Book 808: Galaxies and Oceans – N.R. Walker

I grabbed this after seeing Annabeth Albert talk about it in either her Facebook group or on her email list. I’ve read quite a bit of Walker and enjoyed her for the most part, but to hear Albert rave about this one I was like “uhhhh, duh I’m going to read it.”

Thankfully Kindle Unlimited had it and I was able to read it sooner rather than later 😀

Galaxies and Oceans starts off with the harrowing journey of Aubrey, running away from his past life  carrying only his grandfather’s telescope and staging his own death in a brush fire, and eventually running into Patrick, a lonely lighthouse keeper dealing with the death of his partner in a storm on a fishing boat a few years prior.

It doesn’t really get much more complex than that. Patrick lives on a small island off the southern coast of Australia and when Aubrey turns up it’s a big to-do because the town is so small. There’s drama with the local policeman who has had the hots for Patrick. And the crises of the novel comes when that policeman uncovers who Aubrey is and the will they/won’t they stay together kicks in.

It was as though he was the personification of this coast, this ocean. He was browns, blues, and greys, just like the scenery behind him, with a spark of life in his eyes but a sadness too. A little worn, rugged, weathered, but beautiful all the same. (60)

Both Patrick and Aubrey were well written believable characters. I loved all their dates and how homey the novel feels. It didn’t quite make me want to be a light house keeper (unlike His Horizon by Con Riley which desperately made me want to be a B&B/pub owner), but it definitely made me want to see the wild coasts of southern Australia!

The sex scenes were well written and I don’t recall anything pulling me out of the moment, which is a bonus! The descriptions of abuse and trauma Aubrey faced in his previous life are for the most left vague and his abuser gets his just desserts which is all you can ask for. And the epilogue was perfect 😀

‘Everything about you means comfort to me. The way you wrap your arms around me is like a blanket. Your voice is never loud or angry, just warm and safe.’ I ate the bread without looking at him. I felt if he saw the vulnerability in my eyes, I’d break apart. ‘Kind of like I’m lost at sea and you’re the lighthouse and safe harbour. I know when I’m with you, no one can hurt me.’ (209)

Recommendation: A great book and enjoyable read by Walker. This one seems a bit more mature than some of her other books I’ve read. I think it’s geared at a bit more mature audience. Aubrey and Patrick were great characters and I kind of want to know more about the policeman, but doubt I’ll follow up on seeing if she wrote one for him. If I stumble across it, it’ll be a pleasant surprise.

Opening Line: “I stood in the middle of the cabin unable to speak.”

Closing Line: “I blinked back happy tears, my heart completely full. ‘May the stars forever guide us, and may this lighthouse bring us home.'” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Galaxies and Oceans
“Grief was like the great Southern Ocean; it moved in ebbs and flows, often turbulent and rough, or peaceful and settled, and even over time when I could navigate the waters, the tide never stopped.” (33)

“Stories were better told over time, anyway, when allowed to unfold only when they were ready to be written.” (34)

“It’s not the ocean that bends and breaks. You think those rocks down there are unmovable and a solid force because the water crashes around them, but it’s the opposite. The ocean shapes them and breaks them down. It moves them, not the other way around. The ocean is a constant force of energy. It yields for nothing.” (63)

“Trust the waters, Patrick. The ocean was mapped out from the stars.” (71)

“But sometimes you have to listen to the silences. When things aren’t said. That’s where the truth is.” (73)

“And I kind of liked the way my body hummed with sexual tension. Waiting was a lot more fun when I could see the finish line. Just a few more hours and I knew, without a doubt, Patrick would make it worth my while. And that buzz in my belly crept a little lower and my dick responded in kind.” (204)

“‘When you look at the stars, what do you see?’
‘Impossible possibilities,’ I answered in a whisper. ‘
Movement and stillness, incomprehensible vastness. Infinity.'” (211)

“And there it was. Everything laid bare with nothing in between. Like the space between the ocean and the galaxies above it. Unimpeded, yet completely, unbearably impossible.” (218)

“Time simply didn’t stop. It trudged on while you wandered aimlessly, helplessly, with only grief and loneliness as companions. Time mocked and ridiculed, passing slowly when you were the one left behind, and at the same time flying by so damn fast, reminding you that you were stuck. Time was a cruel beast.” (221)

“I used to think you were this coastline personified. Eyes the colour of water, and your beard is the colour of the brown rocks and grey like the storms, and you were as beckoning and as strong as your lighthouse. So having a heart as big as the Southern Ocean kind of fits.” (265)