About

This blog is a celebration of novel, novel characters!

I love reading novels, and as an artist I know a great exercise to stretch one's illustration skills is to portray characters from a description in a book. This blog is a challenge to myself to do just that so I'll be posting illustrations from whatever book I'm currently reading. Feel free to add comments and send me your fan art for these great titles too!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Eden from Swept to Sea by Heather Manning



Hi Readers!

I’m so excited to share with you a book I’m absolutely in love with!  Heather Manning’s Swept to Sea!  It took me a while to decide what image I wanted to create to go with a review for it because there were so many great scenes! 

Swept to Sea is an exciting romance set during the year 1696.  Lady Eden Trenton is engaged to a horrible man who abuses her when she doesn’t offer him favors before their wedding.  In a desperate act, she flees to the shipyard and stows away on a ship.  Will she be in more danger or finally make her escape to a better life?

As it turns out a little of both along the way before arriving at this story’s very happy, satisfying, ending.  When Eden is discovered on the Dawn’s Mist, she couldn’t be in better hands with Captain Caspian Archer looking out for her.  It doesn’t take long for him to fall in love with her as he watches the tender way she cares for his young son Reed along their journey, but having been in an abusive situation Eden is far less trusting.  There’s plenty of adventure and swashbuckling to keep any fans of the pirate genre as happy as Jack Sparrow with a pile of rum, but the best part is the endearing way Caspian treats Eden.  As with any great romance, the relationship is the key, and there are just as many tender moments as there are action-packed ones.

My favorite scene is when Caspian offers to teach Eden how to swim.  I’d be terrified to go in water so deep, but as the scene proves, the right man will do wonders for courage.  He finally coaxes her into the water with these words:


"Trust me just for once, ‘Miss Eden’.” He hoped she noticed the wink he offered when he called her by the same name his son always did. Maybe she enjoyed answering to that name. She certainly liked the boy much more than she liked him. Maybe she would like him more now, too. It could not hurt to try. “I will take care of you. Let someone besides you take care of you for once. You may find that you enjoy it, milady."



I can’t profess how much I enjoyed this story.  It’s one of my favorites, and I hope that Heather will continue writing great stories!  She was kind to send me a review copy of this book, but that has nothing to do with why I love it so much.  ;)  Thanks for a great story Heather!

Check out Heather Manning’s blog to learn more about her: