What do you think?
Familiar Mates #9.5
The Seahorse Prince's Mate
When biologist Beau Evans goes on holiday to enjoy a week of snorkeling and diving, he isn’t planning to have a holiday fling…or for that fling to turn out to be his mate.
As first-born twin seahorse shifter Kai was raised to rule, not just beneath the sea but also run the seahorse land-based businesses that employs many seahorse shifters and enriches them all. Falling into bed with the hot guy who looks like he needs some fun was not supposed to end up with him being consumed by the mating heat and getting pregnant. Now instead of doing what he loves, he has to disappear into the ocean for three months.
Beau doesn’t know how to deal with a mate or the twins Kai carries, but he does know that he isn’t going to walk away, no matter how complicated things get with seahorse politics.
As first-born twin seahorse shifter Kai was raised to rule, not just beneath the sea but also run the seahorse land-based businesses that employs many seahorse shifters and enriches them all. Falling into bed with the hot guy who looks like he needs some fun was not supposed to end up with him being consumed by the mating heat and getting pregnant. Now instead of doing what he loves, he has to disappear into the ocean for three months.
Beau doesn’t know how to deal with a mate or the twins Kai carries, but he does know that he isn’t going to walk away, no matter how complicated things get with seahorse politics.
2 pages, Audible Audio
Published December 13, 2022
About the author
T.J. Nichols
98 books363 followersTJ Nichols (they/them) is the author of the Studies in Demonology and Familiar Mates series. They write mostly gay fantasy and paranormal romance, but sometimes gay action/horror as Toby J. Nichols.
After traveling all over the world and Australia, TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Free gay shifter novella when you join TJ's newsletter: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jmhq9i8qc7
You can find TJ on
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TJNichols
Ream: https://reamstories.com/tjnichols
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TJNichols.au...
follow me on Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/tjnichols or Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tj-ni...
After traveling all over the world and Australia, TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Free gay shifter novella when you join TJ's newsletter: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jmhq9i8qc7
You can find TJ on
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TJNichols
Ream: https://reamstories.com/tjnichols
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TJNichols.au...
follow me on Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/tjnichols or Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tj-ni...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 18, 2025
I like to read short books by authors I don't know to see if it suits me. It usually works quite well and since this one was for free all the better. Unfortunately, this story isn't that great and I don't know how representative this is of TJ Nichols' style.
The idea of the story and the characters are wonderful, the dynamic between Beau and Kai is delicious and beautiful. But the way the story is told doesn't work for me.
Yes, the book is short and you can't put everything in it that you might need to. And the plot is probably far too massive for the few pages. But other authors manage to create emotions and atmosphere with just a few words.
And I miss that, the emotional level is far too sporadic and implausible. To make matters worse, it's unfortunately repetitive. It's a shame, because it really has great potential.
I like the idea of witch familiars and shapeshifters and it's really not bad, I think I'll give this series another chance because if I remember correctly there's more of it lying around on my reader.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Minor spoilers probably ahead
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Content warnings: fated mates, heat, pregnancy
Cheating between MCs: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
Kinks: biting
The idea of the story and the characters are wonderful, the dynamic between Beau and Kai is delicious and beautiful. But the way the story is told doesn't work for me.
Yes, the book is short and you can't put everything in it that you might need to. And the plot is probably far too massive for the few pages. But other authors manage to create emotions and atmosphere with just a few words.
And I miss that, the emotional level is far too sporadic and implausible. To make matters worse, it's unfortunately repetitive. It's a shame, because it really has great potential.
I like the idea of witch familiars and shapeshifters and it's really not bad, I think I'll give this series another chance because if I remember correctly there's more of it lying around on my reader.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Minor spoilers probably ahead
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Content warnings: fated mates, heat, pregnancy
Cheating between MCs: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
Kinks: biting
October 3, 2023
i listened to the audiobook of this. romanceaudiobookworms.com had this available for a free download at one point & i downloaded it without reading the description. i thought it was going to be about sea creatures, but it was basically seahorse shifter human smut lol. it was..interesting to say the least
the characters basically fell in love immediately after hooking up. and the seahorse prince unintentionally got pregnant, but he also knew that’s what he was doing, so he also kinda forced that on kai, which isn’t cool
if you like interesting versions of smut, this may be for you. fortunately, the audiobook was short, especially in 1.5x speed. i personally wouldn’t recommend this to anyone :/
the characters basically fell in love immediately after hooking up. and the seahorse prince unintentionally got pregnant, but he also knew that’s what he was doing, so he also kinda forced that on kai, which isn’t cool
if you like interesting versions of smut, this may be for you. fortunately, the audiobook was short, especially in 1.5x speed. i personally wouldn’t recommend this to anyone :/
October 21, 2022
Got this free via KU. It was okay. Quick, easy read, but also predictable.
August 27, 2023
I vibed with this story and thought it was super cute, but the narration of the audiobook made this a bit hard to get through. He just didn’t really pause enough between sentences or inflect his voice so it was hard to tell immediately when perspective shifted. Also he sounded kind of bored/disconnected from the story?
September 11, 2022
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
~
The Seahorse Prince's Mate, by T.J. Nichols
Familiar Mates, Book 9.5
★★★★★
62 Pages
3rd person, dual character POV
Themes: MM, fated mates, shifters, witches, alpha male, mpreg
Triggers: pressure of family to breed, pressure from friends to find “the right guy”, brief forced separation
Genre: MMM, Urban Fantasy, Series, Contemporary, Shifter
~
World-Building: ★★★★☆
Heat: ★★★☆☆
Chemistry: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★☆
Romance: ★★★★☆
~
The Seahorse Prince's Mate is another first for the Familiar Mates series, as it deals with both mpreg and a forced separation beyond the mates control. While I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, I love mpreg, and I'm so happy Nichols wrote their first mpreg story, because it was done brilliantly.
For a story of just 60-ish pages, the plot felt complete and well organised. From the pacing to the depth of exploration given to the seahorse kingdom, it was all balanced really well.
Beau – who appeared briefly in the Firefighter's Familiar – is the central MC of this story. Fed up with life and feeling a need for change, he goes back to a once beloved holiday destination from his youth. Though it's changed, he'd instantly drawn in by the owner, Kai – despite him being totally different to any other man he would normally swipe right for.
As the owner of the resort, and the Prince of the Seahorse shifters, it's Kai's destiny to lead the kingdom, while his twin brother – as seahorse shifters are born in pairs – is meant to breed and take care of the babies of breeding seahorses. Something that is becoming rarer for their people, to their detriment.
When Kai and Beau meet, sparks don't just alight, they burn logic to cinders. And soon they'd crossed the line beyond a fated kiss, only to discover that it's sparked Kai's breeding heat. Something he was never made for.
As characters, I love Beau and Kai, both together and separately. Kai is arrogant, as you would expect a prince to be, but also grounded in a way you wouldn't. He's aware of his duty, his responsibilities and he's determined to live a good life despite them, but he's also aware that he's trapped in a prison created long before he was born. A prison of tradition and clinging onto the old ways that have seen their population die out. Conversely, Beau is professional, but bored with life. He's looking for an adventure, and doesn't mind that Kai is the kind of one-liners to get him into the bedroom. It's the break he needs, from work, from stress, and from the pressure of too many failed relationships.
Together, their chemistry is through the roof. But, when things get complicated, both are man enough to step up and accept the consequences of their actions. There's little time for doubts or avoidance, though both try to work through the problem in different ways. In the end, they put the bigger picture ahead of their own wants and needs. As you would expect of a professor/researcher and a prince.
