SEA OF CHARMS is the third installment in Sarah Beth Durst’s Spellshop series, romances that are set in a fantasy realm. This latest entry focuses on a character we met in THE ENCHANTED GREENHOUSE, Marin, a woman with a magic sailboat who delivers supplies to the various islands that make up the Crescent Island Empire.

We learn about Marin's heartbreak in the first chapter. The person she thought loved her, her fiancé Iovar, betrayed her and her parents. Since then, Marin has been unable to trust anyone aside from her folks. She loves the sea and doesn't want to share it. But that changes when she rescues a sea serpent, whom she eventually names Perri, and they become friends.

In all three books, a defining part of the action is the revolution that is happening in the Crescent Island Empire. The emperor has hoarded all the magic of the realm and forbidden anyone except royal sorcerers to perform spells. Even the huge library of magical books in Alyssium, the capital, is restricted to sorcerers. Anyone performing illegal magic is severely punished, as we learn in THE ENCHANTED GREENHOUSE. However, hoarding the magic at the capital has had dangerous consequences for all the other islands. There are unchecked magical storms that wreak havoc everywhere, as well as other repercussions. The revolution seeks to reclaim magic for all.

"Flying cats, dragon love, an adorable sea serpent, a sentient ball of wax myrtle, and a silver-skinned heroine are waiting for you in the blue-edged pages of this beautiful book."

After Marin saves Perri, the action skips forward two years to the time of the revolution. Marin travels to the Music Conservatory of Alyssium to deliver a mayharp, a musical instrument requested by one of the Grand Masters at the academy. Dax, a student there, has befriended Marin and Perri, and he's there at the dock when they arrive. We sense the attraction between Marin and Dax, but she's determined not to have feelings for anyone after the betrayal she experienced.

Marin and Perri then set out for the Great Library of Alyssium, where they are to deliver a crate of books. But the violence along their route is unsettling. The revolution is in full swing. Once they arrive at their destination, the head librarian asks them to make a delivery to the island of Belde, which is known for its greenhouses. They are to transport the statue of a librarian who performed illegal magic and was punished by being turned into a wooden piece of art.

Eventually, Marin and Perri return to Alyssium with a mission. The danger is greater as the revolution is resulting in more chaos and terror. When Marin sees Dax, she tells him that he needs to leave Alyssium for a while. But Dax has been kept in the dark about the political situation as those around him want him to concentrate on the great opus he is working on and not be distracted by anything. So he's shocked when not only do they tell him he should leave, they ask Marin if she can take them as well. She reluctantly agrees.

When Dax's colleagues depart on an island that one of them is from, they assume he will stay with them. But Dax is enchanted with life on the sailboat. While the other musicians pressure him to continue working on his opus, Marin makes sure he understands that he has the power to make decisions for himself.

When Marin asks Dax to pretend to be her boyfriend at a festival on her home island, he jokes and tells her, in ballads and song, how that trope almost always ends. It's a trope within a trope. But the attraction between them is real. It's just that Marin isn't prepared to trust anyone, and she doesn't believe that she deserves to be with someone of Dax's obvious talent and status.

Durst explains that with so much hate in a world that seems to be worsening every day, she wanted to write something that would help readers escape. But even with that goal in mind, she includes some of her feelings about current events in the narrative. The revolution, the greed of the emperor who wants all magic for himself, every book locked up, and only the wealthy to reap the riches of the Empire, all seem to be a mirror --- albeit a magical one --- of what we see in the news daily.

Another mirror image deals with the library. The head of the Great Library of Alyssium tells Marin that “people who have power are often afraid to lose it, and books are the greatest power --- they are the culmination of many lifetimes. They grant access to worlds, dreams, thoughts, and wisdom beyond what a person can possibly experience in the span of their own years. Whoever has books has the power to be greater than themselves, to connect themselves to all who have come before and draw strength from them.” Doesn't that clearly explain why some feel the need to ban books? Books unite us instead of driving us apart with the hostility that is instilled in people through social media.

But politics is a minor part of this story of love, adventure, caring for those who are different from us, and being brave enough to overcome our own doubts and fears to embrace love. Flying cats, dragon love, an adorable sea serpent, a sentient ball of wax myrtle, and a silver-skinned heroine are waiting for you in the blue-edged pages of this beautiful book.