Review: Showboat Soubrette by Brodie Curtis

Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Brodie Curtis to Ruins & Reading. I'm sharing my review of his thrilling riverside adventure, Showboat Soubrette. It's well worth checking out. Read on!

 Showboat Soubrette is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find enticing excerpts, fascinating background articles, and more, HERE!

 

Showboat Soubrette

by Brodie Curtis

Review:

Showboat Soubrette is the kind of novel that draws you in immediately. It has it all – likeable, daring protagonists, a stunning setting, evil baddies, and a strong theme of friendship. Only the friendship is between characters of three different races, set in a place and at a time when discrimination and racism were rife. Does it work? Absolutely!

 

We first meet Stella, formidable star singer on the Lady J, a river showboat that travels up and down the Mississippi, entertaining crowds wherever it docked. A talented soprano, her voice carries across the landings, drawing in an audience. But it's not only her voice that pulls the crowds – her stunning Cherokee looks make her stand out.

 

On one such stop, she encounters John Dee, a rogue and gambler, but with the heart in its right place. He introduces her to his close friend, freed slave Toby.

 

When Toby saves her during an assault by a thug, who accidentally dies, things begin to go awry for Stella and her friends. John Dee's rescue plan goes wrong, and soon, they find themselves the target of a notorious gang related to her attacker, which leaves no stone unturned to hunt them down – and get their revenge!

 

Keen to escape the gang's wide-ranging clutches, they must flee, but their escape is tricky. Stella's friendship to the two men grows as they try to outwit the criminals, and learn to rely on each other in order to survive. But with both John Dee and Toby interested in her, will she be able to choose, as she feels drawn to both men?

 

And will the friends manage to stay safe? Find out in the novel!

 

Showboat Soubrette is a thrilling adventure set in the heady days of entertainment riverboats on the Mississippi. The author sends readers to a location full of excitement and wonder, but also open racism, personal ambition, and greed. The research of locations and attitudes of the 'deep south’ during the mid-1800s is impeccable, as we are pulled into this faraway world.

 

 I really enjoyed reading how the characters developed through the intriguing plot which sees them face many unexpected, and usually dangerous, hurdles. They are flawed characters, but with a charm that has you rooting for them. The interactions between them make for great reading.

 

Showboat Soubrette is a thrilling tale full of twists and turns, with highly likeable protagonists, and a compelling, clever plot. The pace is relentless, and keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next.

 

A highly recommended adventure!

 

 

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Blurb:

FROM STAR SHOWBOAT SINGER 

TO PIRATE PREY ON THE WICKED RIVER!

Showboat singer Stella Parrot’s star rises in the Antebellum South with every sold-out performance along the lower Mississippi River. When a river pirate viciously assaults her, new friends Toby Freeman and John Dee Franklin foil the attack. However, the pirate’s family is bent on revenge.

Stella, Toby, and John Dee escape their riverboat with able assistance from young cub pilot Sam Clemens, only to be pursued by the notorious Burton Gang. As the trio runs for their lives, mortal perils await at every turn: a fierce storm, high-stakes gambling confrontations, deadly combat, and a cotton boat up in flames. Stella, a Cherokee Indian, and Toby, a free Black man, and their friend White man John Dee endure relentless racial prejudices and injustices in the gritty underbelly of the Wicked River while fleeing to New Orleans—where the Burtons will be waiting!

SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE’s fast-paced lower river adventure chase features romantic showboat scenes and is unsparing in its exploration of the bigoted and sometimes lawless riverboat era.

Praise for Showboat Soubrette:

'Curtis is also a master of description and atmosphere. The novel is vivid with detail from the dining room and theatre of the showboat to the whorehouses of New Orleans. Life on the Mississippi is in full view here, from river pirates to dock workers. Sailors, gamblers, and society ladies all get their fair share of attention, and despite the class differences, more social fluidity occurs than we might expect.'

~ Tyler, Goodreads 5* Review

Buy Link: Universal Buy Link

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

 

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About the Author:

Raised in the Midwest, Brodie Curtis was educated as a lawyer and left the corporate world to embrace life in Colorado with his wife and two sons.

Curtis is the author of THE FOUR BELLS, a novel of The Great War, which is the product of extensive historical research, including long walks through the fields of Flanders, where much of the book's action is set. His second novel, ANGELS AND BANDITS, takes his protagonists into The Battle of Britain. Curtis’ third novel is set on a Mississippi Riverboat prior to the Civil War.

 

 

A lover of history, particularly American history and the World Wars, Curtis reviews historical fiction for the Historical Novels Review and more than 100 of his published reviews and short takes on historical novels can be found on his website: brodiecurtis.com.

Connect with Brodie:

Website • Facebook • Twitter / X  • Instagram • BookBub

Amazon Author Page • GoodReads