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Spellshop #3
Sea of Charms
Not yet published
Expected 28 Jul 26Marin is a supply runner with her own boat that she sails from island to island, delivering whatever anyone will pay her to deliver: letters, flour, even the occasional enchanted lemur. It’s a lonely life, but it’s hers, and she wouldn’t trade the freedom of the sea for anything. Her only companion is a sea serpent, Perri, whom she saved from a fisherfolk’s net.
One day, she sails to Alyssium and discovers the city is on fire. There’s been a revolution, and the empire has fallen. Marin, with Perri, begins transporting refugees, finding them new homes where they can start over. One such refugee is Dax, a composer who refuses to leave behind his instruments, no matter how much she tries to emphasize the gravity of the situation. Intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, and his charming smile, Marin discovers perhaps she isn’t saving him ― maybe it’s the other way around.
From the acclaimed author of The Spellshop, Sea of Charms is a delightful cosy fantasy for fans of Travis Baldree and TJ Klune.
One day, she sails to Alyssium and discovers the city is on fire. There’s been a revolution, and the empire has fallen. Marin, with Perri, begins transporting refugees, finding them new homes where they can start over. One such refugee is Dax, a composer who refuses to leave behind his instruments, no matter how much she tries to emphasize the gravity of the situation. Intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, and his charming smile, Marin discovers perhaps she isn’t saving him ― maybe it’s the other way around.
From the acclaimed author of The Spellshop, Sea of Charms is a delightful cosy fantasy for fans of Travis Baldree and TJ Klune.
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication July 28, 2026
16034 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Beth Durst
43 books7,061 followersSarah Beth Durst is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty-five books for adults, teens, and kids, including cozy fantasy The Spellshop. She's been awarded an American Library Association Alex Award, as well as a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Several of her books have been optioned for film/television, including Drink Slay Love, which was made into a TV movie and was a question on Jeopardy! She lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her children, and her ill-mannered cat. Visit her at sarahbethdurst.com.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Want to read
October 1, 2025I KNEW that there would be a book with this character as soon as I heard that she is friends with a sea serpent and a talking sailor plant.
upcoming
October 13, 2025*See Sarah's Newest Book immediately adds to preorder list!*
Want to read
August 15, 2025MARIN IS GETTING A BOOK!! AHHH!!
Read
December 22, 2025I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this one, and I *loved* it. This magical, gentle, funny and hopeful - but never naïve - story was just exactly what I needed in a stressful month!
"More people should strive to be like passionate shrubbery." <3
This book tells the story of Marin, the resourceful sailor who first popped up as a helpful side character in the first two Spellshop books. It involves more external drama than either of those first books as (unlike the first two heroines, who each escaped the burning city of Alyssium at the beginnings of their own stories) Marin faces serious danger again and again, sailing in and out of the capital city in the midst of a fiery revolution and rescuing everyone she can along the way. But it's also the story of the loving found family she builds across the book (with a sea serpent and a sentient shrub, among others) and the sweet romance she can't resist despite her own traumatic romantic past...
And it's also the story of all the wonders they see in their sailing adventures. Oh, is Sarah Beth Durst good at writing imaginative magical worlds! I loooooved all the different islands Marin and her crew visit, with all their individual amazements. And I really loved the message Marin's own mother tries to give her early in the novel - "That even if there's a lot of terrible in the world, even if there's a lot that can't be fixed, it's okay to try to be happy."
A really beautiful book that made my heart melt. I'm so glad I read it!
PS: Every book in this series has been a standalone adventure, and this one can definitely be read as a standalone, too - but if you have read the first two books, you'll love how beautifully it ties those stories together and builds a larger story around them.
"More people should strive to be like passionate shrubbery." <3
This book tells the story of Marin, the resourceful sailor who first popped up as a helpful side character in the first two Spellshop books. It involves more external drama than either of those first books as (unlike the first two heroines, who each escaped the burning city of Alyssium at the beginnings of their own stories) Marin faces serious danger again and again, sailing in and out of the capital city in the midst of a fiery revolution and rescuing everyone she can along the way. But it's also the story of the loving found family she builds across the book (with a sea serpent and a sentient shrub, among others) and the sweet romance she can't resist despite her own traumatic romantic past...
And it's also the story of all the wonders they see in their sailing adventures. Oh, is Sarah Beth Durst good at writing imaginative magical worlds! I loooooved all the different islands Marin and her crew visit, with all their individual amazements. And I really loved the message Marin's own mother tries to give her early in the novel - "That even if there's a lot of terrible in the world, even if there's a lot that can't be fixed, it's okay to try to be happy."
A really beautiful book that made my heart melt. I'm so glad I read it!
PS: Every book in this series has been a standalone adventure, and this one can definitely be read as a standalone, too - but if you have read the first two books, you'll love how beautifully it ties those stories together and builds a larger story around them.
Want to read
September 11, 2025This cover is gorgeous!!!! I need to not be lazy and review the other two books in this series. These books make my heart happy. Also, if Sarah makes the next one autumnal I would be ecstatic.
Want to read
September 6, 2025Why do these covers just get more and more beautiful?!?!? Can't wait for this one!
September 29, 2025
So lucky to get to read this incredibly uplifting story early. I needed this.
I will be rereading this series when I need a lift. As a retired library worker, tip of my hat to the author.
I will be rereading this series when I need a lift. As a retired library worker, tip of my hat to the author.
November 7, 2025
4.5 stars
So charming! I just really love these books and this world; it's so cozy and heartwarming.
So charming! I just really love these books and this world; it's so cozy and heartwarming.
future-releases
August 14, 2025So glad this exists because I NEED MORE
November 17, 2025
Electronic ARC provided by Edelweiss.
This is my favorite installment yet of Sarah Beth Durst's cozy fantasy series. Sea of Charms follows Marin, the sailor first introduced in The Enchanted Greenhouse, and parallels the time period of the first two books. Each new book has expanded the world of the Crescent Isles, and Marin's story, for me at least, is what finally snaps the series into a fully realized world.
Marin has always wanted to be a sailor, a dream that her parents fully support. However, a brush with an ex-lover who turned out to be a different person from what he first portrayed has caused her to run from home, cynical, in debt, and certain that romantic relationships can only lead to ruin. Her parents poured all of their savings into buying her amazing boat so that she can sail freely, and with her sea serpent friend Perri Marin is attempting to earn enough money via trade routes to pay back her family's debt. Of course the more she sails into the capital city of Alyssium the more clear it becomes that something is desperately wrong, and that she may end up having to choose between paying her debts and doing what she knows is right. It also doesn't help that her gorgeous friend Dax--a composer in training at the Imperial conservatory--might need help fleeing the city.
One of the things that I loved about Marin's story is that her life as a sailor allowed her to travel in and out of the main plot threads woven in the first two books, showing a different perspective and putting the stories firmly into a larger world building context. I also liked that Marin came off as a bit less sheltered and naive then either of the two previous protagonists. Dax was also a delight, as were Perri and Ree (the sentient wax myrtle introduced in the previous book).
Sea of Charms was a delight from start to finish, complete with some pointed commentary about current political events and a lovely resolution that leaves the reader feeling warm and optimistic. I'm growing fonder of the Crescent Isles with each new book, and I'm looking forward to whatever the next journey might be (I have a guess, but we'll have to wait and see if I'm right!).
This is my favorite installment yet of Sarah Beth Durst's cozy fantasy series. Sea of Charms follows Marin, the sailor first introduced in The Enchanted Greenhouse, and parallels the time period of the first two books. Each new book has expanded the world of the Crescent Isles, and Marin's story, for me at least, is what finally snaps the series into a fully realized world.
