Synopsis
What would you give to be free?
Georgiana da Silva is catapulted out of the Victorian drawing rooms and into a world of danger when she escapes her fiendish fiancé to engage in a mad dash across the world to save her brother before an unknown assassin can find him.
Meanwhile, Captain Harry Trent is setting sail for New Zealand. With a mission to complete and the law on his heels, he’s got enough trouble of his own without further complications.
Thrown together, unable to trust anyone, Georgiana and Harry are intent on fulfilling their missions despite the distractions of the other. But liberty comes at a price and the closer they get, the more they must question the true cost of being free.
Zana Bell
Zana Bell lives in New Zealand. She describes herself as a big fan of Georgette Heyer and combines the elements of light-hearted romance with travel and adventure. Zana’s first book was a young adult time travel, published in New Zealand and Australia. Her second novel was an historical, based on the life and times of Charlotte Badger, convict, pirate and New Zealand’s first English woman immigrant. It was voted Single Titles 10 Best Books in 2008. She is also the author of two contemporary romances from Harlequin’s Super romance line. The first won a Cataromance Reviewer’s Choice award 2010. Close to the Wind was her debut novel with Choc Lit and the return to her love of writing historical novels.
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Awesome read. I was captivated from beginning to end. Characters and places were well described, so clear in your mind, thoroughly enjoyable. Harry was my hero and to describe him as chocolate would be, a dark, hard chocolate on the outside but soft and delicious on the inside once the outside has melted in your mouth. Such a yummy character!
…By admission, I’m personally not a big reader of women’s romantic fiction, but “Close to the Wind” is a far cry from what initially sprung to mind when I thought of “romance”. It’s really best described as an adventure novel; one where hero and heroine alike are presented as believable yet fascinating characters, and the constant twists and turns in the plot kept me captivated. This was a difficult book to put down. And every time I thought I had figured out the plot and who the real villain was, I was on the contrary taken completely by surprise.
Charlotte, NZ News UK
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Read the full review here…
I’m not usually a huge fan of historical fiction unless it’s the Tudors and Stuarts era of British History, although I’m happy to give them a try. This book was set in the 1860’s in the UK, Madeira, South Africa and New Zealand. The travel aspect of the novel obviously intrigued me.
This story could have virtually been true to life. Having researched family trees and being a keen genealogist, I have come across similar tales of heroism. It was thoroughly well researched if that is the case.
Georgiana escaped her controlling Aunt and devious fiance, and set sail across the seas to see her Brother who’s life she felt was in danger. She needed to warn him before others got to him and in fact ended his life.
I loved Georgiana. She was portrayed as a courageous and headstrong young girl who was not going to let anything or anyone stop her from getting from the UK to New Zealand in order to save her Brother. She makes some great friends along the way and also some hidden enemies. The author introduces us to several people in the book but all at different stages so you don’t get confused as to who is who, as you do in some books, where I’ve found myself having to re-read pages. The characters are all so vastly different and you can picture them so clearly.
Georgiana’s journey was exciting and I loved the descriptions of the Countries and their citizens that she visited along her way. I could picture the streets of Madeira and the lovely Consuela.
The scrapes Georgiana got herself into were amusing at times and it was as though she had no fear of anyone or anything.
I was almost sad when the book came to an end, as I wanted to see where life would take her next and whether she would meet up with her new friends she made along the way.
This was a very well written tale of travel and adventure.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, with its heady mix of romance and adventure, with plenty of twists in the tale. The love story was very sweet and the tantalising ‘Will they, won’t they?’ aspect of the tale showed how adept the author is at playing with the emotions of her readers. I have a long list of friends queuing up to borrow this one now I have finished reading it! Close to the Wind is a perfectly indulgent, cosy read.
Reviewed by Louise, BookBag, October 2013.
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Perhaps since the story is set in the mid 19th century when mores were changing, it will all work out but as one character says “there will be children” and I wonder how their parents’ reckless and adventurous spirit will bedevil them in their possible inheritance? Still I enjoyed watching George come into her own and Harry learn to love her for herself.
B-
~Jayne. Dear Author.
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….A combination of romance, mystery and high-seas adventure, this is a wonderfully entertaining tale. The heroine meets some interesting characters as she and the hero travel halfway around the world, and readers will enjoy the journey as she finds the life she truly wants and the hero finds the love he never believed possible.
4.5 out of five stars! Reviewed by Susan
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…This is a story of adventure, of pirates and a good old-fashioned romance. Georgie is young and quite innocent, but also tough and resilient. She finds it difficult to be completely honest, she worries about getting to her destination, she’s often confused about her feelings. Despite this, she’s an endearing character, well formed and her interesting background adds another dimension to her character.
…There’s plenty happening in Close to the Wind with a race across the globe with two infuriatingly endearing characters plus a surprise twist at the end. An enjoyable historical romance with an amusing hero/heroine duo who are just as wild as they are contained; I do recommend this one to fans of the genre.
Overall Rating 4/5
“I loved this book!”
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I really enjoyed this heroine. She’s a lady who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to head out an attain it, even if it requires her to be poor, lose status, dress as a boy, or even give up love. She also fights for those she loves and strives to be by her brother’s side when he needs her.
….From ship to ship, country to country, villain to villain, this novel is just a ton of fun. I appreciated the theme that came in the end as well…true love is worth denying riches and status, right? And it’s important for a woman to be true to herself, be herself, and not live a life she hates–not even for a man.
So you not only get a solid, entertaining story, but a strong woman and a moral.
I plan to read more historicals by Zana Bell.
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