Oathbound

by Victoria McCombs

Overview

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 expects and the sea gives more than he wants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621842187
Publisher:	Enclave Publishing
Publication date:	02/15/2022
Series:	The Royal Rose Chronicles , #1
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	639,784
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Victoria McCombs is the author of The Storyteller’s Series from Parliament House Press, and Oathbound. She writes young adult fantasy and adores stories about treacherous pirates and traitorous princes.Her favorite things include peppermint hot chocolate, peanut butter ice cream, game nights with family, and Jesus. She has her mom to thank for allowing so many medieval weapons inside the house as she was growing up, which curated her love for that time period.She is a mom of three little boys and a wife to the handsomest accountant there is. Together they live in Omaha, Nebraska.

Editorial Reviews

02/28/2022

Eighteen-year-old Emme, who has olive skin, has avoided the sea ever since the death of her infamous pirate mother, but she’s dying from a rare disease, and her sole hope rests in a substance found only on a distant island. When her friend Arn, 21, the white captain of a pirate ship fallen upon hard times, asks her to join him on a journey to claim the treasure left behind by another pirate on that same island, Emme and her estranged brother Emric join up. But the voyage is long and arduous, filled with danger at every port and no certainty of success once they arrive. As they battle kidnappers, ghosts, and sea monsters, Emme and Arn face their long-buried feelings for each other, but their respective secrets may tear them apart. In this nautical fantasy, a trilogy opener, McCombs (Heir of Roses) keeps the stakes high, maintaining a melodramatic dynamic between the protagonists that emphasizes their youth and relative inexperience against more seasoned enemies, and tracing Emme’s progressive weakness alongside the face of a threat of mutiny. Characters cue as white. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

A binding contract, a deadly illness, a mysterious treasure, and a deadly mission aboard the Royal Rose, Oathbound is hauntingly enchanted. A perfect read for the sea-lover in us all!” — Danielle Harrington, award-winning author of the Hollis Timewire Series

Danielle Harrington

Full of magic and romance, Oathbound is a swashbuckling adventure that will leave you breathless!” — Casey L. Bond, author of House of Eclipses

Casey L. Bond

"This story has all the beloved elements of a classic pirate tale, including ferocious sea monsters, captivating merfolk, legendary treasure troves, and haunting black ships."
 
"What sets the story apart is the charmingly flawed cast of characters."
 

Manhattan Book Review

2021-12-15
Magic, piracy, and romance meet in this adventurous first entry in a new series.

Emme hates everything to do with piracy, the water, and Arabella the Ruthless, her infamous pirate mother who left her family behind in search of a life of adventure. But when Emme discovers she has Paslkapi, her late father’s fatal illness, and that the only thing that can cure her lies across the seas on the fabled Island of Iilak, she has no choice but to join her best friend, Arn, and his pirate crew. Arn has an oathbind with a prize on his head, and finding a legendary buried treasure on an island far away seems like the only solution to save his life and make some money. Good thing he manages to convince Emme—who learned swordplay from her mother and whose knowledge of the sea is unmatched—to come along. Adventure, swashbuckling, and danger follow as Emme and Arn try to keep the truth about their motivations (and about the romantic feelings they are nursing) from each other. With a narrative that alternates between dark-haired, olive-skinned Emme and blond, blue-eyed Arn, this fast-paced novel is full of nonstop action, unexpected plot twists, mythical creatures, magic, and ghosts—as well as a slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance. It thoughtfully handles Emme’s complex feelings about her mother and the consequences of Arn’s ill-advised decisions in the buildup to the cliffhanger ending.

Aye, this is a breezy and fun piratical tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

A binding contract, a deadly illness, a mysterious treasure, and a deadly mission aboard the Royal Rose, Oathbound is hauntingly enchanted. A perfect read for the sea-lover in us all!” — Danielle Harrington, award-winning author of the Hollis Timewire Series

Daniel Harrington