I don't usually go for pirate-themed books anymore - except for on very rare occasions. Rose Black's "Fated Winds and Promising Seas" is one such occasion.

Lucky is in prison for a crime he did not commit - or did he? Trapped by both the religious justice and his mind, he remembers little except his name. When Lucky's sentence is suddenly put on hold thanks to the attack of a monstrous-looking sea creature, he is given the opportunity to find out who he really is - alongside an eerlily familiar travel companion named Gabriel, and the crew aboard The Dreamer.

In "Fated Winds and Promising Seas", we are given a front-row seat as Lucky and Gabriel face battles both mentally and physically. It is cozy fantasy at its darkest from time to time, and I found it increasingly difficult to put the book down as I got more and more involved with the characters.

The stakes are high, the characters are diverse, and the adorable romance burns slowly. The trauma that lives in some (well, most) of the characters is so well written and brought everyone to life in an almost beautiful sort of way. And yet, the relationships are so healthy - which creates an even cozier story.

I was beyond excited when I learned that Rose Black was writing another book, and I'm so grateful to have been given permission to read it. Even with some themes that aren't usually my cup of tea (literally, since there is A LOT of coffee in this book) like sea, sand, and Summer-vibes in general, I really enjoyed this book. If you're a fan of those things, I think you'll love it.

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Huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for making this book available through NetGalley. An even bigger thank you to Rose Black for writing it.
All opinions are my own.

Having loved the cosy nature of Til Death Do Is Bard, and how much it felt like DnD style fantasy, I was was so excited to read Rose Black's newest book. Unfortunately, I've ended up with pretty mixed feelings.

On the positives, I did read this is just two days. I also thought the concepts of the world, story, and characters were all really intriguing and full of potential.

However, I felt it was a little lacking in moments. For one the numerous time jumps meant chunks of relationship development and character development happened off-page which felt jarring at times. Lucky's characterisation also developed a bit jarringly at the start, like with how suddenly he started speaking in full sentences after being seemingly mute/non-verbal when in prison. Then there was his whole Beater personality change that largely happened off-page and didn't even last very long (which kinda made that feel inconsequential since they probably could've gone to the augury from a different starting point, like on the Dreamer). There was also Sienna and Gabriel's vibe which was solid hatred and then just revealed as Sienna liking Gabriel despite being previously described as just wanting to be a woman doing her own thing like the Leviathans??

I also felt the ending was rushed. For one, the white-haired woman was pushed as fake for so long I felt like that was just going to be it (in an unsatisfying way) and then she comes back and all the drama was just because two boys promised to live in a castle together when they were 14. And then all they had to do was threaten her statue and the castle promise was forgiven and Gabriel got his memories back - and the only price was Lucky/Rob also getting his memories back? At first with the crushing weight of his trauma it seemed like a fair trade but he got over it immediately. Honestly so much trauma in this was gotten over incredibly quickly.

Also how old are Lucky/Rob and Gabriel? Because they felt so young with how Gabriel's mothers treated him and how Lucky had such little life experience due to prison. And just the way they acted felt like teen/YA characters but they've got to be older than that, right? Because they have beards and are referred to as men and were 14 years old making promises years before the events of the book. But they felt so jarringly young.

I wanted to love this book and I did enjoy reading it but, as I think about it, I'm mostly caught by things that just felt off to me (hence how rambly this review got). I would recommend it though, see what you think of it yourself. At the very least, it's a fun fantasy.

This was such and interesting and enjoyable read!

We follow the story of Lucky. He's been imprisoned for 10 years for a crime he may or may not be guilty of. When a Levanthian attacks, he is set adrift in the sea and rescued by Gabriel, a beautiful and vibrant Levanthian hunter, and his mother's crew. The story then goes from there.

I found this book to be wonderfully character driven and character centered. Lucky comes to the ship full of trauma and we slowly see him work through it with Gabriel at his side. Lucky is such a wonderfully complex character and I couldn't figure out if he was guilty or not until it was revealed. The writing is so well done. When the story begins, it feels a little confusing, the writing a bit disjointed, perfectly mirroring the mental turmoil that Lucky is going through. As he begins to open up, slowly the heal, the writing changes with him. I felt this was such a smart way help us understand the protagonists state of mind. It is a risky move to be sure, but I wholly encourage the reader to continue on, even if they may not understand a lot a the beginning, because the transition from disjointed to wonderfully enjoyable prose is magnificent.

The crew of the ship are truly likable and charming. The relationships between them feel real and meaningful. Gabriel is a little gremlin of a sunshine MMC and I adored him immensely. His backstory is also quite traumatizing but he was lucky in a sense to find wonderful parents.

All in all, this book is incredible. The story, though second to the characters and their issues, does play a huge part in Lucky's and Gabriel's combined story and ensuing romance. The Romance itself was sweet and I couldn't help rooting for these two to find happiness. The part of the church, the leviathans and how it all ties together was remarkably well done as well. I don't really want to give any spoiler's so I will just say I enjoyed it very much. I would recommend to take a look at the author's trigger warnings and take them seriously. There wasn't anything I felt was too triggering, but everyone is different.

Overall, A wonderful book. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys adventure, found family, Sweet love interests, and a truly satisfying conclusion. Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the Advanced Copy. All opinions are my own and I am posting them voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Going in, I really wanted to love this one. I began really invested and drawn in to Lucky's story. I was flying through the pages, and the narrative was sure and sensical - until about 35% in. After that point, I was really mostly confused at the 180° turn in the pacing. Everything was running at breakneck speed.

This also led me to feel like important plot points were glossed over: especially in the last 10-20% of the book. Things just seemed to wrap up so neatly in a way that didn't feel... earned to me.

Fundamentally for me, there was too much going on at once. My biggest gripe with the book is that I feel it could have been an amazing trilogy! The plot and characters felt like they developed too rapidly with no backing or evidence for the change. If given breathing space, the characters of Lucky and Gabriel and the complex plot have so much potential to develop into a beautiful and rich world. I got a taste of this in Fated Winds and Promising Seas, but I just wanted more!

The worldbuilding had such potential - I simply wish it was built out and given more weight. Tell me more about the religions and belief systems in the world, tell me more about the lore and history of the leviathans. I think the foundations of a fascinating universe are there, they just need developing.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. I liked the characterisation of the found family and the banter between characters. I also really appreciated the gentle way in which mental health is approached and treated, and how diverse the queer representation was in the book. Also appreciated the addition of trigger warnings, and a lovely dedication.

I think the book had a lot of potential, but unfortunately just fell short in execution for me.

This was definitely not the calm and cosy book I was expecting, but who cares?! I had a good time :)

Lucky has been in prison in years, and has lost most of his memories. One day, a leviathan crashes into the wall, and he gets saved by the crew of a ship who'd been following the leviathan. I'll shut up about anything after that, because nobody likes a spoiler.

This book is written from the perspective of Lucky - there's a lot of dialogue, and not a lot of description. The writing style is simple without being simplistic, which I thought suited the story well. The main characters are lovely, the side characters memorable, and I read it in one sitting because I wanted to know more.

My only real issue with the book was its pacing The beginning and end of the story are really strong.
The middle is solid, but there is A LOT happening, and not a lot of context given. Some additional paragraphs of world building could have added a lot of depth, and would have slowed down the pace in places where it could do with some slowing down. I think the story and world would perhaps have been more suited to an epic fantasy, but it got written and edited as a cosy one.

Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I wanted to love this. I could not force myself to get past the extensive length of things. Everything seemed so drawn out. It would have been different if I felt what was promised in the summary we early on into the book. While it is a story of found family and enduring love, it didn't immerse me. The relationships felt forced to me.

The story was good. I feel it wasn’t anything new or groundbreaking, though it had the potential to be. I was interested in the magic and how it worked. I was interested in the development of the characters. However, I only felt invested in what happened to the characters and the world after 80% of the book had elapsed. It took me so long to get to those feelings that I’m not sure it was worth it.

Would I give this author another try? Yes, but I will take what the summary promises with a grain of salt.

The writing of this book was honestly very difficult to read. I was confused about many parts in the book.. The ending also seemed extremely rushed, and more could have been done with that, in my opinion.

The one thing I did think this book did really well was the LGBTQ+ representation!

2.5 stars rounded up

Fated Winds and Promising Seas features a queer normative world with an intriguing religion based on Fate and Promises.

While I appreciated the character growth, much of it felt very sudden and the plot changes often felt very abrupt. These abrupt changes sometimes made me feel like I was missing something and the last quarter of the book felt a little underdeveloped. I also wish there was more world building, because I was frequently confused about the customs and the basis of the religion. I get that we have a main character who initially doesn’t remember anything, but I still wanted more world building in the beginning.

Overall, Fated Winds and Promising Seas is a charming queer romantasy featuring a unique magic system and a thought-provoking commentary on a tyrannical religion. While some of the writing wasn’t my taste, it’s still a very unique and entertaining book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodderscape, and Rose Black for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Stay tuned for the release of this book on November 18, 2024.

It’s not bad. I really enjoyed the characters. The romance seemed sweet enough. I loved and remembered side characters. There were a few scenes I really enjoyed. This was another book that I loved the first 20% and the last 20%. It really did feel like two stories stitched together. The middle was just weirdly paced. Everything emotional got resolved in two chapters and new problems kept poping up out of nowhere. The world building doesn’t quite meet the concepts. I’m still confused about a couple events and really wished some things had been introduced earlier or discussed more. I had to reread when everything got revealed many times to understand the concepts presented. It’s a decent book. If someone is really craving a queer romance with pirate, I would recommend.

I adored Til Death Do Us Bard so was confident I would enjoy this one, and having finished, I love Rose Black's second book even more than the first! Fated Winds and Promising Seas has everything I want in a fantasy--found family, queer romance, fascinating magic and magical creatures, high seas adventure, and a twist I did not see coming. I adore Lucky and Gabe and just want to pluck them off the page and give them a big hug. I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to the author's next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Rose Black's "Fated Winds and Promising Seas" is a fascinating fantasy adventure full of romance, mystery, and well-thought-out world-building. The book is about people who are meant to be great and how they deal with rough seas and relationships that are just as rough. Fate, loyalty, and self-discovery are just a few of the themes that Black skilfully ties together in this book. Unexpected turns and a strong emotional core keep readers interested. The vivid images of both the ocean scene and the characters' inner journeys make the story feel like it's really happening. People who like big fantasy and slow-burn romance will love this story about love and fate.

Another stunning cosy fantasy from Rose Black, thank you for my ARC, I adored Til Death Fo Us Bard, and I fell in love with this even harder, I enjoyed the slightly darker elements/themes to the story, Lucky was self deprecating but in such a relatable way, the found family trope was so sweet, I enjoyed the small amount of world building and the fact leviathans weren't these creatures to be feared, but rather respected, honestly I just couldn't recommend Rose Black and her stories enough to fans of cosy fantasy and fantasy in general, I'm always left with a huge smile on my face and a feeling of content

The premise of this so appealed to me. I adore cozy queer fantasy and this sounded just my thing.
The concept is so wonderful and I’m sad I didn’t love this more.
It’s purely personal preference, but I really struggled with the writing style which made it very difficult for me to lose myself in the book. It feels quite a simplistic style with a lot of short sentences. Plus there’s a lot of Lucky did this, Lucky did that. I’m sure for a lot of people this will make it easy to read, accessible and enjoyable. For me, I found it too distracting and jarring.
A real shame because it’s a cool story and I’m here for queer fantasy!

This book feels heavy. Much heavier than till Death do us Bard, though also hopeful in the end. Lucky has been in prison for the past ten years for killing his mother, something he does not remember doing. When he is freed from prison during a leviathan attack, Lucky escapes onto a ship of Leviathan hunters, but while he is physically free, mentally he's not. He's scared of the sky and feels safest in a room that reminds him of his cell. He begins to bond with Gabriel, someone he thinks he remembers from his past.

I can't give too much away of the plot because it definitely goes places I didn't expect, but in the end it is about the mold society expects us to fit into and how to break out of that.

I liked reading Lucky's POV, though it does feel heavy, and I like how the author approached this. Both Lucky and Gabriel struggle with severe trauma, and together they feel they can share this and grow. It is ultimately a hopeful story, but one that requires lots of healing to get there.

The world building is not super complex, but it had a couple of interesting aspects. The leviathans were pretty cool, and I loved the concept of ships hunting them not to harm or kill them, but to harvest certain materials and keep them away from other ships so they don't sink anyone. The book portrays leviathans as just animals, and when they sink ships it's because they feel threatened, they're not evil or anything and Gabriel actually deeply cares for the leviathans. I loved to see this, so different from the typical monster hunter stories.
I also thought the concept of the church was interesting. Their purpose is to get everyone to conform, and an important aspect of what they believe in is fate, and that people must follow what fate tells them to. This ties in nicely with the theme of breaking out of that mold and choosing your own fate.

The romance in it was sweet and also quite angsty, I was rooting for the couple the entire time and during events that seperated them couldn't wait until they met again.

Would recommend to fans of Shoestring Theory, the Sins on their Bones, and generally people who enjoy reading fantasy about traumatized but healing queer people

Lucky is super traumatized from his past. Gabriel is sweet, kind, and soft with him. Later that switches. Their relationship is very sweet.

I was hoping for a comfort cozy read and though there are some elements of that, overall I didn’t love it. It was interesting to have these darker themes to the story, I didn’t expect that from this but it did become a bit repetitive. Lucky is a bit too self deprecating that I found it annoying after a while and then that changes pretty suddenly and no real development for dealing with that trauma.

I felt that I liked elements of the story, but I wanted more information about the world. I found the plot convoluted and felt like parts were just randomly added in as the writing went along with no real direction in advance. The writing was fine, definitely a character driven dialogue heavy book. It just didn’t grab me and hold on to me like some other “cozy” reads have.

Not a bad book though, the found family trope was sweet, overall it just didn’t work for me.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

This rollercoaster of a book was such an easy and engaging read. I read this in two sittings, and was fully pulled in by the main character; Lucky.

Lucky has been a prisoner all his life, and he doesn’t really remember anything before that. That is, until a Leviathan attacks the castle he is being held in, and he manages to escape.
We follow Lucky as he gets picked up by a ship of found-family Leviathan trackers, as he gets tracked down by the Church over and over again, and he tries to unravel the mystery of his mother’s murder.

The story was a little fragmented at times, but I absolutely loved the characters. I think the characters and their relationships were the heart and backbone of this story, and I definitely am going to pick up the other books by this author!

Thank you Netgalley, and thank you to the author for letting me read this ARC!

I really enjoyed this book, I was captivated by the premise, and it was all around just a really fun read! I was never not interested once I started.

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for letting me read this incredible book!

I was a fan of Rose Black’s work before reading this book and it has only solidified my love for her work. This story was wholesome, hopeful, tender, beautiful, addictive, and so validating to those of us struggling with mental health and trauma.

Lucky’s journey to find himself was a long, brutal journey—not so unlike a lot of us—and seeing him chase and capture his own fate has been a breathtaking ride. His love for Gabriel has transcended time and in the end brought him to his path to freedom and happiness.

All of the characters are lovely and likable. Lucky and Gabriel are both incredibly easy to relate with and watching their tale unfold has been both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The crew of the Dreamer are the found family that anyone could ever hope for! The amount of unconditional love and support in this book is staggering and one can only hope to surround themselves in such bliss.

If you’re a fan of fantasy, found family, sailors/pirates, MM romance, queer and mental health representation then I wholeheartedly recommend this book!

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the arc!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 ⭐️

Pub Date: 19 Nov 2024

This book just dint work for me. I gave some time and picked it again, but no. I would like to start by acknowledging the book's obvious strengths. It is very well written, the author have great vocabulary. They all look so nice and sparkly, like charms on a necklace. But I felt like it was overused and it made it too chunky for convenience. At least the charms were pretty.

I love the idea and concept and story line of the book. But plot and characters did not sit well with me as the story was riddled with major plot holes. There wasn't a single character who I connected with, which meant I wasn't invested in their journeys one bit. I'm not sure if it's because I find it more difficult to relate to the characters, or if the characters are just becoming more bland. The premise of the story was interesting but it’s just not for me. I would say it got an unnecessary complications mask for an extremely good story-line. This would be an absolute hit for some readers but not me.

I really, really wanted to love this. It has so much Promise (pun slightly intended) and some really fantastic themes and ideas. I was so on board from the opening chapters: Lucky was an interesting protagonist dealing with the effects of incarceration on his mental wellbeing. By twists of fate he ends up escaping, being forced to face is agoraphobia and given the chance to find the truth about his mother's death, alongside a man to whom he is curiously but inextricably linked. Sounds great!

The problem lies with the pace of this story. Things happen far too quickly. Events are tangled and convoluted and presented in a barrage of information with near-immediate resolution, there are enough Events here for a duology or trilogy jammed into one book. Characters 'develop' with a snap change rather than something we get to experience on the page. It's too much, too fast.

This already has some fab early reviews on Goodreads, so as with everything this is a case of personal reading preference. I so wanted to love Lucky and his story so for the right reader this could be an absolute hit.