Book Review: Sea of Evil and Desire by J. Střelou

October 9, 2026

This book is so very twilight (now keep in mind I have not actually read twilight ) and that may have been the authors goal. The beginning feels so “and the lion fell in love with the lamb” but set on the Irish coast rather than the PNW. The atmosphere is stunning. I loved every moment of the salty sea air blowing throw my (Morgana’s) hair during a moody evening along the coast. If nothing else, this book has me fully convinced I need to visit Ireland.

I do feel the need to warn you that there is a scene in which Morgana is almost raped by two men. This does get brought up multiple times throughout the rest of the book. If this will bring up bad memories for you I suggest sitting this one out.

We follow the story of Morgana Scott, an American woman who is moving to Ireland to help take care of her elderly grandfather after her grandmother suddenly passed. Her mother doesn’t want to go back to the place she grew up and Morgana takes it upon herself to be the one to do it. She doesn’t have a whole lot to leave behind, plus, a chance to start over and hopefully be able to cope with her condition sounds like a good thing. All her life, she’s been able to sense others emotions. More often than not, this has lead to her being completely overwhelmed when around people, and has lead her into a pretty lonely existence. When she gets a job at a small shop along the coast, close to her grandparents home, she starts making friends quicker and easier than she imagined. Skye, a chatty woman who is kind and bubbly, but has a darkness looming over her, is her first friend and she does what she can to get Morgana out of her shell ( think Jessica for Bella). When a handsome, cold, stranger starts working in another of the small shops along the coast, she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to him, and even more unexpectedly, unable to read his emotions. He keeps showing up and she isn’t mad about it. He’s ridiculously good looking. She starts uncovering things about herself, her family, and the world around her, she discovers just how little she knows. Who is this stranger that won’t leave her alone? Why does the fact that her grandmother died so out the blue feel so fishy? Who is she and why is she able to read others emotions?

I did really enjoy this book, even though it didn’t have an ending. Some people that really bothers, but I dont think it’s a bad thing, I know that there is more to come and I have already started reading the second one. I do think I would suggest this book, even though there are things about it that I didn’t love ( like how many times it was mentioned in the beginning that she was a virgin, like come on, is that really her whole personality?!)