Ransome's Honor

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 mea

The setting is great and with the suspence between the various characters, one will be kept spellbound as well as respecting the period character, Julia's independence, Williams's wariness, Sir Drake's shrewdness and the end results giving God glory.

This book kept my interest and was hard to put down! I can't wait for the other books in the trilogy to come out.

Often, people think of romance novels as wild romps through contrived plots and outlandish characters in unrealistic settings. And sometimes that is true. Not so for Ransome's Honor. It's a fun, satisfying read, but without the unrealistic contrivances. The author has a way of weaving details of her extensive knowledge of ships and The Royal Navy so that the reader is given a good sense of Regency life for sailors and their families. Characters are fleshed out and easy to keep straight, assisting the reader's imagination. As you might have guessed, Ransome's Honor is right up my alley. I am so thankful for talented Christian authors, Like Kaye Dacus, who write about my favorite genre: historical fiction. And especially historical romance. This novel fits the bill wonderfully. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series. This book was provided free of charge by the publisher. No payment was provided in return for this review. The publisher had no editorial rights or claims over the content or the conclusions made in this review.

Oh my! This is the best book that I have read in a while with no exaggeration. In a way it is Persuasion with some Pride and Prejudice as well as a bit of Sense and Sensibility put within. Action, adventure, intrigue, romance, rescue, and true love, edge of the seat, page turning, not able to read fast enough thrills throughout. This novel has all of the great qualities of a fabulous read and reminds me of other stories I have read and loved. Without a doubt this is one for the permanent keeper shelf and I cannot wait for more from the series. This is my first Kaye Dacus, but not my last. I plan to read some of her contemporary series next. As far as a recommendation for who would like this book... Well it's regency, and deals with the King's Navy. I would relate the adventure and feeling of reading that that of when I read a book by MaryLu Tyndall or Kathleen Y'Barbo. In my opinion, set some time aside when you plan to start this book, because you will be in pain to attempt to set it down and walk away from what happens next! Highly recommended!!!