The Audient and the Phantom Night

A maiden falls in love with her captor in this sizzling romantasy from Hewitt (the Mage series). Fenna Terrigan believes that her brother, Dasos, died when his ship, the Polperro, sank. So when he appears unexpectedly in the middle of the night, she’s shocked—and even more so when she learns he’s being pursued by The Specter, aka Captain Devlin Cato, who’s cursed to helm the ghost ship Phantom Night and can only be freed by offering 50 souls to the sea god, Liddros. Dasos admits he’s in hot water: he owes Devlin 25 years of his life. Noble Fenna offers to take on his debt in exchange for his freedom. Aboard the ship, things heat up fast between Fenna and Devlin, who enter into a steamy affair almost immediately. Fenna finds herself increasingly drawn to Devlin as she learns the supernatural secrets that have kept him sailing the seas for over a century. The fairy tale–esque worldbuilding feels somewhat cramped, with many intriguing concepts mentioned but few fully fleshed out. Far more successful is the romance, which delivers both heat and heart. Readers who like their romantasies extra spicy will want to check this out. (Self-published)