Tides of Blue

by Sharon Brubaker

Shards of blue carry love through time and tides. Follow the trail of a cobalt blue poison bottle and its shards once it is tossed into the river after a devastating series of events involving life, love, and murder in the 1800s. The bottle wends its way to the Chesapeake Bay where it shatters, the shards then riding the tides, becoming pieces of a new life and romance over a century later. Anna Grace is trapped in an abusive marriage with a man she does not love, forced to live on a Maryland plantation far from her Philadelphia home. An innocent cobalt blue medicine bottle becomes her way to freedom and love.   Beth flees an abusive relationship, making a fresh start on the coast of the Chesapeake. She discovers a love for sea glass, finding shards along the bay shoreline. With the discovery, she'll find a piece of a rare cobalt blue poison bottle that will lead her to unexpected love.   Both women will find their courage and the love they deserve, both tied to the simple cobalt blue bottle through time and tides.

Genres: Romance

343 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2022

About the author

For Sharon, writing is like breathing. She's been penning stories since second grade. Sharon is an avid reader, writer, gardener, and jewelry artist living near the Chesapeake Bay, the setting of many of her novels.

Reviews

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical Romance

If you are a fan of a slow burn historical romance this one is for you. I’m not a huge fan of soul burn romances, and I didn’t always enjoy the speed at which this story progressed. However, I loved the 2 timelines that the book had. I liked that the female characters didn’t wait around to be rescued, but rescued themselves.
The author blends a past romance with a present day romance and connects the two.

1860 pre-civil war Anna Grace was married to a nasty man who is abusive to her and all those around him. She knows that if she wants to survive and better the lives of those around her she will have to take the future into her own hands. She meets Josiah and feels an instant connection with him, but she has to free herself first.

Present day Beth is running from an emotionally abusive boyfriend and no one believes her that she isn’t who he says he is. She moves away and starts over, enjoying life collecting sea glass with her new friend. She thinks Mike has let her go, but soon realizes that he hasn’t and is threatening her job and her happiness.

[Bookish_Aly_Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful romantic and suspenseful story! In this book you read a dual timeline and follow multiple different points of view. The story goes between the 18th century and the present and it was nice to see how it all came together in the end. The author did a really good job of connecting the past and present stories.

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and the author had me rooting for them throughout the book. It was nice to see the characters overcoming hardships and working to better their lives and getting what they felt they deserved. I definitely felt highly invested in the outcome of each character’s story.

If you love romance and historical fiction this is one you should definitely check out!

[dianas_books_cars_coffee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I don't have any seaglass!  After reading this book, I will most definitely be looking for it when I'm at the beach.  Each chapter started with some very interesting information about seaglass, and I really enjoyed reading the information.

This book was written in 4 POVs and 2 different timelines.  Anna Grace & Josiah in 1860 and Beth & Matthew in current day. Anna Grace & Beth both have suffered emotional and physical abuse at the hands of men who were supposed to love them.  Both get away from these men and try to move on.  Josiah & Matthew are the ones that could bring true love into their lives.

I liked this book a lot.  I really enjoyed reading the alternating timelines and different POVs.  I just wish there had been a little more to Anna Grace & Josiah's story.  They were extremely interesting and I was very invested in them.  Overall, I thought the author did a great job bringing all the characters together in the end.  She showed us how pieces of seaglass can connect the past and present.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you're a historical fiction fan.

[Pana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historic and current telling of what it means to take risks for the greater reward. Two women telling their story on their terrifying relationships with their husband/significant other. Anna Grace was a heroine for both women and men In slavery, and Beth, a great advocate for herself to create a better life after an abusive relationship.

I liked that the book had facts on all types of sea glass and locations of all sea glass beaches all over the world.
I do wish the book gave more insight of a HEA for Anna Grace and Josiah.

I recommend this book to historical fiction lovers, it does give insight on plantation life, what it was like to be wife who was bought, and a great advocate for others.

Rating 4/5

TW: domestic violence, gun violence, death by drowning, drug addiction, and stalking.

[K. Iwancio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a unique dual love story with trouble pasts. Once I hit page 50 I sat and read the whole thing! It was a romantic treat with picturesque beaches and sparkly sea glass. A lovely piece of women’s fiction

[Kristine L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can a small, ridged, cobalt blue bottle mean freedom for two young women in two different centuries?

