Helen Hollick – författare

VOYAGE THREE: BRING IT CLOSE Too much trouble has come too close! Jesamiah Acorne, Captain of the Sea Witch, has accepted a government-granted amnesty against his misdeeds of piracy, but old enemies do not forget the past. In particular Edward Teach - Blackbeard himself - has a bone to pick with Acorne. Following an indiscretion with an old flame, Jesamiah finds his fiancée, the midwife and white witch Tiola Oldstagh, has gone to North Carolina to help with a difficult birth. The problem; that is where Blackbeard now resides. He mustn’t discover that Tiola is Jesamiah's woman. She will have to hide her identity and her gift of Craft from the black-hearted pirate who has sold his soul to the devil. With Sea Witch damaged and himself wounded, Jesamiah has to take stock of his situation, but arrested for acts of piracy how is Jesamiah Acorne to clear his name, overturn a sentence of hanging, keep Tiola safe, put an end to Blackbeard and deal with being haunted by the ghost of his father? Bring It Close moves from the Bahamas to North Carolina and Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia at a swashbuckling pace. There is intrigue, misunderstanding, romance and adventure all wrapped up in a blend of mystical fantasy.

1719

Approaching England''s North Devon Coast Captain Jesamiah Acorne is worried. A Royal Navy frigate is trailing in his wake and Sea Witch has a cache of contraband aboard. His instinct is to hoist sail and flee, but he cannot attract attention for his wife, Tiola, is ill and getting worse. She says the sea is affecting her, but Jesamiah has never seen seasickness like this before - is it something else? Something to do with her being a white witch?

Like an approaching storm, his worries get deeper, darker, and more sinister. Unpleasant ruffians are looking for a list of traitors'' names, Tiola''s brother is in jail, and Sir Ailie Doone - the last of the notorious Doones of Exmoor - wants Jesamiah to sail to Cádiz on a secret mission in aid of the Jacobite cause.

Except that being captured by the Spanish and meeting with an old friend, the beautiful English spy, Francesca, is not part of Jesamiah''s plan. Once again he is in danger of losing his fidelity, his freedom - and maybe even his life. 

Tiola meanwhile has her own fears to face. Why is the ethereal spirit of the sea, Tethys,  determined to have Jesamiah for her own? To save him, Tiola must find a way to recall her previous lives and discover why events of the past are influencing those of the present - why the ripples in time are echoing in the ripples in the sand.

Series:Capt. Jesamiah Acorne & his ship,

 1719

VOYAGE FIVE : ON THE ACCOUNT

Captain Jesamiah Acorne is in trouble. Again. Arrested for treason and smuggling, believing his beloved ship Sea Witch lies wrecked on England''s North Devon Coast, his only hope of escaping the noose is for someone to quash the charges. That someone turns out to be his ex-lover - but there is a price to pay. 

He needs to find a boy who has disappeared and a valuable casket that more than one person wants to get their hands on. When people start getting murdered and Barbary pirates kidnap his wife, Tiola, his priorities rapidly change - but who is lying about what? Is returning to piracy a wise idea? Is Tiola having an affair with her mysterious Night-Walker ''friend''? 

Meanwhile, Tiola has her own battles to fight - keeping herself and Jesamiah alive!