Hunt on Dark Waters book cover is underwater image with a pirate ship.

Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Roberts – 326 pages

ARC from Berkley Pub for an honest review

Book Blurb:

Evelyn is a witch with a perfect storm of impulses: terrible taste in bed partners, sticky fingers, and a lust for danger. After she steals from her vampire ex and falls through a portal to another realm, she’s fished out of the waters by a band of seafarers and their telekinetic captain. She’s immediately given a choice—join their group or die.
Bowen has no memory of his life before he became one of the Cŵn Annwn. He and his pirate crew are bound by vow to patrol through Threshold, the magical sea in between realms, keeping the portals to other worlds safe. When he rescues Evelyn, he doesn’t expect to be attracted to the unflappably brassy pickpocket. The longer he spends in her presence, the more he begins to question if his heart is the next thing she’ll steal. But as tension heats up between Bowen and Evelyn, danger escalatesas well. Because Evelyn has no intention of keeping her vows to the Cŵn Annwn, and if she betrays the crew, both she and Bowen will pay the ultimate price.

My Review: 3 stars

Click here to order on Amazon

Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Roberts is the first book in a new fantasy romance series called Crimson Sails. Katee Roberts is well-known for taking real mythology and twisting it into a unique story and this book is no exception. The plot follows Evelyn, a witch who steals from her vampire ex and escapes through a portal into another realm, and Captain Bowen, a pirate with telekinetic abilities who patrols the magical seas with his pirate crew to keep the portals safe.

 The world-building and magic in the book was great. If you pick this up, of course you want to read about witches, vampires, pirates, dragons, krakens, mermaids and more. It was a little confusing at first because you’re thrown right in without knowing what’s going on or how the world works, but it starts to piece together as the story moves along. It just took too long!

What fell flat for me was the pacing and the romance. There was a lot of potential for this to be a slow-burn romance with angst and tension, but it was more insta-love despite the high stakes surrounding their relationship. There was little room for me to root for their relationship since I didn’t see it develop over time. It did live up to it’s promise of pirate smut, though.

Review courtesy of Guest Fairy Madelyn C.

Next & Previous Posts
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis – 368 pages ARC from…
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride –…
Available for Amazon Prime