From the New York Times bestselling author of The Winter King comes a breathtaking new tale of love and adventure set in the mystical land of MystralHe wasn’t supposed to choose her… secure the power of the Sea Throne, Dilys vows to return home with a fierce warrior-queen as his bride. But politics has nothing to do with unexpected temptation.
She didn’t dare wed him…
A weathermage like her sisters, Gabriella Coruscate’s gentleness exemplifies the qualities of her season name, Summer. Yet her quiet poise conceals dangerous powers she cannot begin to wield. Better to live without excitement, she reasons, than risk her heart and lose control—until an irresistible Sealord jolts her awake with a thunderclap of raw desire.
Until evil threatens everything they hold dear…
When pirates kidnap Summer and her sisters, Dilys begins a desperate quest to save the woman he loves. Only by combining his command of the seas with the unleashed fury of Summer’s formidable gifts can they defeat their brutal enemies and claim the most priceless victory of all: true love.
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I love C. L. Wilson books and The Sea King did not disappoint! I pulled some late nights reading this but it was completely worth the loss of sleep.
I enjoyed this book! I do admit that I had a couple of false starts with this one. Once I really sat down to read this book, it took a while to grab me but once it did, I was all in. I wish I could tell you how this book compares to the first in the series, The Winter King, but most of that book has escaped my memory. As a result, I feel pretty safe saying that this book could be read as a stand-alone if necessary. There were parts of this book that were rather difficult to read but I felt that it told a good story in the end.
Dilys Merimydian is ready to find a mate. He leaves his homeland to court a potential mate along with some of the other single men from his land. He is set to court the three Seasons of Summerlea and of course, is immediately smitten with the one that he didn’t think would be a good match. Summer (Gabriella) is thought to be the least powerful of the sisters. She is known to have a weather gift but she has also been hiding stronger gifts.
The romance was rather slow to get started. Summer and Dilys are drawn to each other and have an instant spark. Gabriella feels that it is everyone’s best interest for Dilys to find someone else so she fights her feelings. Dilys is persistent though. When Gabriella and her sisters find themselves in trouble, Dilys is determined to do whatever it takes to save them. The three sisters experience some truly horrible things while being held captive which broke my heart.
This book was quite the journey. It was a big story and I really enjoyed the fantasy aspects of it. It was great to learn about both Dilys and Summer’s abilities and about the lands that they came from. I thought that the characters were very well done and I couldn’t help but want to see Dilys and Summer find their happiness together. I read most of the book but did alternate with the audiobook for the last half of the story. I thought that Heather Wilds did a great job with the narration and was able to add a lot to the story. I would recommend this book to fans of fantasy romance and look forward to reading more from this author soon.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Avon via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
Wilson clearly knows how to combine fantasy and romance well. I enjoyed this one quite a bit and in some ways I enjoyed it even more than the first book. I do wish Summer hadn’t kept up the resistance quite so long but I really loved the closing act of the book. Dilys was super charming and sweet and honestly it’s a testament to Summer’s stubbornness that she held out as long as she did. I also really enjoyed catching up with Kham and Wynter and seeing them live out their happily ever after. Wynter is quite endearing in the husband role. He’s much softer yet still grumpy. Really loving the world that’s been crafted here and I can’t wait to see where the next book goes.
A worthy sequel to the Winter King with new and compelling characters. Dilys was a totally swoon worthy hero and the world building is top-notch, with interesting magical systems, and totally new cultures to explore. Swept me away in the best way possible.
CW for sexual assault (not in anyway involving the hero) which I found a little clumsily handled
I liked the mythical story line