The Smoke and the Sea

The Isles, Book 1

De: Katie Cross

Narrado por: Katie Cross

She’s bound to her draguls. He’s sworn to his nation. Their love could ignite a revolution.

Britt Helsing is a dragul keeper, desperate to rescue her missing brother and save her fragile race of butterfly-sized dragons. Henrik is a loyal soldat of Stenberg, trained from childhood to obey the tyrannical rule of His Glory.

Hidden on a ship, Britt crosses paths—quite literally—with Henrik on a journey to Stenberg. When she’s discovered, Henrik saves her from a ravaging storm and secrets her away from Stenberg sailors.

Backed into a reluctant alliance, Henrik and Britt strike a deal: She’ll help him uncover the truth he seeks about his past, and he’ll aid her quest to free her brother. Their charade as lovers plunges them deep into Stenberg’s secrets.

With the ruthless Captain Oliver closing in and time running out, Henrik and Britt must navigate treacherous waters—both on the battlefield and in their hearts. As rebellion brews and an ancient creature awakens, they face impossible odds to save the people they love and the fragile hope of freedom.

In a world ruled by tyranny, can two unlikely allies find the courage to defy their fates—or will their pasts consume them both?

The Smoke and the Sea is the first book in the Isles series, a thrilling new romantasy series that will take your breath—and your heart—away.

©2025 Katie Cross (P)2025 Audible, Inc.

Butterfly-sized-dragons, adventure, magic and more!

Narrated by the author herself, The Smoke and the Sea is the first book in the Isles romantasy series by Award-Winning author Katie Cross.

Britt, a dragul keeper, in a desperate attempt to save her butterfly-sized dragons and her brother Malcolm, travels covertly to an enemy nation. On the way she meets Henrik, a loyal soldat of Stenberg. Forced to work together, they enter into a fake relationship and afterward both enter into unknown territory.

I really enjoyed this book and the adventures it took me on. I look forward to reading the rest of the series!

🏴‍☠️Pirates🏴‍☠️ ✨Magic✨ 🐉Dragons🐉 🏝️ The Isles Series 🏝️

#KatieCross #theislesseries #Audible#thesmokeandthesea
#Dragons #Magic #secrets # Romance #Fantasy

Great read and easy listen!

Love the world she created and the story. I can't wait for the rest of the series to be released!

Great pacing and fresh twists

The storyline is very engaging, fun, and even fresh (I really a lot of fantasy, sometimes storylines and tropes get old).
I love the characters! I’m grateful that the female was strong without trying to be an unrealistic superhero. The MCs are flawed just enough to be realistic without being destructive.

Now…
I am highly particular when it comes to narration. I cannot even count the number I’d books I’ve refused to listen to or have stopped because of the voice narration. I say this to preface that my only “complaint” is the reader/author has a strange delivery style where she stops and emphasizes every few syllables. It makes the reading sound stilted. It is not irritating enough to make DNF this one, but it was a bit off putting.

Great story and character building, very original.

Likes: The character building was great. The main man's perspective was not incredibly believable, but that's ok. It was still great. The ideas were very original. The story was very captivating. I really can not wait to read the next story. I'm a little sad they are releasing them so slowly when they are already written. I haven't read a romantasy book, and didn't even know it was a thing before this. I usually stay away from romance books because there is too much sexuality. This story was appealing in that it had clean romance. This story was great at building relationships between all of the characters as well. Great job.
Dislikes: I was very surprised to realize that the author was the one reading the book. I felt at first that the reader didn't even get to know the characters before trying to read the book. I had to slow down the speed in order to be able to believe what was being read. It was very hard to listen to at first, but I then slowed it down. After that it was easier to listen to. She was not reading too fast, just to an awkward beat and rhythm. No offense against the author. She did a wonderful job writing this book. I also did not like how the book ended. It felt rushed. It also didn't stay true to the writing of the first 4/5 of the book. I was also disappointed that the two main characters had such a build up of a relationship together for so long, and then the last two chapters, they didn't even speak to one another. A major part of the story is their relationship. It felt unfinished in that way. Even though this is a series, I feel like it should have left me feeling more whole at the end.
I still gave it a 5 star on the whole story because the world building and character building was fantastic and original. It was just what I needed: great place to exist while folding laundry and driving. It was a place that I hadn't experienced before, which is rare in fantasy.

Amazing

Secrets, dangerous creatures, powerful men, tough men and strict rules in a world at risk of collapsing. But Britt is determined to find her missing brother even at risk for her life. Finding help in an stoic soldat, they will challenge their great power of His Glory and put in motion a rebellion to a better life. Katie Cross's voice makes an incredible story into an even better one. Looking forward to listen to their next adventure

Unique world and characters

I enjoyed the story very much and can't wait for the following books. my biggest problem was the very stiff narration. It didn't flow and seemed like it was read by bad AI although I know it wasn't. more story please.

Fantastic!!!

This was exactly what I was looking for. Fantasy, romance, a strong female main character, twists turns and a good antagonist. Love this! Love it!!

Dragons

This is a great story. Enjoyed the slow build of the romance and loved that there was dragons in this book. Not your typical dragons but fun ones for sure!

nice story

Great story to listen to.
I enjoyed listening to this in the car. The narration was nice.

the author needs more feeling

she needs reading classes her monotone is unbearable please get help with the reading part you should really practice more