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This is a delightful story with two well developed main characters that come to life, as you get to know them. It is a good read with plenty of love and adventure that will take you away to times past for a few satisfying hours.
Lindy Lou Mac’s Book Reviews
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 However, this book is more than a love story, the epic journey to China adds a real sense of adventure, and of course it really was an epic journey in those times. There's more than one villain to keep you on your toes and I found the history and Far Eastern culture fascinating. There are four things that really make this book work. The beautiful setting, the obvious historical research coupled with the adventure and love story. This isn't what I would class as a fluffy romance, it's a rich and engaging novel with a romance story at the heart of it.
Laura, Book Chick City
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  An impressive debut novel, Christina Courtenay’s Trade Winds is a captivating tale of perilous chances, forbidden attraction and dangerous seduction which will hold readers in thrall from start to finish!
Reviewed by Julie
Single Titles
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The story starts slowly, but from a third of way through the tension builds to a surprising ending. The author’s personal knowledge allows rich detail in the description of the locations, which gives a solid base to the novel. Clichés abound and the stepfather is little more than a stereotype, but Jests mother is totally believable in her fixation on her two younger children. I enjoyed the story and recommend it to those who like novels set in far-flung, exotic places.
En Black
Extract from November issues of the Historical Novel Society Magazine
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A dramatic, passionate and immensely gripping novel that is sure to hold readers in thrall, Christina Courtenay seamlessly intertwines unflagging action, gripping adventure, vivid historical detail and nail-biting drama into a captivating historical romance that is sure to delight readers of romantic fiction.
Julie
Bookish Jottings
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THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT READ, GRIPPING AND FAST PACED, WITH WELL FORMED CHARACTERS AND INTERESTING HISTORICAL FACTS SKILFULLY WOVEN IN AS PART OF THE STORY.
Gwen, Dumfries
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 Trade Winds is one outstanding adventure after another. With any great book you have a hero, a heroine, and one villain who tries to come between them. In this novel, you have two villains; both with their own agenda and both so vicious you can practically feel the hatred and rage pouring out of the pages. On top of the already heart-pounding story line, Ms. Courtenay paints a vivid picture of the exotic and not so exotic locations these two travel to on their journeys. This is undoubtedly a fantastic historical novel, one that I will be recommending for others to read as well.
Danielle, Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More.
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These two doesn't fall at once for each other, now they fight, resist, and make arrangements. You have to love slow real love. There is not only romance, no some kind of action too, as someone hunts Killian. Drama, and adventure, what else to expect from a journey like that.
Linda, Finland.
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  The tall ship in stormy seas on the front of this novel gives you a good idea of the swashbuckling romantic adventure inside. Jess van Sandt is a strong-willed young woman in the man’s world of 1732 Sweden. Killian Kinross is the disinherited nobleman to whom she proposes a marriage of convenience that would let her escape her stepfather. But as each become more intrigued by the other, the relationship becomes deeper.
Courtenay has created a well-researched background for the romance, which has some raunchy scenes thrown in.
And as the weather starts to turn here, it’s a good book to snuggle up inside with.
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 The secondary characters play vital roles in the story. The tried-and-true Holm, Jess’s real father’s old friend and business associate and Adair, Killian’s ever-faithful streetwise companion are valuable, loyal friends. Killian's cousin Farquhar and Jessamijm’s stepfather Robert Fergusson are antagonists deluxe. They create some adrenaline-pumping moments in the story. Other minor characters weaving in and or of the protagonists’ lives help create a tapestry of a tale that is multicultural and diverse in settings and social mores.
Trade Winds takes the reader far and wide with adventures, dangers, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences for Killian and Jessamijn. Along the way, their love thrives without a lot of romance but with a lot of interesting living.
Long and short stories.
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 Dysfunctional families and unlikely romance in the days of sailing ships and the oriental trade makes for an unchallenging but entertaining distraction. At the risk of being sexist, it's probably not one for the boys.
Lesley
Reviewer The Bookbag
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'Trade Winds' is Christina’s first novel and as expected when you read a book published by Choc Lit, the hero, Killian Kinross, is irresistible.
'Trade Winds' starts in 1732 in Gothenburg where Jess van Sandt feels sure she’s being duped by her calculating stepfather, who for some reason seems determined to foil any attempts by suitors to marry her..... Everything about this book is enjoyable, from the gloriously haunting cover to the beautifully written story inside. The descriptions of places, people and lifestyles so cleverly interwoven throughout 'Trade Winds' made me feel like part of Killian and Jess’s world as I read their intriguing story. I wanted them to be together, but couldn’t see how it was ever going to work despite their mutual, though secret attraction to each other. Their own personal difficulties with each other and the outside dangers they have to overcome make this a book to savour.
Debs Carr, Bookersatz
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 I like the research and detail the author put into the story. The part about ship life and China were interesting. I thought the plot strengthened the more I read. The characters were very plausible, I had no trouble seeing them come to life. Jess's mother was something of a wimp. If she would of been my mother I probably would of disowned her. I thought Killian taking in the boy, Adair was a nice twist to the story. The romance between Jess and Killian was like fire and ice, hot and cold.
Rating: Excellent!
Theresa B, The Romance Studio
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I really enjoyed this book. When i started it, I didn't think it was going to be a book I would be shouting to every one to read but now i have finished it and I am - read it!!! It has something for everyone - a gorgeous hero, Killian, a feisty heroine, Jess, and a stepfather who is doing everything he can to swindle Jess out of her inheritance. The result is an adventure she never imagined being a part of... In brief, i recommend this book to all historical book fans and ensure you have put by a day to read it as you won't want to put it down once you have started it!
Sarah Broadhurst, Reviewer
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I knew I had to read this book as soon as I saw its gorgeous cover. It promised the irresistible lure of adventure on the high seas and more than delivered on that... Peopled with a great cast of characters who bring alive the period this novel is set in, it also provides a fascinating look at a period in history and at trading centres – Gothenburg in Sweden and Canton in China – with which I was less familiar.
I loved it and devoured it (Perhaps unsurprisingly as it’s published by Choc Lit!) and will definitely be keeping a weather eye out for more of Christina Courtenay’s books in future.
Kath, The Nut Press
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Other thing I really liked was the fact that Jess and Killian just don't magically fall in love. It takes time and they both need to do decisions and fight to get to the point where they realize that they love each other.
Milka, Finland
Read, Read, Read blogspot
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