All Saoirse wants is a way out of her dangerous magic, a cold fiancé, and a future she didn’t choose. When everything unravels, she makes a bold move: teaming up with a charming, unpredictable pirate who claims he can help her break the curse… if she helps him find a long-lost island.

She doesn’t trust him (and probably shouldn’t), so she sets her own terms: if she’s getting on that ship, they’re getting married first.

It’s a wild ride full of banter, risk, and the kind of freedom that comes from finally taking your power back. Completely recommend!!

This was an enjoyable first book in a new romantasy series. Pretty standard romantasy fare with a light magic system and not a ton of world building. This would most likely appeal to fans of Clare Sager’s Beneath Black Sails series

Thank you for the free e-arc Ace and Berkley!

This was everything I wanted it to be!

I haven't read a solid adult pirate romantasy but this book changed that for me! When I heard pirates? I was immediately intrigued but the plot?? I was INVESTED.

Faolan & Saoirse are everything under the sun, their relationship building had me by the grips, there's one thing that the marriage of convenience is able to build upon also known as yearning. The amount of yearning these two have for each other is insane. Having all the odds against them they spark something magical.

Faolan has an insane "My wife" game. This man despite being so against marriage folded so damn fast. I'm talking about quite literally going on his knees kinda shit. His Wolf persona was tamed for sure ;)

One of my favorite things about this book was how Saoirse is a soft soul at heart. Despite the high stakes of the adventure, she always remains true to this part of herself. At the beginning of the novel, you see this part of herself holding her back but as she learns more about herself and spends time with Faolan, she embraces this nature.

The found family in this book was everything, I want to be part of this great wolf pack!

This is perfect for readers that are looking for an adventure with pirates and who loves a great romantasy or in other words, if you've seen pirates of the caribbean you'll definitely want to read this.

I'm coming back for book 2 because that ending? TEASED SO GOOD.

(4.5 rounded to 5 stars where necessary) SOULGAZER by Maggie Rapier is the first volume THE MAGPIE AND THE WOLF DUOLOGY, a wonderful fantasy romance novel. A young woman and a rakish pirate take their fate into their own hands when they try to find a mythical lost isle with the power to save the world. Saoirse yearned to be powerless. She had been cursed from childhood with volatile magic, which she had managed to imprison, while living in constant fear it would break free. When it did, it changed everything. Horrified by her magic, her parents planned to marry her off to the Stone King. Knowing she wouldn’t survive that fate, Saoirse decided she would try to break the curse. On the eve of her wedding, she sought out Faolan, the legendary Wolf of the Wild, a silver tongued pirate. He swore to help her, if she used her magic to find the lost mythical isle. Knowing better than to trust a pirate’s word and wanting something to protect herself from her scorned groom and angry father, she told Faolan that if he wanted her on his ship, he would have to marry her first. This was an exceptionally well written fantasy novel which included danger, magic, camaraderie, and romance. One cannot help but fall in love with the rakish Faolan, whose actions seem to indicate much more feeling than a transactional relationship and the bold Saoirse, who after years of rejection, ostracism and captivity took her fate into her own hands and made the choice to change her life. As they headed out on the journey to find something many no longer believed in, neither Saoirse nor Faolan had any idea where the journey would take them. I emphatically recommend this book for readers who enjoy fantasy and romantasy.

I am voluntarily leaving this honest review after reading a free ARC via Netgalley and Ace/Berkley Publishing Group.

5 ⭐️ 1🌶️

One of my top reads so far in 2025. Full of twists and turns, I could put this book down!

Saoirse is a royal that yearns for freedom after her father tries to trap her into a marriage to the Stong King Ri Maccus, while also hiding her magic which he has labeled as a curse. On the eve of her marriage she becomes a runaway bride, marrying the legendary Wolf of the Wild, Faolan, who believes she is the key to finding the Isle of the Lost. But is a pirate life really for her? With both her father and Ri Maccus searching for her, this tale weaves a web of intrigue, suspense, and swashbuckling.

Saoirse is a refreshing FMC who is vulnerable at the beginning of the book due to her upbringing but really comes into her own. Faolan is the weaver of magnificent stories with a grumpy streak. The chemistry between the two is written beautifully and I look forward to seeing where it goes in future books. The plot is fast paced, full of action, and beautifully crafted, with the world-building seamlessly written into the action making it easy to digest. The cliffhanger at the end of the book was also unique and I look forward to the next book to see where the goes.

🏴‍☠️Marriage of Convenience
🏴‍☠️Touch her and die
🏴‍☠️Pirates
🏴‍☠️Found Family
🏴‍☠️ Betrayal (Not by FMC or MMC)

🌶️ 1 -2 explicit scenes
❗️Abuse
❗️Violence

Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this amazing book and I am leaving a voluntary review.

Saoirse is cursed with a unpredictable magic and is kept away from the public's eye. Her father wants to use her for political gain, but rather than marrying the Stone King, Saoirse makes a deal with a pirate. In exchange for marrying her, which offers her protection, she vows to use her deadly magic to help Faolan find the Island of Lost Souls.

This book really throws you head-first into the magic, and it is admittedly confusing at first. However, the story is gripping and interesting, and I really enjoyed the Celtic vibes. Saoirse reminds me a bit of the main character in Daughter of the Forest by Juliette Marillier, which is one of my all-time favorite books. You really feel bad for Saoirse because of all she has to endure and how poorly her family treats her.

All in all, an interesting world with a unique magic system, and characters that are easy to like.

Okay, so I had a great time with this. The romance was really fun, even if a lot of things would have been solved if the two leads would just SPEAK to one another for once in their lives. I really liked the dynamic between the FMC and the rest of the crew, particularly as they come to accept her on her own merit and not just as their captain's wife. I also enjoyed the development of the FMC as she finally broke free mentally from her family and their guilt, and from the MMC as he learned to rely on someone else.

The fantasy element of this, including the world building, was a little hazy. I wouldn't say it was super fleshed out, or that everything made a ton of sense. There were a number of times where it was just like, the story needs to move forward, so here's a new magical thing, or here's a new myth. The way the various islands interacted and the political structure was not well explained. The ending in particular made plenty of sense in the fantasy storyline but then everyone's reactions to it were so extreme and not in line with what I was expecting, so I guess maybe I missed something there? I still don't really *get* the reactions.

But honestly, for a romantasy, that's totally and completely fine. The fantasy doesn't have to be super strong/epic/compelling on its own, because it can rely on the romance to help move things forward in parts, and the romance really does benefit a lot from the fantasy storyline. It's a good balance, and I enjoyed the book. I would definitely read book 2, and I'd also pick up another series by the same author.

This is a bit of a difficult one for me to review. I’ll start with what I liked - Saoirse’s cursed magic and her visions, the pirate vibes, the marriage of convenience, the banter between the FMC and MMC, and the found family in the form of the ship’s crew. The journey to find the lost Isle was interesting and had me eager to know what they would find.

There’s no doubt that the author is a great writer, but I’m afraid the style wasn’t really for me. I’m honestly not sure if I knew what was going on a lot of the time. Overall I just found myself a little uninterested in most of the story and the romance didn’t do much for me. Unfortunately I think I’ll be passing on the sequel.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This pirate fantasy romance is a must read for this year. The tension and yearning in this story is reason enough to read this book. And I must mention the cover! It is stunning.

These tropes are right up my alley and I really loved this book. The writing was beautiful and witty, the banter had me giggling, and I really enjoyed the story. While the FMC wasn’t the strongest or the fiercest, I got sucked in by the MMC Faolon. He truly was swoony. Soulgazer gives you emotion, sizzling tension, and character growth through a well balanced and adventurous plot. I’m excited to read the next book!

𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼:
🌊 Epic Romantasy
🌊 Marriage of Convenience
🌊 Sizzling Tension
🌊 Dangerous Quest
🌊 Found Family
🌊 Rakish Pirate
🌊 Poetic Prose
🌊 Action & Adventures
🌊 Ancient Curses
🌊 Witty Banter
🌊 Protective

Soulgazer 🏴‍☠️🦴👁️🌊⚓️
5 🌟
2🌶️

Thank you to Ace for the chance to read and enjoy this advanced copy! #acepartner #berkley

WOW. HOLY MOLY. I absolutely devoured this book! I’ve been in a slump lately where I feel like I’ve been reading romance books that all follow the same plot, and I needed something that broke out of that mold and could snag my attention. Soulgazer exceeded every expectation that I had in every single way possible.

Maggie Rapier weaves a story that is so lyrical, writes a fantasy world that is all-encompassing, and formulated a romance for the ages. This book is world-heavy and has an intricate magic system that was beautifully crafted with a sprinkle of found-family and a romance that I will be thinking about forever.

I really loved the high stakes element of the plot, and I liked that I couldn’t guess where the story was going at any given time. I felt engaged throughout the entire book, and there were times that I couldn’t put the book down because I was so engrossed within the pages. I annotated this book like CRAZY, it has so many gorgeous lines that will tattoo themselves on my heart.

I loved the self-discovery and self-love that occurs throughout the FMC, Saoirse, and her character development. I also loved the parallels that we saw within the MMC, Faolan, and how there were a lot of moments of development that had larger underlying meanings.

I cannot recommend this book any more, I enjoyed every single page of it, and I cannot wait to see where the story will go in the second book. PLUS- I am a huge sucker for a “my wife” moment, and this book is FULL of them!!!!

First off this cover is great, immediately wanted to know more because of it! Then the story matched the cover in epic proportions! I loved it!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 @acebooks 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬！

I’m pretty sure this was my first pirate fantasy romance, and I loved every bit of it! I found the world building in this first novel of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗽𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝘂𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 to be really easy to follow, even with the introduction of political and magical systems, pirates, a quest to find a lost island, and obviously a delightful marriage of convenience. The romance might have been a slower burn, but it definitely delivered so much banter, tension, and witty interaction between the two MCs, which ultimately led to character growth, especially for Saoirse. Definitely a high stakes adventure type plot that has me looking forward to seeing where the next book takes Saoirse and Faolan!

**𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓

Release Date: July 8, 2025

4.5⭐️3🌶

Saoirse touches a Fate Stone by accident at the age of five, and from then on she has been curse to see and hear spirits as well as have knowledge of the future that she does know how it appears.

When Saoirse comes of marriable age, her father takes her to the clan gathering with plans to marry her off to Stone King for a price. Her father hasn't treated her like a daughter since she killed her eldest brother accidentally with her powers when she was five.

However, she has no plans to be married off to a cruel king and be locked under his mountain fortress. She see's her way out when the legendary Wolf of the Wild—Faolan, a feral, silver-tongued pirate makes it known that he is looking for the prophesied girl with eyes like the ocean. It is said that only she can a lost mythical isle with her powers.

She's unsure how she will find this mythical isle for the Wolf, but she's willing to try in order to get away from her planned marriage to the Stone King.

So, Saoirse embarks on an adventure across the high seas with her betrothed that is her betrothed in name only to find a lost island with her powers she doesn't know how to use.

This book was so intriguing and checked all the boxes for a pirate adventure and arranged marriage with forced proximity. I cannot wait for the next one!

Themes/Tropes:

🍁Viking Pirate MMC
🍁Shadow Daddy
🍁Arranged Marriage
🍁Forced Proximity
🍁Fake dating
🍁Powers locked away
🍁Viking Princess
🍁Forced Proximity
🍁Cursed by the gods
🍁Finding a curse for the curse

TW:

✨Imprisonment/Isolation
✨Unfeeling/uncaring parents
✨Violence
✨Murder
✨Spicy content

I am in my romantasy era! Loved the fake marriage trope, the quest, the fact that Saoirse is a “soft heroine” and not so much a badass type added a new take on the typical romantasy story. The romance was kept to the minimum spice and I appreciated that as a non smutty reader! Looking forward to the second!

You know that seen in elf where Buddy spins around and yells I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it?! That is how I feel about this book. It was an aboslute DREAM! I wish I could have my memory wiped so I could read it again for the first time.

This was a... weird reading experience. I did finish it in two sittings— it was like I was intrigued enough that I didn't want to put it down, but also I knew that if I did put it down I would be a-ok never picking it back up again?

I loved the cover and the premise of a marriage of convenience between a rakish pirate and a seemingly cursed woman trying to escape the shackles of her life, but something was just missing/off.

Random selection of thoughts:
- The magic system and lore/politics in this world was not clear to me and I felt like I was just nodding along with some of it because I couldn't be bothered to sit and try and figure out wtf was happening.
- However I did like the exploration of our FMC Saoirse magic, I think that was the highlight for me.
- Saoirse leaned a little too far into the "I'm so naive and innocent but you're a roguish fiend so teach me sex" for my liking. I absolutely buy her naivety given her upbringing, but the amount of times it is brought up in the romance aspect had me rolling my eyes by the end of it.
- Saoirse also suffered from one of my least favourite things in romances which is "omg I don't know if they really like me or if they just want me for my abilities but instead of having a conversation with them I will stew on it and make stupid decisions assuming that they don't (even though all of the evidence I have seen with my own two eyes is really pointing towards the contrary").
- The MMC Faolan was... there. He definitely fit the stereotype of loud mouth pirate just wanting to make a name for himself, but not really contributing much to the end game overall. He also wanted to continue to play the rakish pirate both to the public and to Saoirse but then was shocked when she couldn't solidify whether he was being genuine in his feelings or not. Also while he was a sweet talker, he pulled a lot of stunts that Saoirse let slide far too easily. By the end of it I'm not even quite sure why she was still so deeply entrenched in him except...
- Saoirse has been infatuated by Faolan and tales of the Wolf since she was a young child, and clung on to those stories while she was locked away and isolated for seven years of her life... and I whole heartedly believe that that clouded her judgement
- Out of context this will sound weird, but the whole bit of them talking about drawing out the islands and the image it makes/how they figure out what island is what had me flipping back and forth to the map page because for the life of me I can not decipher whatever they were trying to say there, but Saoirse did so I guess thats all that matters.
- Finally, GR says this is a Duology, and the AN also mentions a book 2 and I'm a bit confused as to where a book 2 could lead based on the end of this one. Not to say there isn't some set-up there, but all I can see happening is some political stuff and stupid reasons to split the couple up for some time (quick spoiler thought below if you care lol)

Disclaimer: I did receive an e-arc and final finished copy free from Berkley.


