Sailor’s Jewel (Charms of Albion #2)
by Celia Lake
My Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Cozy Historical Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
Enjoy this kind and creative 1901 historical fantasy romance set in the magical community of Great Britain.Rhoe agreed to this trip for her own reasons.
About to take up a new and challenging position as a healer, Rhoe agreed to a trip with her brother on a luxurious ocean liner. She plans to spend the voyage reading, relaxing, and ignoring the social duelling of the first class passengers.
It’s not that simple. Nothing with her brother ever is.
Hugh wants to find his place.
Hugh’s family made their name offering safe, luxurious shipping and ocean travel for magical and non-magical passengers alike. Now that his older half-brother has inherited the business, Hugh needs to know where he stands. He expects this transatlantic trip to be about soothing ruffled feathers over minor difficulties, and keeping the first class passengers properly entertained.
When Rhoe’s brother reveals he is transporting a powerful magical aquamarine, it becomes clear this will not be a simple voyage. Something is lurking below, the pelagic mermaids are scattering, and Rhoe, Hugh, and their allies must find a way to calm the waters.
Sailor’s Jewel is a standalone novel of 90,000 words. All of Celia Lake’s Albion books exploring the magical community of the British Isles can be read in any order. It is full of ocean travel, mermaids, last minute rituals, and of course a magical gem. Enjoy this charming romantic fantasy with a swirl of sex set in 1901 with a happily ever after ending!
My Review
This was one of the first books by this author that I bought. This one caught my eye with the ocean liner setting and it just sounded so fun. I read a few of this author’s other books first before deciding it was finally time to read this one. And it was just as fun as I had hoped it would be. I liked the ocean liner setting and most of the book does take place aboard the ship with only a few chapters at the end taking place at Boston.
I loved this book, both main characters were great to read about and I really liked reading about them and seeing more of their personalities. They both are very passionate about what they do. Rhoe is a healer and is going to start a new job at the Temple of healing where she works as she knows which direction she wants to specialize in. While Hugh loves the sea and working aboard his family’s magical shipping line.
These two made for such a great couple. I liked reading about the conversations they had and seeing them get to know each other more. I also liked the way they both loved what they did and would not want to set that aside. And the way they understood the other because they each had something they loved doing that much. Seeing them eventually figure out they like the other and want to see what comes of it was wonderful too. I liked how realistic their romance felt, it was heartfelt, but also grounded in reality and I also appreciated the slight awkward moments as they figure out how to proceed.
I also really liked seeing Rhoe and her brother Cyrus interact together, they are taking this voyage together before Rhoe’s new job makes that harder to do. I liked seeing the way they really knew and understood each other. It also was fun to see how they used small gestures and signs in public to convey to each other what they wanted or meant. They are very close as siblings and seeing them interact was so much fun, they have such great banter and interactions and some good conversations too. I liked seeing Cyrus gentle steer Rhoe towards Hugh and how she shows his support. I also liked their good natured bickering and how they could help or steer the other a bit when needed.
The plot was also great, there is a magical stone Cyrus is transporting across the ocean and it’s attracting some magical attention and they have to resolve it. This book was filled with magic, from the rituals they do to deal with the stone’s magic attracting attention to the mermaids who live in the sea. And I also liked the Speaker who could communicate with the mermaids, she was such an interesting character and I hope the author writes about them more. This book showed a whole other aspect of the world building than the previous books I read by this author and I loved learning more about this world and seeing more of the magic. I liked how it added to my knowledge of this world.
This one is also a great starting point to try Celia Lake’s books as there aren’t any side characters that have an appearance first in other books. From what I gather Rhoe and Cyrus will make appearances in books set later in the timeline and I look forward to reading more about them. While this is book 2 in the series it easily reads as a standalone and reading book 1 first is not necessary. I did that as I wasn’t sure if I would need to read them in order, but found this one worked well as a standalone.
To summarize: I loved this book. The setting aboard an ocean liner was fantastic and the ship setting really came to life and was just so fun to read about. I really liked both Rhoe and Hugh, both of them are such fascinating characters and I liked seeing them connect. They both love the work they do and I liked seeing how passionate they were about their work. I liked reading about them together and seeing them grow closer through the magic rituals they do together as well as plenty of conversations. Their romance was awesome and I loved reading about them and the epilogue was great too. I also really liked seeing Rhoe interact with her brother Cyrus and how they knew each other so well, they interactions and banter was great to read about. I also liked the world building in this one, from the magical stone to the mermaids that live in the ocean, the speaker who can communicate with the mermaids and then there is plenty of magic. I liked how this book added to my knowledge of the world and how magic works. This book was such a great read and I really enjoyed every second spent reading it.
I’m glad this was a good one for you.
I really like this author’s books and this one is a favorite so far.
Lovely review, Lola! And that cover is so effective and cool…