Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

This is Kell’s second book, and you can see her growth as an author. I loved her debut, After the Forest, but Upon a Starlit Tide is even more accomplished.

Kell has cleverly melded familiar fairy tale tropes and plots to create a unique historic novel that had me under its thrall from the get-go. I listened to the audio, so this review will not have any quotes. You will have to take my word for it that her language is exquisite.

Set in Saint-Malo, Brittany in 1748, Lucinde Leon is the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner. But she feels suffocated by the confines and expectations of high society. She wants to be out at sea, sailing with her best friend Samuel, who is an English smuggler. There is an obvious frisson between them which Luce endeavours to ignore.

When Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea, she starts a chain of events with shocking repercussions.

This book has it all: brilliant historic accuracy; strong and complex characters to care about; a villain who is extremely easy to hate; a swoon worthy romance; fae folk, sea maidens and smugglers. What more could you want? I did not want this book to end; but I did love the ending.

Ten out of ten from me. I can’t wait to see what Kell writes next.

Reviewed by Gaby Meares
Murder on a Monday Reading Group