Changing Tides

by Alex Standish

While most pirates sail in search of riches, Captain Devon Hall, the infamous Phantom of the Caribbean, is driven by vengeance. Devon has sworn to put an end to the corrupt governor of Jamaica and break the ruthless man’s stranglehold in the Caribbean.

When Devon is wounded and stranded on land, an unlikely rescuer comes to his aid. Brett Campbell is nothing like his uncle, the governor, and his goals are not so different from Devon’s. Brett longs for freedom, but his obligations to protect those under his uncle’s control keep him from fleeing. Throwing in with Devon might increase both their chances of success—and survival.

When the governor’s attempts to destroy Devon escalate and place Brett in danger and in the hands of the ruthless and depraved pirate Captain Blackburn, Devon must risk everything to save the man he loves and repay his enemies.

All Devon’s ever wanted is his ship, his freedom, friends who stand by his side through thick and thin, and someone to love. But facing dangers at sea and on land, Devon wonders if they will live to enjoy it all.

Genres: Historical, Pirates, Romance, M M Romance, Historical Fiction, Slow Burn

117 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2017

Reviews

[CrabbyPatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember watching those great Saturday afternoon matinees with Errol Flynn as the swashbuckling pirate Captain Blood wooing Olivia de Havilland or perhaps Flynn as the intrepid buccaneer Geoffrey Thorpe in Sea Hawk attacking the Spanish Armada? There was a certain elegance about being a pirate in those days.


But, there are pirates .... and then there are pirates, as in the extremely cut six-pack of Captain Charles Vane in Black Sails. In order to enjoy Changing Tides, adjust your expectations. Captain Devon Hall is much more Errol Flynn than Captain Vane, more Treasure Island than Cutthroat Island, aye matey?

Set in Jamaica in 1690, Changing Tides is a rollicking adventure of evil governors, hidden treasure, amazing rescues and shipwrecks, plus a M/M romance between Captain Hall and the governor's nephew Brett Campbell. There is much more telling than showing in this tale, and I felt some characters' actions were unrealistic for the times. For example, Brett and Devon's relationship is accepted in about two sentences:

“In these violent times, you reach for whatever happiness you can find" and “Besides, it would not be any of our business.” [...] And you two look… right together.”

I also noted a lot of "who would talk like this phrases" such as “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Captain Devon Hall, the Phantom himself, rescued by a seventeen-year-old boy. You will never live it down.” and “I look like a child trying his parents’ clothes” or “Patience, my pirate. Patience.”

Personally, this story did not work for me, but if you are looking for a fairly low-steam fantastical story of pirates and pirate treasure, Changing Tides may be just the ticket! 3.25 stars.

I received an ARC from Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
Review also posted at Gay Book Reviews - check it out!

[Kogiopsis]

There aren't very many w/w books on Hoopla - a free ebook service to which my library subscribes - so when I want some fluffy queer content to read on my breaks at work, I generally end up in m/m instead. After a few books, I'm starting to see some ongoing trends in indie-published gay romance.

- Relatively underdeveloped relationships: Part of this goes to the fact that these books tend to be very short, but there's just... not a lot of deep connection or complicated interactions. Characters tend to hold the same moral beliefs (in this case, both our leads are anti-slavery, opposed to the Governor, and our pirate doesn't actually... do any of the horrible things pirates do). They're pretty much instantly attracted to each other, and nobody has any real hesitations about sexuality or the relationship in particular.
- Basically irrelevant plots: The circumstances which bring our two heroes together are just sketched outlines. The romance is the alpha plot, and the question isn't really 'will they get together?' as it is 'when will they have sex?' (The answer is 'at some pretty rote percentage points in the book'.)
- Really awkward syntax: All characters forego contractions at random instances and it sounds bizarre. None of the conversations sound natural. Information is often delivered so bluntly it ruins immersion.
- A lack of... reality: Characters find their way into and out of a cave with no mention of light sources, even though if the villain really wanted to kill them all he'd have to do is leave them in the dark. Antagonists are ridiculously easy to defeat even when better-prepared. The external plot is brushed aside for the sake of a HEA.

In this one in particular, I struggled a lot with the way slavery was handled. Specifically: if you're gonna set a book in the Caribbean in this time period, and our heroes are so firmly opposed to slavery, and they've just come into a lot of treasure, you can't then... have them sit through most of a slave auction just watching until the one person they care about is on the block. That scene is representative of the way the issue was approached in general - slavery was Bad because a friendly character was involved, but nobody even tried to engage with the idea of, y'know, the rest of the system. (See also: one of the heroes is sentenced to be a galley slave, but is saved because the captain of the ship he's put on thinks he's special. Said captain is one of our good guys... and unspoken goes the fact that, by rights, he also has a bunch of slaves in the belly of his ship.)

Overall... meh. Not really worth rating, honestly. It's not one of indie publishing's hidden gems, but there are worse ways to pass the time, I guess.

