Sea of Charms ARC Review ⛵

 Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst

My Star Rating: 5 Stars

Page Count: 384 pages

Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance 

Dates Read: July 13th-15th, 2026

Publication Date: July 28th, 2026

Publisher: Bramble and Macmillan Audio

Review: 

Sea of Charms is the third book in The Spellshop series. It follows Marin who we met previously in the series. She is a sailor who does supply runs for people on many of the different islands in the Crescent Islands Empire. After the man she thought was the love of her life betrays her and her family, she is stuck trying to pay back the debt her parents got into because of it. Her crew consists of a sea serpent named Perri and Ree a sailor shrub. While on a routine trip to the capital, she rescues a group of musicians from the Conservatory in Alyssium. One of them is a friend she and Perri had made while delivering supplies. She lets the man, Drax join her crew temporarily. It is a story about finding your crew, family, and yourself.

Sarah Beth Durst has created a world in The Spellshop series that I cannot get enough of. This book was just as great as the others before it. I enjoyed following Marin on her adventures. She goes all over the Crescent Islands Empire meeting all sorts of people but her life is a lonely one. My favorite part of this story was the bond she forms with her crew: Perri, Ree, and Drax. Found family is my favorite trope in a story and I loved seeing the dynamic they formed while sailing.

The book was also full of the love of music. Drax is a prodigy musician who has lived his life being told what he was supposed to do in the Conservatory. Marin gives him a chance to live a different life on the sea with her crew. I love how she was so insistent on him being able to make the decisions he wanted to no matter what, even if it could go against what she wanted most. He has a deep passion for music but also for stories. It was so fun hearing some of the stories Marin would tell.

I enjoyed the connections to The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse throughout this book. You don't have to have read those books to read this one, but I believe it is more enjoyable if you have. Caitlin Davies did an incredible job again with this audiobook. She embodies the characters' voices very well and she creates a cozy atmosphere with her narration style.

Sea of Charms is a great little escape with a cozy world I love visiting with each subsequent novel. I look forward to the fourth book which comes out in January 2027 called The Magical Cheese Emporium. Sarah Beth Durst is one of the best at creating cozy fantasy stories in my opinion. I don't think I will ever get enough of her books and I cannot wait to add this to my collection. 

*Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Sarah Beth Durst for my ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.* 

Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors

Another Top Ten Tuesday list which felt like it was impossible to narrow down. There are so many books I would like to read by authors I have never picked up books from before. Here is a list of books from ten different authors I have never read from before. 

1. Agnes Grey or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

- I feel in love with Charlotte Brontë's writing when I read Jane Eyre for the first time and then was surprised by how much I enjoyed Emily Brontë's in Wuthering Heights this year. So, the next step is to read one of these two books and see if Anne's writing holds up to her sisters. Don't know which I will pick. 

 

2. Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee Martinez

- I have owned the audiobook for this book for so many years and am planning to pick it up sometime soon. The sound of this fantasy roadtrip sounds great. 

3. The Binding by Bridget Collins

- Another book I have owned for years now. I have just never really been in the mood for this one but I would like to read it in the near future. Many of Bridget Collins' books sound very interesting.

4. Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse (Red #1) by Anne Carson

- A novel written in verse is one of my favorite mediums for books and I absolutely love Greek Mythology. So, I really don't know why I have yet to pick this one up. 

 

5. Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel #1) by Josiah Bancroft 

- Ever since I saw Allen from @TheLibraryofAllenxandria, review this book and another two on this list I added them right to my TBR. He really sold me on these books. I got the first two books in The Books of Babel series from a book sale earlier this year for just 25 cents for the set. The plan is for me to read the first book this year, but I'm not too sure if that is going to happen. 

 

6. The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig

- I don't know why I have never picked up one of Erin A. Craig's books yet. There are three of her books so far that I would like to read. The Thirteenth Child is the one I'm probably most excited to pick up. It sounds incredible. Hopefully, I'll get to it sometime soon. 

7. Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold #1) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

- Yet, another book I have heard nothing but amazing things about. This is one I know I will have to be in the right mood though because I have heard it is quite emotional. 

8. Stoner or Augustus by John Williams

- The other books I heard recommended by Allen from @TheLibraryofAllenxandria that sound absolutely incredible. If I had to pick one of these to read first it would probably be Augustus because it is told in an epistolary format.  

9. The Wandering Inn (The Wandering Inn, #1) by Pirateaba

- One of the longest books on my TBR at over 1300 pages. I have heard so many great things about this over the years and would like to read at least one of the books in 2026. We will see if that happens. 

 

10. The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George 

- I have been interested in King Henry VIII ever since I first learned about him and his family in my tenth grade history class. This is a book I only know about because I happened to find it at a book sale last year. It is told from the perspective of the king with commentary from his court jester, Will Somers. The size is one of the only reason I have not read it yet, with it being over 900 pages. Margaret George also has a couple of other books that sound really good, especially Helen of Troy.