Cruel Water: The Dirty Heros Collection Book 11

The Dirty Heroes Collection #11

by Dee Palmer

Cruel Water

I’m not a sadist by choice,
I’m a sadist by design,
Cursed to inflict pain on others
And yet I find no pleasure in it,
Only a moment of release from my eternal torment.
And yet, it’s not enough
I’m not a sadist,
I’m a monster.

One night changed all that,
One night she dragged me from the oceans dark depths
Cresting the cruel waters she came to my rescue, like an angel.
A mermaid.
And now I’m going crazy and don’t know what to believe.
Was she real?
Did she truly soothe my demons and take away my pain?
How am I even alive?
So many questions taunt me.
So many answer evade my grasp.
What is true? What is real? What to believe?
All I know for sure is I have to find her again,
I have to know,
Can she really save me from myself?

Genres: Dark Romance, Retellings, Paranormal Romance, Dark, Smut, Novella, Fantasy

190 pages, Paperback

First published June 22, 2020

About the author

Dee Palmer lives just outside of London with her husband and (slightly embarrassed) children. Her passion is writing sexy steamy romance stories that will scorch the pages right off your kindle and are guaranteed to make your heart pound. She loves an HEA but isn't afraid to put her readers through the ringer before she delivers.

When not at her desk she can be found either fannying around on Facebook or with her nose stuck in her Kindle. Once in a while when the lights are down she might be spotted about town searching for the best French martinis and throwing some dubious shapes on the dance floor.

GRAB YOUR FREE BOOK HERE:

https://view.flodesk.com/pages/602baa...

Stalk me On My web/blogsite www.deepalmerwriter.com Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Oooh and Pinterest if you like it hot

Reviews

[Lisa Ann Leos-Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

NO F@*%EN WAY!?!?!?!?!
*jaw dropped* I want to throw my book across the room, run to pick it up, read what I know to be true, and throw it again. HOW DARE YOU?!?!?! OMG!!! I have read the same thing over, and over - just to be sure I'm understanding correctly. Cruel Water is a perfect title. This is by far one of the cruelest, most jaw dropping books I have read! It was fantastic!!! AAAHHHHH!!! *shakes fists* Great writing! I have been haunted by books in the past. Moments and characters stay with me. This will be one of those books.
I applaud you dear author! Dee Palmer, you are as cruel as these waters - I love it! ❤❤❤❤❤

[Romantic Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ☆ - There were many spelling errors and grammar issues. I almost wanted to stop reading because it felt so unbearably rushed. There wasn’t a single page without a mistake. However, I really tried to ignore the poor grammar because I wanted to enjoy the book for what it was.

“The moment I was dragged me from that car, I felt different.”

Yes, this is a word by word quote from the book.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

the little mermaid is my all time favorite disney movie and there are hardly any retellings that interest me so when I saw this collection featured a little mermaid story, I was so pumped. the beginning was great but the end literally came out of nowhere. it just stopped. I get this is a novella but really???

[Thea™]

▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOnLk...

The DIRTY HEROES COLLECTION (https://www.goodreads.com/series/288664)
Fourteen standalone novels which each follow a well-known hero from favorite Disney classics.

01. The Black Fox
02. Finding His Strength
03. While She Sleeps
04. Bound in Sacrifice
05. Never Lost
06. Curse Behind The Mask
07. Clockwork Stalker
08. Kiss and Tell
09. Skeleton King
10. Make Me Real
11. Cruel Water
12. The Masked Prince
13. Hunted
14. The Lady

[doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this author and have liked her past books. Not this one. It's a short story so everything is rushed and there is NO character development. I will not be reading any more books in this series.

[Romaine Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cruel Water is a deliciously dark and twisted retelling of the Little Mermaid that will have your kindles sizzling. The ending was so unexpected.

[Stephenie McNeil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...

I’ve never read anything like that before that I can recall.

Honestly, at first I was leery.. but since I really like this author I was going to give it a try. I gotta say it pulled me in pretty quickly.

All I have to say is wow...what an ending. The story and steaminess within were fantastic.

I’m not even sure how else to explain this. I say just read it and enjoy the heck out it!

[Shannon Boltin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic yet dark story, the completely different re-telling of a little mermaid story. I’d love a continued book to know if any of these DHC “heroes” overcome the curse, BUT its not a necessity cause this is an amazingly told stand alone. Any further thoughts would contain spoilers so I’ll end this with... BUY THIS BOOK, you won’t regret it

[Jade Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending. That fucking ending! What. The. Fuck. Was. That. Ending?!
It literally came out of no where and I was not expecting it at all, I was honestly left reeling. I freaking loved how it ended but I know it wont be for everyone. I mean I did fling my kindle across the room but in the best way possible.

Dee Palmer has done an amazing job writing this and I just wish it was a full story and not a novella because we could've got a lot more detail and preferably a longer ending. It was a sexy, kinky read and although it was rushed its good for if you just want a quick read that you don't have to put all of your focus into.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first guess without looking much further is that this is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, Disney version since the original is actually darker than the happy ever after with which we are all more familiar. The original has the little mermaid dying without her prince's love. This book begins immediately with an extreme BDSM scene. Eric is sadistic and cruel. He revels in it. One of his rules is that he never uses the L word. He knows he is cursed and that he is destined to deliver pain both physical and emotional. Once the introduction to Eric’s life and character are over, the story utterly mimics the Disney movie where the little "mermaid" (we never learn her name in this story, nor if she is actually a mermaid) just shows up in front of Eric but can’t talk or barely walk. He takes her to his 20th century castle. Only thing is that she doesn’t have the familiar flaming red hair. It’s silvery blonde and of course she is very very sexual, a true masochistic sub to Eric’s sadistic dom. She makes him truly happy. For the first time in his life. Yet, he refuses to kiss her because HE NEVER KISSES. It’s one of his life’s rules. But he revels in her for two entire days barely coming up for air. Then he gets a call from his business partner that the woman who saved him finally showed up proving that he wasn’t dreaming it up. So he races away from his castle even though he sees his little slice of heaven female crying and banging on the window as he drives away. When he gets back to his place of business he finds no mystery woman and no one who called him. He realizes he’d been deceived so he races back to his castle only to learn that his love is standing on a cliff threatening to jump. As he screeches to her, he makes it just in time to pull her in his arms and kiss her. That would have been a very satisfying ending except that the author decides he actually never did make it in the first place and dies anyway. There were a few typos which always trips up a good story and I always take a star for that because there really is no excuse when so many, including myself, are willing to proof read for free. In any case, I am truly angry after reading this book because the ending was so god awful tragic. Nearly every single one of the books in this series delivered a happy and satisfying ending. This author, for some reason, thought she’d be clever and artistic instead by killing of any chance of happily ever after for the cursed prince that we all know and love, Prince Eric.You get another star taken away for that, Dee Palmer, you prick.

[Xanny Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review — ★★★★★ (5/5)

Cruel, beautiful, and utterly unforgettable Cruel Water blew my mind. This is a Little Mermaid retelling done wrong in the best possible way: dark, savage, and drenched in saltwater myth, with a twist that hit me so hard I still can’t stop thinking about it. I’m calling it #2 on my list of ten reads so far that ending shocked me; I did not see it coming and loved every brutal second.

The narrator is a complicated, damaged man who treats his sadism like a curse an addiction to inflicting pain that quiets his inner storm. The opening scene with another woman rubbed me the wrong way at first, but it’s clear the pain there is consensual and ritualized; he wasn’t truly aroused until the mermaid appears. When she shows up, the whole tone flips from clinical kink to mythic obsession, and that contrast is intoxicating.

Dee Palmer’s prose is raw and tactile bruises, breath, and saltwater imagery make power dynamics physically present on the page. Themes of curse vs. addiction, the mermaid as a possible salvation or shattered anima, and an uncomfortable, deliberate play with consent keep the moral lines deliciously blurred. The pacing is tight (this is novella territory), the imagery lingers, and the kinky scenes are spicy. 10/10 for heat. 🥵

Content warning: explicit BDSM, ambiguous consent dynamics, physical injury, and dark psychological themes. If you like your romance morally grey, your heroes broken, and your fairy tales inverted, this one is perfect.

[Siobhan Falen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric has a thing for delivering pain to his willing partners, but he derives no pleasure from it and just wishes to find the perfect sub. When he finds a young woman who perfectly mirrors his rescuer from a near death accident, save for her missing voice, he may finally have found exactly what he's wished for.

This was my second spicy novel from this series and I couldn't resist the cover (so beautiful) and that it was The Little Mermaid retelling. Loving the original, I had an idea about how this would end so I was under no misconception on that part.

I enjoyed the storytelling and the adaption for the adult version, but I'll tell you what, I realize that dark, broody, moody men are not my taste. If they're going to be big and bad and dangerous, I like when they embrace it and enjoy it. I don't enjoy when they're whiny about their demons and how miserable they are. It takes away from the fun aspect of it so this series doesn't seem to be for me.

But, if you are a dark erotica reader and do like your men to be the "I can fix them" cases, this isn't a bad read. And if you like dark retellings of childhood classics, this is a decent reimagining.

[ErikaWasReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know if my problems with this book were actually with the novel itself or just my general problems with the Little Mermaid story.

I felt like the instant attraction, willingness to jump into things was a bit much, even for a romance novel - but hey, in the original story, she pretty much threw her whole world away for a dude she’d never even spoken with, so it checks out. The ending was a bit rushed, but again, my problems with the ending and the “oh yay, Prince Eric isn’t worth all her sacrifice” is the same feeling I’ve had forever. Also, I appreciate that the author matched the tone of Hans Christian Anderson's version rather than Disney.

But, considering my whole purpose in reading this series was to try new authors, I will definitely read more by Dee Palmer.

[Missy Eames · Rating 1 out of 5]

What did I just read 🥲
Spelling and grammar errors made it hard to get into it. Zero world building. I didn’t think it was even all that spicy to make up for the fact that the plot was confusing and the spelling/grammar errors.

Didn’t realize it was meant to be a Little Mermaid retelling, and I’ve never seen the Little Mermaid so I can’t say whether or not it was a good take on it.

I hope the rest of this collection is not all like that? Especially when this book was a gift and I am physically unable to not complete a series once I start.

This was not for me, I hope maybe it was for someone

[TheBookPlatypus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uh...

What in the world was this?
No editing? No proofreading?
The character build up and world building was nearly non existent.

The entire storyline was confusing AF.
You go from a self claimed sadist to falling in love after a vanilla session that briefly involved a damn cucumber.

Like.. thankfully the book was only 100 pages so it was a quick and easy read. I wouldn’t even call this smut.
I’d call this a hot mess was seemed to be written overnight because of a dire deadline perhaps.

[Charlene Gaskins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was well written and the characters were dark and captivating as this story was a dark/twisted retelling of the Little Mermaid. For me this story just boiled down to personal choice and whether or not you like this kind of genre/ story telling. As captivating and as dark as this story was, it was not something I would normally read.

If you are drawn to this kind of genre then you will enjoy this dark twisted story.

[Latifa Morrisette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cruel Water is a retelling if The Little Mermaid and I just don't know how to feel about this book. In one hand I loved it, but in the other it made me fell some type of way. Dee Palmer is a evil genius and I want to read more.

[Lizzypants · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected

I enjoyed this story, I found Eric a bit hard to like, and the pain/pleasure thing in extremes was hard for me to really get into, but it had a really unexpected twist. All in all I enjoyed reading it.

[Ali Huff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted more from this than I actually got. I feel like some questions were left unanswered, like I picked up on the little mermaid ties, butttttt still feel like there were some major plot holes.

🌶️ 2.5-3/5

[Jazz Kovacs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, other than the ending. The last two pages felt very rushed. I took off an additional star for the multiple grammatical errors throughout. This novella could have been brilliant, with additional editing.

[valeria · Rating 3 out of 5]

was ok, not to dark only a few scenes

[April Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiny mermaid

Very cute and very sad, exactly as it should be. The ending revelation seemed a bit rushed and out of nowhere, but I enjoyed it overall. Very quick read.

[Desiree Eagle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the third book I read in this collection and my favorite is still Skeleton King. I liked the ending though, very dark and depressing

[weny. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5 ☆

i seriously did not expect that ending, that's all i have to say.

[LinBee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I see what is meant by the ending. Wtf.

[Jami Kehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark and captivating, Palmer takes on the Little Mermaid and delivers big time! A part of the Dirty Heroes collection, this twist on a classic will take the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. Prepare yourself for one hell of a ride friends and that ending!!! Make sure you grab your copy today!

[Amber Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly enjoyed this book. Short and sweet (if that's the words you would use) a little mermaid retelling of sorts not 100% but very close!