The Sea Ain't Mine Alone by C.L. Beaumont

This was an absolutely marvelous read! Such a poignant, angsty, emotional and sweet m/m romance with complex and wonderful characters that I immediately rooted for and so beautifully written that the words themselves felt like the rolling waves along the beautiful beaches of SoCal and Hawaii where the story takes place. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time!

The story is set in the 1970s and follows the two surfers James Campbell and Danny/Sidney Moore from their first meeting in an international surfing competition that impacts them both in a life-changing way. I loved the whole atmosphere with the surfing culture, the comradeship and competition, the sun and salt and the foaming waves, that C.L. Beaumont captured so well you could almost feel the sun and the wind on your skin while reading this book. But more importantly, I deeply appreciated the way she captured the general beliefs and feelings of the time period, with the homophobia and conflicts after the Vietnam war, which gave this story much more depth and provided a backdrop explaining the characters’ behavior and choices.

James Campbell is carrying his scars from the Vietnam war both inside and on his body, just trying to get through each day and fighting his desire to head into the ocean and never come back. The only things that keep him going is his best friend Rob and surfing.

Danny Moore is the infamous top surfer, who carries his own scars from being forced to leave his alcoholic mother at a young age (the only one who called him by his first name, Sydney), from being outed by a class mate and from being thrown out by his father for being gay when he was fifteen. Suffering with trust issues, and all too aware of the whispers about him, he shields himself with a cocky attitude that keeps everyone at bay. But when his eyes meet James at the surfer competition, something captures him and shatters his protective walls as Danny Moore and lets his private self, Sydney, see the light again.
 
The characters in this book are pure perfection, so complex and charismatic, so wounded and sweet, that you immediately root for them and suffer with them in their longing, heart ache and fight to deny their feelings. I loved the way C.L. Beaumont let us experience both James’ and Sydney’s views and backgrounds in different turns and hos she slowly weaved them together into this marvelous story. There were some truly amazing character developments in this book and the way these two hurting souls found each other and found the courage to live and love and slowly heal from the tragedies was just breathtaking.

I also really loved the friendship between James and Rob. It was so heartwarming and sweet and added so much to the story.

And the writing was just incredible. So beautiful and poetic, precise yet vivid, and with a wonderful flow, hinting rather than telling the story. It captured the atmosphere and the suppressed feelings, longings and tension between the character in a perfect way. Almost every sentence felt like a quote worth saving.

All in all, I absolutely loved this book and recommend it with all my heart! The Sea Ain’t Mine Alone was such a poignant and gripping, yet uplifting and heart-warming, romantic story about two very different men finding each other and a way to heal, live and love again. It was also an important historical eye-opener as to the injustice, fear and homophobia that was the reality for gay people in the 1970s, and a story showing how love conquers all and how it’s never too late to find love and happiness, if you’re just brave enough to let down the guard and be vulnerable and true.

​Rating:
5 stars

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