Tangled Hearts by Heather McCollum

The Basics:
Tangled Hearts by Heather McCollum
Entangled: Select
Book Two in the Highland Hearts series
Historical Romance
Publication Date
Source: Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

Why I picked up this book:

A pirate-witch?  Yes, I think so.   

Blurb:

Growing up on a pirate ship, every day was full of adventure for Pandora Wyatt. It was also the perfect place for her to use her magic without persecution. But after her surrogate father is imprisoned in the Tower of London, Pandora leaves the safety of the vessel to rescue him before he’s executed. She expects her mission to be difficult, but what she doesn’t expect is to have her life saved by the sexiest man she’s ever met. 

Highland warrior Ewan Brody always wanted a sweet, uncomplicated woman by his side, but he can’t fight his attraction to the beautiful enchantress who’s stumbled into his life.  He quickly learns, though, that Pandora is not only a witch, but also a pirate and possibly a traitor’s daughter—and though she’s tricked him into playing her husband at King Henry’s court, he’s falling hard. Soon, they begin to discover darks secrets leading to the real traitor of the Tudor court, the one Ewan was hired to capture. Now, Ewan and Pandora must uncover the truth before they lose more than just their hearts.  

My thoughts:

A fun, rollicking read, this book drew on many different elements and sources to create a hodgepodge of a story.

We've got pirates, we've got Highlanders, we've got witches. There's traitors and royalty, jousts, prison breaks, sea battles.... So much going on, and somehow it all manages to come together into quite an enjoyable tale.

The beginning of Tangled Hearts was a little slow for me, and it felt a little out of place - like the story was set in a time period that it wasn't really reflecting. Once I let my expectations and preconceived notions about Tudor history go, and the story reached London, things really picked up. 

This book is full of action, and stolen moments of passion. Once the pace ratchets up, it never slows down. Dory, as she's usually called, which unfortunately made me think of the Pixar movie Finding Nemo, is all about acting, and there's certainly a large role for her to play in this story.

Dory's innocence did feel, at times, out of place given that she was raised on a pirate ship. I suppose it emphasized her strength - having avoided any unwanted attention - and that Ewan was her chosen partner. It still seemed a little odd to me, but I rolled with it.

I think that's really the best attitude to take with this book. If you relax into it, I think Tangled Hearts is a lot of fun.

Bottom line:

I would rate my reading experience at 4/5 stars. Do not read this because it's set in Tudor England, but rather read it because it's *fun*. Highlanders and a magical pirate trying to outmaneuver slavers, the English King and a pack of traitors?  Just say yes to this one, sit back and enjoy the ride.

4 stars
For fans of pirates, magic, romance, Highlanders