Heart's Blood has a very different pace (not too slow or too fast) that allows for the time period details to shine through well. Alice Von Kannon exquisitely writes the details of the time period and allows for plenty of time for character to development.

Captain Isaac McCallister has returned home from being enslaved from many years and after convalescing in Paris. A local family, the Hamptons, live on his land without paying rent.

Eleanor Hampton is very concerned about the captain returning, as this could mean her family being evicted from the only home they've ever known. She has recently received a commission to pay a mural for a local bank. She propositions Isaac, and he respectfully declines by offering her marriage instead.

The hero and heroines interplay is sweet in many respects. It is gentle and respectful, and heavily filtered through Isaac's lens of being enslaved for so many years.

Their love story is sweet, but brutally interrupted by an unexpected murder. Many things point to Isaac having done it, and Eleanor is left trying to ascertain who the real murderer may be.

All does end well, and without giving away too much of the plot line, I can say there is a happily ever after.

This book is very historically driven. Most books that I tend to read have more character emphasis, but this particular book sheds a beautiful light on the city and the time period. Well worth the read!

I really enjoyed this. It was quite different from the typical historical romance in many aspects. I liked how it took place mainly in Salem (the US) and not in Europe. I also enjoyed that it didn't center so much on the couple getting together, but more on their relationship afterward.
I also really enjoyed Isaac and Eleanor as the min characters.
I didn't really enjoy the writing style so much, and it felt really scattered. It jumped points of view too much and just suddenly within a section of a chapter.

I don't have the words to tell you how happy I am that I read this book. It is an astonishingly lovely romance, one that shows the growth of true love between two people who haven't had easy lives.

The setting of this book is in Salem, Massachusetts in early 1803, during the period when Salem was rich, due to its ocean-going commercial fleets trading with countries across the Atlantic. Captain Isaac MacAllister has just returned home after being enslaved in North Africa for five horrific years. When the book begins, he is still imprisoned.

Soon after he gets home, he meets a relative by marriage, a young woman who in her own way is as different as he is, as she is an artist and also the financial mainstay of her family. She has worked at almost everything to make money to feed her remaining family, her mother and her younger sister.

This beautiful love story was written by a historian who has made a study of this period. She opened my eyes to the history of Salem and the wider world in 1803. It was a time when piracy was a constant danger on the seas, practiced by the Barbary States in North Africa (Morocco, Tripoli, Algiers and Tunis). The pirates not only took goods and ships, they took people who were sold as slaves, which is what happened to Captain MacAllister and some of his men. There were many times I was so immersed in what she was writing about the real history, that I forgot that I was reading a fictional love story. At other times I was so caught up in seeing the couple work through their differences and becoming wed in spirit that I forgot everything else.

The history and the romance were perfectly balanced and complemented each other. The romance was richer because of the understanding the author showed us about the time and place it occurred. This is one of the most riveting books of historical fiction and romance that I've ever read, and one that I know I will re-read.

I am grateful to the publisher MPC Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance reading copy of this book. These are my honest opinions.

There is an intensity to this story and to this couple that is well worth getting involved with. The evolution of Isaac and Eleanor's romance is a realistic slow burn.. The sex is explicit but not gratuitous and plays an important role in the development of the relationship.. Isaac's pseudo-calm exterior is written well, and Eleanor's growing understanding of him and his genuine appreciation of her create such a poignant romance..

The pacing is much like that of older romance books or like those series that only give away important details and the things readers want to know, one tidbit at a time, in between the story veering off into less intense but still engaging events. I did run into one part toward the very end that was emotionally distancing for me, but I recommend this book if you want to get into a story that you don't want to put down. The references to the political atmosphere and events are such that readers experience the impact of these events upon the characters' lives. The secondary characters enrich the story without overshadowing the romance.

I found this book to be really good, the characters were great and I loved the plot of the book. This was well written and I enjoyed reading this.

This was a totally unexpected treat of a novel. The writing was excellent and the characters really well written. The background story of Isaac was really expertly done. It was an area of history totally unknown to me but it was so well researched and expertly written. If I could give more than 5 stars I would. The novel had everything I look for in a book and to me it moved along faultlessly and was deeply moving in parts.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read a copy. I really hope the author writes more fiction novels.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Heart’s Blood drew my attention due to the intriguing premise and its setting in Salem, although not during the witch trials. And while it is a bit of a slow start, there is a payoff with great characters and a story rich with historical detail.

I enjoyed the way Isaac’s arc was handled, with his PTSD from being a captive of Barbary pirates. I was a bit nervous, given I had read another book with a similar premise that did it horribly, but I think von Kannon handled it well by focusing on Isaac’s experience, and not falling into negative stereotypes about the oppressors.

I also kind of liked Eleanor, and I was particularly intrigued by the relationships between everyone due to the connection by marriage between the two than anything about Eleanor herself.

The romance as a result did feel a bit lacking, especially since it does feel a bit like instalove on Isaac’s part, and I didn’t really get what was so special about her.

