Read
an
excerpt
Meet
Jennifer Bray-Weber
Review
Copyrighted ©2012
Cindy Vallar
The
Siren’s Song
Jennifer Bray-Weber
Carina Press, 2012, eISBN
9781426893742,
US$5.99
Also
available as an audiobook
Locked in the hold of a
sinking ship, Gilly McCoy struggles to get free. She
didn’t escape from
the
clutches of a murderer just to die an ignoble death.
But once she gains
the
weather deck, she discovers that everyone else has
abandoned the Rowena. Her only option
is to gain the
attention of a nearby vessel – the one to which the Rowena’s crew rows.
When one of his men
notices
Gilly’s frantic waves, Thayer Drake can’t believe the
newcomers on his
deck
dared to abandon their ship without her. In spite of
the peril, he and
his men
go to fetch her. But once Gilly’s safely in his arms,
she jumps
overboard to
retrieve her purse, which has fallen into the raging
sea. Not quite
sure why,
he follows and saves her from drowning.
Gilly has no money to pay
for
passage, and her only talent – aside from getting into
trouble – is her
sweet
voice. His lucrative wrecking business provides more
than enough gold
to fill
his coffers, so Drake seeks a different fare from her.
Each night she
must sing
for him, and each time the bell tolls, she must kiss
him. At first,
Gilly
believes these are simple requests, but as the days
pass, the
attraction
between them grows. So do the confrontations, for both
Drake and Gilly
have secrets
and addictions and neither is willing to let go of
them.
After plundering the
cargo
from the sinking Rowena, Drake
discovers much of it belongs to his nemesis. Many
years ago, Drake
vowed to
kill Machete, a corrupt and brutal tyrant who wields
much power in Cuba
– a
place Drake once called home. Now, he has the means
and the skill to
face his
nemesis in a final dual that proves far more
treacherous and dangerous
than
expected. To see his plan through, Drake intends to
rid himself of
Gilly once
they dock in Havana. She can’t wait to find passage to
another
destination, one
where she will be safe from the murderer and Drake.
But treachery
awaits them
in Cuba and puts them both into perils neither may
survive.
The Siren’s
Song takes
place in 1727, and from first page to
last, Bray-Weber hurls
readers into a storm-tossed sea and never loosens her
clutches until
the end.
The narrative involves all our senses in such vivid
description that we
experience what her characters do. Her language is
fresh and sometime
humorous,
but never does the nautical jargon intrude. One of my
favorite lines
appears
while Gilly is attempting to escape from the hold: “If
she were to get
out of
this alive, she would need to stop falling down like a
soused
three-legged
mule.” Those who have read the author’s previous books
will cheer at
reuniting
with the crew of the Rissa, which in
this tale belongs to Thayer Drake. Willie, Henri, and
Sam are wonderful
characters who sometimes steal the show, but have a
way of worming
themselves
into our hearts as they spring to life before our
eyes. For readers
seeking
adventurous romance with serpentine twists and clashes
that flare into
passions
both amorous and dangerous, The Siren’s
Song is a voyage to cherish.
Pirates
and Privateers
