The Sea King (Weathermages of Mystral, #2)

by C. L. Wilson

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Winter King comes a breathtaking new tale of love and adventure set in the mystical land of Mystral

He wasn’t supposed to choose her…

Seafaring prince Dilys Merimydion has been invited to court the three magical princesses of Summerlea. To eradicate the pirates threatening Calberna and to secure the power of the Sea Throne, Dilys vows to return home with a fierce warrior-queen as his bride. But politics has nothing to do with unexpected temptation.

She didn't dare wed him...

A weathermage like her sisters, Gabriella Coruscate’s gentleness exemplifies the qualities of her season name, Summer. Yet her quiet poise conceals dangerous powers she cannot begin to wield. Better to live without excitement, she reasons, than risk her heart and lose control—until an irresistible Sealord jolts her awake with a thunderclap of raw desire.

Until evil threatens everything they hold dear…

When pirates kidnap Summer and her sisters, Dilys begins a desperate quest to save the woman he loves. Only by combining his command of the seas with the unleashed fury of Summer’s formidable gifts can they defeat their brutal enemies and claim the most priceless victory of all: true love.

• ISBN10: 0062018981
• ISBN13: 9780062018984
• Publish Date: 16 November 2017 (first published 31 October 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 15 October 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 608
• Language: English

Reviews

[Carpe Libra]

After I finished the previous book, I immediately ordered the second one. I could not get enough of the story, characters and world that C.L. Wilson created. Upon finally receiving The Sea King there was a bit of fear that my expectations were spun too high before I started, as this book will be told from different characters. Characters who I've met, but did not spend a lot of time with. Would I therefore enjoy it as much?

I did not need to be hesitant. The Sea King was once again a more than enjoyable read that delves deeper in to the vivid and entertaining world that this author lets us discover. Of course we meet our beloved characters from the first book, but there's also plenty of time to get to know and fall in love with our seemingly sweet Gabriella, aka Summer and the dashing Sea Lord Dilys. Then there’s the story that only get’s better with each page you turn and as a cherry on top we have the romance that sprouts between our two MC’s.

Meaningless to say this book, this series, has once again got me hooked and would not let me go till long after I finished. I obviously can’t wait to read the next book, The Jaguar King. The name alone has me as an avid shifter lover giddy on the inside. I so hope it will be published soon!

[stacey_is_sassy]

I needed to read it lickety-split…

After reading The Winter King and meeting Dilys Merimydion, I was REALLY looking forward to reading The Sea King. While I really enjoyed this story, it drove me a little bonkers too.

My back, my back, I can’t feel my back!! Slight exaggeration but I don’t think I’m cut out for reading long stories. I thought I was being smart waiting until I was on holidays to start this one, but I’m not sure anymore. I’m not the kind of reader that willingly spreads the joy of reading a book over days. Well, this book, it’s bloody long. I tried sitting up in bed, lying down in bed, lying on my belly in bed, lying on my side in bed, sitting on the side of the bed and even tried a chair. Maybe, if I had been at work and forced to take breaks, it wouldn’t have been so bad. Considering the length, it would have taken me weeks instead of days to read it, though.

I’m sure you’re all thinking, *Sassy, why didn’t you take breaks?*

I DID!! Well, I did, sort of. I stopped to say hello to my family a couple of times and I did eat and sleep as well.

But, I can’t leave them hanging for too long. You know, unless I read it, things don’t happen. Poor Dilys will still be waiting for Summer to get with the program and accept him as her mate. Hesitating would mean those 7ft tall, muscly, sexy and sweet men wouldn’t have found women to court and fall in love with. If I wasn’t dedicated to going on, more ships would have sunk, more slaves would have been captured and lives would have been lost. See, I need to read OR THEIR WORLD WON’T GO ON!!

Yep, I’m one heck of a dedicated reader. I’ve even got the broken back to prove it.

