Pam Godwin

"Beautiful, soul-shattering, and utterly delicious." ~ Ilsa Madden-Mills, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today bestselling author Bennett Sharp is on the run. Wanted for piracy, she fears neither God nor death nor man. Except Priest Farrell. The unfaithful, stormy-eyed libertine hunts her with terrifying possessiveness. Nothing will stop him from coming for her. Not his unforgivable betrayal. Not when she's captured by the ice-cold pirate hunter, Lord Ashley Cutler. She must escape Ashley's prison and Priest's deceit. But can she walk away from their twisted desires? Two gorgeous captains stand on opposite sides of the law. When they collide in a battle to protect her, the lines blur between enemies and lovers. Passion heats, secrets unravel, and hearts entangle until they break. Can love prevail in the sea of ruin? Contains: pirates, Caribbean, British literature, dark historical romance, American colonies, American history, Golden Age of Piracy, action and adventure, alpha male, anti-hero, dark romance

Sea of Ruin

This averages out to mid because the author couldn't quite balance the story elements in a way that made it consistently engaging. That being said, there was a stretch of the book that I was really into. Many content warnings applicable.

Ellys MC

Brittany Cimini

A lot of abuse, gaslighting, and on-page SA. For some books it works m, but this book really put me of of it

Rabia Sitabi

"Bennett Sharp is on the run. Wanted for piracy, she fears neither God, death nor man. Except Priest Farrell. The unfaithful, stormy-eyed libertine hunts her with terrifying possessiveness. Nothing will stop him from coming for her. Not his unforgivable betrayal. Not when she's captured by the ice-cold pirate hunter, Lord Ashley Cutler. She must escape Ashley's prison and Priest's deceit. But can she walk away from their twisted desires? Two gorgeous captains stand on opposite sides of the law. When they collide in a battle to protect her, the lines blur between enemies and lovers. Passion heats, secrets unravel, and hearts entangle until they break. Can love prevail in the city of ruin"--Amazon.

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.
 

Love isn’t a decision. It arrives unannounced, breeds madness, and leaves a sea of ruin in its wake. Hate him or love him. Either way, he’s in certain hell.


Sea of Ruin was a story that I was highly nervous in reading because of the hype surrounding this book and to be honest I didn’t even look at the trigger warnings for this book and I maybe I should have due to some of the content (If you want to read this make sure you check the trigger warnings on this one) I was drawn to this book due to booktube and yes I blame my booktube gals in raving about this book, I have just started exploring this author’s books but every single one I have truly enjoyed. I have always been a fan of pirate romance whether it’s historical or contemporary and I was so intrigued to see how Pam Godwin would handle a historical setting, some authors that write contemporary settings, don’t always know how to write this sub-genre of historical romance, but I can delightfully say that Pam Godwin knew what she was doing when she was writing this book. Now I would like to put this disclaimer that this book is DARK, so go into this one expecting darker themes and is a rough road for our heroine and it won’t be an easy read. But I was so delighted in reading this book because it leads you on a journey you don’t expect and delivers in hidden facets that will only endear you more into the story.

It doesn’t matter how far we fall, how much pain we inflict, or how dark it becomes in the ruin. I’m going to be with you, waiting for you, loving you, forgiving you. I’m never letting go, Bennett. Never. 

Sea of Ruin sets off with our heroine as a teenager, who is about to be betrothed to a man her father’s age, but one fateful night her father who is an infamous pirate, and her mother are both killed and she survives a horrific assault from her betrothed and embraces a destiny her beloved father left behind for her. She becomes just as famous of a pirate captain as her father once was, she embraces the rough but passion-filled life of living on the seas and thought to have found herself a great passion and love in a man she trusted until he betrayed her and they have been separated for over two years. But now he has found her again and is determined to keep her, but through a series of events, Bennett finds herself captured by a pirate hunter, who is determined to take her to the Gallows in England. The relationship that she forms with her captor is rife with erotic kinks that Bennett doesn’t expect to find or to discover love with this man who has made her open her heart once again knowing he is leading her to a path of destruction. But not everything is black and white or at all what it seems. Bennett will be taken on an adventure that will lead to some dark paths but also will help her discover her true strength and capabilities and a future that is one of beauty and love of epic proportions.

He was complicated, iron-bound, steadfast, and passionate. Like Priest in the best of ways. Not better. Just… He was everything I longed for, for so very long. To give up on him would be to give up on myself. 

Sea of Ruin is a story that blew my heart away and I didn’t know where this story was taking me. It actually surprises me in some ways that I was able to love this one so dearly. But if you have read any of the old-style bodice ripper romances, this story was so reminiscent of those stories and if you know you are going into a darker read, then this story just might work for you. It deals with some serious material in this story and won’t be for every reader. And yes it has a love triangle/cheating in this book and some other elements that won’t be for everyone. This heroine really gets put through the wringer, but I just admired her strength in overcoming such adversity that she faces and coming out stronger through it all. I have had this book on my TBR for the longest time, for almost two years now, and I was so apprehensive about the setup of the book because I just am not a reader that can do the “cheating” portions and I will be honest that is what kept me from reading this earlier. However, this book is beyond beautiful in so many intricate ways. There are layers to the layers of this romance and the way it turns out won’t be what you expect (I certainly didn’t expect the turnout of this story) and I was beyond pleased to see how this author was able to craft this HEA that just worked and satisfied such a journey that we see these characters go on.

You’re the overruling destiny that he and I have been traveling toward our whole lives. Our paths forked, veered, crossed, and forked again a dozen times. And here we are, right where we started. With you. 

There isn’t too much that I want to say without spoiling the ending too much, but I do want to talk about the setting of this story. I absolutely indulged in the authenticity of the setting that is written here. From what we see happening in America, to the culture of a pirate ship, all the way to the strict happenings aboard a British sealiner. This author goes deep into helping the reader understand the setting and the societal machinations but also the challenges that women faced back then but also perfectly portrays the true strength of women and capitalizes on that strength and courage that we see from Bennett here. I absolutely adored this heroine in so many ways. The way she is able to handle what comes at her is beyond admirable but also how she is able to stand up to the men in her life is empowering in many ways. I just wanted to cheer her on all the way through the story. But you will also see her go through such hardships as well, so be prepared for some dark moments that Bennett will have to face in order to reach her well-deserved HEA.

Love had hunted me, captured me, bred madness, and yes, it left a sea of ruin in its wake. But the devastation washed away. The skies cleared, and now we were calm, free, sailing on the winds of our hard-won peace. 

Overall I found Sea of Ruin to be a stunning pirate romance that fed my historical romantic heart into epic delights. It’s a story of hardship, trial, complexities of the heart, and the profound ability of the human condition to brave the wildness of life.

Love prevailed, not in the windless calm of life, but in the ruin.

Carlee Edwards 

DNF at 65%… a bit to rapey for me… not sure how I was supposed to see this character as a badass pirate when I literally saw zero percent of pirating… I would like to know if she ever found the treasure- only reason I held on as long as I did.

Loulou

Jesus Christ 10/10 
I do love a good book with pirates and add a good, strong, sassy MC and not just one but two alpha mal with big big bigg dick energy and I think I got a new favorite book

Alexandra 

I have no fückïng words. Easily one of my favorite reads. 

Full review coming

Maya Federman

Once again calling myself out for being an idiotic contrarian for not reading this sooner despite Milina and Jenn’s undying tenacity. I can honestly say that this was one of my favorite reads of the year—and I’ve read a lot of fucking books this year.

Bennett is iconic, unhinged, fearless, and fully embodies an unleashed woman. Do her tendencies often border on insanity? Yes. Do I give a shit? Absolutely not. Bennett had me hook line and sinker and I’d read about more of her escapades any day.

I loved Priest and I think I loved Ashley even more. Bennett had very unique and distinct relationships with both of them, and I loved seeing how they all brought out the best (and yeah, sometimes the worst) in each other. And the spice? Hot AF.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who hasn’t read it because I promise it’s very much worth reading. Don’t be stubborn like me.

Yaneli | @aquariusbookadventures 

Rating: 5 stars! 
https://bookboyfriendsdoitbetter.com/

As my potato, Zoe, said: A historical. Pirate. Dark romance. The most confusing combination 

Of course it would be Pam Godwin who has me enjoying TF out of a historical pirate romance. A GODDESS, she is.

Maria emilia 

Coralie | she/her

1/5
I have to say that this one-star rate has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that this genre definitely is NOT for me!
(view spoiler)[Sea of Ruin is a dark and M/F/M romance. If I'm already a bit queasy with the dark side, the M/F/M romance definitely made me feel uneasy. Not that I'm not okay with that! That's just somethung I can't seem to understand, that's all.
 (hide spoiler)]
Otherwise, I have to say that the set up was quite interesting, and the writing was pretty good. Which made the difficult moment even more difficult to read!
So yeah, here are the trigger warnings: sexual assault, torture, infertility, rape.

Hannah

Michelle Vasquez

What a beautifully tragic and wonderfully written story

“Love isn’t a decision. It arrives unannounced, breeds madness, and leaves a sea of ruin in its wake. Hate him or love him. Either way, he’s in certain hell.”

Bennett Sharp. Benedicta Leighton. Two sides of the same coin and two very different women. Only one was ever true to herself, and that is Captain Bennett Sharp. Pirate. Daughter of Captain Edric Sharp and Lady Abigail Leighton. 

Torn between who she gave her life to and who she was never destined to share a bed with, Bennett finds herself torn between two. A Pirate that will search all hell and high water for her, Priest Farrell - and then the one she never saw coming... her captor, Lord Ashley Cutler. Commodore of the HMS Blitz of the English Royal Navy. 

“Sea of Ruin”, by Pam Godwin is a historical romance set in the 1700s. It deals with some darker themes that were deemed appropriate and were set during that time period. If you are not a fan of historical romance, then you should start with this one. I would read anything Pam Godwin makes up. If it has fairy wings, dragons, and wizards - as long as Pam is writing it, I am there. I felt like I was LIVING in this book. I. Was. Bennett. I wasn’t lost in the translation of the 17th century grammar. It was used so proficiently that it flowed flawlessly along and I didn’t have to stop to try and figure out what was happening. This book was raw and full of so many heightened emotions, you could only sit back and try and binge this as much as possible. Well done. Five stars all the way.

Anna // read.all.night 

Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin is amazing!! I didn’t know what to expect from this other that in being historical/ pirate. I didn’t look up what it was about or anything which I was happy with because I was totally shocked at how things ended up. 

There was a lot of darkness and brutality and also so so much steam. I haven’t read historical romance in a while but I’m very tempted to dive into the world of pirates now because the setting was so entertaining. Loved the relationships and the plot was wild from start to finish. Thanks to everyone who told me to read it!!

Sea of Ruin

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