Forgotten Sea (Children of the Sea, #5) by Virginia Kantra

• Title: Forgotten Sea (Children of the Sea)
• Classification: Adult Fiction
• Genre: Paranormal Romance
• Format: Paperback, 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (June 7, 2011)
• ISBN-10: 0425241831
• ISBN-13: 978-0425241837
• Author website: http://virginiakantra.com/index.html
• To read an excerpt Click here. 
  

Before humankind existed the elements of earth, sea, sky, and fire were formed. Each element had their own children and the world was theirs. Then man came and the children of fire (demons) rebelled, declaring war on both heaven and man. The children of the land (the fair folk) and sea (mer folk), however, were forced to cohabitate with humankind, but they withdrew to their own corners of the world - the wild places of the earth and the ocean depths. Over the years, the children of the sea's numbers and powers began to decline, while the children of fire's grew. When alliances began to form between the children of the sea and humans, there was a slight shift in power.

The children of the air (angels) are forbidden interfere in the power struggles of the earth. Those that do become outcasts and are known as the fallen (nephilim). It is one such angel, Lara, a novice Seeker, who went in search of what she thought was another fallen angel. Instead she came across Justin Miller. Quickly she realized he wasn't one of the fallen, but he wasn't human either. As trained, she attempted to abandon the man she had originally sought. When he helped her and Gideon from being overtaken by the demons who attacked them, she decided to take the unconscious man to Rockhaven. That decision will end up changing their lives forever, and lead Justin to remembering who and what he is...

This was a fun read. I enjoyed having a rare mythical creature, the Selkie, for a main character. I always felt they'd make a good story, and I was right. The spark between Lara and Justin (Iestyn) is evident from their first meeting. As the relationship grows the spark ignites to an inferno which is undeniable by either. Lara's presence seems to unlock the memories of Iestyn's former life and slowly the two piece together who Iestyn is and what happened to cause him to be separated from his kind. I like how Lara isn't the "perfect" heroine and has a troubled past. I like how she grows as an individual as the story progresses. Iestyn is definitely an alpha male, but very gentle where Lara is concerned. On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale this one gets a Steam ranking - too hot for a fan, but you still have a handle on things. I gave this one an overall rating of 3 1/2 out of 5 roses. 

Interesting little tidbit I found: While looking into Selkies I came across a very informative website ( http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/selkiefolk/ ) that said,

"A selkie-man in human form was said to be a handsome creature, with almost magical seductive powers over mortal women. According to tradition, they had no qualms about casting off their sealskins, stashing them carefully, and heading inland to seek out 'unsatisfied women'.

Should such a mortal woman wish to make contact with a selkie-man, there was a specific rite she had to follow. At high tide, she should make her way to the shore, where she had to shed seven tears into the sea.

The selkie-man would then come ashore and, after removing his magical sealskin, seek out “unlawful love”.

Seriously, you should really check the site out. It goes in depth into the folklore of the Selkie and it is really good.

Order series should be read:






























.5  Shifter - contains prequel in anthology
1. Sea Witch (Children of the Sea, Book 1)
2. Sea Fever (Children of the Sea, Book 2)
3. Sea Lord (Children of the Sea, Book 3)
3.5 Burning Up (Berkley Sensation) - contains novella in anthology
4. Immortal Sea (Children of the Sea)
5. Forgotten Sea (Children of the Sea)