Review: A Disaster’s Wake by Kennedy Sutton

Title: A Disaster’s Wake

Series: Silver Locket Origins: Book Three

Author: Kennedy Sutton

Length: 334 Pages

Category: Historical Romance

Rating: 4 Stars

At a Glance: Kennedy Sutton’s prose is lush, expressive, and suits the story with its flourishes and vivid descriptions of time and place. The seafaring life was a difficult one, which rings true in A Disaster’s Wake.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: When Mickey chooses to sail beside Hugh on a trial basis under a captain who runs a ruthless ship, once-reliable lines pull taut and snap beneath their feet.

Hugh is desperate to prove to Mickey that things will be different this time, but safety aboard a freshly created pirate brig is always uncertain. Beneath a captain who tries his prickly nature, Hugh’s control is constantly tested. Trying to balance his desire to protect Mickey with his dedication to the crew, especially as his best friend, Bennett Holt, wars with his own demons, is almost enough to make Hugh snap.

Being a father was something Mickey never knew he wanted until he held his daughter. But the love of a man like Hugh is something Mickey has always searched for. He’s never been good at making decisions, and this is the hardest of his life. In a world unaccepting of his love for Hugh, the safety and reputation of his infant daughter rests heavily on his shoulders. If he chooses his own happiness and remains aboard Sneaky Lass with Hugh, all could be lost for the family he left on land.

In the lawless career of piracy, where success hinges on a fearsome reputation, the crew must decide where they will draw the line between fairness and criminality. Mickey, Hugh, and the crew of Sneaky Lass struggle to come to terms with their place under the shadow of a black flag.

Review: The Sneaky Lass Origins series is driven by the characters and their thoughts and emotions, even while committing acts of piracy, and Mickey is the man who is slowly causing Hugh to resign himself to the fact that if he’s going to keep Mickey by his side, he’s going to have to accept and practice some soul-baring himself. Hugh is cerebral, staid and uncomfortable with displays of feeling, learned at his father’s knee; he is outwardly distant to the point of seeming impenetrable at times, and while it’s difficult for him to be forthcoming with Mickey, the distance between Hugh and readers is minimized through his narrated chapters.

Mickey, on the other hand, wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s the proverbial open book, which is apropos of everything where he is concerned, though only while it’s safe for him, which Hugh has worked hard to ensure is the case while aboard ship. Hugh’s crewmen know he loves Mickey and, come hell or high water, that’s the way it will be. While Mickey’s thoughts haunt him plenty, the greatest obstacle he faces is how to stay with Hugh onboard Sneaky Lass while also ensuring he doesn’t become a stranger to his infant daughter while at sea. Not to mention the inherent dangers of being a pirate that could see him dead on storm-tossed seas or by a single encounter gone wrong.

Kennedy Sutton’s prose is lush, expressive, and suits the story with its flourishes and vivid descriptions of time and place. The seafaring life was a difficult one, which rings true in A Disaster’s Wake. Love on the high seas was never without danger and, in this case, could serve its most dire consequences in a world hostile to the love Hugh and Mickey share. Mickey may be driven by his heart, but he’s also a strong and capable sailor. Being a pirate creates a moral conundrum for him, though, something he must work through and find a solution to if he is to remain at sea. Finding his crossroads and then taking the path most practical and to the greatest benefit of his daughter leads to his and Hugh’s happy beginning.

As a side note, Bennett Holt features broadly in Hugh and Mickey’s romantic journey aboard Sneaky Lass, which is important in terms of content warnings. There is violence in this book, as is expected when reading about pirates, but there is also a scene in which Ben’s attempted suicide features as a dark and pivotal moment on-page. Knowing he is unsuccessful (not a spoiler as he is the MC in the ongoing series) still warrants a caution, if appreciated.