[Fiona Cruickshanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review at: https://optimummblog.wordpress.com/20...

Set in the islands and waters of the Caribbean in 1690, Changing Tides is a really entertaining and exciting adventure story of treasure hunting, revenge and romance.

Pirate Captain Devon Hall is the epitome of the lovable rogue. He’s all good looks and charisma, but is also pretty ruthless when he needs to be, and most of the not so good things he does are to help/benefit other people. When his father is killed on the instruction of the governor of Jamaica, Rupert Campbell, Devon swears revenge, and he sets out to make sure that he destroys the man and everything he has. When Devon is injured, he wakes through periods of unconsciousness to a voice and room he doesn’t recognise. When he becomes fully awake and aware of his surroundings, he’s shocked to discover that he’s in the house of his biggest enemy, and is being looked after by the man’s nephew, Brett Campbell. At first, Devon tries to pretend that he’s just an innocent traveller who’s been attacked on the road, but Brett tells him that he knows exactly who Devon is because there are wanted pictures all around the house and there’s no need to worry because he’s not like his uncle. Brett is willing to look after and protect Devon for as long as it takes him to heal. Devon is unsure at first, but as the days go on the two men form a friendship, and Devon begins to trust Brett and enjoy his company. Devon also finds Brett to be really attractive, so he’s happy with this arrangement.

Brett Campbell is nothing like the man people expect him to be. When they find out who his uncle is, they expect him to be the same cold-hearted and brutal person. But Brett is a sweet and caring man who just wants to be happy and treat people how he would like to be treated. Brett doesn’t agree with how his uncle runs Jamaica, or how he treats the people, especially the slaves that work on his plantation. On more than one occasion, Brett has stepped in to protect the slaves from the harsh and unfair foremen on the plantation and the punishments that they hand out. He knows how corrupt his uncle is, because his uncle basically stole his inheritance from him, and now by helping and hiding one of the most wanted pirates in the house, he’s giving his uncle another reason to hate him more than he already does if he ever finds out. Brett is surprised by the connection and attraction he feels towards Devon as he’s never been with another man, but he knows it feels right, even if other people will see it as being wrong.

What started out as one man doing what he knew in his heart to be the right thing by giving aid to someone in need, leads to a journey of swashbuckling sea battles, fighting for survival, unexpected encounters, falling in love, and finding peace and happiness.

This book was just an awesome read. I was transported to another little world, and I was really sad to leave it when the story ended. The plot totally captivated me, and I wish the book could have been a bit longer. The characters were so enjoyable and easy to connect with. I think my favourite was actually one of the supporting characters, Cody Sullivan. He was sweet, quick-witted and mischievous. I just wanted to give him a big hug and look after him. I thought he was so adorable and would love to have a story just about him.

For me, this book pushed all of the right buttons, even though the romance was a very slow burner. But because there was so much going on, I felt that it was right for the romance to almost take a side step. When we do finally get down to the first kiss and the first time they sleep together, it made it all the more satisfying.

If you like historical romance or stories about pirates (how can you not?) then I’d highly recommend this book.

***The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book***

[Mari Cardenas · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

I loved accident-prone Brett, he was such a lovely man, compassionate and who showed a lot of character growth during the book. I loved Devon, too, he was different than what I expected from a pirate, but it was a refreshing change. The romance between them was more of a slow burn, but boy if it wasn't hot when these two finally came together.

I loved Cody and Elijah, they were both great secondary characters. I hated Captain Blackburn and Brett's uncle, who were both horrible.

I loved this pirate love story set in the Caribbean. It was action packed, interesting and fast-paced. This is the first book I read by Alex Standish and it was a really good introduction to her writing. The book is well-written and the language the author used was perfect for the era. If you like adventure, pirates and romance, you'd certainly love Changing Tides!

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very fond of any form of high seas shenanigans, particularly during the Golden Age of piracy, so of course I enjoyed this. The characters felt a little more fleshed out than you sometimes get in books as short as this, and I liked them. It did feel a little “one thing right after another” to the point where my suspension of disbelief was threatened just a bit, but it never quite got to the point where I ragequit from it being too ridiculous. I would’ve liked to see their relationship develop a little more, though it’s certainly better than I’ve seen in others of its ilk— but there was a lot of buildup to Brett’s sexual debut that ultimately didn’t feel like it had enough to support it being as big of a deal when it came. I wish we’d gotten a bit more out of a certain villain’s end, but I’ll take it— and the happy ending we get in conclusion!

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. While the opening of this story seemed promising, it swiftly spiralled into a slog. The writing was very tell instead of show, with far too many adverbs and some really clunky dialogue (such as ‘do not’ instead of don’t and ‘will not’ instead of won’t, etc). The characters (especially the villains) were not at all believable, nor was the romance or plot. It read poorly, and I had to force myself to finish, even short as it was.

That being said, I liked the ideas of the two main characters, just a shame they were never really fleshed out into real people.