The audiobook rendition of Rachel Rueckert's 'If the Tide Turns' is a captivating auditory experience that elevates an already exceptional story to new heights. With skilled narration that brings the characters to life, listeners are immersed in Rueckert's richly imagined world from beginning to end. The narrator's expressive delivery and nuanced performances add depth and dimension to each character, enhancing the emotional resonance of the narrative. While the pacing may occasionally falter, the overall production quality and engrossing storytelling make this audiobook a must-listen for fans of literary fiction. 'If the Tide Turns' in audio form is a compelling journey that will keep listeners enthralled until the very last wave.
4.5 stars

Put this book on your radar if you love historical fiction inspired by real people, nuanced moral dilemmas, a strong woman taking back the narrative, and pirates with a Robin Hood vibe.

The narrator was easy to listen to and had a smooth voice and change in cadence for the different characters.

I have had a lifelong fascination with pirates and while I know the fictionalized versions are not always accurate and there is a lot of moral ambiguity, it hasn't stopped me from wanting to read all the pirate books. This book felt unique in that it is based on the life of a real pirate and captures a lot of the nuance in the motivations and actual life of his pirate experience. But this book is also a lot more than a pirate story. A huge portion of the story is about Maria--the woman on shore who is forbidden to marry the man who becomes the pirate. Set in the aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials it was an extremely difficult time for women and this strong and spirited woman is up against a whole lot of injustice as she tries to carve a path for herself. I loved the side characters in this book as well--including the talented and impressive Wampanoag woman.

I love how the author took the actual history as well as legends about the characters and was true to those origins while also putting her own spin on everything. The author allowed Maria to take back the narrative from all the stories that were told about her and centered in this story with her own strong voice.

And because I think expectations affect experience I want to be clear that this isn’t a lighthearted swashbuckling pirate romp. It deals with very real social issues and hard history and the characters go through the wringer (as they did in their real life as well).

This was a delightful story that made me care for the MCs almost instantly. We’re immediately immersed into small town life within a religiously devout community in the 1700s with our FMC.

The story moves through the two POVs clearly and smoothly. The tension throughout the story left me wondering until the end what the ultimate outcome would be.

The narrator on the audiobook was great with a pleasant voice. She was engaging and easy to follow.

I received an ARC from NetGalley of this audio title.

I was 100% sold the minute I saw the words “Pirates” and “Salem Witch Trials”! This sweeping historical romance is an emotional rollercoaster full of yearning, love, loss, heartbreak, adventure, strength and the fight for a better future.

📜 Inspired by True Events
📖 Historical Fiction
🏴‍☠️ Pirates
🧹 Post Salem Witch Trials
🌊 Call of the Sea
♥️ Romance
🗺️ Adventure
❤️‍🩹 Heartache
🎢 Emotional Rollercoaster

If the Tide Turns completely captivated me from the first page and I read the entire book in one sitting! 100% recommend and cannot wait to see what Rachel Rueckert has in store for us next!

I loved If the Tide Turns! It was well-researched and -written. I appreciate that the author gave a voice to Maria, the FMC, whose story deserves to be told. There was romance, adventure, and important representation for women, people of color, and LGBTQIA people. As a Massachusetts resident, it was interesting to see my state through this historical lens. I enjoyed seeing Samuel Bellamy in this light (who doesn’t love a pirate story!). The book raises questions about what it is to be a villain. It makes us question sources that tell us who the villains are. Great read!

“Let me bend but not break…”

1715, Massachusetts: as the daughter of a wealthy family, Maria Brown has her future all planned out for her (even if it's not the future she wants). She doesn’t want to marry the man her parents have chosen for her, but no one really ever asks or cares what she wants. When she meets orphaned sailor Sam Bellamy, she is quickly enthralled by him. As the two spend more time together, it's clear Sam feels the same way. But since they are from two different social classes, Maria’s family quickly turns Sam away when he asks for her hand in marriage. Heartbroken, Sam vows to go to sea and return a wealthy man. Maria promises to keep the faith while he is away. But soon Maria finds herself in an impossible position.

