This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon and Libro.fm. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Verdict: The most professionally produced book on our sapphic vampire list and the one with the least at stake in it — a vampire-and-selkie pairing worth reading, wrapped around a quest almost nobody finished caring about.
Best for: Readers who want big-publisher polish, a full-cast audiobook, and a monster romance where the vampire is the dangerous one — and who are content for the adventure plot to be scenery.
Heat level: ★★★★☆ (4/5 — explicit open door)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.4/5 — a 3.40 Goodreads average that is flat rather than hostile: 41% of its ratings are three stars)
Tropes: Vampire romance, monster romance, reluctant allies to lovers, portal fantasy, pirate adventure, forced proximity, morally grey heroine, stolen-skin selkie, protectiveness, dual POV.
Blood on the Tide by Katee Robert is the second book of the Crimson Sails trilogy, published by Berkley in May 2024, and it is the only traditionally published title on our sapphic vampire list — Lizzie is a bloodline vampire stranded in the wrong world and comfortable with violence, Maeve is a selkie whose sealskin has been stolen, and neither of them can get home without the other.
It holds a 3.40 average across 5,286 Goodreads ratings, which looks like a verdict until you look at the distribution: forty-one per cent of those ratings are three stars and only twelve per cent are five. This is not a book readers hated. It is a book a great many readers finished and found perfectly fine, and understanding the difference is the whole point of this review.
What Is Blood on the Tide About?
This is a paranormal romance in a portal-fantasy frame — a pirate world reachable from ours, run by crews who hunt monsters and are frequently monsters themselves. That structure matters because it is what separates this from most vampire romance: nobody here is hiding among humans. The supernatural is the setting, not the secret.
Lizzie is introduced through what she has already done. She is not a redeemed antiheroine at the start of this book; she is a genuinely unlikeable figure from book one being handed a second act. Maeve is introduced through what has been taken — her sealskin, and with it her ability to go home, which means someone else holds the deed to her freedom. The book runs dual point of view, and the arrangement between them is the engine: two people who need each other and have every reason not to trust the terms.
What Makes This Sapphic Monster Romance Work
- The role reversal: Robert writes the vampire as the dangerous one and the selkie as the one who refuses to be handled. That flips the predator-and-prey default harder than most of the subgenre attempts, and it is the freshest thing in the book.
- Lizzie’s redemption arc: Readers arriving from book one get the payoff — Smart Bitches, Trashy Books singles out how her fear of the sea softens her edges. It is the one element the trade reviews and the readers agree on.
- The slow fall: Smart Bitches’ reviewer notes you cannot point to the moment things changed between them, which is the highest compliment a gradual romance gets.
- The production: Berkley editing, a Penguin Audio dual-narrator recording, and a full trade-review layer. That sounds like housekeeping and it is not — it is the reason this is the smoothest read on the list.
- It is a real entry point: Book one is a male-female couple you can skip. Whether you should is contested, but you can, and that is unusual for a book two.
Book Synopsis
Lizzie is a long way from where she is supposed to be. A bloodline vampire with a reputation and no easy route home, she has been surviving in a world that runs on crews, contracts and the assumption that anyone useful is also expendable. She is very good at the violence part and has stopped pretending otherwise.
Maeve is a selkie without her skin. Somebody took it, which in selkie terms means somebody owns the part of her that can leave. She wants it back and she is not in a position to be choosy about who helps her get it, which is how she ends up in an arrangement with a woman who eats people.
The quest sends them across water neither of them likes, into the territory of people who want them both dead, and into a proximity neither planned for. Lizzie is used to being feared. Maeve is used to being managed. What the book is actually about is how badly each of them handles being neither — and whether an alliance built entirely on need can survive one of them wanting something else.