I did like this one for the most part, due to its original concept and unique setting for a historical romance, as well as von Kannon’s eye for historical detail. If you’re looking for a different type of historical romance, I recommend giving this one a try.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it was so much better than I was expecting it to be, I was expecting a nice light read but I didn’t expect to be hooked as much as I was. I loved the romance, Isaac is an amazing man and I completely adored him, just a great read.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a new author to me and I felt a little torn about the time period. But having said that, I might just have my information mixed up. Where they still suppose to be sort of English? At 20% I got a history lesson about Salem and it felt a little out of place with the story.
Besides that I loved the romance between these two and their relationship was something really special. I love a relationship where two people heal, bloom and grow together and this story had that! They were crazy about each other and it made me so happy.
I definitely recommend this for romance lovers.
This was a NETGALLEY gift and all opinions are my own.

Set in early 19th century Salem this is a book with strong characters and a strong story line. Isaac McAllister comes home after being a Barbary slave for years, and treated appallingly; he's damaged both mentally and physically but gets on with running the family business in a dark and dour, but sensitive, way. Eleanor Hampton (Isaac's dead step-brother's daughter) is a strong minded spinster trying to take care of a young sister and paranoid, widowed mother, but afraid that, with Isaac's return, they'll be out of house and home because of the bad blood between the two families..They marry quite quickly, not with the approval of either family, and most of the story is about their developing relationship amidst the politics and trade disputes of England-France-America at this still unsettled time. There is murder, betrayal and mayhem amidst the burgeoning romance and passion. A marriage of convenience to start with but gains ground to a passionate and happy one by the end. Thaks to NetGalley and MPC Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

From the start of the book Isaac is enthralled with Eleanor. You can tell it is a romance. The characters are intriguing and frankly my favorite part of historicals is reading about a different time. I love all the details that pull you into another time all together.

While this is a good book and has interesting characters I found it hard to connect. I struggles to engage with this story. I am not sure if it is that I think this is an un edited arc, many words flowed together and made difficult to read properly. I had to re read quite a bit. It just made it difficult to follow the story.

Thank you netgalley for an arc copy to read and review honestly.

This novel was quite bad for my law practise because instead of working I have spent the last two days reading at my window curled up in a cosy chair with a pot of tea nearby. It is very well written and interesting.


When you see the cover of this novel you expect a sappy Pirate penny romance but there is hardly a ship in sight and it is not a pirate bodice ripper. (So publisher make it a cover with a mansion and a couple instead)


The novel reminded me a lot of "Pride and Prejudice". Not because of the plot because this is a complete different storyline but because of the ambiance and the way the people develop. It is set in the same era: during Napoleon or what the English speaking world calls the Regency. And although it is not set in England but in the USA 20 years after the Revolution still many of the senior citizens of Salem in New England (yes of the witches trials 100 years prior) have a strong link with England and the English norms and values of society life. Eleanor Hampton is a level headed, intelligent unmarried woman on the verge of spinsterhood who after the death of her father takes care of her younger teenage sister and very immature mother. A mother with tantrums and theatrics that somehow ended up with the voice of Mrs Bennet from the 1990-ties BBC version of Pride and Prejudice in my head. Isaac McCallister is a tall darkhaired silent stoic man who keeps his cards close to his chests and had a lot of tales an scandals surrounding him but is a real good person (A bit the Darcy type). He is ten years older than Eleanor and the stepbrother of her father and the owner of the estate and the cottage Eleanor and her family live in gentile poverty in.


The novel starts with Captain Isaac McCallister returning from a five year period of slavery in the Barbary states (Algeria, Tunesia in this case, white slavery). While he was away Eleanor's father and Isaac's brother have died and Eleanor's mother had been pressing lawsuits against her step-family. Eleanor fears that with the heir returning her family will be evicted and walks over to Isaac's house to plea their case. In despair she offers the only thing she can: herself. She will be willingly be his mistress as long as he takes care of her family. Isaac suggests another option: they can marry.


Eleanor and Isaac set up house and things go differently than you might expect. And then there is a murder.


Yes so far it sounds like a soppy romance but that is just the first impression at the beginning. It is the psychological development between the two main characters but also the minor people that is very well done. It feels real. You follow their line of thought.


The story is written by someone who studied history and that shows. In the storyline there is a lot of background information. I, as a non-American, found it interesting to read about the early days of the USA. Where definitely not everyone was so happy with saying good bye to England. Where sea captains who still owned their big privateer-ships decided to go and sail the oceans to far away places and trade just because those big brigs were not suitable for a bit of coastal trade and thus transforming small Salem into a cosmopolitan town. Where both France and England were not allies and could press your sailors or grab your ships. Where such a mayhem might bankrupt a whole family. But where also the Muslim privateers of North Africa were a real danger to ships and crew alike.


Part of the story is trauma and psychological treatment. The writer tells us about the groundbreaking work done in Paris in those days. I googled the names and indeed that was all true.


I liked the natural way the characters develop. When they begin to respect each other you do too. When they realise they love each other is sounds more than logical. Hell you start thinking "Can you find me a guy like that!" It is not for the people wanting an action packed novel. It is more how two people get close and then battle a big problem.


The author manages a good way of worldbuilding. You can almost picture the setting.


I know some (American) readers want to read only "clean" novels. This is a novel about two people who are married. You can expect some lovemaking but it is certainly not pornographic but an essential element in the story.


I can highly recommend the novel both to male and female readers. A 5 stars out of 5. I understand there is a sequel. That I would like to read too.