Sunday, March 11, 2007

MaryLu Tyndall's The Reliance ~ Reviewed


The Reliance
By MaryLu Tyndall
Barbour Publishing 2006
ISBN 978-1-59789-360-2

A young bride separated from her husband just as a child has been conceived. . .
A grieving husband tempted to take his anger out through the vices of his heart. . .
A marriage and a ship threatened to be split apart by villainous Caribbean pirates. . .

Captain Edmund Merrick, convinced his pregnant wife, Charlisse, is dead, sails away to drown his sorrows. Having turned his back on God, Edmund reverts to a life of villainy and joins forces with the demented French pirate Collier. When Edmund’s mind clears from its rum-induced haze, will he be able to pull himself up from the depths to which he has sunk?

Believing herself abandoned by her new husband, Charlisse begins to battle her own insecurities, as well as the vengeful pirate Kent who now holds her and the Lady Isabel captive. Will Charlisse lose her love for Edmund as well as the life of her unborn child?

As they battle the tempest that threatens to tear them apart, is there any way Edmund and Charlisse can regain the helm and steer their way back to the haven they both so desperately seek? Or will their love drown in a whirlpool of treachery and deceit?

Author MaryLu Tyndall broadsides the reader with a rip-roaring adventure on the stormy Caribbean. It’s all here, from walking-the-plank to rat-infested ship holds, while interspersed throughout with love, devotion and duplicity.

It’s a given that handsome and brave Captain Merrick is my favorite male character, but a close second goes to his first-mate Sloane. A crusty curmudgeon, he’s got a heart as big as the sea. His care and protection of Charlisse in Merrick’s absence is admirable, and his conversion toward the end could make a grown pirate cry.

Many new characters are introduced, but the heart of the story is the faith journey of Charlisse and Merrick. Charlisse’s new faith catches wind and sails in the midst of tragic events. Merrick’s trust in God plunges to murky depths so gloomy, the reader wonders whether he’ll drown in his doubts.

I must admit to being nervous when embarking on The Reliance since my heart had already been kidnapped by Tyndall’s first book, The Redemption. But before the end of chapter one, I’d been reeled in. Tyndall is a master of character development and rope-dangling scene endings. Once you begin reading, your everyday life will be thrown in the hold until the last page.

Two thumbs-up, five stars, ten yo-ho-ho’s and a bottle of rum for Tyndall’s masterpiece, The Reliance. My only concern is how she’ll be able to top this with the third and last book in the series due out later this year.

Don’t get stranded ashore and miss the adventure. Set sail for the nearest bookstore and capture this treasure!

Reviewed by Michelle Griep

1 comment:

Tamara Tilley said...

I couldn't agree with you more, Michelle. Though I read THE REDEMPTION begrudgingly,(I was working on a pirate book of my own at the time and definitely felt the wind leave my sails) I was quickly drawn into the adventures taking place on the high seas. I anxiously awaited the release of THE RELIANCE and was not disappointed. Anyone with a taste for both romance and adventure will love the tale and the characters that MaryLu has drawn. Happy sailing.