August 3, 2022 - BCPL Salty Seas Reads

Looking for a read that will take you sailing across the seven seas? Or maybe you just enjoy nautical fiction?

Look no further than these titles available from Brooke County Libraries! All of the following fiction novels are available as ebook copies or at one of our locations.

Sea Change by Karen White

For as long as she can remember, Ava Whalen has struggled with a sense of not belonging, and now, at thirty-four, she still feels stymied by her family. Then she meets child psychologist Matthew Frazier, and thinks her days of loneliness are behind her. After a whirlwind romance, they impulsively elope, and Ava moves to Matthew’s ancestral home on St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia. But after the initial excitement, Ava is surprised to discover that true happiness continues to elude her. There is much she doesn’t know about Matthew, including the mysterious circumstances surrounding his first wife’s death.

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.

Captive of My Desires by Johanna Lindsey

Gabrielle Brooks sets sail from England to a Caribbean island in search of her estranged father and encounters a life-altering surprise -- her father is a pirate! After spending three wonderful years hunting treasure with him, Gabrielle is dismayed when he decides she must return to London to find a proper husband. His old friend James Malory will sponsor her in polite society. Gabrielle is escorted to balls and parties by James's wife, Georgina, and her brother, Drew Anderson, a dashing American sea captain and fun-loving rogue. When Drew embroils Gabrielle in a scandal the night before he's to sail home, the pirate's daughter vows revenge by commandeering Drew's ship and taking him prisoner. But as passion runs high on their sea voyage, it becomes difficult to tell who is truly the captor and who is the captive. 

Pirate by Clive Cussler & Robin Burcell

An 800-year-old treasure... an ancient cypher wheel... a brutal murder... and a man who will stop at nothing to claim what he considers rightfully his. Husband-and-wife treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo have gone on impossible missions before and faced many perils, but never have they faced an adversary as determined as the one before them now. The battle will take them halfway around the world, and at its end will be either one of the most glorious finds in history — or certain death.

Gift from the Sea by Anna Schmidt

A steadfast faith kept nurse Maggie Hunter going through the darkest days of the Great War. But her fiance's death overseas shattered her trust in God and her heart. Now an injured man has washed up on the shores of her Nantucket home, and to save him, Maggie must put more than her skill and dedication on the line....Wartime tragedy cost Stefan Witte everything--and converted him to the cause of peace. But to deliver vital information to American authorities, he must fight Maggie's stubborn refusal to believe or forgive. Soon he will risk his life to win her trust--and their heaven-sent future together.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Jamaica in 1665 is a rough outpost of the English crown, a minor colony holding out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, Jamaica′s capital, a cut-throat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses, is devoid of London′s luxuries; life here can end swiftly with dysentery or a dagger in your back. But for Captain Charles Hunter it is a life that can also lead to riches, if he abides by the island′s code. In the name of His Majesty King Charles II of England, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking. And law in the New World is made by those who take it into their hands.

A Sunless Sea by Anne Perry

Monk's old superior Runcorn was first on the scene for Lambourn, and now suspects government suppression. Lambourn's beautiful wife wife Dinah, lies about her whereabouts, denies accusations, but Monk must arrest her despite his belief in her innocence. While public, press, government, and biased judge push for quick hanging before Xmas, Monk, his spirited wife Hester, and their brilliant barrister friend Oliver Rathbone, search for answers. From dank waterfront alleys to London’s fabulously wealthy West End, the three trail an ice-blooded murderer toward the unbelievable, possibly unproveable truth—and ultimately engage their adversaries in an electric courtroom duel.

Sail by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

Since the death of her husband, Anne Dunne and her three children have struggled in every way. In a last ditch effort to save the family, Anne plans an elaborate sailing vacation to bring everyone together once again. But only an hour out of port, everything is going wrong. The teenage daughter, Carrie, is planning to drown herself. The teenage son, Mark, is high on drugs and ten-year-old Ernie is nearly catatonic. This is the worst vacation ever. Anne manages to pull things together bit by bit, but just as they begin feeling like a family again, something catastrophic happens. Survival may be the least of their concerns.

The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners by Luanne Rice

A legendary island steeped in the mystery and wisdom of centuries…  A runaway heiress learning to trust life, and love…  A mother and daughter, separated for years, searching for a way to face the future together…

Sailing to Capri by Elizabeth Adler

When English tycoon Sir Robert Waldo Hardwick dies mysteriously in a car accident, he leaves behind a note naming six people he suspects might have wanted him dead. Daisy Kean, and P.I. Harry Montana team up to take the suspects--and also six 'red herrings'--on a fabulous Mediterranean cruise, all expenses paid by the late Sir Robert.  As they call at Monte Carlo, St. Tropez and Sorrento, the mystery deepens.  And the unexpected twists are just the beginning. 

A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch

1873 is a perilous time in the relationship between France and England. When a string of English spies is found dead on French soil, the threat of all-out war prompts government officials to ask Charles Lenox to visit the newly-dug Suez Canal on a secret mission. Once he is on board the Lucy, however, Lenox finds himself using not his new skills of diplomacy but his old ones: the ship's second lieutenant is found dead on the voyage's first night, his body cruelly abused. The ship's captain begs the temporarily retired detective to join in the hunt for a criminal. Lenox finds the trail, but in the claustrophobic atmosphere on board, where nobody can come or go and everyone is a suspect, he has to race against the next crime—and also hope he won't be the victim.

Two if by Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Just hours after his wife and her entire family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy goes out to join his volunteer rescue unit and pulls a little boy from a submerged car, saving the child’s life with only seconds to spare. In that moment, Frank’s own life is transformed. Not quite knowing why, Frank sidesteps the law, when, instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the boy home to the Midwestern farm where he grew up. Not long into their journey, Frank begins to believe that Ian has an extraordinary, impossible telepathic gift; but his only wish is to protect the deeply frightened child. 

Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea by Nancy Atherton

Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity novels have enchanted thousands of readers, and this new addition to the series is likely to broaden the spell. A series of death threats sends Lori Shepard to a remote island off the Scottish coast and to a fabulous castle restored by an eccentric friend of her husband's. But she finds herself drawn into an elaborate whodunit that may involve smuggling- or worse. Why has a human skull washed up on the beach? Is a desolate island really the best place to hide from a murderer? As Lori draws once more on Aunt Dimity's supernatural aid, Atherton whips equal measures of whimsy and suspense into an irresistible confection.

Set Sail for Murder by Carolyn Hart

When retired newspaper reporter Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins, Henrie O to her friends, receives a call for help, she discovers that love once kindled never burns to ashes. Although she refused Jimmy Lennox’s marriage proposal, there is still a special place for him in her heart. She wished him well when he found happiness with Sophia Montgomery, world-famous documentary filmmaker and stepmother to the now grown heirs of a great fortune. Sophia is at odds with the heirs, and Jimmy fears for her safety. He asks Henrie O to come along with the family on a Baltic cruise. Henrie O can’t turn down her old friend, though old passions are stirred when he calls.

Pirate by Ted Bell

Aboard a ship in the south of France, an American spy faces certain torture and death for the vital, explosive intelligence he possesses. In Paris, a ruthless and powerful descendant of Napoleon has forged an unholy alliance with China for its growing nuclear arsenal, poised to send America and the world to the brink of a gut-wrenching showdown. Now, in a maelstrom of razor's-edge danger, Alex Hawke must enter the nightmare visions of madmen to defuse an axis of evil no historian could have predicted -- and no living soul would survive.

Did we leave out any of your favorite sea-worthy tales? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you in the comments sections on our pages or in person.

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