy as a major part of its story...I couldn't help but love it!