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A Mermaids Secret
Clean fantasy romance
Receiving your voice is the ultimate gift for a mermaid, but danger lurks near with those who want to steal the gift due to its strong magical powers. Raichelle trusts no one, but the tides may turn when she meets Caleb, a local fisherman and former sailor.
This story is full of unlikely friendships, love, deceit, and redemption.
Receiving your voice is the ultimate gift for a mermaid, but danger lurks near with those who want to steal the gift due to its strong magical powers. Raichelle trusts no one, but the tides may turn when she meets Caleb, a local fisherman and former sailor.
This story is full of unlikely friendships, love, deceit, and redemption.
367 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 24, 2022
9 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Amy Horikami
68 books22 followersHello! It's fun to have you here, and I can't wait to share with you the stories I've written. (I think that's my favorite part about being an author is gushing over the books I write with other people!)
With that being said, not only am I an author, but a homeschool mom to four beautiful children, and married to the man who inspires most of the swoony scenes you'll read (insert sigh); which goes to say that I'm happily married and he's the best thing that's happened to me.
Along with writing books, I love art (hence my children's books), photography, trying to new recipes, and going on adventures! (Cruises, hikes, strawberry patches, Disney...you name it! We just recently went to Universal Studios (Harry Potter World) and LOVED it!
I love getting out and exploring the beautiful earth my Heavenly Father has created for me and hope to explore Europe one day. (Gotta see those castles for inspiration ;)
With that being said, not only am I an author, but a homeschool mom to four beautiful children, and married to the man who inspires most of the swoony scenes you'll read (insert sigh); which goes to say that I'm happily married and he's the best thing that's happened to me.
Along with writing books, I love art (hence my children's books), photography, trying to new recipes, and going on adventures! (Cruises, hikes, strawberry patches, Disney...you name it! We just recently went to Universal Studios (Harry Potter World) and LOVED it!
I love getting out and exploring the beautiful earth my Heavenly Father has created for me and hope to explore Europe one day. (Gotta see those castles for inspiration ;)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 17, 2025
Not ready to go to print
This review will sound harsh, but I hope the author takes it as constructive criticism. I envy her ability to just get the darn story out there on the page from start to end; I, myself, have never finished a full draft of a novel because my internal editor always gets in the way. But as someone who has studied the craft of writing with the hope of becoming a novelist, and more pertinently, as a reader with thousands of novels under my belt, here is my feedback:
I read past the 50% mark before quitting.
If I picture it as a story the author is telling to her four daughters at bedtime, making it up as she goes, it's quite good. But as a YA romantasy, it's early draft material: the framework of a fun story is there, but it's pretty juvenile and unpolished.
Pacing, characterization, and dialogue all felt flat. Lots of time skips and info-dumps. The first-person narrative tone bounced between moralizing and ditzy, and I felt like a lot of the emotional impact the author was aiming for failed to hit home because she was "telling". Most of the "showing" was dedicated to people's physical appearances, especially the mermaid's ombre tail or the princess's magical dresses – which works really well when you're telling little girls a story without pictures.
Around 50% was when the protagonist finally met the male lead/love interest, but these scenes left me feeling icky because of the way these scenes were set up:
1. Heroine sees/experiences Hero doing something manipulative/pushing boundaries.
2. Heroine says to herself, "That would definitely be a red flag in anyone else, but for some unexplained reason [hormones/destiny] I feel fine about ignoring it."
3. Repeat several times.
This was when the idea of the author telling this story to her daughters began to feel less charming.
I would have given it three stars if it had at least been well-proofread, but it's absolutely riddled with typos, verb tense changes, misused homophones, eggcorns, dropped words, sentence fragments, etc.
In conclusion, I think this book has the skeleton of a fun story and the potential to be a good novel, after some serious expansion and revision.