The period of the Salem Witch trials has always been fascinating to me. It’s just horrific to think of women being singled out in such a way, held to ridiculous standards. It makes my skin crawl. Equally so was the injustice Sam faced being a “poor sailor”, who just so happened to fall in love with a girl from a wealthy family. Maria’s tenacity was truly inspirational as she trudged along through all that life threw at her. Meanwhile, Sam was drawn into piracy and all that that life has to offer, then torn between going back for Maria and doing right by his crew. Throughout it all, they both cling to the love they have for one another.

Adventure and love take center stage in this sweeping tale of the sea. Inspired by the real-life story of Sam Bellamy, this story was beautifully written! If you love historical fiction and adventure (and pirates!) give this one a try :)

Thank you to Netgalley, Kensington Press and Rachel Rueckert for the ALC! “If the Tide Turns” is out now! This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) in the near future :)

Oh I really wanted to love this one but it didn’t draw me in. I think the writing is very well done and the narrator is fantastic but it was just too slow for my liking and I couldn’t get into the plot even 35% in. I was drawn in by the setting, mention of pirates and post Salem witch trials, and the cover. Maybe if I knew more about this specific real life pirate in history it might have been more interesting to me? I’m not sure. I haven’t read that much historical fiction though so avid readers of the genre might have a completely different experience.

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed a digital ALC from RB Media | Recorded Books via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Maria is a woman in a world right after the Salem witch trials. Sam is a sailor who is down on his luck and finds himself jobless.
The two fall in love. It is a harrowing story of the odds. Maria is from a wealthy family. Her parents have promised her to John Hallett, a complete jerk. He is older and richer, but he leaves a lot to be desired. She starts taking “swim lessons” with a local sailor. They fall in love and the rest is history (literally).
I really enjoyed the narration on this audiobook. I also liked seeing both sides of the story and following Maria and Sam’s evolution. Both characters had great development. I enjoyed researching the real Sam Bellamy and seeing the myths around their love.
Some parts were slow within the book, but as it’s based on real life, that is forgivable.
I would suggest this book to any lovers of historical romance novels. It is an interesting take on the legends that surround the forbidden love.

Thank you for this audio ARC! I had really been looking forward to this book because I follow Rachel on instagram.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, especially the forbidden love and politics of everything. Fantastic story that I would recommend to others who love pirates without a big fantasy aspect.

Ever since Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean, I have been fascinated by pirates and this book was a wonderful look into the life of a pirate and the ones they leave behind. Sam wants to find riches so he can marry Maria, but that involves leaving her for months. Anddd a lot can happen in a couple months. I loved that this book also takes place right after the Salem Witch Trials. You definitely feel the religious control in the colony as well as people being shunned as “witches” when they don’t fall in line. I am not a big fan of historical fiction, but this one had amazing action and an interesting story that kept me listening. I literally finished this one in a day at work 😂 And imagine my surprise when Amazon delivered this one a day early. Definitely recommend this one to anyone that loves pirates as well as some romance that’s based on actual historical figures. I know I’ll be looking up some more info on these two

I both read the ebook and listened to the audio book.- switching between them was seamless and kept the narrative flowing.

If The Tide Turns by Rachel Ruekert
Stars: 5

I am fully in my pirate days at the moment apparently. Just as I was finishing Woodward’s Republic of Pirates and Gibbin’s History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks, I saw this book on NetGalley. The tagline read “A Thrilling Historical Novel of Piracy and Life After the Salem Witch Trials” and I thought, fun, swashbuckling adventures and just requested it without reading the blurb. I received both the audio and the ebook and so I began immersing myself in the world of Sam Bellamy and Maria Brown.