My Review
The pairing is genuinely good, and I want to lead with that because the rating will make you assume otherwise. Robert does something with the vampire-and-prey dynamic that most of this subgenre does not: she makes the vampire the frightening one and then gives her a partner who declines to be frightened. Maeve’s refusal to be handled is the best-written thing here, and The Lesbrary’s Danika Ellis — not an easy reviewer on this series — says she was more invested in the romance in this volume than in book one. So am I.
The second strength is craft you feel rather than notice. This is a Berkley book: it is cleanly edited, it moves, the chapters end where they should, and there is a Penguin Audio recording with two narrators. Against the self-published titles elsewhere on our list — where typos are the number one reader complaint — that professionalism is a real feature, and it is why this is the easiest book here to actually finish. The 5% did-not-finish rate on StoryGraph is the lowest on the list.
Where it struggles is that nothing much is at stake, and this is the dominant complaint by a wide margin. Seven independent reviewers name low stakes, a thin plot or a straightforward failure to care, and the crucial detail is where they sit: one star, two star, three star, three and a half, plus two abandonments. This is not an angry minority — it is the enormous three-star bulk that produces the 3.40 in the first place. One reader calls the central quest “a pointless fetch quest that got abandoned.” Another simply writes that she “didn’t feel like there were any real stakes.” Around that sits a second complaint from five voices, including Ellis: the prose repeats itself, the same sentiment restated within a few pages, and she notes it was true of book one as well. Two more readers abandoned it over the narration specifically.
And here is the finding that reframes all of it. Publishers Weekly reviewed this book before publication and identified the exact problem, writing that the tight focus on the romance “leaves little room for worldbuilding or progression of the larger series plot.” That sentence appears nowhere in the marketing. What the publisher kept from the PW review was the phrase about sexy seafaring antics and the line about it reading as a standalone. The one professional reviewer who saw what seven readers would go on to say was edited out of her own blurb.
My honest note: A good romance inside a quest that forgot to matter. If you read for the couple, this is a smooth, well-made book with an excellent audiobook attached. If you read for adventure, the marketing sold you something the text does not contain.
| Element | In Blood on the Tide |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Lizzie & Maeve — a bloodline vampire stranded in the wrong world and a selkie whose skin was stolen |
| Core tropes | Reluctant allies to lovers, monster romance, portal fantasy, forced proximity, protectiveness, morally grey heroine |
| Setting | The Cŵn Annwn pirate world, reached from ours — crews, contracts and monster-hunting at sea |
| Heat level | 4/5 — explicit open door, with biting written as a sexual act |
| Series | Crimson Sails book 2 of 3 — complete trilogy; each book follows a different couple. Ends HFN, not HEA |
| Content notes | Graphic sexual content, blood, violence, injury detail, gore, kidnapping, confinement, murder, panic attacks; war, ableism, child abuse, police brutality, colonisation and toxic relationships at moderate weight; sexual harassment and alcohol at minor weight. The stolen-sealskin premise is written as bodily coercion and reviewers flag it as distressing |
How Spicy Is Blood on the Tide?
A 4 out of 5. romance.io bands the steam level “explicit open door,” one step below its top rating, and the biting is written as an explicitly sexual act rather than as atmosphere — which for a vampire romance is the thing readers actually want to know.
The element worth naming in advance is an expectation problem rather than a content one. A meaningful group of readers arrive here from Robert’s Dark Olympus books and find this noticeably tamer; The Nerd Daily says outright that “the spicy scenes aren’t as steamy as you’re probably used to from Robert,” and at least one reader wanted more. A smaller group say the opposite. If Neon Gods is your benchmark, calibrate downward; if you have never read Robert, four peppers is accurate. No reviewer flags kink content beyond the biting and the general violence. If you want this exact band elsewhere, A Hunger Soft and Wild and Will It Hurt? both sit at 4/5.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want a monster romance where the monster is genuinely the dangerous one, you value clean professional editing after a run of indie titles, you listen to audiobooks, and you are reading for the couple rather than the quest.
