Sea Witch
Virginia Kantra
Berkley, Jul 2998, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425221990
Widow Margred is a Selkie half-human half seal who can change shape as long as she wears her pelt. If a human takes her pelt she can never live in the water again. She wants sex so she takes human form and swims to World’s End, an island off the coast of Maine. She meets chief of police Caleb Hunter who is instantly attracted to her. They make mad passionate love. Maggie returns to the sea without telling him and goes to Sanctuary where her friend Dylan advises her to stay in the sea and mate with a Selkie because their numbers are decreasing in exchange for immortality. As long as they die with their pelts on they are reborn. He also warns her there is a disturbance in the demon realm.
She can’t forget Caleb so she decides to see him again. She hides her pelt but a demon gets it; Caleb arrives as the demon jumps into a fire burning Maggie’s pelt. She is depressed as she is doomed to stay on land. He takes her to the home of his sister Lucy to rest. Maggie thinks Lucy is part Mer. Caleb tells her that his mother took off with her other son Dylan; Maggie realizes her friend Dylan is Caleb’s brother although he is pure human. They make love and even though she won’t tell him about herself his feelings for Maggie deepen. Meanwhile the demon takes possession of a human host and kills Selkies in hopes of a Mer-human war.
The romance between Caleb and Margred is enjoyable as she makes the ultimate sacrifice out of love for him and he has issues from his military stint in Iraq. The demon attack comes very late but adds suspense to a fine romantic fantasy. However Selkie society is never developed so that readers will have problems accepting the species as real especially a Selkie human half-breed. Still fans will relish the love between the lead pair.
Harriet Klausner
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