OVERALL
I loved that the story took a different route, not just in the mpreg elements, but also by having shifter nature force the MC's to spend time apart. It wasn't what either wanted, but it was just how things were. For a short story, where most of the time is spent building up to the bond and the consequences, this was a great way to make a long timeline gap take up as little space as possible, without the story feeling flat or that it was missing an exploration of those months apart.
I loved that the seahorse shifters were so isolated from the rest of shifter society. Unlike with the leopard seal of the last book, seahorses were so separate, that they're not only dying out, but they don't know anything about the Coven, or about fated mates and familiars. That made this a really interesting short story, and I hope we'll revisit the seahorse world again in the future, to see a little more of that isolated dynamic, and how a witch would deal with it longer term.
The way Beau could talk to animals was treated great, as well. We didn't have any odd scenes of animals talking like humans would, as Beau only mentioned talking to them in past tense, and described their behaviour or words in a way a human would describe it. I wasn't sure how that whole gift would pan out, and was afraid of a Bedknobs and Broomsticks moment, but that never came and I think that worked out best. While it was important to cover his gift, how it worked and how he used it, I don't think it was really needed on page, for the story that was being told.
The ending was super cute, and exactly what I'd been hoping for. It wasn't overly detailed, it wasn't complicated or rushed. It gave me just what I wanted to close off the story, without feeling like everything was suddenly perfect or that I was missing something. I think this is the kind of ending I'd been hoping for with the previous book, as well, because there really is so much more that both sets of MC's have to work through, beyond The End.
~
Favourite Quote
“He liked dating and falling...it was the ending that always broke him. How many times could a heart get broken and glued back together before there was more glue than heart?”
“Kai was too smooth and too sure of himself, like he was used to getting everything he wanted. Yet it was very easy to fall under his spell and be consumed by the desire in his eyes.”
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
~
The Seahorse Prince's Mate, by T.J. Nichols
Familiar Mates, Book 9.5
★★★★★
62 Pages
3rd person, dual character POV
Themes: MM, fated mates, shifters, witches, alpha male, mpreg
Triggers: pressure of family to breed, pressure from friends to find “the right guy”, brief forced separation
Genre: MMM, Urban Fantasy, Series, Contemporary, Shifter
~
World-Building: ★★★★☆
Heat: ★★★☆☆
Chemistry: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★☆
Romance: ★★★★☆
~
The Seahorse Prince's Mate is another first for the Familiar Mates series, as it deals with both mpreg and a forced separation beyond the mates control. While I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, I love mpreg, and I'm so happy Nichols wrote their first mpreg story, because it was done brilliantly.
For a story of just 60-ish pages, the plot felt complete and well organised. From the pacing to the depth of exploration given to the seahorse kingdom, it was all balanced really well.
Beau – who appeared briefly in the Firefighter's Familiar – is the central MC of this story. Fed up with life and feeling a need for change, he goes back to a once beloved holiday destination from his youth. Though it's changed, he'd instantly drawn in by the owner, Kai – despite him being totally different to any other man he would normally swipe right for.
As the owner of the resort, and the Prince of the Seahorse shifters, it's Kai's destiny to lead the kingdom, while his twin brother – as seahorse shifters are born in pairs – is meant to breed and take care of the babies of breeding seahorses. Something that is becoming rarer for their people, to their detriment.
When Kai and Beau meet, sparks don't just alight, they burn logic to cinders. And soon they'd crossed the line beyond a fated kiss, only to discover that it's sparked Kai's breeding heat. Something he was never made for.
As characters, I love Beau and Kai, both together and separately. Kai is arrogant, as you would expect a prince to be, but also grounded in a way you wouldn't. He's aware of his duty, his responsibilities and he's determined to live a good life despite them, but he's also aware that he's trapped in a prison created long before he was born. A prison of tradition and clinging onto the old ways that have seen their population die out. Conversely, Beau is professional, but bored with life. He's looking for an adventure, and doesn't mind that Kai is the kind of one-liners to get him into the bedroom. It's the break he needs, from work, from stress, and from the pressure of too many failed relationships.
