The Captain's Bride"

The Captains Bride by Lisa Tawn Bergren

2.5 stars out of 5

     This book will take you from sea to land to sea again.  I was pleased to find a little piracy, a little love, and the adventure of starting out in a new country.  The tone and story line flowed well and it was an easy quick read by a good writer. 

   Then why do I only give it 2.5 stars not 5?  Basically it came to 2 main reasons.  First, I never felt a strong connection to the main character Elsa.  As the Captains Bride she was young, but strong and determined.  She is also talented yet uncertain in this new position she is wed into.  Yet I kept wondering what she was thinking, and wondering if I really liked her or just thought she was a nice girl.  My favorite character turned out to be Elsa’s best friend Kaatje, and wished her character hadn’t been left in such despair constantly.   Second, I became weary of the continual theme of wondering love – forbidden love.  Karl is constantly pining for Elsa(who is married), Tora is constantly encouraging any man(married or not), and Soren can’t (supposedly) keep from sleeping with any pretty girl or woman (even though his wife is just around the corner).  The wanderlust theme wore on me and took any depth and good feeling from the story.  Thus I barely gave the book 3 stars.  And that is not even taking into the equation how she leaves you hanging.  I feel a good book will leave you wanting the rest of the series without feeling you have to read it just to end a story.  I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review .