欧宝娱乐

3.5 stars rounded down

I feel conflicted about this read because I value that Ruby Dixon took the time to shift the dynamic between Valessa (h) and Ranan (H) so that there wouldn鈥檛 be uneven forces at play between them given that she spent so many years as a slave and is uncertain about her standing with him for much of the book. But miscommunication (specifically a lack of productive communication) plays out also throughout most of the book and I struggled with that. How each approached their relationship dynamic made complete sense for both of their characters, it just wasn鈥檛 to my personal taste. This is an interesting story though about a loner sea ogre who mixes up his words and the human bride he accidentally claims adjusting to each other and then growing into their HEA.

Written in first person, dual POV. No ow/om drama (though the H does get jealous over the h). H is inexperienced other than kissing and the h was experienced, but had a complicated history with sex given her background as a slave.

Some tropes/themes:
鈽� Awkward MMC
鈽� Wanting to please as a defense mechanism for the FMC
鈽� Living on a giant sea turtle
鈽� Pirating
鈽� Bleak options for human women
鈽� Finding your strength
鈽� Hurt/comfort

Ranan and Valessa have so much learning to do about each other at the start of the book. Valessa chooses the sea ogre over certain enslavement in a brothel and then has no idea how to act around him because he gives her very little to go off. For his part, Ranan meant to say 鈥渂ribe鈥�, not 鈥渂ride鈥�, and doesn鈥檛 know what to do with this human. He鈥檚 short-tempered with her then mad at himself. There鈥檚 a good bit of floundering until they start to find a footing with each other. Of course, there was still plenty left in the story so I was sure something would happen and it does.

Steam-wise, Ranan has double appendages and Valessa does get hands on with them plenty but the full act isn鈥檛 until late in the book. He鈥檚 also concerned about her pleasure, which completely takes her off guard and leads to a moment that does a nice job of not only building physical intimacy, but emotional intimacy too. Because Valessa has been a slave for so long and thanks to Ranan鈥檚 stoic nature, vulnerability exposure doesn鈥檛 come easy for these two.

Most of the story is just a sea ogre and his bride with a giant turtle. Ranan鈥檚 wealth is negligible to him and astounding to Valessa. The cultural differences were mostly fun for them to navigate and esp when Ranan seeks out another human to try and get things for his wife (though if you鈥檙e like me and hoping for a scene where Valessa comes and surely sets the record straight on what I thought was that other human taking advantage, it doesn鈥檛 happen, sorry).

When something awful happens, my heart was in my throat at the same time as I was so proud of the character that had to step into the fray. What happens does lead to them needing to spend time with Ranan鈥檚 family and a rift opens between the two that feels insurmountable until another moment provides the necessary pressure point to air everything out.

The ending is HEA and very sweet. There鈥檚 an epilogue a few weeks later and then five years later. I almost rounded up instead of down because of the epilogues, I was smiling so big at the end. The frustration I had with the miscommunication though led to the rating I gave it, even though I did enjoy the read overall.