Fans pick 100 books like Veil of Pearls

By MaryLu Tyndall,

Here are 100 books that Veil of Pearls fans have personally recommended if you like Veil of Pearls. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of A Heart Adrift

Grace A. Johnson Author Of Held Captive

From my list on romantic swashbuckling adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was twelve years old and scribbling stories in an old notebook, I’ve been in love with pirate romance. The intense adventure, the dramatic romance, the freedom of the sea—and most importantly, the chance to find love and redemption, a theme that’s prominent in my Christian pirate romance series and the novels I read and enjoy! This list curates some of the top pirate/privateer novels I’ve read, all with clean romance and inspiring themes, to keep your TBR filled with swashbuckling high-seas voyages!

Grace's book list on romantic swashbuckling adventure

Grace A. Johnson Why did Grace love this book?

Not only is Laura Frantz one of my most favorite authors, her historical romance A Heart Adrift is one of my favorite privateer stories. I quickly fell in love with the swoony Captain Henri Lennox, related to quiet dreamer and chocolatier Esmee Shaw, and was enchanted by every beautiful word that made up this inspiring and intriguing novel! If you love the sea, second chance romance, and stories that will captivate and uplift you, A Heart Adrift is for you!

By Laura Frantz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Heart Adrift as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Full of rich historical detail, this title is rooted in its time yet filled with issues that resonate today such as racial inequalities, economic injustice, and a pandemic."--Library Journal starred review

"A redemptive story of war, regrets, romance, and an attempt to heal old wounds."--Woman's World

***

It is 1755, and the threat of war with France looms over colonial York, Virginia. Chocolatier Esmee Shaw is fighting her own battle of the heart. Having reached her twenty-eighth birthday, she is reconciled to life alone after a decade-old failed love affair from which she's never quite recovered. But she longs to…


Book cover of Oathbound

Grace A. Johnson Author Of Held Captive

From my list on romantic swashbuckling adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was twelve years old and scribbling stories in an old notebook, I’ve been in love with pirate romance. The intense adventure, the dramatic romance, the freedom of the sea—and most importantly, the chance to find love and redemption, a theme that’s prominent in my Christian pirate romance series and the novels I read and enjoy! This list curates some of the top pirate/privateer novels I’ve read, all with clean romance and inspiring themes, to keep your TBR filled with swashbuckling high-seas voyages!

Grace's book list on romantic swashbuckling adventure

Grace A. Johnson Why did Grace love this book?

There’s only one thing that can compare to historical pirate romance...fantasy pirate romance! Oathbound by Victoria McCombs is one of many amazing clean fantasy pirate novels out there, perfect for historical pirate readers looking for something new or long-time fantasy fans in search of a swashbuckling adventure full of intrigue, spookiness, and all the pirate vibes! Pirates of the Caribbean lovers (like myself) will love this YA fantasy novel!

By Victoria McCombs,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Oathbound as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Beware the waters. The dangerous deep brings ruin to all.

Emme has spent her life avoiding anything to do with pirates. But the fates are cruel, and now a hidden sickness leads her to partner with pirates for the one thing that can save her—a cure on an island none are certain exists.

The pirate captain’s secrets are darker than the deep and threaten to kill them all. His obligations are tinged with betrayal, for his oathbind must be fulfilled. To ignore it is to invite peril of unimaginable destruction.

As the adventure unfolds, the sea takes more than she…


Book cover of The Redemption

Grace A. Johnson Author Of Held Captive

From my list on romantic swashbuckling adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was twelve years old and scribbling stories in an old notebook, I’ve been in love with pirate romance. The intense adventure, the dramatic romance, the freedom of the sea—and most importantly, the chance to find love and redemption, a theme that’s prominent in my Christian pirate romance series and the novels I read and enjoy! This list curates some of the top pirate/privateer novels I’ve read, all with clean romance and inspiring themes, to keep your TBR filled with swashbuckling high-seas voyages!

Grace's book list on romantic swashbuckling adventure

Grace A. Johnson Why did Grace love this book?

When I first began writing Christian pirate romances, I had no clue such a genre existed. And then, out of the blue, I discovered MaryLu Tyndall’s The Redemption. This intense and romantic pirate adventure opened me up to a whole new world of fiction and inspired me to continue writing pirate novels that were realistic and exciting. Whether you’re a long-time pirate fan or new to the genre/topic, The Redemption will sweep you away with Charlisse and Merrick on an adventure you won’t soon forget!

By MaryLu Tyndall,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Redemption as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lady Charlisse Bristol sets off on a voyage in search of a father she never knew, only to find herself shipwrecked on a desert island. Near starvation, she is rescued by a band of pirates and their fiercely handsome leader, Edmund Merrick. Will Clarisse win her struggle against the seductive lure of this pirate captain? While battling his attraction to this winsome lady, Edmund offers to help Charlisse on her quest-until he discovers her father is none other than Edward the Terror, the cruelest pirate on the Caribbean. Can Edmund win this lady's love while shielding her from his lecherous…


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Book cover of Returning to Eden

Returning to Eden By Rebecca Hartt,

Looking for clean romantic suspense with spiritual undertones?

Look no further than the Acts of Valor series by Rebecca Hartt. With thousands of reviews and 4.7-5.0 stars per book, this 6-book series is a must-read for readers searching for memorable, well-told stories by an award-winning author.

A dead man stands…

Book cover of The Sugar Baron's Governess

Grace A. Johnson Author Of Held Captive

From my list on romantic swashbuckling adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was twelve years old and scribbling stories in an old notebook, I’ve been in love with pirate romance. The intense adventure, the dramatic romance, the freedom of the sea—and most importantly, the chance to find love and redemption, a theme that’s prominent in my Christian pirate romance series and the novels I read and enjoy! This list curates some of the top pirate/privateer novels I’ve read, all with clean romance and inspiring themes, to keep your TBR filled with swashbuckling high-seas voyages!

Grace's book list on romantic swashbuckling adventure

Grace A. Johnson Why did Grace love this book?

Elva Cobb Martin is a household name in the Christian pirate romance genre, but I’d never read any of her works until I picked up The Sugar Baron’s Governess. My first novel by her certainly won’t be my last! This perfect combination of sweet romance and fast-paced adventure reminded me why I love this genre so much, and I know it’ll inspire a love for pirate romance in all who read it! Even though it’s the fourth novel in a series, don’t be afraid to dive right in and enjoy! 

By Elva Cobb Martin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sugar Baron's Governess as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She needs a new start...He knows a reckoning is coming.

Banished from Charleston for his misdeeds years earlier, Joshua Becket built a new life on both sides of the law in Jamaica. But he guards a secret identity. As a sugar plantation owner and member of the governing British Assembly, he's known and respected on the island. As swashbuckling Captain Jay, he leads daredevil privateering exploits on his ship, the Eagle, when the mood suits him. Currently, he needs a governess for his young daughter.

Widowed gentlewoman Abigail Welch accepted the governess position, leaving behind her disintegrated life in Charleston.…


Book cover of Washington Black

Eleanor P. Sam Author Of The Wisdom of Rain

From my list on Caribbean slavery and its aftermath.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a human product of a Demerara sugar plantation, and spent most of my formative years in this environment. If you’ve added brown sugar to your coffee, tea, or baking, or indulged in chocolate or candy, you’ve probably come into contact with part of my heritage. It’s a heritage with a sweet and a bitter side. My novel The Wisdom of Rain follows Mariama, an enslaved girl struggling with life on a nineteenth century plantation. She could have been my ancestor. Canada has become my home and I’m a proud alumna of York University and the University of Toronto. Most days, I enjoy the diversity and promise of this country.

Eleanor's book list on Caribbean slavery and its aftermath

Eleanor P. Sam Why did Eleanor love this book?

Set on the beautiful island of Barbados, Edugyan’s take on the slavery/emancipation interface focuses on primary characters that are male. The relationship between two of them, one White and one Black, becomes an exploration of how slavery created a toxic psychological legacy that distorted the nature and possibilities of friendship and trust.  

I’ve loved Barbados since my first visit as a teenager, and I became more attached after some of my siblings called it home. Known as ‘Little England,’ a downside of this sunny paradise, and a relic of slavery, is its unequal economic and social class divisions. The population is over 90% Black but most of the valuable land and resources are owned by non-Blacks. I encourage readers to look beyond its surface beauty and explore its deeper history. 

By Esi Edugyan,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Washington Black as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018

WINNER OF THE GILLER PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2020

FINALIST FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE ROGERS WRITERS TRUST FICTION PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 2019
New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year 2018
Sunday Times Paperback of the Year 2019

'A masterpiece' Attica Locke
'Strong, beautiful and beguiling' Observer
'Destined to become a future classic ... that rare book that should appeal to every kind of reader' Guardian

When two English brothers take the helm of a Barbados sugar plantation, Washington Black - an…


Book cover of Dispossessed Lives: Enslaved Women, Violence, and the Archive

Robin Mitchell Author Of Venus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France

From my list on women’s lives that will change your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a historian of race and gender in European women’s history, “misbehaving” women confound me! I am rendered speechless when women negate their own humanity in the drive toward the same power structures that subjugate them. Vulnerable women who were often in the clutches of those same women–and yet are unrelenting in their determination to survive within systems to which others have relegated them–inspire me. These books and their stories take women’s lives–their oft-horrible choices, their scandalous mistakes, and their demands for autonomy–seriously. I hope you find their stories as compelling as I do!

