ARC Review – A Turn of the Tide

A Turn of the Tide by Kelley Armstrong is the 3rd book in the A Stitch in Time series. I was excited to get this ARC on NetGalley after giving the first two books each 5 stars but this one just wasn’t the best for me. I did a full review of book 2 in a previous blog post. Here is my book 3 review with no spoilers for any book.

Goodreads Description

In Thorne Manor there is one locked door. Behind it lies a portal to the twenty-first century, and nothing is going to stop Miranda Hastings from stepping through. After all, she is a Victorian writer of risqué pirate adventures—traveling to the future would be the greatest adventure of them all.

When Miranda goes through, though, she lands in Georgian England…and in the path of Nicolas Dupuis, a privateer accused of piracy. Sheltered by locals, Nico is repaying their kindness by being their “pirate Robin Hood,” stealing from a corrupt lord and fencing smuggled goods on the village’s behalf.

Miranda embraces Nico’s cause, only to discover there’s more to it than he realizes. Miranda has the second sight, and there are ghosts at play here. The recently deceased former lord is desperate to stop his son from destroying his beloved village. Then there’s the ghost of Nico’s cabin boy, who he thought safe in a neighboring city. Miranda and Nico must solve the mystery of the boy’s death while keeping one step ahead of the hangman.

It may not be the escapade Miranda imagined, but it is about to be the adventure of a lifetime.

My Review

After giving each of the first two books 5 stars, I was really looking forward to this one and it just didn’t keep my attention. The plot and the setting were missing that mystery that sucked me in for the others. I actually put it down for over a month around the 30% mark, the pirate and sword banter was just not working for me. I eventually picked it back up and it did get better. The last maybe third, was pretty interesting and I did appreciate the glimpses of some of my old favorite characters.

Miranda is a good main character. I thought her personality and overall the way she acted was very relatable and yet something different than I’m used to reading. I wish she had gotten a better story, I actually liked her much more than Rosalind. Nico was fine, I didn’t really get care one way or the other about him.

Where I think this one lost me was the mystery. The others have these ghosts/mysteries and the romance at the forefront. This one was all about the romance with pirates and a little Robin Hood thrown in. I don’t particularly like books about pirates and the Robin Hood bit was used as a plot device without actually being explored. Since I wasn’t invested in the romance, it didn’t hold my attention.

So a disappointing 3 stars but I’m still glad to see a 4th book is coming. I enjoy this series and hope I like the next one more.

* I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *