Oceanswept is a dashing and daring tale about the adventures of Tessa Monroe, a proper young lady from London. She is on a ship with her Admiral father, en route to the island of St. Kitts to help colonize and establish order to the Caribbean island when it was first being settled by the British. Tessa is excited to begin a new life there where she will be at the height of British society, attending tea parties, soirees, and being courted by the highest rank of men. Her dreams of the future are shattered when the ship encounters a hurricane of immense proportions and she wakes up to find herself mesmerized by Nicholas, nicknamed Marks for his shooting skills. They are both entranced by one another, but Nicholas soon turns out to be more than Tessa expected and she must reconcile the young man protecting her with the fierce truth of what he really is. A romping series of misdeeds follow Tessa as she soon changes from a proper English lady into a feisty, fighting survivor.

Author Lara Hays writes her story with entrancing descriptions about life at sea and, as a reader, I was swept away by her understanding of the ocean. Although this book is a short read, it was the perfect length to take to the beach and become mesmerized in as it can be read within a few short days to get readers’ minds to de-stress and to dream a little.

Tessa has everything she could ever want, except maybe a mother of her own. Her father sees to her every whim and she’s never had to want for anything beautiful. A rich girl, she’s always had servants to care for her and her father and she’s planning to travel to a new life where more of the same will be waiting. But a violent storm changes all of that. Meeting Nicholas is something she never could have imagined, but what happens between her and ‘Marks’ is even less believable. Her life is about to change, but not everything is going to get worse. She’ll see a side of the world that she never imagined could be right outside her door and she’ll get a glimpse of a happiness she never would have known could exist outside of the rich world she’s accustomed to in Oceanswept by Lara Hays.

I was so captivated by this book that I sat down and read it all in one sitting. Tessa is the type of girl who doesn’t back down and she definitely doesn’t accept anything less than she thinks she deserves. She’s the type of woman that any woman wants to be and that’s enough to keep you interested in reading. But seeing the things she survives and what she’s able to do (both with and without Nicholas’ help) is amazing and something you won’t forget either. There’s more adventure and action in this book than you would think and it keeps everything growing even more interesting all the time. Oceanswept is a story for the adventure seeker and romance lover alike.