Robin's book list on women’s lives that will change your life

Robin Mitchell Why did Robin love this book?

This book astonishes me every time I open its pages, and I return to these stories again and again. Taking the 18th-century urban city of Bridgetown, Barbados, as its canvas, Fuentes uncovers, often using fragmentary sources, the lives of Black enslaved and free women of color, narrating their violent stories of survival in ways that broke my heart.

Equally important, the power of Fuentes’ writing forces me to interrogate how histories of vulnerable women are produced while they are alive and how to reckon with how archives produce and reinscribe violence on their disfigured bodies after death. It is impossible not to feel the full weight of my responsibility as a scholar after reading this book.

It is the first book I hand to students who want to write about Black women, regardless of their geographic interests.

By Marisa J. Fuentes,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Dispossessed Lives as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the eighteenth century, Bridgetown, Barbados, was heavily populated by both enslaved and free women. Marisa J. Fuentes creates a portrait of urban Caribbean slavery in this colonial town from the perspective of these women whose stories appear only briefly in historical records. Fuentes takes us through the streets of Bridgetown with an enslaved runaway; inside a brothel run by a freed woman of color; in the midst of a white urban household in sexual chaos; to the gallows where enslaved people were executed; and within violent scenes of enslaved women's punishments. In the process, Fuentes interrogates the archive and…


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Book cover of Songbird

Songbird By Laci Barry Post,

It's 1943, and World War II has gripped the nation, including the Stilwell family in Jacksonville, Alabama. Rationing, bomb drills, patriotism, and a changing South barrage their way of life. Neighboring Fort McClellan has brought the world to their doorstep in the form of young soldiers from all over the…

Book cover of Lucy: Ultimate Survivor

Peter Hain Author Of The Elephant Conspiracy

From my list on thrilling page-turners.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an activist-politician, who’s been both militant anti-apartheid protestor and Cabinet Minister, someone who tries to convey sometimes complex issues in straightforward terms, impatient with taking refuge down academic rabbit holes, striving to see the wood-for-the-trees. With the exception of George Orwell, each of the books I have recommended is by an author I know personally. My new thriller, The Elephant Conspiracy, sequel to The Rhino Conspiracy, reflects dismay at the corrupt betrayal of Nelson Mandela’s freedom struggle and the values which inspired it, the main characters fighting to revive those values of social justice, liberty, equal opportunities, and integrity, as well as service to others not selfish enrichment. 

Peter's book list on thrilling page-turners

Peter Hain Why did Peter love this book?

I enjoyed commenting on early drafts of this dramatic Georgian historical fiction written by my wife Elizabeth about her great-great-great-grandmother: painstakingly researched and vividly portrayed, it’s about love, betrayal, and survival. Lucy, strong-willed daughter of English landed gentry, born in the late 18th century, married Sam Lord, a plantation owner and fortune hunter from Barbados, at a time when women were their husband’s chattels with no rights even over the children. Abused and imprisoned by him in Barbados, she escaped with the help of enslaved people after giving birth at sea, braving disease and cruelty, and witnessing the abject misery of slavery in her descent from a life of pampered luxury to a struggle for survival in a far-off land.  

By Elizabeth Haywood,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lucy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A dramatic and intriguing true Georgian tale of love, betrayal and survival. Lucy, a strong-willed girl from a wealthy family, was brought up on the English–Welsh border and married a Caribbean plantation owner, Sam Lord, for love, meanwhile he married her for her fortune, at a time when a woman was a chattel and everything she had, including her children, became her husband’s. Abused and imprisoned in Barbados, she escaped with the help of enslaved people. A vibrant intimate description of early 19th-century life – giving birth at sea, braving disease and cruelty, and witnessing the abject misery of slavery…


Book cover of Captured

Shawna Barnett Author Of Windfall

From my list on adventure with women at sea.

Why am I passionate about this?