The book covers a short time period, 1715 to 1718, and alternates between Maria and Sam’s POV; these two meet, fall in love, and then part, vowing to reunite in a year. Sam promises to return to Maria after he has made his fortune, so they can live together, free from the censure of the town of Eastham on Cape Cod. But in their time apart, Sam becomes one of the most famous pirates of his time. And Maria must endure the shame and banishment that comes to one who steps outside the conventional norms in Puritan society. Woven through their tale is the story of the land that was taken by the white settlers from the Indigenous peoples all throughout Massachusetts. The treatment of not just the Wampanoags themselves but the very land they had lived on for centuries is a shameful reminder of our settler past.

So I went into this expecting pirate raids and a fun story. I came away with an ache in my heart for what women and people of color had to, and continue to have to, endure when they don’t “stay in their lane.” The what could-have-beens associated with Bellamy’s crew and their desire to establish as a pirate republic made me sad for the world that took too long to abolish the slave trade and slavery itself. As a woman, the ostracization that Maria experienced because she wanted different things than she was told to want, how her vibrancy and curiosity was treated as a determent, even an evil, is hard to read. Maria may or may not have been real, but what she experienced could not have been unique to her in the eighteenth century and the fortitude she exhibits is the heart of this story, one that I hope many people will have a chance to read.

This book has moved me more than I can say and I am going to be singing its praises to everyone! And since I live not too far from Provincetown, I will be making a trip to see the wreck of the Whydah and heading again to Wellfleet to start at Marconi Beach and stare out into the sea and imagine their story.

If the Tide Turns is a fictionalized account of the pirate Samuel Bellamy and his lover Goody Hallett.

Bellamy, originally a sailor, finds himself docked in the town where Goody/Mariah lives. The two fall in love, but Mariah's father does not think he will be able to adequately support her. Bellamy leaves on a treasure hunting voyage with the goal of coming back wealthy enough to earn her hand, and the bulk of this tale is of their time apart, the trials they face, and their pining for one another.

Then ending is a bit more of a HEA than the real Sam Bellamy had, but after all the sadness surrounding their time apart it was just what was needed.

Great audio narration.

I just knew at some point Maria was going to be labeled as a freaking witch! Small-minded men can not handle a strong-willed woman who will not stay in her place. Her parents were total bags of dicks and I hated them, even though they acted just like everyone else around them. I am so glad that Maria and Sam eventually found their way back to each other! This was my 1st book by Rachel Rueckert but will not be my last! I am adding all of her books to my TBR!

#IftheTideTurns
#NetGalley

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me!

I love a good pirate tale, just enough action, just enough romance, and the conflict in the story made sense. This is said to be based off the true story of the pirate Samuel Bellamy right after the Salem witch trials.

It follows Mariah Brown, a headstrong young woman who wished differently for her life than what was being placed in front of her. Instead of marrying the suitor chosen for her by her family, Mariah decided to fall in love with Sam Bellamy, a man far below her station. Vowing to love each other and share the rest of their lives, Sam we to Mariah's parents to request permission to marry. After being thrown out and told never to return. Sam departed for what was to only be a few months in hopes of gaining wealth and returning to make a proper proposal for Mariah's hand in marriage. Many things unfold during his absence that truly tested the heart of these two.

Did they have what it took to love each other through the hard times ahead or was it a love doomed from the start?

The world-building, the pace, the representation of different cultures, races, and sexual preferences were all well written.

The narrator for this wasn't bad but I wish I could have gotten a bit more oomph out of her, she at times lulled me to sleep.

If The Tide Turns by Rachel Rueckert (audiobook narrated by Pilar Witherspoon)
☀️☀️⛅

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC audiobook!

A historical romance that casts a wide net but, for me, doesn't yield enough for its efforts.

Set in 1700s America, Rueckert sought to examine societal expectations of the past through the main characters of Maria and Sam. Each struggle with their more modern perceptions of what lifestyles could be open to them, and this aspect of the story was interesting, but their connection to each other didn't feel like a strong enough bond to carry the plot forward. Maria in particular presented as too young and naive to be likeable in the beginning, and Sam never quite moved beyond it with his lofty aspirations and fools luck abroad. I mostly enjoyed Witherspoon's performance of them, however, but Sam's accent grated on me after a while.

