Upon a Starlit Tide is a dark and enchanting historical fantasy combining elements of "The Little Mermaid" and "Cinderella" into a wholly original tale of love, power, and betrayal.
*The hardcover edition features beautiful custom endpapers.*
Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Léon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.
While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend—and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.
Immediately drawn in by the stranger’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.
Or the scales of a seamaid's tail.
"Magnificent. This is a must-read!’—Juliet Marillier, award-winning author of the Sevenwaters and Blackthorn & Grim series
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Genre: Fantasy
*The hardcover edition features beautiful custom endpapers.*
Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Léon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.
While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend—and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.
Immediately drawn in by the stranger’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.
Or the scales of a seamaid's tail.
"Magnificent. This is a must-read!’—Juliet Marillier, award-winning author of the Sevenwaters and Blackthorn & Grim series
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Genre: Fantasy
Praise for this book
"I was absolutely enchanted, immersed in a world of shipwrecks, smugglers, and magic stone. Intricately plotted and as powerful as a mermaid's kiss, this novel will be on every fairytale lover's wishlist." - Lauren Chater
"A dark and enchanting twist on two fairy tales in one, Upon a Starlit Tide will draw you into its depths from the very first page." - Genevieve Gornichec
"Readers will spy familiar stories in Upon a Starlit Tide, but Kell Woods makes them her own. This is not your conventional fairy tale. Instead, a lush, historical novel awaits, supported by a beautifully-rendered sense of time and place. Often poetic, occasionally dark and humorous, Upon a Starlit Tide is for all those who ever dreamed of escaping over the horizon." - Lucy Holland
"Woods is a born storyteller." - Natasha Lester
"A beautiful, dark, and magical tale that cleverly weaves together several classic stories and overlays them with a fresh feminist lens. Woods' writing is rich and her storytelling compelling. The sea and the Saint Malo setting are characters in their own right-enchanting and mercurial-and I was completely swept away." - Vanessa McCausland
"A gorgeous, atmospheric tale full of glittering fae and wild magic, Upon a Starlit Tide will sweep you away in its waters and bury your heart at the bottom of the sea." - Mary McMyne
"A magnificent blend of reimagined fairytale and epic adventure, anchored by excellent research and buoyed by brilliant writing. This is a must-read!" - Juliet Marillier
"Upon a Starlit Tide is an enchanting read, as rich with historical detail as it is with magic, with surprising beings around every corner and a sea-foundling with a grand, dark secret. The novel mines the material of fairy tales in a unique and delightful way that fantasy fans will love." - Louisa Morgan
"A dark, glittering blend of history, fairy tale, and romance, steeped in magic and shot through with adventure. Absorbing, beautifully written, and utterly spellbinding." - H G Parry
"Upon a Starlit Tide firmly establishes Kell Woods as a master storyteller, with an ability to manipulate the most appealing archetypes and legends into a fantasy uniquely her own. Upon a Starlit Tide is the perfect cocktail of historical detail, myth-stery and magic, with characters and a setting so wildy romantic you won't want the heart rush to end." - Jo Riccioni
"To enter a world fashioned by Kell Woods is to be entirely won over by magic and history. Upon a Starlit Tide is enchanting in every sense of the word. Drawing on stories we know well, Kell Woods presents us with something deliciously and thrillingly new, alert to women's secret desires... I could have floated in the lagoon of this story forever." - Hayley Scrivenor
"Upon a Starlit Tide shimmers darkly, like polished sea glass, as hauntingly beautiful in the ocean's depths as in the grandeur of aristocratic courts. With an intoxicating blend of history, magic, and forbidden love, this lyrical fairytale reimagining sweeps you away on tides of enchantment." - Lyra Selene