SPOILER-ISH RANT IF YOU REALLY CARE:
I actually wanted to punch Faolan in the end. Jerk wouldn't even look at Saoirse because by SAVING HERSELF and them subsequently SAVING HIS LIFE he finds himself as a king consort, when all he wants is ~freedom to be a pirate~. So when Saoirse does the honourable thing and offers to end their marriage he is like "Oh no babe I love you... I just hate that I will always look at you and see my ship burning and everything I could have been". I just KNOW this will be a conflict point for them in book 2 and my eyes are already rolling so far into the back of my head.

Soulgazer combines a runaway bride, a marriage of convenience to a legendary pirate and a fantasy world filled with magic. Maggie Rapier has created a world where the dead can no longer rest. The Isle of souls disappeared five generations ago with the death of the gods. Faolan, the Wolf of the Wild, is searching for the lost Isle of Souls, but to find it he must first find the girl with the ocean eyes.

Saoirse is that girl and she has been cursed from childhood with a volatile magic, one that can cause death to those she loves. Finding the Isle might be her only hope of escape from her curse. Faolan has a reputation as a rake, but this is actually a quite sweet romance. Despite a marriage of convenience the pirate respects the young woman and manages to keep his distance despite sharing a bed. Some of the world building is not explained well until later in the book, and the characters lack depth. Otherwise this would have been rated even higher. The book took an abrupt left turn at the end of the story to set up the second half of the duology, so now I can't wait for the rest of the story.

If it’s adventure on the high seas, magic, romance and gods ye be wanting, then you’ll want to grab Soulgazer by Maggie Rapier. This is the first book in the Magpie and the Wolf Duology. Swoons, danger and a sweet, sexy marriage of convenience await you….

Soulgrazer wasn’t even on my radar for 2025 until it came across my desk. The publisher was so excited that she sold me on it. I am so glad because this addictive tale with pirates and a cursed princess held me captive from the first page.

In this romantasy we have kingdoms, kings and magic. Saoirse’s father, the king, believes her cursed and has kept her from touching anyone since her brother died along the shores. The king has arranged for her to marry the Stone King. But to do that, he must bind her magic. They begin the process, but Saoirse escapes with the Faolan, the Wolf of the Wild. The Wolf has been searching for the girl with the ocean eyes who will lead him to the Isle of the Lost. The two undergo a handfasting ceremony by Faolan’s Queen.

The ship and its crew head out to sea in search of the Isle of the Lost, but to do that, Saoirse must reawaken her power. Along the way they encounter danger, storms and we get the backstories on our FMC and hero. The chemistry is there and once the two let go of their fears and open up. The crew was interesting, as resentment gave way to trust.

This was a fast-paced tale that was not without flaws, but I loved the world-building, soulstones, magic and Irish mythology weaved into the story. We’ve got betrayal, twists and more that kept me reading. Plus, how can you not love pirates on the high sea with danger and adventure?

The interaction between Saoirse and Faolan from the onset was electric and filled with delightful back-and-forth banter and snark that gave way to deeper emotions and passion. The ending left me grinning and I cannot wait to see what book two in this duology brings.

I try to write reviews without spoilers, but sometimes they just can’t be avoided! I really enjoyed this book. It started out slowly because the world-building was a bit tough for me to wrap my brain around, but it didn’t take long for me to get really into this story. This is my first time reading a book about pirates, and I loved that aspect of it. The stories, the songs, the banter, the found family, the adventures.

I really like this trend of consent that I see in so many books today too, where the MMC diligently listens to the FMC and what they do or do not desire. Like how when they got married and the crew wanted them to kiss- he saw that she in no way wanted that, so he dipped her out of sight and gave her a peck on the cheek. I like that.

I also thought it was great when she started to bond with the crew, especially when Saoirse and Brona figure out how to get the fish they’re looking for and end up laughing and laughing at Faolan.

My absolute favorite thing though was that they didn’t split up at the end! He knew he wanted her, and didn’t let her “free” him when things got complicated.That would have driven me absolutely crazy, because they would’ve just had to find each other again in the next book.

Speaking of the next book, I can’t wait to read it! Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this amazing ARC.