Beneath the Veil of Tides

The Little Mermaid meets Pirates of the Caribbean/One Piece in a dark, gothic romantasy where gods are cruel, monsters are hungry, and love refuses to stay buried.

Caelyn was born to be sacrificed to the sea. Offered to the ocean for the brutal harvesting of her magic, she was never meant to survive.

And somehow, she did.

She remembers the blood. The water. The moment she should have died. What she doesn't remember is the life she lived before it.

Or him. A banished god with fire-forged wings and a devotion fierce enough to defy the heavens.

To Caelyn, he's a stranger. To him, she's the love he never stopped searching for.

But freedom has never come easily to a girl the world believes it owns.

Now the sea is hunting her, ancient horrors are awakening, and a ragtag crew of outcasts may be her only hope against the wrath of the gods.

And as her stolen memories begin to surface, so do the wounds of a childhood poisoned by addiction. A home where love came tangled with fear, and the people meant to protect her were the ones she needed protecting from.

Even before the sea claimed her, Caelyn had been fighting to survive.

Caught between a past she cannot escape, monstrous secrets, and a love she cannot remember, Caelyn must decide whether she'll remain someone else's sacrifice.

Or finally claim the freedom she's been denied her entire life.

Because the ocean doesn't forgive.

And it has never learned to let go.

BENEATH THE VEIL OF TIDES
Book One of the Between Salt and Stars Duology

Tropes & dark fantasy elements:

• Banished, lovesick god × sacrificed mermaid

• Touch her and face a god's wrath

• Forgotten love & stolen memories

• Found pirate family of thieves & anomalies

• Oracle arachnids & sentient labyrinths

• Fleshless soldiers & soul swapping

• Brutal magic harvesting & ancient titans

• Trauma, parental addiction & the scars of abuse

• Slow-burn yearning, healing & reclaiming freedom