Recent Reads {Beloved Castaway}

Beloved Castaway by Kathleen Y'Barbo - I bought this book ages ago, basically because it looked kind of pirate-y and the price was right.  For whatever reason, it took me until my vacation a couple weeks ago to read it.  I was surprised at how good it was!  Honestly, I was sort of expecting a cheap, formula "Christian romance" which just happens to involve a ship's captain.  The story is actually more complex than that, with some intriguing twists and turns, despite the fact that it's obvious from the very first that the two main characters will fall in love.  That part, at least, sticks with the formula.  Isabelle Gayarre is desperate to escape from New Orleans and slavery, hoping to reach abolitionists in England.  She must trust Josiah Carter, a ship's captain, to help her get away, even though what she's heard about him doesn't inspire trust at all.  Some improbable coincidences, extenuating circumstances, and tragedies along the way conspire to thrown them together, and to learn to trust God as well.  It's hardly a spoiler to say that it is a happy ending, although how it all works out makes for a pretty good read.