Published: August 10, 2023
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Series: Married to Magic #4
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 554 (eBook)
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Synopsis:
She sold her soul to a siren and now he’s come to collect.
Victoria risks everything to leave a dangerous marriage and gain a second chance at life. But when her escape goes awry, she finds herself caught in the strong embrace of a mysterious siren, forced to choose: temporary salvation or immediate death.
And so, a cursed deal is struck.
Five years later, Victoria is alive—and the world’s finest ship captain. But her debt to the siren looms while her conniving ex has demanded a king’s ransom as the final price of her freedom. Victoria refuses to cause her family to suffer any more on her behalf, and is determined to make things right before her time is up. But that time is cut short.
The siren comes for her. Six months early.
Taken to the magical and deadly Eversea, home of the sirens, Victoria discovers she’s the sacrifice upon which all sirens pin their hopes. If they want to appease an angry god and save a world on the brink of destruction, then they need her. Which gives her the perfect leverage.
Victoria strikes a new bargain: the Siren Duke will help save her family, and she’ll fulfill his demands. It’s a good bargain until a flicker of passion ignites in the scarred remnants of Victoria’s heart, threatening all she’s worked for. As the sacrifice for the God of Death, she’s meant to give up everything that draws her to the world of the living. But that’s impossible when all she can think about is how this handsome siren’s song, and his hands, make her feel very much alive.
In a realm of ancient magic, submerged secrets, and forgotten gods, can love find a place among shattered hearts as they race against time and the blossoming of forbidden desires? Or will the delicate songs of their hearts be silenced once and for all?
I think I can officially say this is probably going to be my second favorite fantasy romance of the entire year. I don’t think anything is going to dethrone Fourth Wing (except perhaps Iron Flame in November), so that’s quite high praise. I certainly did not expect that this would be my favorite of Elise Kova’s Married to Magic series, but it is!!
This is the story of Victoria, a woman who escaped an abusive marriage and became a ship’s captain after she made a deal with a siren. The deal granted her five years of freedom and gave her protection from the sirens’ deadly song, which made her tremendously successful. Unfortunately for her, on her last voyage through the deadly Grey Passage, her ship was attacked by a sea monster and the siren took her away six months early leaving her unable to settle a final debt. Ilryth, the siren, cannot return her to the mortal world for Victoria has been selected to be a sacrifice for Lord Krokan, guardian of the gates of Death.
As this is very obviously a fantasy romance book, of course Victoria and Ilryth develop feelings for one another. What I like about this book and the previous installments in the series is that the characters are very communicative and their feelings develop over the course of the book in what feels like a natural, healthy way. There’s no insta-lust as often occurs in romance books. These are adults, learning to heal from past traumas, becoming partners, and learning about fascinating new lands. Victoria is divorced, having left a verbally and emotionally abusive marriage and she doesn’t feel like she’s deserving of love. Ilryth loves her a great deal, but he tries to remain apart from her, as she is to be sacrificed in mere months. They find in one another kindred spirits, understanding what it’s like to be responsible for the lives of others and it’s quite lovely.
I had a great time reading this and it left me with such warm fuzzy feelings! You can easily start with this book, as each installment works as a standalone, but I would personally recommend reading them in order so you can catch all the little easter eggs for the other books.
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