Part two was when I thought the story lost momentum for me - splitting the main pair up and bouncing between their experiences became a bit disjointed and I found myself struggling to concentrate on the details of Sam's journey in particular. I understood his motivations but found the shift to piracy and captainship too sharp, even being the "good guy". And I'm not really a fan of the surprise pregnancy trope, so Maria's arc wasn't particularly enjoyable for me either, though at least the tension was better there.

The timeline was long and stretched and with no clear finish line I struggled with the continuous trauma. I did enjoy the full circle circumstances of the ending with Maria being the rescuer, and the pair finally running away together, but the journey to get there felt too drawn out to fully appreciate.

I don't think this is a bad book, just not one that was written in a style I enjoy and employing too many tropes I dislike to fully commit emotionally to.

"What if God gave you a heart full of desires you could trust, exactly as they are?"

I was so caught up and swept away in Sam and Maria's story! The hardships these two faced are heart-wrenching. The story is well written and the audio narration was very enjoyable!

In "If the Tide Turns," Rachel Rueckert masterfully weaves together the compelling worlds of the Golden Age of Pirates and the lingering aftermath of the Salem witch trials. Set against the backdrop of 1715 Eastham, Massachusetts, Rueckert introduces us to Maria Brown, a young woman trapped in a society that stifles her ambitions and desires. Maria's character is a breath of fresh air, defying societal norms with her free-spirited nature and unwavering determination to carve her own path.

The heart of the story lies in Maria's forbidden love for Samuel Bellamy, an orphaned sailor whose captivating tales of adventure and rebellion ignite Maria's longing for freedom. Their romance blossoms against the backdrop of a society plagued by prejudice and inequality, where Maria's premonitions could be mistaken for witchcraft and Sam's penniless status bars him from marrying into Maria's wealthy family.

As Sam embarks on a journey to seek his fortune and prove his worthiness to Maria, he is drawn into the thrilling yet perilous world of piracy. Rueckert skillfully portrays the allure of life at sea, where Sam finds camaraderie and purpose amidst the dangers of the open ocean. Through Sam's eyes, we glimpse the complex code of honor that governs pirate society, challenging conventional notions of justice and equality.

Rueckert's narrative is richly layered, delving into themes of love, sacrifice, and the pursuit of freedom. She deftly explores the struggles faced by women like Maria, whose fates were often determined by the whims of patriarchal society. Moreover, she sheds light on the plight of marginalized communities, including the indigenous Wampanoag people, whose fight for autonomy parallels Maria and Sam's quest for liberation.

The romance between Maria and Sam unfolds with a poignant elegance, defying the obstacles that threaten to tear them apart. Rueckert's prose is evocative and immersive, transporting readers to a bygone era where passion clashes with convention and resilience triumphs over adversity.

Overall, "If the Tide Turns" is a captivating debut that seamlessly blends historical intrigue with timeless themes of love and self-discovery. Rachel Rueckert's narrative prowess shines brightly in this luminous tale of adventure and redemption. Whether you're drawn to tales of piracy or stories of forbidden romance, this audiobook is sure to enthrall listeners from beginning to end.

Special thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for providing an advanced copy of the audiobook. "If the Tide Turns" is a must-listen for anyone seeking an unforgettable journey through the windswept shores of colonial America.

Maria Brown does not fit in in her small coastal town of Eastham, Massachusetts. Her free-spirited nature is considered unladylike, and her premonitions could be construed as witchcraft. When her father betroths her to a man twice her age, she decides to take a swim while she can. It is when she jumps off the dock that she realizes her playing in the shallows isn’t swimming, and sailor Sam Bellamy comes to her aid before she drowns. Quickly Maria falls for Sam as he attempts to teach her to swim. Maria prays her father will consider Sam as a serious suitor, but as a penniless man he has no chance.

Sam takes to the see to win his fortune in hopes he can convince Mr. Brown of his worthiness of his daughter. Despite trying to keep on the straight and narrow he falls into piracy, quickly ascending from captain to commodore within a matter of months. Fate continues to keep him away from his beloved.

