Publication July 7, 2026 by Atria Books

The second adult novel from New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, in which a woman rediscovers the mythical island she stumbled upon as a child—and the man she once met who apparently hasn’t aged—and must choose between the life she’s built and a love that defies the laws of time and nature.

The night Clay Lockhart’s wife dies, a violent storm tears their home—and the eight hectares of land beneath it—away from the Scottish coast, sending it adrift into the Atlantic. Thirty years later, twelve-year-old Ellie Mills discovers the fabled floating island off the coast of Nova Scotia and finds Clay still living in the weatherworn farmhouse perched on its highest hill.

When the island vanishes overnight, Ellie is left questioning whether it ever existed at all. But decades later, now in her thirties, the island resurfaces—and Ellie returns, determined to uncover the truth. What she finds is even Clay hasn’t aged a single day.

Faced with the impossible, Ellie learns that some mysteries aren’t meant to be solved—and that a life shaped by wonder may hold more promise than one bound by certainty.

Spanning centuries and coastlines, Habits of the Sea is a haunting, romantic journey through time, memory, and the invisible tides that pull us home.

My Thoughts:

When I received an email invite from Atria Books to review this book, I immediately accepted, no questions asked.  The very idea of an island that vanishes and resurfaces in different parts of the world captivated me.

In my review “A History of Wild Places” I stated that Ernshaw employs artistic composition in a unique and refreshing way that has you hanging on to every word. Her ability to articulate any situation or surrounding in the story is outstanding. This very statement applies to Habits of the Sea, but…

There was a sudden shift in the second half of the book that truly caught me off guard and after thinking about it for a bit, I could see where Ernshaw was going with it, but it just did not work for me. Habits of the Sea went from being mystery story centered around an intriguing mystical Island to a climate-changing, apocalyptic world without really any natural transition so that you aren’t disoriented when it happens. At least, that was my experience with the storyline.  Also, the character development was lacking and the relationship between Ellie and Clay was not convincing enough for a romance story.

That said, Ernshaw’s beautiful and unique storytelling laced with melancholy and highly emotional scenes had me hanging on to the end despite the moodiness, and frustrations I felt reading this story. I know many readers will love this book; I was just not the right reader for it.

I rated this book three stars.

Stephanie 

I received an ARC from the publishers via email and obtained a galley copy through NetGalley for an honest review.

Side Bar: There is profanity, a violent scene, and sexual content in this story. Yeah, I’m a closed-door romance reader with very little to no profanity preference. I’m frustrated with not knowing these things about stories before reviewing them. Early readers deserve that. I would also like to add, I wrote this review before the publication date, and I held off posting my review of this story on my blog, because quite honestly, I was torn about the descion of doing so.