Carry Me Away (Dorothy Adamek) – Review

Posted 6 November 2019 by Katie in Christian Fiction, Historical, Review, Romance / 7 Comments


Title: 
Carry Me Away
Author: 
Dorothy Adamek
Genre: 
Historical Romance
Series: 
#2 Blue Wren Shallows
Publisher: 
Independent
Release date: 
5 November 2019
Pages: 
304

PURCHASE AT

Amazon US  |  Amazon AU

Carry Me Away (Blue Wren Shallows #2)


About the Book

Inspired by the incredible true story of an Australian shipwreck and those who survived to tell the tale.

When the Black Swallow sinks off the Australian coast in 1877, Australian midshipman Tom Darley rescues English passenger Ada Carmichael from the disaster that claims her entire family. News of the only two survivors enchants the world, but Ada needs to hide before secrets and old foes find her. Tom is chasing big dreams of a crumbling house he will convert into a small hotel ~ but the promising start he’s acquired now sits at the bottom of the sea.

Inexplicably entangled, Ada and Tom lean upon each other to make sense of the tragedy that’s displaced them. But when scheming journalists observe their affection they drag Tom into life-altering riches and a news-worthy romance he cannot resist. So he arranges for Ada’s protection where only he might find her ~ the quiet Phillip Island farm of his friends Shadrach and Finella Jones.

And that’s where real trouble finds them. When heroic promises fail to shelter, and love refuses to be silenced, only surrender will pluck Ada and Tom from where life has wrecked them.

Excerpt

“Tom Darley? Oi. That you up there with Miss Carmichael? We need to talk to you.”
    She leaned against him. “Who are they?”
    “Journalists.” Tom waved at them. “I heard they were on their way from Melbourne. Mr. Granger said they’ll bunk in the shearing shed.”
    “What?” Ada grabbed his raised hand and halted the greeting. “Why would journalists come here?”
    “The wreck is a big story. The salvage efforts, our recovery. I expect they’re here to interview us.”
    “Interview?” Oh no, they will not. She scrambled to stand. Who knew what the men with the chisels and levers might uncover if they poked around long enough? And now journalists, with their meddling questions and far-reaching newspapers?
    Alarm scuttled into her veins, the loathsome blood-beat she could not ignore. She backed away from the cliff’s edge and pulled Tom to stand between her and the men on the beach. She would not be picked apart the way they combed through the sea drift. That was the life she had left behind.
    “We’ll come up to you,” a cheery voice announced the intentions of the four who now scrambled back the way they’d come.
    But Ada had no mind to wait or welcome. She tore away, only a few skids ahead of everything she’d thought she’d outrun.
    “Ada, wait.” Tom pulled her trembling hand into the crook of his arm, but she set their walking speed and did not let it slacken.
    She had no choice now. Panic drove her flight, but Tom stilled her under a row of peppercorn trees until her breathing softened.
    “Why do you need to hide?” He whispered, as if he’d lifted a precious layer and did not want the unraveling to tear more than she could bear.
    If she matched him in height, she might have been tempted to press her forehead to his. Instead she kept her eyes fixed on the collar of his shirt. “I cannot say.”
    “Don’t break my heart, Ada. A man does not pluck a girl from the sea to watch her drown on dry land.”
    “Tom…” she cradled her elbows, “my story has already cost me all I had. It’s not for you, or journalists or other gossips, and it is most certainly better left where God has buried it. At the bottom of the ocean.”
    Tom frowned. “What story?”
    “One I cannot unhide. I promised not to. And please, don’t ask me again. Not when so many have paid the highest price.” Not when there was still a price to be paid. She would not drag him, of all people, there. Not when life held so much for him still.

Review

I’m tempted to say I’ll take a ship wreck any day if it brings me a hero like Tom Darley, but the truth is I can’t even handle shipwrecks in movies, let alone real life. Thankfully, I’m a little better with shipwrecks in novels, because this is a story I definitely would not want to miss. Not only is Dorothy Adamek’s writing lyrical and emotionally resonant but she pens stories that capture you from the first word to the last. To have them set in my native Australia is just the icing on the cake.

As I’ve already intimated, Tom Darley is quite the hero—both literally and literarily! I have a crater-sized soft spot for heroes who pursue their heroine respectfully but determinedly, and I defy any reader not to swoon at least a little as Tom finds different ways to breach the wall Ada feels she needs to build around her heart. Not to mention *ahem* a few heart-melting kisses.

Meanwhile, Ada’s story can’t help but be compelling. She’s lost everything—her family included—and only just managed to survive herself, yet ironically, the widespread interest in her survival story has the potential to resurrect the one part of her life she was trying to permanently bury. Before long, her determination to remain hidden is the only thing standing in the way of Tom realising a long-standing dream—a perfect recipe for romantic tension if ever there was one!

As these tensions bubble beneath the surface, we’re invited into the Phillip Island community Ada seeks refuge in, including Shadrach and Finella from Carry Me Away and a host of other secondary characters. The landscape, island life, even historical details like silkworm farming, come to life as Tom and Ada’s story plays out, bringing some surprising turns and wonderful character growth along the way.

A fully immersive and very satisfying read that should be on every historical romance lover’s radar!

I received a copy of this novel from the author. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Previous Books in Series

Read my review for Carry Me Home

About the Author

Australian author, Dorothy Adamek, writes Displacement Fiction ~ the stories of people upended by tragedy and trauma, and their struggle to belong in their new world. 

Couched in romance, her fiction is set in the late Victorian era. She is the author of Carry Me Home, the first book in the Blue Wren Shallows trilogy, and resides with her family in the world’s most liveable city, Melbourne.

Connect with Dotti:  
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7 responses to “Carry Me Away (Dorothy Adamek) – Review

  1. Dorothy Adamek

    Thank you SO much, Katie! You have such a beautiful way of capturing your thoughts and feelings in a review.

    I’m delighted over your ‘crater-sized’ soft spot for Tom. Mine is similar in depth too. xoxoxo

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