Discerning Grace

Written by Emma Lombard

Narrated by Siobhan Waring

If Bridgerton and Pirates of the Caribbean had a love child.

As the first full-length novel in The White Sails Series, DISCERNING GRACE captures the spirit of an independent woman whose feminine lens blows the ordered patriarchal decks of a 19th century tall ship to smithereens.

Wilful Grace Baxter, will not marry old Lord Silverton with his salivary incontinence and dead-mouse stink. Discovering she is a pawn in an arrangement between slobbery Silverton and her calculating father, Grace is devastated when Silverton reveals his true callous nature.

Refusing this fate, Grace resolves to stow away. Heading to the docks, disguised as a lad to ease her escape, she encounters smooth-talking naval recruiter, Gilly, who lures her aboard HMS Discerning with promises of freedom and exploration in South America.

When Grace's big mouth lands her bare-bottomed over a cannon for insubordination, her identity is exposed. The captain wants her back in London but his orders, to chart the icy archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, forbid it. Lieutenant Seamus Fitzwilliam gallantly offers to take Grace off the fretting captain's hands by placing her under his protection.

Grace must now win over the crew she betrayed with her secret, while managing her feelings towards her taciturn protector, whose obstinate chivalry stifles her new-found independence. But when Grace disregards Lieutenant Fitzwilliam's warnings about the dangers of the unexplored archipelago, it costs a friend his life and she realises she is not as free as she believes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma Lombard
• Release date: Jun 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781667009438

Reviews for Discerning Grace

[Natale Michaud · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I would have done the same as Grace with that fat slob of a Lord.

[Elizabeth Bell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What an adventure! I enjoyed travelling halfway around the world with Grace and Seamus. Lombard is great at describing her hero with little details that make him sexy. The rather cartoonish covers had me worried that this would skew "clean." While there's nothing too graphic, I am happy to report that there is adult desire here. :) I hadn't been on a fictional ship in a long while, and this is great fun. I mourned at the death of a character I shall not name; my emotions were engaged.

I felt there were some hiccups along the way. I wish Lombard's portrayal of the Tierra del Fuego natives had been more nuanced. The pacing is odd in a couple of places. I was in a delicious state of anxiety about Grace being discovered while she was dressed as Billy. I thought that section should have gone on longer. In fact, we get flashbacks to Grace's hazing. Why not in real time? We also leap ahead to Montevideo in a way that confused me. Finally, I had assumed Grace's mother was deceased because she was never mentioned, and then suddenly at the end she becomes an important character.

I enjoyed Siobhan Waring's narration for the most part. She wasn't very good with a couple of accents IMO, but those are brief. Her portrayal of Seamus contributed to his sexiness.