After a successful mating season, Glacier returns to the lighthouse he calls home to rest and watch over his treasure pile. Used to spending his days left alone by the human who lives there, he is surprised to find that the lighthouse is being tended by someone new--someone much more curious about the merman who’s been protecting the shore.
It doesn’t take long before Glacier is discovered, and the chase is on. Will Glacier be able to escape, or will this human catch him? And why are forbidden feelings starting to grow the longer Glacier is pursued?
Dive into the heartachingly sweet story of two creatures who orbit each other’s worlds, too curious to stay away.
absolutely lovely. the writing was lyrical, dark and delicate with a captivating romance and a MMC to die for! glacier is a sweet baby who is an isolated monster and loves shiny things (honestly same), who grieving the death of his mysterious unknown friend, an old human man that tends the lighthouse near the cove Glacier resides. the new tender of the lighthouse is an enigmatic man who attempts to capture the merman resulting in injury and some interesting sparks start to fly!
spoilers . . . . . i only complaints (maybe?) is the merman’s sex organ is described as a “cunt” and i just personally hate that word, but outside of that it just seemed like a strange word choice for a male or even potentially androgynous character. also, the egg part was… whaaaat 🫨
anyway regardless, i seriously loved this so much. the cover alone sold me and the writing and vibes were absolutely stunning. i hope the author builds on this, i want more! i would have LOVED a pov from ernest and i hope to meet pebble one day too. i’m looking forward to reading more from this author!
thank you to my friends rune for buddy reading this with me! i had so much fun 🖤
This might be the best stretch of 73 pages I will read all year. It was like this author did a scan of my brain to see what i’d like to read about and then put all of it in this story.
This was just the best little story about a merman and a human that are in a tug of war with each other and end up falling into a romance in the process and I was so obsessed with every seconds of it.
this was cute (and I totally recommend it)! It could have easily been a 5 Star, with some slight tweaks.
The only things that bothered me a little were Ernest as a character - I didn't feel like I knew him well enough, which made him slightly unlikeable to me - and the fact that there were some inconsistencies in what Glacier knew about humans and didn't. f.ex. he's very oblivious about a lot o human civilization (rightly so) but then knows what a tap is and speaks fluidly english; first time he sees a mirror he doesn't seem to know exactly what it is (describes it as a reflective surface) but then a few pages later he knows what a mirror is just fine. I was also slightly confused on what time we were in? I assume 19th century-ish but then again both Glacier and Ernest spoke very modern english, which threw me off majorly.
All of my moaning aside though, I had a good time reading this, and will definitely pick up more by the author in the future 🌊 🧜🏻♂️
3.5 stars This was a sweet and kinda dark story with a merman and his human. I wanted to understand Ernest more as a character, beyond his weird mix of care and selfishness. What drove him to be who he was? Glacier was pragmatic but a bit impulsive when it came to humans.
Spice: 2/5
Triggers: death (off page, side character), decomposition, emesis, blood, attempted semi kidnapping, shark attack
This was GREAT! If you enjoyed A Bone in His Teeth you will definitely love this, too!
Miscellaneous thoughts - the spice was so very hot omg - the had me dying - I wish we had more time with these, especially to get to know Ernest before the two get together
fuck yeah freaky merman sex !! yippeeeee !! genuinely though, this was well written and i'd actually love to read more about the lore around the merpeople used in this
Enjoyable and well-written! Loved the merman's POV and the glimpse into their culture and mating rituals. I only wish we got more background on the human.
The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because there isn't nearly enough here! That means you can fix it Skyler. ;3
Author I want more! Please build and expand because this was over far too soon. I love them? He is too pure and sweet but also an adorable grumpy guss. Just an absolute water puppy dog fish boy and I adore him.
I would love to see interactions with Pebble, the old man before he passed, and maybe a dual POV for Earnest? There is a lot of potential here and I would love to see it explored more.
As it is right now I definitely recommend this if you want a good, quick read.
Merman zoomies awaaaaay!!! (Seriously, I want yo see that!)
Edit: Okay, I had to come back to add this coz it's been bothering me. Two things:
One, the egg thing (not saying details to avoid spoilers but you'll know what I mean once you've read it) a bit unhinged, came out of nowhere. Maybe talk about that before you do that and give me images of mochi-like eggs.
