This was February's book pick for The Indie Book Nook and what a darling book it was!

This book follows Aurelia Danby from her younger years to her womanhood. We open up to her being this spry and adventurous young girl who had her books torn from her by her aunt. Her aunt is portrayed to us as this cruel woman who simply does not believe in fun, but she is all Aurelia has ever really known. Her parents left her in her aunt's care because they didn't want to raise their own child. They had no interest. Aurelia overhears a conversation about a pirate she follows in the papers and this is how she meets William. The son of the revered pirate she has such a fond adoration for. She blackmails William into writing her letters about his adventures. Shortly after that conversation Ralph introduces himself to Aurelia and quickly becomes her friend and they spend so much time together up until Ralph has to join his brother on the ship and Aurelia is forced to find a husband. She would much rather be a spinster.

Which after a while her aunt allows her the freedom..until her parent's step in and arrange a marriage with a prince. This isn't what she wants so she write's letter to the pirate Copson (Willaim) in hopes that he will rescue her.

The day comes and she has to board the ship to meet her betrothed, but all hope is not lost because William came.

A small amount of murder and a kidnapping later and Aurelia joins Copson and becomes known as Rebecca Rowe oh the adventures to be had!

I loved how Aurelia turned from this girl who was so curious and full of adventure to a woman who was still curious, still full of adventure, but very much took on the pirate-y charm. It starts off so seemingly innocent then suddenly there is simply so much murder.

Early on in the book, there were times when I thought maybe she was making this all up in her head because her books were taken from her and then I was proven wrong time and time again. There are two men who are often mentioned in this story and they are both brothers. One is William. She becomes fascinated with him as a child because of who he is and what she overheard. Not to mention the letters that kept coming even as she reached adulthood. Then there's Ralph, William's brother, who approaches her shortly after she meets William and becomes her friend. This one I will admit, I started to believe that maybe it was going to be her realizing her love for Ralph but then there's so much of pushing him toward another female pirate and lines like:

“I loved your letters,” she said, not remembering a single one.

This was a fun read, but it does touch on a few darker topics like attempted SA.