Book Review: "Surrender the Heart" by MaryLu Tyndall

For the sake of her ailing mother, Marianne Denton becomes engaged to Noah Brennin---a merchantman she despises. But as the War of 1812 escalates, Jonah's ship is captured by the British, and the ill-matched couple learns vital information that could aid America's cause. As they battle to save their country, will they also find love?

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed reading this book. I was expecting a full out historical ROMANCE but instead I got a HISTORICAL romance. Believe me this makes a difference. Oh there's plenty of romance throughout the story but with so much focus on the historical aspects of the time period, I found myself wanting to board the ship and ride out the adventure with Marianne and Noah.

The story takes place around the War of 1812 so Britain and the young American country are still at arms with each other. The descriptions about life aboard a sailing vessel during the time period were very detailed and I could almost feel myself rocking along on deck. When the British officers board the ship, the story gets very intense and I was half expecting someone to do something very improper to Marianne. I found it very interesting that they took her aboard as just a steward. I really liked all the talk about the history between the two countries and how the British were still showing a lot of animosity towards the US.

I thought I would get annoyed with Noah and his attitude but I never did. This is because his side of the story is shown almost immediately. Normally this is kept from the reader until the very end, but by showing his point of view, I was able to understand him a lot better. Marianne is not a spoiled rich girl by any means but she quickly has to adapt to life on a ship which she is not used to. The relationship between the two starts off negative due to both of them hiding things from each other but as the story grows it begins to mature.

Since this is an inspirational historical romance, there is talk about faith throughout the book. It's not too bad, although I did feel it to be a bit heavy near the end. If you're fan of movies such as Master and Commander or Horatio Hornblower, you're going to love this book. Lots of adventures on the high seas, high speed chases and more men on deck than you could possibly imagine. I really love the research Tyndall put into writing this book and I'll be looking forward to reading more books in the series.

Surrender the Heart by MaryLu Tyndall is published by Barbour (2010)

This review copy was provided for a blog tour with the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance