Dark Shores (Dark Shores, #1)

by Danielle L. Jensen

In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West.

A SAILOR WITH A WILL OF IRON
Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape—a choice with devastating consequences.

A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET
Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.

A DANGEROUS QUEST
When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely—and unwilling—alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.

• ISBN10: 125031772X
• ISBN13: 9781250317728
• Publish Date: 1 June 2019 (first published 7 May 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 4.5 Stars

ENJOYED THIS SO MUCH!

RTC

[bestmessever]

It is no secret that I absolutely love pirate stories and this is no exception. We are following a girl who is one of the first mates of an acclaimed pirate ship where her mother is the captain. Basically they sail between the two worlds trading and living out their lives on the high seas. One day though Teriana has a friend who is in a dangerous situation and of course she wants to save her so she ends up telling her the one secret that is never meant to cross her lips. She tells her of the other world and when her friend winds up betrothed to the new Consul, that is when the trouble starts.

Marcus is a commander of the most famous legion and is tasked by the new Consul to take Teriana and have her show them how to get to the other world. It sounds like every other typical Ya fantasy out there but it's remarkably not. The people in this book are as real as the air I breathe and I absolutely fell for them. The plot is well thought out and that pacing is set in such a way that there is never a dull moment but it is also conscious of when there needs to be a moment of stillness to truly take in what is happening in the story. I was close to tears a couple of times and coming from me that is high praise.

I loved this a lot and can tell it is one of those stories that I will think about for a long time.

[tweetybugshouse]

Wow i was not prepared to devour this book the way i did. I finished it in two days. I was on the edge of my seat reading each heart wrenching part of this story. I love a lot about this book Roman influence, politics, world building is phenomenal, the camaraderie and hilarious antics. Their are a few characters that really stuck to my heart Bait and how he interacts with the sea dragon. Marcus how can you not hurt for Marcus. He try’s so hard to do the right thing but in the end he stuck with doing what the empire wants. Teriana who i think i hurt just as much for as she doing what she can to save those she loves but in the end is still dooming the land she swore to protect.

I really love the whole concept one part of the world not knowing anything about the other half of the world. The description of magical paths that you can travel to get places and the sea faring voyage that was taken to get to the Dark Shores. This is an amazing sea faring story and at the heart is various characters that are just trying to survive. This is a great story. I diving into Dark Skies which is out in May. Review post for that probably within the next few weeks.

[bgsbooks18]

I found this book to be very interesting in very many ways. I loved hearing from the two MC. What they were thinking, how the solved things that come up. I will agree the the love interest was more towards the end of the book, but I hope we will see more of it in the second book.

I would recommend this book if you find story's with ships and battle.

3.75 stars