The two star crossed lovers, fight for their love in a world determined to keep them apart. Rachel Rueckert gives us a peek into a colonial society still reeling from the Salem witch trials only a few decades before. Her heroine Maria shows us how little security women had, and how much they relied on their families whether they wanted to or not. She also tackles the plight of the American Wampanoag people as they fought for control of their lands. Though Sam was romanticized as a Robin Hood, she gives us a peek into the code pirates lived by, and how unlike many men of their time, they gave those of color more opportunities than the countries that chose to enslave them. Maria and Sam’s story is a slow burn and the obstacles the two faced are frustrating, but their paths are what define them as characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, and the author Rachel Rueckert for the advanced copy of the audiobook. If the Tide Turns is out in audio format on Tuesday! All opinions are my own.

In the book If The Tide Turns by Rachel Ruecker narrated by Pilar Witherspoon. We meet Maria and her sister Julia two girls growing up in a proper household in the 18th century her father is a well-known businessman. Julia and Maria Love to sneak away to the New England coast because Maria wants to learn how to swim. It is on one of these excursions when British Navy men soon to turn pirate seas Maria jump off a wharf in thinker drowning it is after he drags her out of the water that he realizes his blunder and promises to teach her how to swim. Needless to say they soon fall in love but life doesn’t go as planned as a matter of a fact there’s lots of badtimes long before good ones or even glanced ahead in the distance. I wanted so much to love this book 1st off this is the fourth fiction book I have read will a girl in the 18 or 1700s wanted to learn how to swim and I don’t know how you can be a historical fiction writer and not know it was superstitious for women to know how to swim yet authors continue to persist and put it in their books. The next thing is this says it is based on real people and that is true there was a pirate named Sam Bellamy but everything else in this book is made up except that he was a pirate he was previously in the Navy ATC now as far as the fiction story goes I found the girls 21st attitude and her want for freedom something that wasn’t even in the nomenclature except in politics because that day and age women had no sense of autonomy let alone wanting her dreams to come true. Usually if a book is good then I just overlook any flaw in a book but I know if I am catching on to everyone and feeling incredulous about the authors decision it was only because my left brain has too much time to think while my right brain is reading having said that if she would have written the book about Joe Smith and Jane though I probably would’ve given it four stars because she claims it to be about and based on real people does everything but what historical fact decrees I gave it three stars in most of that is due to the awesome narration and perfect voice for the genre by pilar Witherspoon I do want to say if you Love historical fiction for historical fiction and romances sake then you may love this book because it is definitely fiction and certainly has a Romance. I want to thank RB media and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The Golden Age of Piracy. Salem Witch Trials.

High seas pirate king Samuel Bellamy is bewitched with beautiful and strong-willed Maria Brown. This novel sang to me of social justice and how badly two entwined fates can get so brutally twisted awry from one another.

Wealthy families and disloyal mothers. Sea ports and ships and gossiping wives tales. A forced marriage with an old horrible man because a beautiful soul grows within the womb of a heartsick woman, close to being disowned by parents embarrassed by her love.

A sister who refuses to give up. Whipping and breathless babes. A deceitful, lying letter. Raging waves, stealing the lives that are thrown overboard a ship of a man who left his heart behind. Storms rage on whilst a jilted lover bears the pain of lives lost and the sting of torture marrs her backside.

The power of faith and the power of love keeps a strong woman alive in a cold bitter world content to excommunicate her. A surprising alliance and friendship saves her, unwilling to leave her struggling and gives her purpose, rather than just surviving.

The will of Maria gripped me and I could not look away from this book for a moment. Her tenacity and unwillingness to give up, how she kept going inspired me in my daily life. She is a survivor, with or without the man she swore to never give up on, even when the world stopped at nothing to convince her of his absence.

This is a difficult book to read, with the loss and the tragedy and the torture. It was hard to read, though I am glad I did. I recommend readers finish this book at least once. It is inspiring and encouraging, despite the darkness the world insists upon us as humans. 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!