
In her new dark historical fantasy, Upon a Starlit Tide, Kell Woods delights readers with a scintillating love story that rewrites classic fairy tales like The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Bluebeard. Woods’ novel takes place on Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1785, where Lucinde Leon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy merchant and a noble woman, rescues a drowning man from the sea. When it is revealed that the sailor, Morgan, is the youngest son of another wealthy ship-owning family, Luce and her sisters begin dreaming of wedding bells, and their mother commissions dresses for each of them in anticipation of a grand ball celebrating Morgan’s survival. Although Luce is drawn to the dashing young sailor whose charm hides a dark past, she is also smitten with her best friend Samuel, an English smuggler who taught her to sail. The relationships between the wealthy families and between Luce and Samuel play out in the shadow of war on the high seas, and romance and danger intertwine themselves seamlessly as Woods spins her tale.
Those who love the folklore of the sea will adore Upon a Starlit Tide. Woods captures the ocean’s natural beauty and creates a world where humans and Fae live side by side. In the novel, Saint-Malo has been built of storm stone, a protective ballast made by the Fae residents which includes korrigans, water sprites, washer-women, sea hags, and sea maids. Luce has a strange connection to these creatures who are just as likely to grant wishes as they are to cause mischief, and her skin tingles whenever storm stone, now a rare and valued commodity because it can protect ships and sailors at sea, is near. The past haunts this Gothic Tale as the ghosts of drowned sailors walk the beaches at night searching for retribution. Even Luce must uncover the sorted secrets of her childhood to help her make difficult decisions about her future. Upon a Starlit Tide forces readers to confront the magic that lurks just beneath the surface as they read a story that is impossible to put down.
In addition to her kind and adventurous personality, Luce has a talent for music, releasing tunes into the air rather than simply playing the notes, and Luce’s natural talent for music is evocative of Wood’s writing ability. Woods has a way of releasing characters, settings, symbols, and themes into the air, letting multiple storylines churn before they come together like a rising tide. Her lush descriptions of silk dresses and masquerade balls complement her beautiful explorations of the coastline and sea, and her romantic interludes harmonize with touching explorations of family relationships. If you are a fan of Gothic tales, family mysteries, romantic unions, ocean legends, or ancient fairy tales retold in innovative new ways, you must read this book. I loved it!
You can pre-order the book here, and you can sign up to receive my exclusive, upcoming interview with Kell Woods here.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

Kelly Jarvis is the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine. Her work has also been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her first novella, Selkie Moon, comes out in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/
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