Review: Captain Blackwell's Prize by V.E. Ulett

Title: Captain Blackwell's Prize
Author: V.E. Ulett
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Fireship Press
Publish Date: June 20, 2012
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You're a romance fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "A romantic adventure from the days of wooden ships and iron men, Captain Blackwell’s Prize is a story of honor, duty, social class and the bond of sensual love.

A small, audacious British frigate does battle against a large but ungainly Spanish ship. British Captain James Blackwell intercepts the Spanish La Trinidad, outmaneuvers and outguns the treasure ship and boards her. Fighting alongside the Spanish captain, sword in hand, is a beautiful woman. The battle is quickly over. The Spanish captain is killed in the fray and his ship damaged beyond repair. Its survivors and treasure are taken aboard the British ship, Inconstant.

Captain Blackwell’s Prize features sword fights and sea battles alongside the manners, ideas, and prejudices of men and women from the time of Nelson and Napoleon."

My Two Cents:

Captain Blackwell's Prize is part adventure story and part love story (the love story probably gets a little bit more focus overall). While this book would probably fall most into the historical romance category, there is a lot of really good historical detail that historical fiction lovers will love as well.

When the Trinidad is overtaken by Captain Blackwell and his men, the gorgeous Mercedes comes into Captain Blackwell's life. They shouldn't fall in love. She is Spanish and technically a sort of prisoner. He is English and is at war with the Spanish. I liked the love story but I really wished that we got to see a little more about why Blackwell and Mercedes fall in love so quickly. At first, it seems like Blackwell is taking advantage of the situation of having Mercedes as a sort of prisoner and she seems to just go with it. I think that if we got to understand a little bit more about what made Blackwell and Mercedes' love bloom.

That being said, in the end, I really liked how things turned out for the main characters. It was hard not to eventually be won over by the romance. I have a soft spot for love stories about characters that don't seem like they should be in love but end up falling head over heels in love. I truly am a hopeless romantic.

I really liked all of the historical detail in the book. It was so interesting to hear all about the nautical fighting. I haven't read a lot about this kind of fighting or ship life, so it was all very, very interesting to me. The whole wooden ship age was oh-so-romantic. I think this would be a really good book for anyone who wants to learn a little bit more about this time period all wrapped up in a nice love story.

Bottom Line: Great historical detail!