Waves of Pleasure

Melusine's Daughters #1

by Rachel Kenley

Mermaids on the Jersey Shore? Waves of Pleasure, the first novel in this contemporary erotic romance trilogy, introduces readers to the mermaid magic of Melusine’s Daughters.

Mermaid Lyria is her people’s most powerful healer. Her life is dictated by responsibilities and requirements and has been ever since she was a teen when the bracelet with the Stone of Clarity came to her, one of three stones imbued with great power and magic by her ancestor Melusine. However, Lyria’s well ordered, if less than happy, existence has been shaken now that she and the bracelet are in danger. Fiero, a Sea Dragon – part merfolk, part Kelpie – is determined to find all three bracelets, unite them into Melusine’s Band and rule the Oceans and all who dwell there.

Needing to keep the band – and herself – safe, Lyria decides to hide where no one would think to look for a mermaid. The Jersey Shore.

Drew Crawford, at a loss for where to go with his life after the betrayal of a friend and business partner, has returned to the Jersey Shore where he grew up. It’s the last place he wants to be, but he needs to regroup and decide his next steps so helping out the man who raised him seems like a good thing to do in the meantime. But as soon as he can, he’s leaving again. This time hopefully for good.

Lyria knows not to trust humans. Drew knows not to trust anyone. When they meet, both think it’s only for pleasure and fun. Temporary. But fun becomes passion and passion becomes more, and as their connection grows stronger, trust and acceptance will change both of their futures in ways they cannot imagine.

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2017

About the author

Rachel’s first romance novel was published in 2007 when the e-book world was new. Since then she has had seven novels and numerous short stories and novellas released, with many reaching her publishers bestseller lists. She believes in shameless flirting, never missing the chance to watch The Wizard of Oz and the emotional and economic power of retail therapy. Please don’t talk to her before her morning cup of coffee.

Reviews

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Melusine's Daughters is a trilogy following three descendants of Melusine (dual tailed, Starbucks style mermaid) each with a magical gem bracelet which gives them special powers and responsibilities.

In this first novel we follow Lyria who has the stone of clarity and the gift of healing. Fiero a sea dragon covets the power of the gems and wants Lyria for his wife. She flees to Jersey shore where she encounters Drew, whom she had encountered a decade ago when he was a lifeguard.
Drew has returned home after being betrayed by his business partner, hurt, mistrustful and directionless. He falls instantly under Lyria's spell but with both having trust issues, can their relationship be anything more than lust?

Positives - good story and good pacing - I was easily caught up in this magical world of Oceanides. characters all had reasonable depth. I liked that even Fiero is given motivation for his wicked ways. I also like the fact that our lovers build each other up - Lyria sees what's best for Drew and he offers her strength.

Negatives - editing is a bit poor in places - shit instead of shut being particularly memorable and write instead of right etc....

Heavy volume of sex scenes which are very similar. Erotic novels don't usually have this level of plot and romance and have more kink and varied sex scenes - Here we have what is essentially a paranormal romance with the number of sex scenes worthy of an erotic novel. While they aren't bad at all I could have done with less sex and more romance or more varied and interesting - we have a two tailed shapeshifer here - yet the sex is very vanilla.

Being a huge mermaid fan I would have liked more mermaid action in general - We're dealing with a Melsusine which isn't all that common - I'd have loved more underwater scenes, fin action and general myth really.

Over all though I quite enjoyed this. It's a solid mermaid/human romance with a great villain and decent story - ~It's no splash, but it's quite a nice addition to the mer-romance genre.

[Nicole Normand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy from NetGalley; this is my honest review.
- One star off for editing: "his eyes were shit" vs. shot..., whole paragraph copied again elsewhere, sister vs. cousin, "wonderful" too many times.
- Lots of sex scenes for a 5-day story. Not a problem. Drew and Lyria are both considerate lovers.
- It's good to have the legend explained right at the beginning in one shot instead of bit by bit.
- Good love story, believable (outside the magic), real situations between people.
- Other than the sex scenes there were not many descriptions; we could have used more about the boardwalk, the people, the clothing, the food, etc.
- Looking forward to the next book in this series.

[Siobhan D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the wonderful narration of Michelle Thompson, who brings out the characters, emotions, romance and steam. Perfect.

Drew has been betrayal by a friend and business partner, and know has returned to the Jersey Shore where he grew. Wanting to help the man who raised him. But wanting to leave as soon as he can.
Lyria doesn't trust humans. So when she and Drew meet, both think it’s only for pleasure and fun. But soon passion becomes more, their connection grows stronger.
This book has great character, plot and so much steam.

[Jacinta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a nice diverting read. The back story was interesting and the characters were engaging but it could have been a fantastic read with a little bit more attention to detail with the editing and spell checking. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here.