Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Come to the Rocks
AUTHOR: Christin Haws
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 66 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2018
BLURB:
Linnea’s only safe place is a spot on the rocky shoreline where the water can be rather vicious. It’s here where she meets, and falls in love with, a mermaid named Mren. As their romance blossoms, the escalating harassment from Linnea’s ex-boyfriend Mikey threatens the secret relationship. Mren has vowed to protect Linnea, but she’s confined to the water and Mikey is a land monster. Meanwhile, Linnea will do anything to keep Mren safe from him.
REVIEW:
I wasn’t expecting such a good, tension-fueled story out of such few words. If you’re expecting a fairly straightforward mermaid fantasy, you might be disappointed, because there’s a lot of depth in Linnea and Mren’s relationship that is much more human than mythological.
This story deals heavily with Linnea’s abusive ex-boyfriend, Mikey, and her deepening dread of the day he finally gets his way and does something really bad to her. She’s doing all the “right” things—calling the police, changing her locks, filing a restraining order. But he keeps getting past all her efforts, and she feels herself become more and more powerless, as so many women escaping abusive pasts often do. It’s such a realistic and human situation that we can all relate to with anger. So when Mren, a beautiful and ethereal creature, comes to Linnea’s rescue and brings some magic into her very dark world, we’re filled with just as much warmth as Linnea.
The short length of this book does become an obstacle at times, especially when the tension builds and we know Mren’s protection will extend past clandestine meetings at the rocks. The actual “revenge” isn’t quite as dramatic as I hoped it would be. I almost feel like Haws (whose past work tends towards horror) held back a little bit—mermaids in modern fantasy works are much more violent than past interpretations, and I was expecting a bit more of a literal bite when Mren showed her true colors. A great dramatic climax was there, but it just fell a little short.
I also wanted a bit more interaction between Linnea and Mren before they started working together to defeat Mikey. Their romance is very PG and surface-level, but in the end, that works alright with the story—this novella itself feels more like a prelude to a grand romance than anything. It’s a lovely start to something beautiful.
RATING: 
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