"What beautiful magic Kell Woods has wrought in Upon a Starlit Tide! I was completely bewitched by this tale of longing and betrayal and aching romance. Woods skillfully weaves in threads of several familiar tales and creates something entirely new and enchanting. She draws on the traditional folklore of Brittany and the intrigues of eighteenth century French society, to create a world as beautiful as it is dangerous." - Leife Shallcross
"A tapestry of sea and starlight, romance and heartbreak, a journey to the truth of self. Utterly enchanting." - A G Slatter
"Upon a Starlit Tide is relentlessly enchanting; I was spellbound from start to finish. Kell Woods' lyrical prose dances off every page, sweeping the reader into a world of delicate opulence, stormy desire, and knife-sharp betrayals. I cannot recommend Upon a Starlit Tide enough." - Sarah Street
"A dark and enchanting twist on two fairy tales in one, Upon a Starlit Tide will draw you into its depths from the very first page." - Genevieve Gornichec
"Readers will spy familiar stories in Upon a Starlit Tide, but Kell Woods makes them her own. This is not your conventional fairy tale. Instead, a lush, historical novel awaits, supported by a beautifully-rendered sense of time and place. Often poetic, occasionally dark and humorous, Upon a Starlit Tide is for all those who ever dreamed of escaping over the horizon." - Lucy Holland
"Woods is a born storyteller." - Natasha Lester
"A beautiful, dark, and magical tale that cleverly weaves together several classic stories and overlays them with a fresh feminist lens. Woods' writing is rich and her storytelling compelling. The sea and the Saint Malo setting are characters in their own right-enchanting and mercurial-and I was completely swept away." - Vanessa McCausland
"A gorgeous, atmospheric tale full of glittering fae and wild magic, Upon a Starlit Tide will sweep you away in its waters and bury your heart at the bottom of the sea." - Mary McMyne
"A magnificent blend of reimagined fairytale and epic adventure, anchored by excellent research and buoyed by brilliant writing. This is a must-read!" - Juliet Marillier
"Upon a Starlit Tide is an enchanting read, as rich with historical detail as it is with magic, with surprising beings around every corner and a sea-foundling with a grand, dark secret. The novel mines the material of fairy tales in a unique and delightful way that fantasy fans will love." - Louisa Morgan
"A dark, glittering blend of history, fairy tale, and romance, steeped in magic and shot through with adventure. Absorbing, beautifully written, and utterly spellbinding." - H G Parry
"Upon a Starlit Tide firmly establishes Kell Woods as a master storyteller, with an ability to manipulate the most appealing archetypes and legends into a fantasy uniquely her own. Upon a Starlit Tide is the perfect cocktail of historical detail, myth-stery and magic, with characters and a setting so wildy romantic you won't want the heart rush to end." - Jo Riccioni
"To enter a world fashioned by Kell Woods is to be entirely won over by magic and history. Upon a Starlit Tide is enchanting in every sense of the word. Drawing on stories we know well, Kell Woods presents us with something deliciously and thrillingly new, alert to women's secret desires... I could have floated in the lagoon of this story forever." - Hayley Scrivenor
"Upon a Starlit Tide shimmers darkly, like polished sea glass, as hauntingly beautiful in the ocean's depths as in the grandeur of aristocratic courts. With an intoxicating blend of history, magic, and forbidden love, this lyrical fairytale reimagining sweeps you away on tides of enchantment." - Lyra Selene
"What beautiful magic Kell Woods has wrought in Upon a Starlit Tide! I was completely bewitched by this tale of longing and betrayal and aching romance. Woods skillfully weaves in threads of several familiar tales and creates something entirely new and enchanting. She draws on the traditional folklore of Brittany and the intrigues of eighteenth century French society, to create a world as beautiful as it is dangerous." - Leife Shallcross
"A tapestry of sea and starlight, romance and heartbreak, a journey to the truth of self. Utterly enchanting." - A G Slatter
"Upon a Starlit Tide is relentlessly enchanting; I was spellbound from start to finish. Kell Woods' lyrical prose dances off every page, sweeping the reader into a world of delicate opulence, stormy desire, and knife-sharp betrayals. I cannot recommend Upon a Starlit Tide enough." - Sarah Street
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