Ocean of Sin and Starlight by Karina Halle is live!
A new pirate(ish) romantasy from Karina Halle, this is a fabulously filthy and darkly intense love story and it’s such a great read
Amazon
Blurb
PRIEST. PIRATE. MONSTER.
From New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle comes Ocean of Sin and Starlight, a dark-fantasy romance with morally gray pirates and monstrous sirens, a standalone spinoff of A Ship of Bones and Teeth.
I wasn’t always a monster.
Once upon a time I had a family, a home, dreams.
Until it was taken away from me and I was turned into a creature only the Devil could love, cursed with bloodlust and immortality.
I spent a century in an isolated monastery for other heathens like me, learning to control my most monstrous impulses, becoming a man of faith so I could put my sins behind me.
I was doing so well.
I was almost…human.
Until I met her.
Larimar, the tempting siren who made me forget my vows, who promised herself to me before she escaped my clutches.
Now I’m obsessed with tracking Larimar down, joining an infamous pirate crew on their ship the Nightwind as we search the high seas for any sign of her.
I don’t know what I’ll do when I find her.
But I know she belongs to me.
And I’ll become a monster once more.
NOTE TO READER: This book can be read as a standalone. HOWEVER, if you were planning on reading A Ship of Bones and Teeth, then I would read that first before you read OOSAS.
ALSO…please head the content warnings inside the front of he book as it has many triggers.
Review
4 stars
A new pirate(ish) romantasy from Karina Halle, this is such a great read! It’s a spin-off from A Ship of Bones & Teeth (in the same world with character crossover), but could also be read as a standalone, and it’s a fabulously filthy and darkly intense love story.
Featuring a turned vampire who overcome his literal demons to become a priest and the feisty syren that he takes captive, Armand and Larimar have a fiery dynamic full of snark, banter and wild attraction. Though Larimar should be terrified by her brutal and cruel captor, he intrigues her, and when she recognises his attraction to her, she more than returns his feelings.
It’s a messed-up situation, and the intensity of it, the power dynamic and their mad lust soon has them wild for each other. There is all kinds of sex in all kinds of scenarios, with a bit of a Dom/sub vibe, and though the situation makes it dubious consent, Larimar is more than on board with everything that happens between them. She wants everything that her priest has to offer, and she gives back to him just as good as she gets, and they become consumed with each other.
“I have lived so long, too long, without you. I don’t know how I’ve survived any minute of it.”
(But seriously, this book has a list of content warnings at the beginning – read it if you’re concerned, because some of this stuff is pretty depraved).
Armand soon finds himself once again battling the creature within, and they are pulled apart in the ensuring mayhem. It’s years later when he joins the crew of the Nightwind, an infamous pirate ship inhabited by blood drinkers like him. He’s on a mission to find the woman (syren) he hasn’t been able to forget, setting up a second-chance romance that once again brings the sexy intensity that defines this couple, and I loved the fireworks watching them find each other once together.
“You have every broken, wicked piece of me, Larimar. And you have my good pieces too. All the dark and all the light. You have all of them together, but it’s only you that will make me whole.”
With the second half of this book taking place on a pirate ship, those who have read A Ship of Bones and Teeth will know exactly what they’re in for. If you haven’t read that book and are planning to, like the author suggests, read that one first to avoid spoilers. This book is a fantastic way to revisit with the characters that I loved so much from the first book, and I’m hoping that it won’t be the last time we revisit this world.
This is a great read, and the perfect escape when you need to forget about the real world for a while. It’s a darkly sexy and brutal enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romantic fantasy that is fast moving and exciting with a gorgeous love story, and I loved this one.
“I love you … Always and to the end, whatever end that may be.”
4 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.
Nightwind
A Ship of Bones and Teeth (#1)
Review
Buy: Amazon
Ocean of Sin and Starlight (#2) – Spin off
Review
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Meet Karina
Karina Halle is a former travel writer, music journalist and screenwriter, and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of over 55 bestselling novels, ranging from horror and suspense to contemporary romance. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband, and her adopted pitbull Bruce, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.
Halle is represented by the Root Literary Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette and Montlake. Her work has been translated and published in 20 languages.
Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.
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