Together, their chemistry is through the roof. But, when things get complicated, both are man enough to step up and accept the consequences of their actions. There's little time for doubts or avoidance, though both try to work through the problem in different ways. In the end, they put the bigger picture ahead of their own wants and needs. As you would expect of a professor/researcher and a prince.
OVERALL
I loved that the story took a different route, not just in the mpreg elements, but also by having shifter nature force the MC's to spend time apart. It wasn't what either wanted, but it was just how things were. For a short story, where most of the time is spent building up to the bond and the consequences, this was a great way to make a long timeline gap take up as little space as possible, without the story feeling flat or that it was missing an exploration of those months apart.
I loved that the seahorse shifters were so isolated from the rest of shifter society. Unlike with the leopard seal of the last book, seahorses were so separate, that they're not only dying out, but they don't know anything about the Coven, or about fated mates and familiars. That made this a really interesting short story, and I hope we'll revisit the seahorse world again in the future, to see a little more of that isolated dynamic, and how a witch would deal with it longer term.
The way Beau could talk to animals was treated great, as well. We didn't have any odd scenes of animals talking like humans would, as Beau only mentioned talking to them in past tense, and described their behaviour or words in a way a human would describe it. I wasn't sure how that whole gift would pan out, and was afraid of a Bedknobs and Broomsticks moment, but that never came and I think that worked out best. While it was important to cover his gift, how it worked and how he used it, I don't think it was really needed on page, for the story that was being told.
The ending was super cute, and exactly what I'd been hoping for. It wasn't overly detailed, it wasn't complicated or rushed. It gave me just what I wanted to close off the story, without feeling like everything was suddenly perfect or that I was missing something. I think this is the kind of ending I'd been hoping for with the previous book, as well, because there really is so much more that both sets of MC's have to work through, beyond The End.
~
Favourite Quote
“He liked dating and falling...it was the ending that always broke him. How many times could a heart get broken and glued back together before there was more glue than heart?”
“Kai was too smooth and too sure of himself, like he was used to getting everything he wanted. Yet it was very easy to fall under his spell and be consumed by the desire in his eyes.”
April 14, 2023
Beau is a 32 year old researcher on vacation. Like Errol from book 4, his magic lets him talk to animals. Kai is a seahorse shifter prince who is around 27.
The idea of seahorse shifters is so cool! I’ve never seen that. It was also a clever idea to include male pregnancy since seahorse males are essentially the ones who are pregnant. However, I’ve never understood why readers are so baffled by mpreg and how “unrealistic” it is, but a human shape shifting into a wolf/dragon/etc. is totally fine and not confusing.
I liked that Kai was the toppier one but also was the one who was able to get pregnant. Usually people of any gender who can get pregnant in books don’t get to be toppy, ESPECIALLY when they’re younger and smaller (like Kai).
I thought this was a fun, cute short story and actually for once I liked the length of it for the story. Often with short stories I struggle because they feel like prologues and not complete stories. This one felt complete and I loved that. It was also well-paced for a short story. Very fun!
The idea of seahorse shifters is so cool! I’ve never seen that. It was also a clever idea to include male pregnancy since seahorse males are essentially the ones who are pregnant. However, I’ve never understood why readers are so baffled by mpreg and how “unrealistic” it is, but a human shape shifting into a wolf/dragon/etc. is totally fine and not confusing.
I liked that Kai was the toppier one but also was the one who was able to get pregnant. Usually people of any gender who can get pregnant in books don’t get to be toppy, ESPECIALLY when they’re younger and smaller (like Kai).
I thought this was a fun, cute short story and actually for once I liked the length of it for the story. Often with short stories I struggle because they feel like prologues and not complete stories. This one felt complete and I loved that. It was also well-paced for a short story. Very fun!
