Review + Giveaway: Cutlass (Cutlass #1) by Ashley Nixon

Title: Cutlass
Author: Ashley Nixon
Series: Cutlass series
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Publisher: StarSeed Press
Publication date: April 23rd 2014
Author links: Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Website
Buy links: Amazon

Notorious pirate Barren Reed has one thing on his mind: Revenge against the man who killed his father. So kidnapping his enemy's fiancé seems a perfect plan... until he actually does it. 

Larkin Lee is more than a pretty face and fiancé to a powerful man. Her fierce personality is enough to make any pirate want to push her overboard.

But when the King of the Orient comes to Barren with a task - to find the Bloodstone, a powerful gem thought only to exist in legend, Barren sees another opportunity to destroy his enemy. Together, Barren, Larkin and a crew of pirates set off to find the stone, only to discover it caused the death of Barren's own mother and Larkin's, too. As his strongest allies turn into his greatest enemies, and the life of the girl he kidnapped  becomes more important than he ever dreamed, Barren's quest for revenge becomes a fight to save the Orient. 

- Goodreads -

All Barren Reed ever wanted was to avenge his father’s death. Even if it meant killing other people along the way to get the attention of the murderer of his father. When terrorizing the sea doesn’t seem to help he forms a new plan to lure him out, kidnap his fiancée. But what Barren could have never expected is that Larkin makes him question everything he’s doing.

When we first met Barren he was harsh, he had only one goal. To kill the murderer of his father. He couldn’t think of anything else. He didn’t allow himself to think of something else. It was what he had to do and he wouldn’t rest before either of them died. That led him of course into crazy situations. But the craziest thing, and probably stupidest thing he did to achieve his goal was kidnapping the murderer’s fiancée. He expected an obedient girl when he tried to take her but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Larkin is far from obedient. She detests everything a pirate stands for and she isn’t afraid of defying Barren. She learns Barren that killing isn’t the way to achieve his goal, she teaches Barren how to live again. And at the same time Barren teaches Larkin that nothing is black and white, that every story has two sides. Most importantly when she’s with him she finally gets to know what it is to be really free.
Barren and Larking were very different from each other but at the same time they completed each other. Barren might look though on the outside but he’s a good guy. He takes care of the people he cares about. He will give up his life if it could save theirs. Larkin does everything to please her father, to get his attention for five minutes even if it means marrying a man she could never love. And she sees the beauty in people where others fail to notice it. She’s stubborn which often lends her into a lot of trouble but she only is stubborn because she wants to protect the people she loves. 

I loved how the author portrayed the world the characters lived in. the Orient consisted of different small islands. Each island had its own inhabitants. One was inhibited by mostly pirates, another one was inhibited by elves, another one by merchants,… It was fun to explore all those different islands together with Barren and his crew.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Everything fitted together perfectly the characters, the world building, the plot line everything was just perfect. I would highly recommend this book to everyone who’s looking for a great YA fantasy read.  I can’t wait till the next book in this series gets released!

*Note I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Author bio

Ashley was born and raised in Oklahoma, where the wind really does sweep down the plains, and horses and carriages aren't used as much as she'd like. When she's not writing, she's hard at work on her Master's degree in Library Science and Information Technology, working out, or pretending she's Sherlock Holmes. Her obsession with writing began after reading the Lord of the Rings in the eighth grade. Since then, she's loved everything Fantasy - resulting in an unhealthy obsession with the 'geek' tab on Pinterest, where all things awesome go. 

Giveaway

International: 

Prize 1: A signed Paperback copy of Cutlass, include a cute octopus mug (it's purple and ADORABLE), Bookmark, and maybe a poster

Prize 2: A singned Paperback of Cutlass + a bookmark

Prize 3: E-book of Cutlass

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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