This may sound like an uncertain premise. But hold on a min. Cuz Tides of Blue is the kind of book that grabs you hook, line, and sinker and keeps you on the line until the very end. Check it out:

Beth Finnegan is a nurse. Desperate to escape her emotionally abusive and Seriously Nuts boyfriend and hospital administrator Mike, Beth flees to a little cabin on Chesapeake Bay. She starts works at a small hospital and is befriended by another nurse, Marsha. (Think Force of Nature).

They pursue their hobby of “glassing” – looking for polished old glass on the beach, where Beth finds a small bit of a cobalt blue bottle. (The beach is usually cold, windswept, gray and rainy. I’m telling you this so’s you’ll know to grab a sweater when you dive into these captivating pages. Maybe a hot cuppa and a blankie, too.)

Anyway, Beth soon meets another glasser, Matthew the Super Hunk. Cupid’s arrows strike both. Hard.

But Mike the Jerk is so totally unhinged, he tracks Beth down in her new digs and makes destroying Beth his mission in life. (Told you he’s a jerk.) Will Beth ever get free of Mr. Uber Jerk? How? Will Matthew wind up in Mike’s crosshairs too?

Meanwhile, in a sort of parallel universe set in 1860s Maryland and Pennsylvania, sweet, young Anna Grace is forced into marrying plantation owner Augustus the Boorish Lout. (That’s not his real name. Just me chiming in with editorial commentary, okay?) Augustus is as mean and abusive as Anna Grace is sweet and kind.

But Anna Grace’s situation seems as hopeless as it is brutal. Until she meets Josiah Bryant (Hi, Ashley Wilkes). Josiah is as kind and welcome as a cup of cool water on a hot August afternoon. Hearts melt. But what about Augustus? Can a small cobalt blue bottle bring freedom to Anna Grace and the plantation? And what about the steamboat that Josiah boarded? It blew up and there are no reports of survivors.

Fans of historical romance, the Eastern Seaboard and the sea will love Tides of Blue. Tightly written and expertly crafted, this historical romance will sweep you off your feet and have you cheering on two strong female heroines before you can say “sea glass” or “crab bisque.”

Epic in its sweep and timeless in its themes of love, loss, and redemption, Tides of Blue is an absorbing and captivating read. Think Gone With The Wind meets Message in a Bottle meets Black and Blue.

Minor Caveat: A predictable ending. Any alert reader can see it coming a mile away. But these are minor and don’t detract from the overall story.

Speaking of story, the dual storyline running between the 1860s (Anna Grace) and present day (Beth) could come off as obtuse or muddy in the hands of a lesser talent. But Brubaker pulls it off. While Anna Grace’s or Beth’s stories could be read as stand-alones, the twin storylines flow into each other without a hitch, resulting in a watertight weft that’s seamless, fluid, and fascinating. We couldn’t put it down!

We also learned a lot about gardening and jewelry making. Also, don’t read this book on an empty stomach. The descriptions of food will have you drooling. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you!)

[Shanthi Ramabhadran · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always a pleasure to read dual time-driven stories and a story with multiple POVs. This story has both.
It's a pleasure to read a romantic story with suspense. The story swings between the 18th century and the present.
When I am halfway through, the author made me browse for some glass jewellery which is so attractive. Sharon has tremendous knowledge about glasses and their history.
Every chapter starts with a quote about glasses their origin, use for medical purposes, beverages and texture, colour and their value in the market.

The story starts with the murder of a man by a woman in 1860 who was abused by her husband who was the owner of a tobacco plantation. Anna Grace Cadwallader had been sold, by her father, to the highest bidder, Augustus.

A tobacco exporter, Josiah used to have business with Augustus. The story revolves around them and the slaves who worked for Augustus.

At present when Beth had a terrible emotionally abusive life with Mike, she runs away from Pennsylvania to the Chesapeake Bay area. Being a nurse, she got a job in a nearby hospital. In her free time, she used to stroll and collect beautiful sea glasses, whereas Matthew worked odd jobs to support his true love of creating unique jewellery from the sea glass he harvested from the Chesapeake Bay. He attends North American Sea Glass Association meets to display and sell his jewellery. Beth meets Matthew.

The connection between the 1860 story and the present is established so well by the author.