August 10, 2026
This was a very cute little story that tells a tiny bit of the life of one of the Witches we meet in The Firefighter’s Familiar.
Beau needs a holiday, and he feels the pull back to a resort in Hawaii that he last went to 10 years ago. While he’s there, he decides to be carefree and just live his best life, not seeking company, just taking life as it comes for him. What comes for him, you may ask? The owner of the resort and Crown Prince of the Seahorse Shifters, Kai.
Kai senses sadness around Beau as he enters the resort and decides to make his holiday the best that he can, but after a night of fun, he finds himself attached to the Witch. With hardly any knowledge of the paranormal world outside of his small kingdom, Kai’s life is thrown through the wringer.
This is a very short and sweet story of a race of paranormal shifters finding their place in the modern world, and how they will be able to survive in it. Seahorse Shifters are an interesting species, and it would be cool to get a closer look at them.
Very cute, and well worth the read.
Beau needs a holiday, and he feels the pull back to a resort in Hawaii that he last went to 10 years ago. While he’s there, he decides to be carefree and just live his best life, not seeking company, just taking life as it comes for him. What comes for him, you may ask? The owner of the resort and Crown Prince of the Seahorse Shifters, Kai.
Kai senses sadness around Beau as he enters the resort and decides to make his holiday the best that he can, but after a night of fun, he finds himself attached to the Witch. With hardly any knowledge of the paranormal world outside of his small kingdom, Kai’s life is thrown through the wringer.
This is a very short and sweet story of a race of paranormal shifters finding their place in the modern world, and how they will be able to survive in it. Seahorse Shifters are an interesting species, and it would be cool to get a closer look at them.
Very cute, and well worth the read.
October 17, 2024
It's incredibly difficult to review the writing in this book, because the narrator of the audiobook is just SO terrible that I can't tell if the book itself is terrible too, or it's just the narrator's poor delivery that made it so bad.
Seriously, a computer generated voice would have had more expression then this guy. He sounds like he's got a deadline to finish the recording but he's falling asleep while doing it. It's-like-the-book-was-written-like-this-and-it's-impossible-to-tell-when-a-character-is-talking-or-if-it's-prose-between-dialogue.-and-the-sex-scenes-were-the-driest-sex-scenes-I'd-ever-heard,-I-didn't-even-realise-the-sex-scene-had-ended-until-they-were-halfway-through-the-after-sex-conversation.
The story is also so short that the characters have no time to get to know each other, or have any personality. Seahorse shifter mpreg is a great idea, and I'm shocked I haven't seen it before, but unfortunely this book doesn't meet the mark for me.
Seriously, a computer generated voice would have had more expression then this guy. He sounds like he's got a deadline to finish the recording but he's falling asleep while doing it. It's-like-the-book-was-written-like-this-and-it's-impossible-to-tell-when-a-character-is-talking-or-if-it's-prose-between-dialogue.-and-the-sex-scenes-were-the-driest-sex-scenes-I'd-ever-heard,-I-didn't-even-realise-the-sex-scene-had-ended-until-they-were-halfway-through-the-after-sex-conversation.
The story is also so short that the characters have no time to get to know each other, or have any personality. Seahorse shifter mpreg is a great idea, and I'm shocked I haven't seen it before, but unfortunely this book doesn't meet the mark for me.
July 9, 2026
Beau’s holiday diving trip turns unexpected when a fling with Kai — a first‑born twin seahorse shifter raised to lead — turns out to be a mate bond. Mating heat hits hard, leaving Kai pregnant and needing three months in the ocean. Beau has no idea how to handle a mate or upcoming twins, but he’s determined not to walk away, no matter how messy seahorse politics become.
I struggled with this novella because there were too many unanswered questions — especially around Kai’s twin brother and what role he actually took on, and whether Beau and Kai truly coped with being apart when most mates usually don’t. Those gaps made the story feel quick and lacking in detail. I did enjoy the premise and the characters, and the seahorse‑shifter world is fun, but overall it left me wanting more depth and clarity. This was an MM story with mature content and set in the omegaverse with MPREG.
