(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note:  While this review will not contain spoilers for Rapture of the Deep, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from earlier Jacky Faber adventures.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Ever since her first adventure as an orphaned street urchin turned swashbuckling sailor, Jacqueline "Jacky" Faber has pined for one James "Jamie" Fletcher.  Now 16, Jacky is finally getting her wish to marry her long-time love.  Only moments before she takes her vows, however, she's captured by her constant enemy, British Naval Intelligence.  The powers that be force her to take on another dangerous mission, although this one is much more to her liking.  This time, Jacky will be searching the Caribbean sea for lost Spanish treasure.  With the glint of gold in her eye, she embarks on her newest adventure—one that will bring Jacky new challenges, fresh risks, and another chance to appease her greedy, sea-yearning soul.  Along the way, there will be plenty of laughs, romance, and at least one "starkers" episode that will surely go down in naval history.

As Rapture of the Deep is the seventh installment in L.A. Meyer's incomparable Bloody Jack series, you've no doubt heard me rhapsodize about how much I adore these books.  Each is an engrossing, exciting tale full of laughs, romance, adventure, and derring-do.  Jacky is the kind of bright, fun, admirable character that you never want to stop reading about.  Unfortunately, her creator passed away in 2014, so after Wild Rover No More, the 12th book in the series, there are no more high sea chanteys for my beloved Bloody Jack.  I'm reading the remaining tales slowly so I can savor every word.  Rapture of the Deep, by the by, is just as much fun as its predecessors.  It gets a little long-winded (like every seafaring storyteller does at times), but it's still a charming, always entertaining read.  It might not be my favorite of the bunch; still, I adore any Jacky yarn and this one was no exception.

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Bloody Jack series, including Bloody Jack; Curse of the Blue Tattoo; Under the Jolly Roger; In the Belly of the Bloodhound; Mississippi Jack; My Bonny Light Horseman; The Wake of the Lorelei Lee; The Mark of the Golden Dragon; Viva Jacquelina!; Boston Jacky; and Wild Rover No More)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, blood/gore, and innuendo/mild sexual content

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Rapture of the Deep from Half Price Books with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.