My Review: The Raven Saint (Charles Towne Belles, #3) by M. L. Tyndall

The Raven Saint
(Charles Towne Belles, #3)
by Mary Lu Tyndall

Christian Fiction / Historical / Romance

Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Copyright 2009
Pages:  318
ISBN:  9781602601581






(from MaryLu's website):

When Grace Westcott is kidnapped by a French mercenary, tossed aboard his ship, and told she will be sold to a Spanish Don in Columbia, she cannot imagine what she has done to deserve such a horrid fate. She has spent her entire life serving God and helping the poor, not to mention trying to save the souls of her two wayward sisters. Thinking perhaps God has sent her to preach to the vile captain and his crew, Grace's every attempt to correct their sinful ways is rewarded with only mockery. When Grace's situation grows far worse than she could imagine, she is forced to face her own human weaknesses. But she isn't prepared to face her biggest weakness of all-falling in love with the nefarious captain, Rafe Dubois.

Captain Rafe Dubois hates nothing more than a religious pretence of piety. Fleeing a home of abuse and betrayal under the thumb of his self-righteous father, he became a mercenary upon the Caribbean. There isn't any job, no matter how vile, he won't undertake in order to amass the fortune he needs to build a hospital for the poor in his home town of Port-de-Paix. The praises of the people fill a craving in his soul for the self-worth and value he never received from his father, while giving him a sense of purpose for his otherwise reckless life. That is, until he meets the saintly Miss Grace Westcott who continually berates his every move.

My thoughts:

The Raven Saint moved at a faster pace than The Blue Enchantress, which made me happy!  I enjoyed Grace and Rafe's story a little more as well.  I don't know if I just wasn't in a "pirate" mood when I read these two books, and that's why I didn't enjoy them as much as The Red Siren, or what.  Don't get me wrong, none of Mary Lu's books are bad, I just wasn't enthralled with this story as I normally am when reading her books.


We meet Grace Wescott while she and her personal maid, Alice, are on one of Grace's many errands of mercy.  She feels lead to serve God by helping the poor whenever she can.  Only this errand turns out to be vastly different than any she has been on so far!  While basically out in the middle of nowhere, Grace is kidnapped by a French mercenary, Captain Rafe Dubois.  She soon discovers that she is part of a horrendous plan that will enable Rafe to seek revenge on the men responsible for his mother's death.  What will happen to her?  Will she ever see her sisters, Faith and Hope, again?  Surely God will see fit to deliver her from this nightmare, especially since she has devoted her life to Him.  Little does she know, this frightening escapade is all part of God's plan.


Quite a few secondary characters in The Raven Saint caught my attention.  Such as, Nicole, and her daughter, Madeline, who help Grace out of a sticky situation.  Then there is Father Alers, the ship's cook.  He is also one of Rafe's closest friends who has decided to remove himself from the priesthood.  My favorite secondary character of all is Spyglass.  She is Rafe's one-eyed cat, and she "helps" him on more than one occasion.  I fell in love with her immediately!  As it turns out, one of my blogging friends, Angie, over at Never a Dull Moment, had the honor of naming Rafe's kitty.  Isn't that awesome?  Great name, Angie!  =)


If you haven't had a chance to read any of Mary Lu's books, you should definitely give them a try.  To find out more about her, and her books, be sure to visit her website.

*** I received my copy of The Raven Saint compliments of Mary Lu Tyndall.  Thank you! ***