I struggled with this novella because there were too many unanswered questions — especially around Kai’s twin brother and what role he actually took on, and whether Beau and Kai truly coped with being apart when most mates usually don’t. Those gaps made the story feel quick and lacking in detail. I did enjoy the premise and the characters, and the seahorse‑shifter world is fun, but overall it left me wanting more depth and clarity. This was an MM story with mature content and set in the omegaverse with MPREG.
September 13, 2024
This was... Something. In a world with shifters, witches and fated mates, Beau travels to Hawaii on a holiday because he felt a pull, a need to go back. There, he meets Kai, the owner of the hotel, a seahorse Prince, first-born, meant to rule. When they hook up, a mating bond is formed and Kai is faced with a future with a need to breed, a future he never wanted or thought he'd have, as his younger twin would be the one required to produce offspring. This was kind of insta-love, but there was also a layer of dislike that intrigued me. I do wish the story had been a bit longer and detailed, but it was an interesting read. Very different from anything else I've ever read.
January 8, 2024
Easy read. I did the audiobook and the narrator is very bland. It’s hard to know when which character is speaking. Story itself is very much wattpad mate stories but heavily shortened. I mean, not even wattpad ones have pregnancy happen on the SECOND DAY of meeting a person.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2024
There was certain aspects I liked about the story but found it unforces and rushed. Kai as a character is ok and has a lot there but I didn't fully enjoy this novella. however everyone need to give it a chance and read for themselves
February 14, 2025
Very short seahorse shifter/witch romance/erotica. The audiobook narrator is, as reviews indicated, incredibly monotone, which makes it feel a bit like Siri reading you erotica. The story is a bit silly, and the instalove was boring and had no basis.
August 29, 2022
cute sweet read... just awww...
September 1, 2022
3,5*
I've got this as a free story from the author's newsletter.
Kind of felt out of sync with other stories in the series, though some of them are very loosely linked.
I've got this as a free story from the author's newsletter.
Kind of felt out of sync with other stories in the series, though some of them are very loosely linked.
September 4, 2022
I enjoyed this, but would have loved for it to be longer as Kai and Beau's life is just starting together. Loved them, and the world building especially around the seahorse shifters.
October 28, 2022
Way too short. You don’t meet the babies, his brother, see the kingdom or spend any time together.
August 25, 2023
Honestly, it delivered!
2🌶
Third person, dual pov
2🌶
Third person, dual pov
August 28, 2023
i want whatever drugs this author is on
September 16, 2023
It really was short and felt rushed.
That I have a dislike for the narrator of the audiobook didn't help...
That I have a dislike for the narrator of the audiobook didn't help...
September 30, 2023
We love these shifter boys and their budding relationship. I wish them the best and I can't wait to continue the series in hopes of getting more information on shifter pairings and how they work.
October 20, 2023
A nice brief story, fated mates with a clever switch to the bearing parent. Would have liked more in the way of resolution, but this is a clever teaser.
October 29, 2023
I loved it. Though I would have loved more time with them. I enjoy this world so much. I’d love to know how they are doing and more about Kai’s twin brother too.
November 5, 2023
Short. Simple. Funny. Little spicy.
July 8, 2024
I wasn’t a fan of this book. Probably because the narrator sounded like he could fall asleep at any moment. Maybe the normal book would have been better
November 14, 2024
Loved this short sweet romance that I got as a freebie after reading The Firefighter’s familiar. As always it had a well thought out storyline and charismatic characters. A lovely bit of escapism.
June 27, 2025
A short and sweet read. I would love to read more about the Seahorses.
January 24, 2026
Everything happens so fast in this super short story. Don't blink. The End. At least, what little there is, it's a bit enjoyable. Don't expect much, though.
August 19, 2026
I have regrets
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews