A Nix Shortie Review – Jamie’s Merman by Daisy Harris (3 Stars)

When Jamie decides to drown his sorrows on his boat, he doesn’t expect to be propositioned by a beautiful stranger who swims up to him in the lake. Slightly grey skinned and speaking of life below the seas, Jamie is sure the man is crazy. In his slightly inebriated state, Jamie’s inability to turn away strays seems to be even more pronounced and their meeting becomes a little more than he originally planned…

It is forbidden to have a homosexual relationship as a Selkie, but Marin cannot help the way he feels. Sent up to the surface by his future mate, he knows that if he finds a man willing to have sex with him it’s a possibility he will never go back. When he meets Jamie, he immediately feels an attraction to the beautiful barman. When their meeting turns sexual, his attraction to the human grows by leaps and bounds.

Selkie’s need to produce offspring and Marin cannot leave his fertile future mate in trouble.  He tricks Jamie down to the depths to try to get him to get him to help him get her pregnant. Will this deception ruin any chance they had of getting involved in a real relationship?

This book worked on some levels and didn’t on others. I love Daisy Harris, and I love her writing, and I think the fluidity of the tale was the thing that saved it for me. Jamie was a lovely character and I enjoyed the story of his growth. I think that his character was a lot more consistent than that of Marin’s who seemed to change so fast I got whip-lash. He began the tale as a walk-over, a man that would do anything for a stray or a man he wanted to pay him some attention. I understood why he was on the boat but I didn’t understand why he thought engaging in sexual play with a stranger, simply to get him to leave, was a good idea. I understood why he went back after being rejected again because Marin gave the impression of adoring him. I say impression because at certain points in this book, I doubted Marin liked Jamie at all and didn’t just crave the sexual contact of another man.

Marin’s physical appearance weirded me out a little at first. He had blue/grey skin and a tail which became a bit like a skirt to reveal some legs when he wants to walk on land. It was an ingenious take on the merman legend but it certainly took some getting used to. I liked his character at first but then he used an unfortunate situation with the police to get Jamie to his home to try to get him to help impregnate his mate. At that point he was an ass. Yes, he makes up for it. Yes, I liked his character a little more by the end, but darn it was hard work not to hold that against him. In that instant he broke all my rules of being good book boyfriend because he put Jamie into potential emotional and physical danger to suit his own ends…not cool dude, not cool at all.

The smexing was awesome. It was hot, tender and totally worth reading…I have never been disappointed by a Daisy Harris sex scene yet! She manages to bring tenderness and heat into scenes with ease; perfect erotic book material.