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The Raven and the Banshee

by Carolyn Elizabeth

It’s the early 1700’s and sixteen-year-old Julia Farrow, spirited daughter of a shipping company owner, lives and loves on her own terms. With a sharp mind and sharper tongue, she constantly defies family and society expectations with no regard for the consequences.

Branna Kelly, only child of an Irish immigrant sailor, is hopelessly in love with Julia and imagines their life together as captains of their own fate. Left brokenhearted after Julia’s rejection, she embarks on a journey to chart a new shipping route to the Caribbean. Before Julia can explain her decision, Branna’s ship is overrun by merciless pirates. All hands are presumed lost.

Fifteen years later, Julia is running the Farrow Company and sailing with the crew on her newest ship when an encounter with pirates leaves her the lone survivor to be rescued by the infamous Raven, hard-hearted captain of the mercenary ship, Banshee. Julia is shocked to discover her rescuer wears a familiar face.

The Raven and the Banshee is a passionate tale of vengeance, forgiveness and second chance love in a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas.

Content note: the book contains one brief scene of sexual assault and one mention of rape.

Genre Romance, Action/Adventure
Length 234 pages
Publication Date January 13, 2022
Publisher Bella Books
ISBN 9781642472400A
Editor Ann Roberts
Cover Designer Kayla Mancuso

Extras

FROM THE AUTHOR

"The Raven and the Banshee holds a special place in my heart (don't they all). It was my first significant piece of writing and was published (~2014), under a different title, online as an AU fanfiction for a fandom which I'm unlikely to disclose. If you're really clever you may be able to figure it out.

It was received well and the first early confidence boost I got about my writing. Who doesn't love swashbuckling lady pirates? It was only a matter of time before I adapted it for publication. That time is now. You're welcome.

I am very excited to share this story with you and hope after reading it you want to know more about Branna and Julia's adventures aboard the Banshee. I look forward to telling more of their story."

—Carolyn Elizabeth

The Raven and the Banshee by Carolyn Elizabeth from Sunny Bee Productions on Vimeo.

Reviews

NetGalley
Andi K. - Everything I hoped it would be... swashbuckling revenge tale with a second-chance romance to die for!! Amazing. Loved it. Bought the book!! I was looking forward to this novel since it was announced, and always fear that expectations may be too high, but not a problem; Elizabeth knocks this out of the park.

NetGalley
Della B. - At the heart of this novel is a second chance at love for Branna. The journey to the second chance is an exciting read by anyone’s standards. Elizabeth’s main characters are strong women who make their mark in their world and the readers. Elizabeth is an exciting storyteller and does not disappoint in hopefully the first book of a series.

NetGalley
Samantha D. - I only needed to read a few pages to be immersed in the world of pirates in 1720, a bustling Nassau, rough seas, and even rougher people who work on or around the seas. The battles and the work are brutal, but very well written. I think this book works so well for me because of how strong Elizabeth's characters are, you know very early on who they are and why they are behaving in a certain way. You really get a good feel of the main characters, but the author doesn't stop there, the secondary characters are just as strong and important to the story.

Action-adventure romances always have an issue with making the romance believable, at least a lot of the time. In my opinion one always takes away from the other, that's why I prefer the crime/ mystery romance, it usually works better. In this case I would say it works out perfectly, and it all comes down to Elizabeth's excellent writing, story choices and characters. I hope this is the beginning of a new series, 4.5 stars.

NetGalley
Betty H. Of course this is an adventure story filled with pirates and mercenaries. Not only are these people out for gold and other riches, but many are also set on exacting revenge for wrongs done to them. These folks don’t settle disputes by playing a rousing game of checkers. You must expect a lot of action, fighting, blood and gore.

Woven into this exciting adventure is a second chance romance between Branna Kelly, who becomes Captain Kelly (The Raven) of the mercenary ship, The Banshee, and Julia Farrow, a young Southern lady who inherits the Farrow shipping company. I fell for both women early and their love story itself would have kept me a captive of this tale. It is a fairly angsty romance, but that just makes it fit perfectly into the adventure. The chemistry is there at the beginning of the tale and grows throughout the story.

This book is now firmly in my favorites and has my highest recommendation. If you love adventure and romance, then set your sails and chart your course for the nearest bookstore, Matey. You don’t want to miss this treasure of a tale!

NetGalley
Bonnie K. - This is a beautiful well written historical fiction with a Sapphic pirate. The characters had amazing chemistry. There's action, suspense and romance. What’s there not to love. Well done, I recommend. 4.5 stars.

NetGalley
Leah M. - One of my favorite things about this is the characters. Branna and Julia are both such interesting and different characters. This is set in the 1700’s so they’re busy breaking all kinds of barriers with Julia running her family’s trading company and Branna being the captain of a pirate ship. They’re opposites but have a lot in common as well. They’ve both dealt with a lot and are stronger women because of it. All of the side characters were just as fun and interesting to read too. They all have important roles and I loved how Elizabeth uses them instead of just being there to prop up the main characters.

There is plenty of action on the seas for all the action/adventure fans out there. This has a bit of a revenge plot with Branna hunting a certain pirate and Elizabeth does a fantastic job with all the details in describing the settings and the action that it’s very easy to imagine. There’s fighting and gore and if you love pirates doing piratey things, you’ll love this.

NetGalley
Natalie T. - What I love about Carolyn Elizabeth's novels that I've read so far is that she doesn't let her characters off lightly. They typically have some serious events happen to them, which makes for an entertaining and dramatic read. The Raven and the Banshee is no exception to the rule, as both Branna and Julia face significant challenges during the novel and I couldn't help but feel very sympathetic to them both.

The second chance romance is very sweet. I liked these characters together, but the romance (for me) was not the driving force of this novel. It was the adventure, the pirate life and the fleshed out side characters giving us so much entertainment. This is getting rave reviews so far and it's definitely clear why.

NetGalley
pipsqueakreviews - I never thought of myself as a pirate person, but I like this. It's an exciting story and there's a lot of action at sea. The story is set in the 1700s, Caribbean, a difficult time for women to amount to anything so it was nice that Branna could flourish as the fearless captain of a mercenary ship with a reputation that precedes her and never have her gender called to question.

There's an equal amount of romance here and the love story between Branna and her childhood sweetheart, Julia is very sweet and I love the chemistry between them. Young Branna and Julia had parted ways abruptly as teens and had gone through multiple losses along the way. The adult version of Branna is broken and Julia pieces Branna's heart back together when they reunite years later.

This is an exciting story I never thought I would like this much, but I really do.

To Be Read Book Reviews
The Raven and Banshee is a great adventure set in the 1700s that brought back a lot of good memories of the old swashbuckler movies I loved as a kid–but with two female leads which is even better. I don’t want to give the story away, suffice to say that there’s lots of drama, lots of action, lots of betrayal, lots of brooding, lots of romance. As with Ms Elizabeth’s other novels, her main characters are engaging and well rounded and even the secondary characters felt real and fleshed out.

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