The author has taken care of the trigger warnings to affect too low the readers. The book is a mixture of historical fiction during the 18th century (the working of slaves, the lifestyle and dresses ) and the current lifestyle.
I travelled along with every character, whether it was at bay while searching for sea glasses or dinner table of Anna, Augustus and Josiah and many more.

The below statements show the author @brubaker.sharon knowledge about glasses.

“Clear glass bottles from the 1800s changed to pale lavender when exposed to sunlight due to the glass being made with manganese.”

“focusing on the cobalt blue piece again, I think might just be from a Victorian poison bottle.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[mybookish_escape_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tides of Blue by Sharon Brubaker is a novel that captures the reader’s attention from the first page. Each chapter begins with information about sea glass, which becomes a focal point of the novel. Sea glass intertwines four characters from the past and the present. Brubaker takes the time to develop each of the characters so that the reader feels as if he or she is a good friend of the character. The reader wants to keep turning the page and cheering for the character to be happy and overcome his or her trial.
The past time period of the novel is in the 1860s following the life of Anna Grace as the wife of a prosperous plantation owner. Anna Grace is not used to living on a plantation and believes in her Quaker Values towards the treatment of blacks. Her husband, who grows tobacco, on the other hand believes he cannot run his plantation without his slaves. He is down right awful and treats his slaves as animals. Anna Grace secretly builds a relationship with the black slaves to teach them how to read and value themselves. The reader learns about the history of the time period and the beginning of the abolitionist movement.
The present time period focuses on a parallel female character Beth, who is escaping an abusive relationship. She finds peace in looking for sea glass on the shores right outside her cottage. The sea glass assists her in building friendships, finding joy and becoming a self confident woman.
Both of these female characters have similar issues that draw the reader to analyze how they become stronger women. Brubaker also adds in two male characters Josiah and Matthew that thread into Anna Grace and Beth lives to give them hope and a different perspective. Sea glass connects Josiah to Anna Grace and Beth to Matthew in an interesting and intriguing way. The reader begins to unlock the connections as each chapter is told from a different viewpoint of one of the four characters.
I would recommend this novel to anyone that loves a good romance and story that is so well developed that you are sad when you have finished the last page. The reader desires to continue reading about these four characters and truly doesn’t want the novel to end.

[Pretty Peony Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about two women, Anna Grace and Beth, who are in abusive marriages and learn to find their way out. The two stories take place in two different time periods, one in the 1800’s and one in the present. The two stories are intertwined through the sea glass which plays an important backdrop in both women’s lives.

I really enjoyed this story. I like how it began with Anna Grace’s story and how she ended up marrying an abusive man. She didn’t know it at the time that he was abusive and by the time she realized he wasn’t who she thought he’d be, it was too late. As for Beth, she too didn’t realize her husband’s abusive ways until he became extremely violent. Luckily, for both these two women, they each found a man who was caring and supportive.

The tension buildup was excellent. I was on edge when Beth’s husband pretty much went crazy. I felt it was well done and really got me rooting for Beth and the other man who cared about her. This is a well written story of suffering and love. The added history behind the sea glass was a plus. I loved learning about them.

Who should read this book: Anyone into overcoming violence and learning to move on from it. The information about the sea glass is also very fascinating and worth learning in this book

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tides of Blue has a unique story of connecting characters through glass, that through time in the ocean becomes sea glass that is collected and transformed by collectors. A cobalt blue medicine bottle connects two couples 160 years apart. Anna Grace and Beth are each experiencing a toxic and abusive relationship and the bottle and its pieces begin the process of healing and giving each the courage to move forward. The story follows Anna Grace and Beth as they find their inner strength to escape. The story also follows Josiah and Matthew, who each meet one of these characters, as they are drawn to these women. All four of these characters pulled me into their journey and I felt connected to each on their new path towards finding love.

Adding to the story, at the beginning of each chapter, is a sea glass fact. It was an added texture to the story, as it gave me a more visual and a deeper understanding to the importance and value of sea glass. A few of the chapter facts I wish had more than just a sentence as I found the facts informative and helped me understand the connection with the characters drawn to sea glass.

[Terrie Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite parts of this book is the little fun fact about sea glass at the start of each chapter. I have learned quite a few new things about sea glass and have even tabbed some of my favorites to go back too.

