Review: Seduced by a Selkie – Lauren Connolly
Seduced by a Selkieby Lauren Connolly
Series: Folk Haven #1
Also in this series: Sucker for a Siren, Swearing at a Sea Monster, Devoted to a Dragon
Publisher: Lauren Connolly Romance
Publication Date: November 10, 2021
Genres: Romance
Pages: 168
Source: the author
I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My rating:
He’s found his mate. She’s just passing through. Can he convince her to stay?
Delta Novac hates her house on Lake Galen. The old place in the small town of Folk Haven is a reminder of her father’s mental decline in the last few years of his life. She’s just come to town to clear the thing out and get it ready to sell. Delta never even planned to dip a toe in the water until a prone body floating has her diving in to save the swimmer.
A selkie will know their mate when they are rescued.
Calder MacNamara wasn’t in need of saving, but he certainly appreciates the effort. Especially when the hands on his bare skin warm him to his core. The moment he meets the woman’s piercing stare, his gut tells him she’s his life partner. But he soon finds that if Delta feels anything toward him, it’s annoyance. Accidentally insulting her dog doesn’t help his case.
With Delta’s focus on the road out of town, Calder scrambles to discover what, if anything, could make her stay. He’s willing to use all means of pleasure at his disposal to convince his mate that Folk Haven is the perfect place to call home. Especially if you’re a mythical creature.
After thoroughly enjoying the freebie prequel novella, I was very excited to start the first book in the Folk Haven series. It certainly lived up to my expectations! It’s just as sweet and funny and ever so much fun! While this is technically the second entry, there’s no need to have read the novella to enjoy this one.
“People rarely admit to needing help.” His gaze laughs as his grin goes lopsided. “Please, continue saving me. Likely as not, I need it.”
Delta isn’t happy to be back in Folk Haven. After her father’s death, she’s inherited his lake-front home, but all it reminds her of is how he changed after her mother’s death. Luckily, she doesn’t even have to step foot into the house, as she’s used to traveling around in her Airstream trailer with her dog Gigabyte, and she’s planning to continue doing that once she sells the house. Until she meets someone… It’s an absolute meet-disaster when Delta strips down and jumps into the lake, thinking she’s rescuing a drowning person… except it was a man leading a scuba diving lesson. Calder is immediately smitten with Delta, believing that since she “saved” him, according to selkie lore, she’s his fated mate. Now he just has to convince her…
“Dating—even if a curly-haired, brown-eyed scuba instructor was interested—isn’t in the cards for me right now.
Most of my baggage exists on this lake, and I’m ready to dump the load and leave.”
I love Delta. She’s smart and hardworking, simultaneously teaching online university classes while at the same time taking classes for her dissertation. I felt for her, dealing with both the trauma of her dad’s death and being back in a place that reminded her of the years after her mother’s death. Luckily she’s got Calder as a distraction. Frankly, Calder reminded me of a energetic puppy. It’s not that he isn’t smart – he’s working towards his MBA as he wants to take over his parents’ water rental business – but he just has an overabundance of enthusiasm. He also doesn’t have much of a filter, resulting in a lot of hilarious exchanges. Most of the chapters from his viewpoint are about how amazing Delta is and how she’s his mate, yay! (Add a couple more exclamation points and you get the idea!) I could see where this could get annoying, but he is just so earnestly excited and smitten that it’s simply adorable. Delta seems to agree with me, at least, even though she struggles with how drawn she is to him. For various reasons, she prefers to live as unencumbered life as possible, traveling with only what she can carry in her Airstream, and that includes relationships. No matter what she feels for him, it can’t be anything more than a fling. As for Calder’s side? Well, there’s also the fact that she’s a selkie and she’s not, and he somehow has to tell her about that, if he can just figure out the right way. But my gosh, they are so adorable together I had a smile on my face pretty much every time they interacted.
“Your laughter is a siren’s song.”
“Um …” Blood flushes hot and heavy in my cheeks. “You’re saying men want to crash their ships into rocks when they hear it?”
Calder grins wide. “Something like that.”
It’s not just the relationship that made me happy. I was so happy to see more of the MacNamara family. Calder’s the youngest of the four MacNamara siblings, and between that and his personality, he’s constantly being teased by his older brothers. This book partially overlaps with the novella, so it includes the selkie house party from Calder and Delta’s POV, which was quite fun to read. And also like the novella, there’s a bit of a twist, though this one was hinted at pretty strongly in that novella. It’s a fun cherry on top of everything else, and I loved the way that reveal showed how much Calder and Delta had connected, how much they understood each other.
Overall, I’ve been very much enjoying this series. This book especially is a funny and sweet paranormal romance, and I can’t wait to read the next one!
Content notes: View Spoiler »
