Everlasting (2010) by Angie Frazier is an adorable teen adventure/romance. The year is 1855, and seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen of San Francisco is the daughter of a successful widowed sea captain… or so she thinks.
Camille is shocked to discover that her mother is not really dead, but alive somewhere in Australia, having abandoned the family for reasons unknown. On top of that, Camille is being forced to marry a wealthy dandy she doesn’t love, due to her father’s secret financial ruin. But Camille is truly in love with her father’s first mate, the young Irish sailor named Oscar. Amidst it all, Camillie’s mother is in possession of a magic map to an enchanted stone, which Camille and company are racing her father’s arch-nemesis, the evil captain Stuart McGreenery, to find.
Camille is a strong, vulnerable and lovable protagonist. I loved the cinematic adventure and enchantment in the vein of Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean. This YA read is virtually flawless, a delightful story of love, secrets, adventure and magic.
C.K. BROOKE 