The very first chapter had me sucked into the story and made me want to know more about why this blue bottle was so important.

She focuses on four people, two taking place in the present and the other two taking place in 1860.

We learn about Anna Grace and her struggles of being a women during the 1860s.
We learn about Josiah and his business that he was not expecting to run.
We learn about Beth and her struggles with being emotional abused.
Finally we learn about Matthew and his love for making jewelry with sea glass.

While I enjoyed reading learn about the struggles of Beth and Matthew in the present. I enjoyed Anna Grace and Josiah’s stories a little bit more.

Sharon took topics of abuse, both sexual and emotion, and spoke about them in a way to show bravery and resilience. She showed how even if you feel like no one will believe you, there is always someone who is on your side.

I would recommend Tides of Blue to everyone and anyone!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 1800s, Anna Grace tosses a cobalt blue glass vial into the river. Beth comes across part of that vial as sea glass, washed onto the shores of the Chesapeake, in the present day. Separated by time but connected by circumstance (and the cobalt glass) we follow both these women as they navigate the challenges thrown at them.

This book has a little bit of everything; historical and contemporary romance, struggle, murder, abuse, overcoming challenges. It has really interesting facts about sea glass before each chapter that I never knew about. I also didn't realize people collected them and that some were more valuable than others. It was fun to learn about. The was story was nicely connected and tied together, even more so with a little twist at the end. My only critique is Mike seemed like an intelligent person and his actions at the end seemed to suggest otherwise, unless he was so full of rage he just wasn't thinking correctly. This was a slow paced but fun read that gave off cozy vibes even though it dealt with some heavy topics. You basically get two stories in one with strong women and engaging stories all tied together nicely with sea glass.

[Gina Stamper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing and the way the author is able to bring the character’s thoughts and motives into our minds and have us understand was so well done.

Not everything was smooth sailing, and the characters and their lives were certainly a work in progress, but I liked that they weren’t perfect while still doing their best to better themselves and learn their worth.

Sharon Brubaker transports you into the drama, emotions, love, chaos, that will have you laughing, crying, and rooting for her characters.

[R.K. Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, the most powerful part of this book was the growth in the characters. Two people who think they are broken figure out they aren’t broken but are stronger than they thought.
The sea glass and what we learn about that was fascinating.
Overall, it was sweet, romance and ended with me feeling all kinds of emotions in the end. I am happy that I had been able to spend time with these fantastic characters.

[C. Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heart-warming story about home, family, love, redemption, self-worth, and so much more. It is sad in places but has an overall message of hope.
As the book goes on you can feel the emotions that both girls feel, and you can understand what they were going through. It makes you feel part of the story and when it's over you feel kinda sad because the book ended. It really pulls at your heartstrings in the best way.

Great read.

[Lisa Mister · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book to support a local author and read a local story. Overall it kept me interested, and I will probably read her other book, “Currents of Blue”. The reason I rated it a 3 instead of a solid 4, is because all of the proofreading errors that were missed, making it come off as amateur. It became distracting when the paragraphs and punctuation were misplaced, along with the occasional mis-use of a word (ie: pier vs peer).

[Samantha Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need a wonderfully captivating read? This is it.
I loved these main characters, their connection may be one of my favorites so far. The demons of their pasts are tough to overcome, but I love how they find a way together. Such a beautiful connection.
Something about Sharon Brubaker’s words really pull in the reader and have them captivated with the world and characters.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book and the follow up book @ rhe International Sea Glass Festival recently. I loved the glass and collecting info. Contemporary and historical intertwined themes. I almost gave it a 3 rating as a lot of repeating sentences throughout. The writing could have been easily tightened up but overall fun read.

[Sharon J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

great love story!!

I loved how Sharon wove into the story from the 1800s and present day which all came together at the end! Love the info on sea glass at the beginning of each chapter. Great read and couldn't put it down!!

[Dottie Gilbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book and a must read for anyone that loves sea or beach glass. The author is very knowledgeable about sea/beach glass and intertwines it into the great story. I loved it.

Dottie Gilbo

[Linda Roller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down. The stories intertwine perfectly. Loved the little facts about sea glass at the beginning of each chapter!

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt as though it was written by a college student. Things were repeated. Unnecessary details were described in too much detail. Characters didn’t seem believable.

[Mary Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, Thank you Sharon!!