Grading system:

1 star — wallbanger, don’t waste your time

2 stars — mildly interesting but still flawed

3 stars — average

4 stars — good read

5 stars — excellent

Immortal Sea

Publisher: Berkley

ISBN: 0425237478

5 stars

In celebration of the upcoming RITA® awards coming up, I thought it would be nice to review a title or two that are currently in the running in categories outside of my own. First up, a title by Virginia Kantra in her Children of the Sea series.

The Blurb: Morgan of the finfolk does not normally waste his attention on humankind, but while in Copenhagen, he meets a young woman who captures his interest — if only for a night. On sojourn in Europe before starting medical school, Elizabeth is intelligent, attractive — and eager for a little adventure …

Sixteen years later, Dr. Elizabeth Rodriguez is called to the island of World’s End to become its only doctor. There, she hopes to reconnect with her troubled son Zack, who has become withdrawn since her husband's death. She has no idea that World’s End will also reconnect her with Morgan.

From the moment Morgan lays his eyes on young Zack, he suspects the boy is finfolk-and his own son. As he and Liz clash over Zack’s fate, they discover their desire is as strong as ever. But proud Morgan’s loyalty has always been the sea, while Liz’s responsibilities lie on land. Will their reignited passion be enough to bring them together? Or will their secrets force them apart?

My Take: I’ve always been a fan of the Irish selkie mythology. I loved the idea of seals shedding their skins at night to walk as humans and as a kid I always looked for good selkie myths to read. So when Virginia Kantra introduced her Children of the Sea series with Sea Witch about a selkie who takes a human mate, I was eager to get my hands on it. I read the book on vacation and fell in love with the mythology as Kantra had reinvented it.

Now with Immortal Sea, Kantra has released five of the selkie books and, as evidenced by her recent RITA nomination, she hasn’t lost the ability to hook readers with this enigmatic group of magical beings. I think what I love most is the layering of supernatural that actually feels grounded in possible fact. What a hallmark of a great talent to convince a reader that the fantastical, might actually have happened back when the world was young and we lost our ability to wonder.

If you’re looking for a great paranormal, mythic romance, you might think of checking this one out.

Kimberly Van Meter, romance novelist, offers reviews (her opinion) on current fiction-length, traditionally published novels that catch her fancy.