You may want to skip it if: you need real jeopardy to stay invested, repeated sentiment pulls you out, you were promised high-octane adventure and will feel short-changed, or you want a full happily-ever-after rather than a happy-for-now.
In short: a well-made romance with a hollow adventure wrapped around it, and the marketing sold the wrapper.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (August 2026)
This is the only book on our list with a real trade layer, so it is worth setting out what that layer actually says. Publishers Weekly ran a mixed-positive review. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books gave it a B+. The Lesbrary recommended it with reservations. BookPage, Culturess, BookTrib and Harlequin Junkie were positive; The Nerd Daily scored it 7.5 out of 10; Utopia State of Mind liked it and flagged a lull in the middle. There is no Kirkus, no Library Journal, no Booklist, and — notably for a Berkley lead title — no starred review anywhere. There is also no audiobook coverage at all, because trade outlets review print galleys, which matters here more than usual: this is a 9 hour 13 minute Penguin Audio production with two narrators, Alix Dale and K.C. Sheridan, and two of the small number of readers who abandoned the book did so specifically over the narration.
Prefer audio? Listen to Blood on the Tide on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The pairing, first — vampire and selkie is a combination readers respond to on sight, and the protective dynamic lands. Then Lizzie’s redemption, which pays off specifically for anyone who met her in book one and disliked her. Then the fall itself: Smart Bitches praises how gradual it is, and several readers agree the relationship is where the book’s real work happens. And then, quietly, the professionalism — the shortest, cleanest, most finishable book on this list, with the lowest abandonment rate of any of them.
What readers argue about and complain about: Stakes, above everything. Seven independent voices, from one-star to three-and-a-half plus two did-not-finish, describing a plot that hovers, a quest that goes nowhere, and a reading experience one reviewer sums up as “More thot than plot.” The three-star reviews are where this lives, which is precisely why the average sits at 3.40 rather than lower — one reader’s entire verdict is “Like it’s not good…… but I enjoyed it…….” Second: repetition and padding, from five voices including The Lesbrary’s Danika Ellis, who writes that “it felt padded, with the same sentiment repeated multiple times in a few pages” and notes the same of book one. Third: the narration, which drove two of the abandonments. Then two genuine splits worth flagging — readers disagree about whether this is weaker than book one (roughly four each way, and the ratings side with the defenders), and about the heat, where Dark Olympus readers find it tame and others do not.
The series question everyone should ask first: Crimson Sails is finished — three books, all published, each following a different couple. Hunt on Dark Waters (2023) is a male-female pairing, this is the sapphic one, and Rebel in the Deep (2025) closes the run with a polyamorous triad. Lizzie and Maeve resolve here, on a happy-for-now rather than a full happily-ever-after. On reading order the reviews genuinely disagree: Publishers Weekly says it works cold, while Smart Bitches, Harlequin Junkie and Book Lovin’ Mamas all say start at book one — and the useful detail is why. Nobody who read it cold reports being confused; they report missing the payoff of Lizzie’s redemption, because she is written as unlikeable in book one. That is a bonus you forfeit, not a plot you cannot follow. One more number, because the obvious theory deserves killing: the series goes 3.25, then 3.40, then 3.46, and it sheds readers at an identical rate at each step. The sapphic book is the middle performer and the trend is upward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you read Blood on the Tide as a standalone?
Yes, and the reviews disagree about whether you should. Publishers Weekly says it works as an entry point; Smart Bitches and Harlequin Junkie recommend starting at book one. Nobody who began here reports confusion — you lose the payoff of Lizzie’s redemption arc, not the plot.
Does Blood on the Tide have a happy ending?
It ends happy-for-now rather than with a full happily-ever-after. Lizzie and Maeve resolve within this book and the series moves on to a different couple, so there is no cliffhanger, but the ending is a landing rather than a destination.
Why is the Goodreads rating only 3.40?
Because forty-one per cent of its ratings are three stars. This is a flat average, not a hostile one — only fourteen per cent of ratings sit below three, and the did-not-finish rate is 5%. The recurring reason is low stakes rather than bad writing.
