Branded Ann

You won't be able to put it down but force yourself to since this book doesn't deserve to be read in one night. Think of it as an old fashioned serial adventure where you read a couple chapters, put it down, come back, re-read a little bit as a recap and move on to the next couple chapters. I haven't had this much funny since I was a kid and watched Errol Flynn/Basil Rathbone movies on Sunday afternoons. It is even all the better with interesting female characters winding their way through a rigorous plot. Maybe I exaggerated there were some stops in between with Aliens and BSG, but you get the idea. Anyway there has been nothing but pirates out our house for the last few weeks and the kids love it, less the bad behavior after 9 PM. Congratulations to the author for keeping the seafaring details to a minimum and sticking to the adventure with only a couple lapses in attention. Good show and bring on some more!

Making a name for herself as a writer of historical (fantasy) fiction, Merry Shannon has delivered another winner with `Branded Ann.' Ann is a universally-feared pirate on a mission to find her father's gold. In doing so, she captures the seemingly-pious Violet. The members of Ann's crew believe women are bad luck to pirates, but their captain insists on letting Violet live and work on board. Protecting Violet from the attentions of the male crew, Ann claims her as her own. As they continue their voyage, Violet's not-so-pious past comes to light. Eventually, she and Ann come to an understanding and begin to rely on each other for survival. A typical pirates-looking-for-treasure story has been wonderfully written to draw the reader in and keep her focused. I started this book on Saturday morning and finished it before bedtime. Although I had other activities on my agenda, the book quickly became top priority. This one is hard to put down one you start, so find a comfy place to curl up and enjoy.

This book isn't for everyone. It's gritty, very gritty. Unlike most lesbian fiction where a main character starts out evil then immediately their true heart-of-gold comes out when they meet their true love, Captain Ann is a cold-blooded, ruthless pirate, and remains so throughout the book. Even when dealing with Violet, she doesn't soften. Eventually, we are allowed to see what motivates her and in some cases it is surprising. Actions that we would believe unimaginably cruel she finds to be difficult but necessary and sometimes even compassionate. As the story unfolds, we begin to learn more about the two main characters, Captain Ann and Violet. Every person is a composite of their own experiences, and this is quite true in this book. Both appear at first to be quite simplistic. Slowly their layers are exposed to the reader, but only to the reader. Each layer is carefully pealed away. I said that Captain Ann remains a cold-blooded, ruthless pirate - but that's not entirely true. They both change over the course of the story. Yet every change follows a natural progression, with reasonable and logical justifications. One thing I really enjoyed about this story is its intensity. This story had just the right amount of tension to keep me reading, but not so much as to make me check the back of the book to see how it ended. When that happens, I generally find I can't finish the book. Almost everything that happens is foreshadowed, but only slightly. It was just enough that, in retrospect, you could say "I should have seen that coming;" yet not enough so you knew everything before it happened. In fact, there was only one event that I saw clearly when it was foreshadowed - but that was partly due to the synopsis on the back of the book. Other events took me completely by surprise and, in fact, shocked me. If I had to include a criticism of this book it would be... I honestly can't think of any. This is only Merry Shannon's second book. I found her first to be exceptional as well, but this one completely blows me away. I can only look forward to more books from her. My standard disclaimer - I only give reviews/recommendations of books I consider exceptional.

I honestly wish I had more stars to give this book. The story pulls you in from beginning until the very end. Branded Ann is a fabulous adventure/romance novel filled with amazing characters with their virtues and their flaws. I read it in two days, I would've been done sooner if I didn't have to sleep. Merry Shannon is a new voice in literature and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Merry Shannon has an amazing gift for story telling. Branded Ann is one of those books that draw you in right from the start, and keeps you there. The characters are believable to the point you feel as if you are sailing the high seas right along side the salty crew of the Ice Queen. I absolutely loved this story. I highly recommend it.