Marin has always wanted to be a sailor, a dream that her parents fully support. However, a brush with an ex-lover who turned out to be a different person from what he first portrayed has caused her to run from home, cynical, in debt, and certain that romantic relationships can only lead to ruin. Her parents poured all of their savings into buying her amazing boat so that she can sail freely, and with her sea serpent friend Perri Marin is attempting to earn enough money via trade routes to pay back her family's debt. Of course the more she sails into the capital city of Alyssium the more clear it becomes that something is desperately wrong, and that she may end up having to choose between paying her debts and doing what she knows is right. It also doesn't help that her gorgeous friend Dax--a composer in training at the Imperial conservatory--might need help fleeing the city.
One of the things that I loved about Marin's story is that her life as a sailor allowed her to travel in and out of the main plot threads woven in the first two books, showing a different perspective and putting the stories firmly into a larger world building context. I also liked that Marin came off as a bit less sheltered and naive then either of the two previous protagonists. Dax was also a delight, as were Perri and Ree (the sentient wax myrtle introduced in the previous book).
Sea of Charms was a delight from start to finish, complete with some pointed commentary about current political events and a lovely resolution that leaves the reader feeling warm and optimistic. I'm growing fonder of the Crescent Isles with each new book, and I'm looking forward to whatever the next journey might be (I have a guess, but we'll have to wait and see if I'm right!).
November 25, 2025
I'm so glad to return to this world, and to hear Marin and Perri's story. There's a certain amount of overlap with previous books, as is not unexpected, but it's lovely to see more of our favorite halophyte, Ree, and to learn more about Dax and to see some more of the many islands. I also find it especially comforting that there's a message of hope against a backdrop of revolution and destruction; that there's healing after betrayal; that there's kindness and creative fire and all kinds of family bringing joy. Wonderful, and everything I hoped it would be.
Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.
Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.
December 26, 2025
Had the chance to get my hands on this gem early. It is my favorite of this connected series so far. I have loved the world building in Sarah Beth Durst’s novels so far, but this sea faring adventure takes it to a whole new level as Marin and her growing crew island hop on this grand adventure. Marin is a complex character with confidence and poise, hurt from a previous relationship, she is hesitant to open her heart to love, but clearheaded and kindhearted in every other decision she makes. I loved this book and cannot recommend it enough!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I’ve just finished and I’m in the post book haze of emotions so this won’t be my most elegant review.
The Spellshop was amazing. The Enchanted greenhouse was good. This book…this book was everything. I loved it like I loved The Spellshop. It has such heart and leaves you feeling like you’ve just had a hug. I don’t know how else to describe it. I can’t stop smiling and I know I will be thinking about this book for weeks to come. Is this my top book for 2025? Very possibly. If you’re a fan of The Spellshop, you are going to love this book!
The Spellshop was amazing. The Enchanted greenhouse was good. This book…this book was everything. I loved it like I loved The Spellshop. It has such heart and leaves you feeling like you’ve just had a hug. I don’t know how else to describe it. I can’t stop smiling and I know I will be thinking about this book for weeks to come. Is this my top book for 2025? Very possibly. If you’re a fan of The Spellshop, you are going to love this book!
October 3, 2025
Durst continues her cozy fantasy series with the story of Marin, the sailor who appears in the previous book. It's nice to see her link the books together with cameos of some well known characters and that she fills in some blanks in the other stories. Her world keeps expanding and Durst could probably write new books in this series for a long time to come. Review from e-galley.
November 4, 2025
Everything I love about cozy fantasy is here in this book. Thanks to the publisher for an e-copy, it came to me at just the right time to add more hope and light against the turning of the seasons.
December 1, 2025
Perfect cozy fantasy. My favorite cover of the series, too :)
Want to read
December 9, 2025July 2026
Want to read
December 18, 2025I was so hoping this book was next! I’m very excited!
Currently reading
December 3, 2025JUST GOT APPROVED FOR THE ARC I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews