Blackhearts

In this stunningly creative debut filled with well-drawn charactersand smoldering passion, (Booklist) Nicole Castroman reimagines the origins of historys most infamous pirateBlackbeard.When Edward Teach Drummond, son of one of Bristols richest merchants, returns home from a year at sea, he finds his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesnt love and sick of the high society he was born into, all Teach wants is to return to the vast ocean he calls home. Theres just one problem: he must convince his father to let him leave and never come back. Following the death of her parents, Anne Barrett is left penniless. Though shes barely worked a day in her life, Anne takes a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks and Anne longs to escape the confines of her now mundane life. How will she ever achieve her dream of sailing to Curaaoher mothers birthplacewhen shes trapped in England? From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn together by a shared desire for freedom, but kept apart by Teachs father, their love is as passionate as it is forbidden. Faced with an impossible choice, Teach and Anne must decide whether to chase their dreams and leave England foreveror follow their hearts and stay together.