Two, the use of female genitalia terms on males bothers me. Especially as a trans man. would prefer more neutral terms be used.
Pretty solid novella. I liked Glacier's narration and inner world.
I think the thing I struggled with most was Ernest? He's just kind of creepy and possessive without any kind of personality to go with it - so I could understand Glacier being horny and wanting to get it on in spite of or even because Ernest was creepy, but for me I needed a little more oomph to the man to actually enjoy that aspect of the story. Also the amount Glacier knew and didn't know about humans was a bit inconsistent.
The sex scene was fun. I liked the merpeople biology class, with the 3 different types of merpeople needed to breed successfully. That's definitely the kind of stuff I'm looking for when reading monster or alien romances.
A unique, well written story about a merman getting captured by and falling for a human. The world is well developed with Glacier teaching about the different genders of merfolk, the lifestyle in a food dessert, and the reason behind languages spoken. You can tell this story has been polished to perfection. My only complaint is the love interest, Ernest. He comes off as creepy and, often, childish, especially in the epilogue. He's also into some sick nasty stuff, which is forgiveable, but beeing creepy is not. I would love to read more books by this author with different characters.
Merman's Delight is, in fact, a delight. The content warnings are essentially my hot book shopping list. I tend to dive into books relatively blind and was not expecting a story from the merman's perspective! I loved seeing the world through Glacier's eyes. Especially when certain instincts kick in...heating things up to a whole new degree of eroticism.
An absolute fun, short read. The romance between Glacier and Ernest was quick and sweet. It started with misunderstanding, but ended with beautiful understanding. My favorite thing in the book was the faberge egg. Glacier's belief that a human was going to hatch from it, and how carefully he cared for it was so, so cute. The scene where Ernest has to break the news to him was my favorite moment between the two.
I loved the creative take on mermaids — the author made them their own instead of simply falling back into the classic stereotypes. Glacier's body made more sense for something actually living and swimming in the ocean. The reproductive system for the mermaids also gave their species/ society more depth. I really liked the inclusion of the three-step fertilization process. The eggs were also... very fun to read about. Oh man, I really love mermaids. I need to read more mermaid stories.
Have fun! Read everything you can! Support indie authors!
I loved the cover and was intrigued! This book is short enough to read in maybe one or two readings, it is sweet, sumptuous with its imagery (watery mer-people pov! Yay!) with a dash of sharp sour to contrast the sweet. There's a bit of enemies to lovers, some push and pull, an attempted kidnapping, and the harsh realities of nature (mer vs shark) and a dollop of light horror, sweet n sour, wrapped up with a unique bow. 🎀🧜♂️🌊🌊
If you enjoy reading merpeople, and aren't squeamish about bodies or reproductive themes (read the blurb!) then you'll enjoy devouring this story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recommended!
OH I loved this so much. I was expecting it to be dark and kinky and fun. And guess what? It was all that and those parts were so perfect that I was so so so completely hooked. But what caught me off guard was how it was more. I felt like the romance was just so tender and sweet and if you looked past the dark kink. Nightshade did a good job of layering it in so that you were shown how much care there was, rather than having it be blatantly told to you. A true masterpiece!
This was a fun, spicy short novella story with hints of 1800s-esque merman/sailor vibes. Just moody enough without being scary (which is good bc I’m a big chicken lol)
Beautifully written. The imagery, the longing. The way the interactions stem from curiosity but they get to see a soft side to each other and the caretaking bringing the hurt/comfort was lovely. I definitely look forward to reading more from this author.
Very quick and interesting read. I liked it and it was a bit different from the normal mermaids/mermans story that I usually read. The reproduction of the merfolk in this story is fascinating!
The author has made the undersea world of the Merfolk come alive. Main character Glacier's life, wants, desires, fears and joys made him a believable real being. I'm actually sad the book was so short as it was a pleasure to. read.
This was fun! Would’ve loved more conversation or dual POV to get a better grasp on Ernest’s thoughts & feelings. I did not expect the… snacking during times. But, I will be requesting more please!