The Blackened Soul (Dark Tides Book 3)

TIME TRAVEL/FANTASY:  “The Blackened Soul” is the third installment of Candace Osmond’s The Dark Tide series.  It begins with the main character, Dianna Codham, journeying to England to settle an old score with her villainous sister, Maria Codham. But the journey to revenge and justice is side-lined during a violent storm when Dianna is swept overboard into the ocean. She is miraculously spared a pirate’s death at sea, washing ashore on a tiny island shrouded in an ancient curse.  Dianna, ignorant of her crew’s fate aboard The Queen, must match wits with a pirate so vile, there may be no one left willing to help her escape.

Ms. Osmond’s characters are believable, as they battle the demons from their pasts. But the story assumes the reader has already developed emotional bonds from the two previous installments. It was not until nearly half way through the story that Dianna’s connection to time travel was even made clear. Reading the other two books in the series first should help readers fully embrace the Time Traveler’s world.

Ms. Osmond’s story is an easy read, but at times it feels a bit cliché, as the Dianna seems to vacillate between defiant, charismatic pirate captain and rebel without a cause.  The main story arc, which is interesting in the beginning, gets lost beneath the ancillary storyline. While the story at times seems to wander and time travel is completely absent in this offering, Ms. Osmond does not disappoint with her ability to deliver a fabulous and mysterious otherworld. Filled with mermaids and sirens, pirates’ curses and magic cloaked islands, indescribable treasure and passionate devotion, “The Blackened Soul” doesn’t fail to entertain.

Kimberly Gunvaldson