Soulgazer by Maggie Rapier: A Celtic Romantic Adventure

Twenty-two-year-old Saoirse has spent her life hiding her growing magical gifts under her parents’ strict watch—and the constant fear has left her trembling. When the notorious pirate Faolan, known as the Wolf of the Wild, crashes into her sheltered world, she seizes the chance for freedom. Together they sail in search of the fabled Isle of Lost Souls, racing against time to unlock her powers before her past catches up with them.

My Review

Picking up Soulgazer felt like slipping into a swashbuckling daydream. I could practically taste the sea spray as Saoirse, trembling but determined, learned to trust both her magic and Faolan’s roguish charm. I loved the Celtic flavor woven through every incantation and sea shanty, even as I wished for deeper moments between the leads. I will admit, sometimes their sparks kindled too quickly to feel fully earned but it was not a turnoff in the least. The fast pace and steamy tension had me turning pages late into the night. So if you’re looking for a romantasy with a dash of pirate adventure, this will scratch that itch. This book will leave you feeling swept away and breathless, fully immersed in the setting, and convinced that love and magic can conquer even the stormiest seas.

You can get a copy of Soulgazer by Maggie Rapier on Amazon or Bookshop.

If this has you intrigued, read an excerpt from Soulgazer below.

Excerpt Preview

“Ocean eyes!”

I whirl away from the seanchaí as though someone’s caught hold of my wrist, tugged along by the solitary, fierce thread of that voice. It emerges from the thicket of bodies clustered around the fire nearby, the lines of it blurring the more people join, until suddenly, one figure breaks free from the rest-a man.

No.

A wolf.

He stands half a head taller than me, bare above the waist and painted with streaks of mahogany, umber, and ash. Wayward curls sweep his shoulders, as ruddy brown as an evergreen’s bark stripped at the height of spring. When he raises his arms, the air grows thick around him-tinged violet with the essence of twilight and smoke.

And he’s wearing a tail.

None of those gathered see the absurdity, their eyes transfixed by the legend walking the earth. But I cannot look away from that ridiculous length of fur-lined cloth, sewn by a shoddy hand into the back of his trousers so it sways with every quicksilver step.

“She’ll be something special, this girl. Excellent with her stitching, or a damned good fighter. Blue-eyed, green? Hell, sometimes the sea is pure silver as it was three winters past!”

A roar of laughter breaks out over a story of the Wolf’s exploits I’ve yet to hear-the sort that used to set my heart to flying.

It sours my stomach instead. Aidan hasn’t shared a tale with me in seven years.

I start to turn toward the seanchaí again, but I cannot stop watching that pitiful tail. The Wolf of the Wild is a creature belonging to my brothers’ stories and my own dreams-ones where sirens can be seduced and shipwrecks survived by cunning and skill. He’s a pirate. A myth.

And yet somehow, impossibly . . . just a man.

“The point being, lads, she’s here. I feel it in my gut.” The Wolf drops his fist, and I swear I feel an echoing tap against my ribs. “And with my cousin’s blessing, I’ll take her to sea, where that damned island can’t play coy any longer.”

I stumble back a step. Another. When did I draw so close?

Gooseflesh erupts across my arms as the Wolf twists slightly, until firelight blazes across his profile. Beautiful lips tugged back into a dangerous smile. I retreat as close into the shadows as I can-but I’m not fast enough to avoid them, the legends I once collected like plump berries off a vine.

“Together, we’ll find the Isle of Lost Souls!”

I close my eyes. Breathe in the crowd’s violent swell of hope. Breathe out the beautiful lie.

It does not exist.

Still, my body remembers praying for the island, lungs burning with the need to push forth a song. I would plead daily for the god-forged utopia to return, begging until my knees bled for the chance to touch its healing waters, said to cure soul wounds, break curses, and even release the dead.

Excerpted from Soulgazer by Maggie Rapier Copyright © 2025 by Maggie Rapier. Excerpted by permission of Ace. All rights reserved.

Ready for More?

If this taste of magic and high-seas romance has you hooked, grab your copy of Soulgazer today. Once you’ve sailed the full adventure, come back and share your thoughts in the comments—I can’t wait to hear which part enchanted you the most!

You can get a copy of Soulgazer by Maggie Rapier on Amazon or Bookshop.