ARC Review: The Ocean Curse by Emily K. Suarez

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Step inside this epic romantasy full of mystery, high stakes, and luring magic that will have you smelling salt air, feeling the roaring waves beneath your feet, and falling headfirst into the unknown.

The ocean remembers what we try to forget.

Captain Leo Smith has spent his life outrunning a curse—an ancestral debt cast long ago that demands to be paid. To break it, he arranges a marriage with a Poseidon-blessed bride, hoping to ensure safe passage to an island he believes may hold the key to his freedom. But nothing could prepare him for the woman he weds… or the sacrifice fate demands in return.

Asherah Hall guards a secret that could unravel both her future and past. Determined to find the mythical homeland her great-grandmother abandoned for a spineless sea captain, she believes her answers lie somewhere across the ocean—and in the heart of the storm she’s now married to.

Escaping her maddening new husband and his superstitious crew won’t be easy. But as the sea begins to stir with memories long buried, Leo and Asherah are drawn into a destiny neither expects—and a truth that could change everything.

The Ocean Curse is a tale of betrayal, longing, and the magic of second chances—where love just might be the most dangerous curse of all.

This cute novel was fun to read in one sitting and had me hooked from the start to the end. I would recommend it for readers who are looking for a simple plot with fun characters. It has a happy storyline that restores your faith in human companionship and empathy. My only critique is that Asherah felt like a flat character at times, but the dynamic between Asherah and Leo was beautifully written, so that's okay. I loved the wholesome scenes between our protagonists and how they slowly warmed up to each other, leaning to trust one another.

Favorite Quotes

  • Every step forward brought her closer to the two men who’d decide her fate. Judge and executioner, one might say. Ironically, she’d probably stand a better chance of survival within the murky Carolina waters.
  • The Ocean Curse was a fully armed and privately manned vessel. A fitting name for her current situation.
  • “Yes, Asherah. I have fallen in love with you in the way a sailor falls for the power harnessed by the ocean, enthralled by the secrets and treasures encapsulated within, and willing to die within its parted waves.”

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