Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden

🚢Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden🚢

Not in an official series, but is connected to the book, Lady of Bolton Hill.

Blurb:

After a childhood rampant with uncertainty, Lydia Pallas has carved out a perfect life for herself. She spends her days within sight of the bustling Boston Harbor, where her skill with languages has landed her an enviable position as a translator for the U.S. Navy. 

Lydia’s talents bring her to the attention of Alexander Banebridge, a mysterious man in need of a translator. Driven by a campaign to end the opium trade, Bane is coolly analytical and relentless in his quest. He cannot afford to fall for Lydia and must fight the bittersweet love growing between them.

When Bane’s enemies gain the upper hand, he is forced to turn to Lydia for help. Determined to prove her worth, Lydia soon discovers that carrying out Bane’s mission will test her wits and her courage to the very limits.

My thoughts:

Could we just admire that cover for a second?? Beautifully done 😍… it goes right with the story. 

Besides the cover, the author wrote this story amazingly well done. She wove mystery around the romance, and wove the romance around Christian faith! This is what I like to see! I really liked how Bane’s attraction to Lydia wasn’t mainly physical; he was focused on her personality and traits, rather than her appearance. 

And oh my goodness, Bane! The Adonis..😏He is literally the most playful, funny, loving, and ridiculous guy, you could ever dream about. His flirty and loyal, Christian personality is above all so endearing to make you swoon every single time. 

Lydia was the best thing Bane could ask for! She helped him realize that he could continue fighting for his loved ones and he didn’t have to be alone. I did like her.. she was really brilliant, and because Bane adored her, I couldn’t help but adore her too. 

Jacob, Karl, and Willis were so sweet to Lydia! They were like the brothers she never had, and I could not stop laughing when they were together. Nor was I straight-faced when I read that Jacob and Willis were “wreaking havoc” (you could say) in the Navy Yard.😉

It was pretty heartbreaking to read about how opium affected people and especially how the bad guys were illegally shipping and selling it. I really dislike the Professor and his schemes. It made me very mad to see how he would intentionally take innocent children and keep them to do his dirty work. 

Overall, I very much adored this book, and do not doubt that I would re-read it again. A perfect cozy read to sit on the couch drinking a cup of hot tea.😊

⚠️ Age recommendation: 15+ ⚠️

My rating: 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Age 10-12 rating: ⭐️

Age 13-14 rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Age 15-16 rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sexual Content:

4 kisses (two lightly detailed, one barely detailed, and another one being semi-detailed), a palm kiss, two cheek kisses, two hand kisses, one kiss being on the “shell of an ear”, a thumbs to lips touch, embraces, handholding, and touches. Noticing, Flirting, Winking, Blushes, Smelling, and Heat. A “wench” is said. Mentions of Bane looking like the naked statues at a museum. Bane teases Lydia of her spying on him to say this. (She didn’t) A mention of undressing in front of a man. Love and falling in love. (All this is mild)

Profanity:

A few stupids, and idiot is said twice. Blasted is said a couple of times. 

Violence:

Mentions of death and dying. Opium is discussed several times. Throwing up (not really detailed). Mentions of illegal opium smugglers, and deaths occurring because of the drug. Drinking from a drug used as medicine but has opium in it. (The person didn’t know until later) Child-kidnapping and mentions of how the Professor used the kids to do his “work”. Mentions of rabies, blood, injuries and a bullet injury. Mentions of drinking and a drunk. Going through withdrawal of the opium drug.

Trigger Warning:‼️

Child-kidnapping and the opium drug is discussed, and seen throughout this book. Someone gets really sick from the withdrawal of it. [Caution to those who could be sensitive to these topics]

POV’s: Lydia Pallas and Alexander Banebridge, and a few others. 

362 pages

I would totally recommend this book and, it gets me interested in the other books Elizabeth Camden has written!