When I started this blog, I had intended it to be, at least in part, a book blog of works about ships and the sea.  Of late, however, I have been completely negligent in posting reviews.  I will attempt to get back on track.  V.E. Ulett’s recent novel,  Blackwell’s Paradise,  a sequel to her excellent Captain Blackwell’s Prize, seems like a great place to start.

We wrote in our review of her first book, that Captain Blackwell’s Prize falls equally well in the categories of nautical adventure and historical romance. It is the sort of novel that readers of C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian can enjoy along with fans of Jane Austen and Daphne du Maurier.   Ulett continues this balance between adventure and romance in Blackwell’s Paradise, with Captain James Blackwell and his wife, Mercedes, beginning on a Royal Navy frigate sailing on a mission to the Pacific and continuing somewhat unexpectedly on the Hawaiian islands.  In parallel stories, Ulett captures the wild life among battling Hawaiian kingdoms, as well as that of the early settlement of Honolulu, where fur traders, whalers and the naval ships of several nations, all compete for trade. Blackwell and Mercedes are well drawn and fascinating characters on both the familiar surroundings of a Royal Navy ship and the more exotic environs of the Sandwich Islands. Great fun. Highly recommended.  Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other on-line retailers.