Ships, Secrets, and Survivors: A Review/ Giveaway

 

An assassin trainee fleeing his profession. 

A princess risking her reputation.

A talking ship with a mad captain.

Ravin should be dead. No one forsakes the assassin profession and lives. Attempting to evade capture and certain death, Ravin hides on a ship as part of the crew. Then his name is announced on Selection Day for the annual Scaera Dumeda, despite him never taking the entry test, declaring to the entire world—and the assassins hunting him for revenge—that he is alive. 

Princess Adima Radi Kashinda dreams of more than someday ruling Antovan. She desires to make a true difference for her people. When her name is called on Selection Day, she throws away her title, despite the uncertain future ahead. This may be the opportunity she hoped for.

When some of the other selectees are murdered, Ravin and Adi are among the suspects. With the help of Ravin’s captain and crew, they sail away to hunt down the killer and clear their names. Can they catch the murderer when he always seems to be at least one step ahead?

I hope that the blurb captured your attention. It caught mine. I mean pirates and assassins boys!  They managed to fit not only one but two of my favorite things into this story and I'm happy to say it delivers. 

This story is fun just pure fun. That's not to imply there isn't substance and emotional arcs, but just that the concept itself is entertaining, which is something I've been missing in a lot of fiction. It reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean and not for the more obvious reasons. But because it captured the same adventurous spirit and lightheartedness without losing any of its depth. 

It truly has it all. Even the princess is likable and interesting . Which is a rarity to find, believe me. These are not the kind of people you would usually want to put together, which creates great tension between the characters and considering they find themselves in some precarious situations where they are forced despite their personal prejudices to help and somewhat trust each other. I love the dynamics their plight created. It's a varied and colorful cast, I'm usually not one for ensemble casts but this one works so well. 

Even though Ravin and Adi are the focus of the story, I liked that the rest of the characters feel just as important and fleshed out. Ravin was a quick favorite. His attempts to change his course in life and subvert everyone's expectations of him are inspiring. Adi has similar aspirations if not completely different reasons for wanting to do so. Their mirrored struggle was one of my favorite parts.

If you're looking for a fun action-packed read with relatable characters, pirates, and maybe even a sea monster look no further.

Here there be monsters!

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US giveaway

International giveaway

For US Only: One winner will receive: 

1 Annotated Copy of Ships, Secrets, and Survivors

 1 Mug Tea 

3 Bookmarks

 1 Sea Dragon Sticker

 A Map of the Red Wind And a Book Sleeve 

 For our International Friends: An ebook copy of Ships, Secrets, and Survivors A PDF of Fearless, a Pirate Hunter Chronicles short story And a phone wallpaper

 

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Sarah Rodecker and Helena George have done countless crazy things together since they first met in 2005. One such thing was write Ships, Secrets, and Survivors on a dare. It went so well, they decided to expand it into a series and publish it together.

Sarah's blog

Helena's blog

It drops tomorrow, so be sure to get a copy!

Goodreads

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