While I enjoyed The Sea King and the journey to everlasting love for Dilys and Summer, it was drawn out a little too much for my taste. Honestly, there wasn’t much wrong with the story, I’m just not a fan of waiting for stuff to happen. Watch my eyes roll as I wait for the heroine to stop being a nincompoop. See me cross my arms in impatience because I hate the delay of the hero realising that his enemy is closer than he thinks. There’s only so much “courting” I want to witness before I think they should just get to the good bits. If you hadn’t guessed it yet, I’m a wee bit impatient.

There's plenty of action, adventure, mystery and intrigue. I was sucked into the story from the very beginning, and while it takes a little longer than I'm used to, I couldn't help but be enthralled to the end. The characters are interesting with magic, skills and abilities that aren't always obvious until we see them in action. I loved finding out all the things that Dilys can control with his water abilities. Seeing Summer gain strength in her powers was as surprising to her as it was to the reader. I felt like she was learning with us, what she was destined to achieve. Then there was the Calbernaian's...

Seriously, if Calberna existed, I’d be putting in a suggestion to set up a Husband Camp, lead by their men. These guys, well, they’re pretty much perfect. HOT, sweet, loving and devoted, while also being fierce, strong, determined and HOT. I mean SERIOUSLY…their training to become men involves learning ALL ways to pleasure their mate and keep them happy. HOW COOL IS THAT??? Dilys is just one of the many men who were desperate to look for his mate and had to leave Calberna because the men outnumbered the women. WOW!!

I really did enjoy The Sea King. C.L. Wilson is remarkably talented and makes her characters come alive. I admit, a few times I was taken out of the story because of the spelling and grammar mistakes. This is a long story so I expect a few, but then again, it's a published book (Avon), so a little more care should have been taken to remove these errors, especially considering it was professionally edited.

The Sea King brought out all my emotions and at times I couldn’t help but sniffle, grumble, snort and squirm. The highs were high and the lows were low. There is one particular part of the book that is quite dark and I struggled with my feelings. Summer is subjected to pain, torture, humiliation and degradation. Some readers may struggle with it a little as well. I thought it was written well and I was able to move on from it.

I will definitely be back for more adventures with the Weathermages of Mystral but I think I need to come up with a better plan of attack…my back can’t take it. All suggestions on how to read long books comfortably would be greatly appreciated. I think I’ve got a bit of time before the next book in the series comes out, though…

[reveriesociety_]

DEAD I NEED MORE

[Ashley]

I really enjoyed this book, but I'll confess I'm disappointed I wasn't able to give it 5 stars. I had to dock a star for two key reasons:

1. I felt like Gabriella spent too much of the book rejecting Dilys. It was frustrating because it wasn't that she didn't like him, it was that she was afraid of loving someone out of fear of losing them later. And while I get that, I think it just became really frustrating that SO MUCH of the book was spent with this part of the story on repeat, and it made matters worse for me that Gabriella refused to tell Dilys that reason. She kept trying to pretend she just wasn't interested in him when we all knew that was a lie (Dilys included).

2. Something that happens towards the end... Gabriella's sisters seem to have been killed. Immediately, I was like 90% sure that this was a faked death and that they'd miraculously wind up "not dead" later. So I waited. And waited. And waited. It got to the bloody end of the book and they still weren't back. It felt like a huge hole in my life because I adored them. Then we got to epilogue #1. Still not back. Then finally they're alive in epilogue #2. I think I was just frustrated because I spent SO LONG on the hook waiting for their return and I actually got really mad when I thought maybe they really had been killed off. I never felt like I was able to mourn them properly because their "death" almost felt anti-climactic. But then finally it did come out that they hadn't really died, but in my opinion it took too long. I actually would have preferred if we were reassured earlier on that they were still alive and maybe saw an extra few chapters from their points of view.

But one thing I REALLY adored about this book was getting to know all the sisters more. They had more of a chance to shine in this book and I really fell in love with all their different personalities - particularly Autumn! I loved how they all interacted with each other.