This review will sound harsh, but I hope the author takes it as constructive criticism. I envy her ability to just get the darn story out there on the page from start to end; I, myself, have never finished a full draft of a novel because my internal editor always gets in the way. But as someone who has studied the craft of writing with the hope of becoming a novelist, and more pertinently, as a reader with thousands of novels under my belt, here is my feedback:
I read past the 50% mark before quitting.
If I picture it as a story the author is telling to her four daughters at bedtime, making it up as she goes, it's quite good. But as a YA romantasy, it's early draft material: the framework of a fun story is there, but it's pretty juvenile and unpolished.
Pacing, characterization, and dialogue all felt flat. Lots of time skips and info-dumps. The first-person narrative tone bounced between moralizing and ditzy, and I felt like a lot of the emotional impact the author was aiming for failed to hit home because she was "telling". Most of the "showing" was dedicated to people's physical appearances, especially the mermaid's ombre tail or the princess's magical dresses – which works really well when you're telling little girls a story without pictures.
Around 50% was when the protagonist finally met the male lead/love interest, but these scenes left me feeling icky because of the way these scenes were set up:
1. Heroine sees/experiences Hero doing something manipulative/pushing boundaries.
2. Heroine says to herself, "That would definitely be a red flag in anyone else, but for some unexplained reason [hormones/destiny] I feel fine about ignoring it."
3. Repeat several times.
This was when the idea of the author telling this story to her daughters began to feel less charming.
I would have given it three stars if it had at least been well-proofread, but it's absolutely riddled with typos, verb tense changes, misused homophones, eggcorns, dropped words, sentence fragments, etc.
In conclusion, I think this book has the skeleton of a fun story and the potential to be a good novel, after some serious expansion and revision.
February 5, 2025
Quick read
This was a quick, clean read. This is the second in a series and could be read alone but there are a few scenes that will make more sense if you have read the first book. I only gave this 4 stars because it felt a little unresolved at the end. I'm hoping it might resolve in later books. There were also a few editing errors.
This was a quick, clean read. This is the second in a series and could be read alone but there are a few scenes that will make more sense if you have read the first book. I only gave this 4 stars because it felt a little unresolved at the end. I'm hoping it might resolve in later books. There were also a few editing errors.
Read
November 8, 2023Clean Fairytale Retelling
If You Enjoy....
◇Sweet Romance
◇Fairytale Retellings
◇Little Mermaid 🧜🏻♀️
◇Short Stories
◇ Stories available on KU
I recommend this one 👌🏽
It was a fun one ♡♡♡
If You Enjoy....
◇Sweet Romance
◇Fairytale Retellings
◇Little Mermaid 🧜🏻♀️
◇Short Stories
◇ Stories available on KU
I recommend this one 👌🏽
It was a fun one ♡♡♡
July 31, 2025
A sweet little mermaid retelling
Such a sweet tale. The love between Rachel and her father is heart warming. The romance between her and Caleb gives me butterflies. The resolution was different but delivered on the promised hea.
Such a sweet tale. The love between Rachel and her father is heart warming. The romance between her and Caleb gives me butterflies. The resolution was different but delivered on the promised hea.
December 31, 2025
Sweet romance. Story itself was okay, there were a lot of extra characters that are probably expanded upon in the author's other works, but seemed a bit unnecessary in some of the scenes. Seems like she has a much larger world built than what is revealed in this story.
June 20, 2024
3.5 stars. Little Mermaid retelling and the second in the Once Upon a Time series.
January 5, 2026
3.25 stars
The story was somewhat corny and it dragged on, but it was good for the most part.
The story was somewhat corny and it dragged on, but it was good for the most part.
March 10, 2023
Whew this book is in even more need of an editor than the first one. Lots of your/you’re problems, Lots of actual wrong words used like contempt instead of content. Even more just odd sentences that sound strange.
Plotline tried but it was lacking also, overly simplistic characters and stilted conversations. The premise was great, the execution.. not so much.
Plotline tried but it was lacking also, overly simplistic characters and stilted conversations. The premise was great, the execution.. not so much.
July 16, 2024
It was a bit rough, but I enjoyed it quite a lot.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews