I want to start this out by saying I do NOT only read smut romance books, and The Sea Rose by Mariella Hunt is a great example of this! 

This book followed two different couples.  The main characters of this book are Peter and Rose, and the side couple is Meredith and Gideon.  I love how these two couples interacted with each other, and how their stories were connected.

The premise of this book is it is a world where there are humans, and Mer people (referred to as the Mer).  It is never quite explained how the Mer came to exist.  Are the people that are part Mer half human half Mer?  Did humans meet the Mer and reproduce with them?  As this is a main plot point of the book, I am surprised that it was not explained more.

I did like that Mariella did talk about some of the traits of the Mer and what truly made them different.  For instance, they have to drink large amounts of salt water to maintain their health, and they have scales on their body.  However, those are really the only traits that are talked about that set the Mer apart.  Again, as this was such a big part of the book, I expected there to be more backstory.  Not just about this race of people, but how they were integrated into the world, and the effect they have on the world they are in.  Other than knowing people that are all human hate the Mer, we really don’t know about their society.

The part that was most unforgivable about this book is that the relationship between Peter and Rose was not that interesting.  It was a sweet relationship, and I was happy to see it bloom.  But compared to Meredith’s story line, I was not that interested.  Meredith was part Mer and her father essentially sold her off to a man that wanted to experiment on her.  Towards the end of the book I found myself skimming over Peter and Rose’s part just to learn more about Meredith and what was happening to her.

Overall – This was an interesting book and I appreciated that the author didn’t make it a smutty book and took the time to instead focus on the blossoming relationships between the characters.  The fact that I was more interested in a side character than I was in the main character isn’t exactly a good thing, but this was not a bad book by any means.

The Sea Rose (Lords & Ladies of the Sea Book 1) – Mariella Hunt

Cost* – eBook is $2.99.  Paperback is $8.99 – This book is available on Kindle Unlimited.

*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published