Consistent is a great word for Sarah Penner’s novels - I felt a strong 4 ranking back when I first read The Lost Apothecary, and I strongly feel it with the Amalfi Curse too.
This was a fun and joyful little adventure with the right dash of romance, magic and Italian flare.
I really enjoyed the plot and the weaving timelines - I do think some things were just a little too good to be true/realistic, but I’m willing to suspend my belief when I read.
I have never read a book about divers and I felt that Penner was able to explain well for someone who knows nothing about what it takes or what it’s like. As well? She did a great job at building the Amalfi background.

A strong, solid read for any who loved The Lost Apothecary.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! There was just enough adventure and mystery to make it a compelling story! There were parts that moved slowly and some questions or plot lines that weren’t answered; but all in all such a satisfying read!

I've read and enjoyed other books by Sarah Penner, so I was excited to get the ARC from NetGalley! This is the tale of Haven, a sea archeologist and her first job without her father. Traveling to Italy, she seeks to find new discoveries using her father's cryptic notes. Then the story flips to Italy in the 1800s and the witches who live along the coast. Using their magic, they protect their sea-side town from pirates and looters. Penner does a fantastic job of weaving the two storylines together for a suspenseful, exciting read.

The Amalfi Curse
by Sarah Penner
Pub Date: Apr 29 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Haven Ambrose, a trailblazing nautical archaeologist, has come to the sun-soaked village of Positano to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast. But Haven is hoping to find more than old artifacts beneath the azure waters; she is secretly on a quest to locate a trove of priceless gemstones her late father spotted on his final dive. Upon Haven’s arrival, strange maelstroms and misfortunes start plaguing the town. Is it nature or something more sinister at work?

As Haven searches for her father’s sunken treasure, she begins to unearth a centuries-old tale of ancient sorcery and one woman’s quest to save her lover and her village by using the legendary art of stregheria, a magical ability to harness the ocean. Could this magic be behind Positano’s latest calamities? Haven must unravel the Amalfi Curse before the region is destroyed forever…

Against the dazzling backdrop of the Amalfi Coast, this bewitching novel shimmers with mystery, romance and the untamed magic of the sea.

Sarah Penney’s third book The Amalfi Curse is a blended mix of the past and present. She once again offers a unique storyline with the book centering around sunken treasures, sea witches, and forbidden love. Penner truly takes you out into the high seas with this nautical spellbinding story. Her best yet!

As someone who studied history- Sarah Penner masterfully weaves stories rife with lore and legends and history recorded wrong. So when I saw that she had a new novel coming out- I was absolutely feral to get my hands on it.
The Amalfi Curse was sensational.
The story follows Haven who is in Positano largely for a huge career changing dive expedition, but also she is somewhat there to find a lost treasure her father found before he passed suddenly. Our second narrative follows Mari, who is the 'matriarch'? of an ancient line of sea-witches.
Dual timelines can be difficult because more often then not- personally I find myself eager to read one person's story more than the other. But Sarah has such an amazing way of blending the two narratives, that at no point was I dreading one characters chapters over the others.
The setting was in a whole other ballpark. My mom is quite fond of the Amalfi Coast and talks about it often- I feel like I've been now. The backdrop was crafted so masterfully that throughout the entire book I had a clear image in my head of where we were and what I was reading. Which is amazing. To top it all off the plot was so engaging that I know I will likely read this book again. If you enjoy adventure and historical fiction books I would highly recommend this one.

Sarah Penner is BRILLIANT. Yes it took me a month to read this. That was on purpose. I knew I would be crushed when I was finished and I am.

Amalfi Curse has surpassed The London Seance Society and The Lost Apothecary for me. Sarah weaves a beautiful relationship between past and present. I am not a historical fiction fan but I became enraptured with Mari and Holmes and their story. Their love story is timeless and seeing it from Haven' perspective in the present made it that much more real.

The two FMCs are fantastic, strong characters and their stories were beautifully told.

I visited (and fell in love with) the Amalfi Coast over the summer, so as soon as this book became available to read, I requested it immediately. I also remember following Sarah Penner’s Instagram stories while she visited Positano and immersed herself in the culture. She definitely brought the setting to life and made me want to go back to Italy to explore more.

While I was a bit concerned how I would feel reading a book dealing with “witchcraft“, it read more like magical realism to me. The blend of magical realism with historical fiction really made the story shine.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Read if you like:
Dual timelines
Multiple POVs
Italian settings
Treasure hunting
Scuba diving

The Almalfi Curse is my first book by this author but definitely won’t be my last, I’ve already ordered her two prior books before finishing this one. I love her writing style.

This book is dual POV with timelines in the present and in the 1800s and it was so cool to see how everything ties together. I loved the characters and the plot was very intriguing. Can’t wait to read more by this author.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Told in dual timelines through alternating POVs, the Amalfi Curse is atmospheric, well-paced, and deliciously satisfying. Water witches, shipwrecks, scuba diving for treasures, mysterious drownings, hot Italian lovers--what more could a reader ask for? Also, that cover! Gorgeous.

I have loved Sarah Penner's books since reading The Lost Apothecary and while this one came in a little short of that mark, I found this to be more entertaining then The London Seance Society. Having visited the Amalfi Coast, I found the story line very relatable and the perfect escape back to Positano.

With the loss of her father still painfully fresh, nautical archaeologist Haven Ambrose is determined to fulfill his last wish of finding underwater treasure on the Amalfi coast. While she’s not surprised that her quest is less than straightforward, she also didn’t bargain for supernatural forces to be one of the main obstacles she must overcome.

Throughout history, streghe, witches descended from the mythological Sirens, have used their powers to control the seas around Li Galli and Positano. While some of these extraordinary women have wholeheartedly embraced their magical abilities, others like Mari DeLuca see them as a burden. For Mari, the sea has taken from her so much more than it has given, and she’s determined to leave the coast behind to start a new life with her true love. But before she can escape, she must first contend with the nefarious Mazzas, brothers who have hatched a plan to kidnap the streghe and use them to expand their empire of corruption.

As Haven follows the clues her father left behind, she ends up uncovering Mari’s two hundred-year-old story. And in doing so, she must decide whose legacy to honor, Mari’s or her dad’s.

While I appreciate Penner’s attempt to give us two strong female leads to cheer on, I can’t help but feel like Mari ended up being a far more well-developed character than Haven. The notion of finding lost treasure is understandably compelling, but it does take some of the focus away from the Project Relic storyline where we get to see Haven as a woman claiming her own territory in an otherwise male-dominated field. I also wouldn’t have minded less focus on Haven’s relationship with Enzo, though I get that it was necessary to build the plot.

Thanks to Net Galley and Harlequin Trade for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

From the author of The Lost Apothecary, comes another tale of witchy women, this time in Italy along the Amalfi Coast. This dual timeline story follows a set of Italian brothers in the 1800s running a shipping route of questionable intentions and a group of women practicing stregheria (sea witchcraft) to set them off course…along with a current day treasure hunter looking to learn about some shipwrecks off the Italian coast. As a scuba diver myself, I’m always drawn to adventures on the sea and this one foots the bill. Great read!

Just like I devoured Sarah Penner's previous historical fantasy works, I went into this book blind and completely enjoyed the two intertwining timelines. The story follows witches of the sea who protect the Amalfi Coast, and centuries later, a woman archaeologist searches for a mysterious treasure. I was sold from the first chapter.

The gripping, fast-paced storytelling, Mari, Holmes, and Haven's intriguing perspectives, the sea witches' powerful incantations, and the heart-pounding, thrilling fight against the Mazza Fratelli (Brothers) kept me on the edge of my seat. Haven's discoveries, her secret mission to honor her father's wishes, her blossoming love story with Enzo, and the detailed, alluring descriptions of Amalfi that made me want to book an immediate trip to Italy completely drew me into the story.

The past and present timelines perfectly intertwined, and the outcome was far more satisfying than I expected.
Here's a quick recap of the storyline:

Haven Ambrose, a skilled nautical archaeologist, makes an agreement with a startup tech company and assembles her own team of women archaeologists for Project Relic. Their mission is to dive around the Amalfi Coast in search of mysterious shipwrecks and relics. What her team doesn't know is that her recently deceased father had previously dived in the same location and discovered priceless gemstones. He left coordinates and underwater photos for Haven to help her find the treasures.

However, Haven didn't anticipate the tragedy at Li Galli, where a yacht sinks, killing eight people, including popular influencers. The project's chauvinist CEO assigns Conrad, an experienced archaeologist and rival of her father who once saved her life underwater, to lead a new team.
Haven grows suspicious of Conrad's maneuver to take over her project. Could he know about her father's secret treasure hunt and volunteered to search for it under the guise of a professional assignment? Determined not to leave Positano, she visits a diving shop to rent a boat and equipment, which leads her to meet Enzo and start her own adventure.

Simultaneously, the narrative takes us back to 1821, where a young, powerful sea witch named Mari finds herself in a dilemma. She plans to leave Positano with her sailor lover Holmes when dangerous, corrupt men begin hunting down witches to exploit their powers, kidnapping four of them.

Overall, this is an intriguing, innovative, and captivating historical fantasy that you absolutely shouldn't miss!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sharing this brilliant fantasy's digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I ABSOLUTELY adored this story! It had me hooked from the very first chapter.

Told between two timelines and multiple POV’s, Haven is a marine archaeologist set to find the treasure her father had within his reach in Positano, Italy just before he died. While she’s there, she races an old family friend to get to the treasure and discovers there’s a myth surrounding the islet of Li Galli and why there are so many sunken ships.

We also learn the story of Mari and Holmes in the past and their tale collides with Haven in the present.

Penner also does a beautiful job weaving her past and present timelines together. This story was truly captivating and I really resonate with her writing style. Her characters are so dynamic.

I will read anything she writes. This might be my favorite one yet!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for this e-copy in exchange for this honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

Once I started this, I could. Not. Stop. Sarah Penner, you wrote with a cocaine dipped quill because MY GOD.

I can’t remember the last time I devoured a book like this!!!

Full, more detailed review coming closer to release!

I absolutely loved everything about this book! I see this being a big book club pick for next year. I loved the dual timelines & the sting female mc’s.

The Amalfi Curse follows follows two women about 150 years apart. One a women co flicked with her calling in Postino & one who is an underwater archeologist studying in Postitino. Part historical fiction, part romance & part adventure,

I love this book & I cannot wait to recommend it to everyone!

Having read Penner other two books, I was so excited to read this one. Much like her other books Penner builds a beautiful two that reels the reader in. I really enjoyed reading about Heaven and Mari side by side; both of these characters were not exactly the same, but they shared the water. I also really enjoyed reading about the stregheria and learning about this type of witchcraft which I have never I heard of this before, and it was fun to learn something new. Again, Penner has given us a wonderful, powerful story.

I am so obsessed with this book! It’s one of those stories that grabs your heart and doesn’t let go. Haven Ambrose is everything I love in a protagonist—brilliant, determined, and full of heart. Her quest to uncover her father’s treasure had me hooked, but the deeper mystery, with its ties to ancient sorcery and a centuries-old love story, absolutely blew me away!

The dual timelines—Haven’s present-day adventure and Mari’s spellbinding tale from the 1820s—are so seamlessly woven together that I found myself unable to put the book down! Both women are so real, so brave, and their connection to the sea feels almost magical. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see how their stories would collide, and the way it all tied together was just perfection!

Sarah’s writing is absolutely stunning! Her vivid descriptions of Positano made me feel like I was standing on its sun-drenched cliffs, feeling the salt breeze and hearing the waves crash below. The historical and magical elements blend flawlessly, creating a story that is not only beautifully atmospheric but also deeply emotional.

This book is pure magic! It’s for anyone who loves stories about strong, courageous women, rich history, and a little bit of mystery and magic. Do yourself a favor and dive in. You won’t regret it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Often with dual timeline stories one timeline is stronger or more interesting than the other. Here I'm happy to say that both storylines in THE AMALFI CURSE are equally engrossing. This novel has a wonderful sense of adventure, and you can tell Penner did her research and carefully plotted the two timelines so that both pull the reader in. Ultimately you will be cheering for the strong women who are constantly held back by men. The Amalfi coast setting is delicious and lovingly conveyed through sensory details. I've never been, but now I want to go!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.