How spicy is Blood on the Tide?
A 4/5. romance.io rates it “explicit open door,” and the biting is written as a sexual act rather than as atmosphere. Readers arriving from Katee Robert’s Dark Olympus books consistently report finding it less steamy than they expected.
Is the Crimson Sails series finished?
Yes. Three books, all published: Hunt on Dark Waters (2023), Blood on the Tide (2024) and Rebel in the Deep (2025). Each follows a different couple, so nothing is left hanging.
Is there a Blood on the Tide audiobook?
Yes — narrated by Alix Dale and K.C. Sheridan for Penguin Audio, running 9 hours 13 minutes. It is stocked on Libro.fm. Be aware that two of the readers who abandoned the book did so specifically over the narration.
If You Loved Blood on the Tide, Read These Next
If the vampire-in-a-fantasy-world setting is the draw rather than vampires among us, A Hunger Soft and Wild gives you a medieval setting at the same 4/5 heat band and an ending that commits. If you want the stakes this book is missing, House of Crimson Hearts runs a deadly-trials plot through a vampire court a full pepper hotter. And if it was the polish you valued, A Dowry of Blood is the other traditionally published title in this space, at considerably lower heat and considerably higher intensity.
For more in this register, browse our best sapphic vampire romance books guide or the full Book Reviews collection.
The Bottom Line
Blood on the Tide is a book whose romance is better than its reputation and whose plot is worse than its marketing. The vampire-and-selkie pairing genuinely works, Lizzie’s redemption pays off, the fall is slow in the right way, and the whole thing is produced to a standard nothing else on this list can match. It is also low on jeopardy, repetitive at the sentence level, and built around a quest a great many readers stopped caring about halfway through. Publishers Weekly said as much before publication and the publisher cut the sentence. Read it for the two of them, not for the sea. Check Blood on the Tide on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Blood on the Tide ranks as a major-publisher sapphic monster romance — polished, easy to finish and genuinely fresh about who gets to be the predator, thin on stakes, and best approached for the pairing and the audiobook rather than for the quest.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ 3.40 across 5,286 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 41% of ratings are three stars
- ✓ Lowest did-not-finish rate on our list, 5%
- ✓ Seven reviewers name absent stakes
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ Vampire written as the dangerous one
- ✓ Fall is gradual and hard to pinpoint
- ✓ The Lesbrary preferred it to book one’s
- ✓ One reader reports instant love
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Lizzie’s redemption arc pays off
- ✓ Maeve refuses to be managed
- ✓ Fear of the sea softens the antiheroine
- ✓ Readers report both leads staying surface-level
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.1/5
- ✓ Cleanly edited Berkley production
- ✓ Chapters land where they should
- ✓ Shortest and most finishable on the list
- ✓ Five reviewers name repetition and padding
Emotional Impact ★★★☆☆ 2.9/5
- ✓ Stolen sealskin is genuine bodily coercion
- ✓ Protectiveness carries the best scenes
- ✓ Publishers Weekly named the structural cause
- ✓ “I did not care” is the recurring verdict
Heat Level ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ romance.io band: explicit open door
- ✓ Biting written as a sexual act
- ✓ Open-door scenes throughout
- ✓ Dark Olympus readers find it tame
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ Resolves for Lizzie and Maeve
- ✓ No cliffhanger; series moves on
- ✓ Trilogy is complete at three books
- ✓ Happy-for-now, and reviewers call it rushed
Re-read Value ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Dual-narrator Penguin Audio production
- ✓ Complete trilogy available to run through
- ✓ Short enough to revisit in a sitting
- ✓ Little plot to rediscover on a second pass
Affiliate disclosure: the store buttons below are affiliate links (Amazon, Bookshop.org, Libro.fm and Audible). As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, and we may also earn a small commission from the other stores, at no extra cost to you.