Sarah K. L. Wilson

Genre: Fantasy (Adult)
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❤️ Personal Takeaway

I already knew I was going to enjoy this novel from its synopsis... and then the audiobook opened with Ell Potter as its narrator and I knew I was about to be absolutely spoiled.

I was right ❤️ What an incredible choice of narrator for this mythological story, her voice always makes the novel feel like a fairytale. With strong lessons of change, trust, and partnership, the romance is a slow burn that feels well earned. Queen Coralys is show more keeping herself alive after her husband's death through sheer anger and vengeance, and Oak is the calm, resilient presence she needs. I can't wait to see how their relationship continues to advance throughout the series.

The ocean imagery has to be my favourite part of this novel, with seafaring and coastal ways of live being so well explored and appreciated for their vibrant culture. The sea itself felt like its own ambient force, whether it was calm and serene, or raging, its presence was always felt through the pages as the beating heart of Coralys' nation.

I wanted to explore more about the pantheon! But I'm happy to have seen so much depth in the God of War alongside Oak, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of their bromance in later books.

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🧵 Quick Plot Summary

A queen bargains with the gods to save her husband and her shattered kingdom, and is forced into a wicked bargain. After waiting under her husband has perished, the gods agree to liberate her people from the storms if she agrees to marry the first man to set foot on her docks. The kingdom is appalled to find a wounded fisherman climbing onto the pier, sealing the deal and forcing the once queen to take on his station... only to discover that he's actually the sea god in disguise. Bound by a divine bargain and clashing agendas, queen Coralys and the sea god must work together to save both of their realms, even as revenge, deception, and reluctant desire pull them dangerously close.

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🧩 Tropes

- Bargain with the gods
- Marriage of inconvenience
- Hidden identity (god in disguise)
- Grumpy queen x wounded god
- Folklore retelling (The Fisher King)
- Revenge driven heroine
- Sea magic and divine politics
- Kingdom on the brink of destruction

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🧠 Themes

- Divine bargains and their consequences
- Duty vs. desire
- Revenge as a form of grief
- Power shared between equals
- The cost of salvation

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🧭 Recommendation

For fans who love:

- stories where bargains with gods reshape entire kingdoms
- slow burns and yearning MMCs
- romantasy retellings of folklore and myth (Poseidon + Amphitrite)

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Thank you very much to Sarah K.L. Wilson, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ALC in exchange for an honest review. 💕 show less

Darn it, Sarah! Until I read this book, I thought, OK, your writing is fine, your stories are interesting enough, but there's nothing to make you stand out. And then you had to go and write this and make me eat all of my words. This book was extraordinary.

It starts with a young woman, Izolda, being told that her father has arranged a marriage for her and she immediately has to come to terms with it. But before she knows it, a fairy tale nightmare comes to life before her eyes, her fiance is show more killed and she is married to her husband's killer. She is also his sixteenth wife. (They're all dead so it's not polygamy, not sure if that makes things better or not...)

Izolda is smart. So watching her make her decisions (some better than others) is fascinating because she thinks of options I wouldn't come up with. The story is also riddled (riddled!) with riddles. Pun intended because I'm not smart enough to figure out riddles. But watching her figure then out was fantastic. And it was just fun.

And Bluebeard. He's very strange. There is obviously a lot that we don't know. And I didn't hate him, which is kind of remarkable considering he's lopping off heads and taking out people right and left. So I think there's a story there that I need to hear and that might actually make me like the guy. But we don't get to see that story in book one. OK, I'm ready for the next book.

Unfortunately, my library only has the first three audiobooks in this series, and at the rate I'm going to fly through them, it has approximately three days to fix this gross oversight. Because I can't stop! It's so good! show less

This is a surprisingly sweet love story. Unusual in that the couple is apart for most of the story, but their thoughts are constantly on each other, as evidenced by even unconscious actions. For a short book, Sarah also does an amazing job in her worldbuilding, for both the human (and yet oh-so-magical) world and the fae courts. I want more of these fae courts. Why can't this be a series?

I've been surprised lately by all of the wonderful fae stories. I detest nearly all trad published fae show more books, but these indie authors have been taking their fae to the next level and this is no exception. It's filled with magical artifacts and brutal bargains, I am confident that all readers will find something that surprises them. And the romance is unique in that both Elkhana and Vidar do what is best for the other and not for themselves, with every decision they make, something that is particularly un-fae-like. And it is clean enough for your middle school daughters to read and love.

I received a free copy of the audiobook from the author and have reviewed it willingly. show less

This book reminds me of the of the Oscar Wilde quote: “It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.”
The unforgivable thing in the first few books of this series is not that the characters are not good or the world is not sufficiently built-- it's that a not insignificant portion of the characters are annoying to me and while I can forgive many "bad" deeds and character flaws, I cannot forgive this. Will likely not read beyond book 5 (because show more that is what is in the box set) because I just cannot handle how absolutely aggravating I find several people in this series. The people are fictional but my annoyance is real. show less