Lara Rho is a fallen angel, an air elemental who strives to follow the one Rule of the nephilim who now roam the Earth as humans. While on a mission to find more of her kind, she comes across Justin Miller. Justin is a sailor who lost his memory after an accident seven years prior. While not an air elemental, he is not fully human and his energy calls to Lara like nothing else ever has. When Lara tries to help Justin survive after a demon attack, she realizes that her own people may be just a big a threat to his safety. Their only hope is to find out what Justin truly is and get him home to his own kind before the demons or the nephilim find them.
The Children of the Sea series by Virginia Kantra is a beautifully written saga featuring the selkie and finfolk of old Celtic legend and the beautiful setting of present day coastal Maine for a backdrop. The series follows the war between the different elementals for the future of the world, focusing on the role of the sea elementals as they go from a neutral party in the war between the air and fire elementals to a force to be reckoned with. This particular book features Iestyn, a young selkie who was thought lost after the events of The Sea Lord. After living seven years as a human, Iestyn begins to have flashbacks once he meets Lara. Besides remembering his real name, he realizes what he is and where he needs to go to heal.
The real problem, in addition to the demons and nephilim chasing them, is that Iestyn and Lara begin to have feelings towards each other which seem doomed from the start. Sea elementals are as changing as the tide, and seldom enter long lasting relationships. Moreover, Iestyn has lived alone for years. His feelings towards Lara confuse him and he is unsure where he wants the relationship to go. Lara is insecure, a loner due to her own set of circumstances, and also unprepared for the feelings that grow between her Iestyn. Neither one of them knows how to talk about their feelings nor how to approach the subject. There is a lot of miscommunication or rather lack of communication that complicates matters more than they should have been.
Virginia Kantra’s writing is absolutely stunning. The way she takes you into her world is magical. The plot moves along at a somewhat slower pace than most paranormal romances, but it fits the story very well. The characters are enchanting and readers can’t help but care about their plight. There is only one thing I was unhappy with. As expected in a romance novel almost everything is sorted out in the end, but some things were missing. After moving along at such a smooth pace throughout the rest of the story, the ending seemed rushed and it feels like we needed more information. Several conflicts were resolved too easily. An epilogue would have been nice.
Forgotten Sea is a beautiful novel. While it can be read as a stand-alone, there are enough elements that connect it to the previous installments in the series that I would strongly recommend they be read first. This is not a fast paced novel. Although there is some action, the focus here is on how the characters figure out who they are, their feelings for each other and where they truly belong. People who enjoy character driven stories should love this.
~ Denise |
