Genre: Paranormal, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Lesbian
Reviewer: Monique
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About The Book
Mermaid Survival Rule Number 1: Stay away from intelligent women.
Who are so my type.
Fish are not great conversationalists.
That’s not why Niua sneaks aboard a research ship, or why she’s stumbling around on legs, pretending she’s not a mermaid, but years of living among uncommunicative sea life may explain why she’s unwisely flirting with a marine scientist who’s far too perceptive–and far too female–for Niua’s safety.
She needs to focus, but Ms. “Why Aren’t You on the Passenger List?” keeps distracting her.
In the best possible way.
She’s in over her head, and she doesn’t have time to waste. She has a shipwreck to find, a treasure to reclaim, and a secret to protect.
Before mermaids disappear forever.
The Review
Niua is a mermaid, well aware of the dangers that lurk among humans. But her search for a lost artifact of great personal importance brings her onto the scientific research vessel Mallory works on. A no-nonsense scientist, Mallory feels separate from the rest of the crew and carries a lot of baggage from her past.
In the face of Mallory’s questions and skepticism, Niua insinuates herself into a position on the boat. But in spite of Mallory’s misgivings and the secrets Niua is desperate to keep, the two soon find themselves very much interested in each other.
As their relationship grows, they each reflect on this unexpected complication in their lives.
Meanwhile, Niua hopes that the scientists’ work will help her to find the artifact, a chalice, but her time to find it is running short. So, she begins to look elsewhere for clues and the action moves from the boat as her search gains steam as she races against time to find the chalice.
There is a lot to like in this very sweet, romantic story.
The relationship between Niua and Mallory is, of course, the heart of the story, but the reader also learns an interesting amount about Niau’s life as a mermaid and Mallory’s scientific interests.
The first part of the book was more focused on Niua and Mallory’s own individual doubts and fears, both about their nascent relationship, as well as the personal challenges they each were facing. The second half of the book was more preoccupied with the action around Niua’s search for the chalice and Mallory’s participation in that.
The balance of steamy sex scenes with the quite charming romance worked well and helped to reinforce the growing relationship between Niua and Mallory. The story takes place over a fairly short time frame (about a month), so the depth of Niua and Mallory’s feelings for each other could be a little unrealistic, but the author made it work and, in the context of the story, I was willing to suspend my disbelief.
Although there is the expected conflict and the need for Niua and Mallory to build trust, the story is sweet and largely uncomplicated, with two likable and interesting main characters.
And some nicely hot sex scenes.
Recommended.
The Reviewer
Monique Cuillerier is a lesbian writer of (mostly) near future science fiction. She will read anything, from history books to cereal boxes, but has a preference for Golden Age & cozy mysteries and all sorts of speculative fiction. When she is not writing or reading, she likes to run, knit, garden, and get very angry on Twitter. Her favourite object in the solar system is Saturn’s moon, Enceladus and her favourite tv show is either Babylon 5 or Star Trek: Voyager (her cat Janeway votes for the latter). She is Canadian, born in Toronto and living (for the time being) in Ottawa.
