Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: To Love a Naiad
SERIES: A Naiad Romance
AUTHOR: Gigi Rivers
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 168 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2022
BLURB:
A lonely human fisherman. A naiad terrified of humans.
An mm fantasy romance.
Fisherman Tam lives alone in his cabin. It’s a quiet life, a calm life, and a lonely one. One night, he sees a naiad in a cage. Horrified, Tam buys the naiad and sets him free. But even after the naiad disappears into the ocean, Tam can’t stop thinking about the beautiful, slender nymph, with his dark-blue eyes.
Shai has learnt the hard way that humans are to be feared. But when a human saves him, it upends everything he thought he knew about them. He knows he should stay away from the fisherman. They are from two different worlds. They have nothing in common. They don’t even speak the same language. And although the man rescued him, Shai knows humans can’t be trusted.
But Shai can’t stay away. Nor can he ignore the desire he feels for this big man with his broad shoulders and hairy chest. But is there a chance for love between a human and a naiad? Or are their differences too great to overcome?
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TO LOVE A NAIAD is the first novel of the A NAIAD ROMANCE series. Each book contains a HEA with no cliffhangers and can be read as a stand alone.
Content notes: sexual content, swearing, and captivity and abuse of nymphs.
REVIEW:
Tam is a fisherman. While on a trip, he is browsing a market when he comes on a man selling animals – but then he sees a Naiad in a cage. He can tell the naiad is in bad shape shackled in the cage. He offers to buy him in the hopes of saving him. The seller is obviously a nasty piece of work, but Tam doesn’t care if he can save the naiad. He’s different to the naiads Tam usually sees in the ocean – blue instead of green. Straight dark hair instead of curls. But he still can’t stand seeing him suffer.
On the way home, he feeds the naiad and gives him access to water. He keeps him warm with his own jacket. It’s clear the naiad is slowly recovering, but he’s still quite thin and pale. When the reach Tam’s cove, he unshackles and naiad and offers him his freedom. The naiad appears unsure, but then he does swim away.
Shai, the naiad, is surprised at the care the human takes of him. In his experience humans only abuse naiads. He finds a pod of ocean naiads and stays with them. He’s curious about the human who saved him though. His lake home had been overrun by humans and his whole family had been captured and he never saw them again. He’s intrigued by the human who saved him from the cage and then let him go. But when he goes back to check on him, he’s afraid. It takes some time before he actually approaches the man. It’s clear that they have an attraction, but the naiad pod he’s with tell him humans only want naiads for one thing – sex.
Shai is confused about his feelings for Tam. But they spend more and more time together and Tam fixed us his cabin. He also buys Shai a precious gift. Things are going really well until unexpected visitors arrive and injure Shai. He flees and Tam is desolate. If he can’t find Shai, he doesn’t know what he’ll do. But he won’t give up 😉
This was an interesting story that reminded me a bit of some of the mermen/human stories that I’ve read except that the Naiads seem to be more similar to humans in many ways. Poor Shai had known really only heartache an abuse from humans before Tam saved him from what would probably have been sure death if he’s remained in a cage and away from water much longer. But Shai has to learn to trust a human. Tam’s knowing he is different and his deep loneliness has led him to live away from his family. He’s never had a connection with anyone until Shai. Despite their differences and Shai’s hesitancy, Tam does everything he can to make Shai feel welcome – and it’s not just about the sex. They genuinely like spending time together. Learning things about each other. It’s a very sweet romance (and also a big steamy 😉 ). I of course didn’t care for Tam’s family. But thankfully Tam and Shai are able to find a place where they can be together.
This is the first story I’ve read by this author and it appears to be their first publishes story. The descriptions of the naiads, their society and the world they inhabit wa well done. It’s a bit of a historical fantasy and I liked the writing style. I’m looking forward to the next story.
RATING: 
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