Review: The Bengal Bridegift

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The Bengal Bridegift The Bengal Bridegift by Anne Cleeland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This novel had been on my radar for ages and I'm so glad i finally got around to reading The Bengal Bridegift. It had everything I love: a mystery (where's the bridegift?), a plucky heroine who is brave and makes good decisions, wonderful and well-drawn secondary characters and a hunky pirate hero. What's not to love?

Juno has been raised in India while her father, a sea captain, works for the East India Company. She's just survived a massacre at her convent school when a bold pirate shows up (as they do.) Jost is absolutely delightful. He struggles with English language idiom but as more than one bloody encounter reveals, he's most definitely a pirate at heart. Fortunately for Juno, he's also a friend of her late father's...or so Jost says.

There were so many great twists and turns in this story that it kept me reading late into the night, and left me completely satisfied at the end. I'll definitely look for more of Ms. Cleeland's books!


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