From the beginning of my reading journey, I wished for more stories about women who were courageous, passionate, and in control of their own destiny. I wanted to write books for female readers who loved characters like Zorro, Robin Hood, and Jack Sparrow, but wanted to see themselves shining through them. In the process of researching, I discovered unforgettable characters like Captain Mabbot and Clare Sullivan. The Legends of Vioria series focuses on such women, who use their wit and strength to navigate the world. It is my hope to continue to write stories that will inspire others just as the books in this list inspired me. 

Shawna's book list on adventure with women at sea

Shawna Barnett Why did Shawna love this book?

Captive is another romance with pirates and passion. It’s part of a larger series featuring the LeVeq family. In this story, privateer Dominic LeVeq, frees and falls for slave Clare Sullivan. Soon they become desperate to have each other. I loved the relationship between these two characters and the devotion that develops between them.  

By Beverly Jenkins,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Captured as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a high-stakes historical romance from award-winning romance author Beverly Jenkins.


Book cover of 100 Nasty Women of History: Brilliant, badass and completely fearless women everyone should know

Walburga Appleseed Author Of The Princess and the Prick

From my list on funny feminist books you'll want to gift to all your friends.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I gobbled up Grimm’s fairytales, but I always wondered: Why do the princesses get such a terrible deal? This question gnawed at me. So, when I grew up and became an author, I wrote The Princess and the Prick to set the world right. Feminism can be such a terribly serious topic, but sexism is ridiculous! So, let's laugh at it! The books I've recommended are all short and brilliantly funny. They make fantastic gifts and will have everyone laughing at the patriarchy in no time. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Walburga's book list on funny feminist books you'll want to gift to all your friends

Walburga Appleseed Why did Walburga love this book?

Where are all the women in history? Here they are! In her hilarious book, Hannah Jewell sets the world to right by introducing us to 100 incredible women from all over the world and all time periods.

I thought I knew a fair amount about historical women, but turns out I didn’t! I knew hardly any of the women featured in this book, which really tells us all we need to know about the state of the world (and male historians).

I found Hannah’s writing so entertaining it felt more like listening to a really fun, knowledgeable friend than reading biographies. A great gift for anyone who ever wonders: "But-where have all the women gone?"

By Hannah Jewell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 100 Nasty Women of History as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Vital reading' STYLIST

'...hooting with laughter - what a swashbuckler that Hannah Jewell is' MARINA HYDE

'Because 100 Nasty Women is so easy to read and witty, I didn't expect it to be the life changing, important book that I'm discovering it to be' PHILIPPA PERRY

'A fantastic addition to your feminist library and historical knowledge.' ANN SHEN, author of Bad Girls Throughout History

* * * * * *

100 fascinating and brilliantly written stories about history's bravest, baddest but little known 'nasty' women from across the world.

These are the women who were deemed too nasty for their…


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Book cover of The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass

The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass By Katie Powner,

Pete is content living a simple life in the remote Montana town of Sleeping Grass, driving the local garbage truck with his pot-bellied pig Pearl and wondering about what could've been. Elderly widow Wilma is busy meddling in Pete's life to try and make up for past wrongs that he…

Book cover of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Rob Vlock Author Of Sven Carter & the Trashmouth Effect

From my list on middle-grade readers will love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I remember the night it happened. I was lying next to my son in bed, reading to him. It was already well past his bedtime, but when we came to the end of the chapter, he begged me: “Just one more chapter, Dad! Pleeeease!” That was the moment I knew I wanted to write novels for kids. And ever since then, I’ve been passionate about helping young people learn to love reading by introducing them to books they’ll truly love—even if they’re what some might call, “reluctant readers.” That’s what’s behind the books I recommend and will always be behind the books I write. 

Rob's book list on middle-grade readers will love

Rob Vlock Why did Rob love this book?

This was my first experience with Jonathan Auxier and it made me into an instant and always fan of his books. Its fairytale-like feel and enthralling story of Peter Nimble, a blind orphan and master thief, was so wonderful to read, I experienced some serious book withdrawal when I reached the end. (Luckily, we get to spend more time in Peter’s world in Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard!) This book’s story and characters are so beautifully crafted, you’ll probably want to read this one more than once—like I did!

By Jonathan Auxier,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Gardener, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been schooled in a life of thievery. One fateful afternoon, he steals a box from a mysterious traveling haberdasher a box that contains three pairs of magical eyes. When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to travel to the dangerous Vanished Kingdom and rescue a people in need. Along with his loyal sidekick a knight who…


Book cover of A Heart Adrift
Book cover of Oathbound
Book cover of The Redemption

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Interested in swashbucklers, Slavery, and presidential biography?

Swashbucklers 15 books
Slavery 309 books