Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Naiad’s Kiss
SERIES: A Naiad Romance
AUTHOR: Gigi Rivers
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 226 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 14, 2022
BLURB:
An MM fantasy romance with friends to lovers, pirates, water nymphs, hurt/comfort, found families, lots of pining, and an HEA.
Levrith is a pirate. He loves the sea, adventure, and the life of a sailor. He also loves his naiad crewmate, Ceto. Unfortunately, Ceto has never seen him as anything more than a friend.
That all changes when Ceto is wounded in battle and must leave the ship to recover. Levrith accompanies him and cares for Ceto when all he wants is to wallow. As Ceto heals, desires grow, and passions ignite.
But is there the possibility for love? And will Ceto recognise it before it is too late?
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Naiad’s Kiss is the fourth novel in the A Naiad Romance series. Each book contains an HEA with no cliffhangers and can be read as a stand alone.
Content notes: sexual content, swearing, captivity and abuse of nymphs, and violence in battle.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the fourth book in this series. As such it does contain spoilers for the first three books.
Ceto, who we met in the last book, is the first mate on the Naiad’s Revenge pirate ship. Ceto has been in love with Silas, the captain of the ship as well as Ceto’s rescuer, for years. But Silas has found love with another naiad and Ceto is crushed. Levrith, a human shipmate has been Ceto’s best friend for years. After the last battle and defeat of The Order, Ceto is despondent about not being chosen by Silas. So he gets really really drunk. When Levrith puts him to bed in his cabin, he drunkenly kisses Levrith. After that, things are awkward 🙁 Levrith is planning to go back to his island to visit his family for a bit and he’s hoping maybe things will get back to normal after he returns.
As the ship is headed away from Naiad island, they are pursued by another larger ship of The Order. In the ensuing battle, Ceto is injured – and not a regular injury either – a dark magic wound. Levrith saved him from certain death, but he’s very scare that Ceto is so ill. He volunteers to care for him on his home island until he’s well. When they arrive Levrith’s huge family welcomes them. His grandmother is a healer and while Ceto is nervous, it seems like she may actually be able to speed up Ceto’s very low recovery.
After Levrith’s brother insults him repeatedly under the guise of “teasing” Ceto is not at all happy. He defends Levrith and he doesn’t know why his brother is so mean. He starts to notice just how much he likes and appreciates Levrith and how much he wants to kiss him. Eventually he does 🙂 But there are still questions. Levrith shares his humiliation that resulted in his leaving his community. It’s clear that Levrith doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of Ceto – or anyone as he’s never been the chosen one. Ceto has abandonment issues as he’s been left behind by his family and then he didn’t get chosen by Silas either. He also feels worthless and a burden since he’s so weak and is taking so long to recover from his injury.
Despite others being able to see it, Ceto and Levrith take some time to figure out what’s right in front of them 🙂 While on the island, they get together, but what does it mean? Is is just because they are always together? Surely their jealousy over each other must mean something, right? But when they return to the ship, Levrith is convinced that Ceto is back to his adoration of the captain. They get their wires crossed several times and make assumptions and it takes a bit for them to get back on track 😉
I really liked this addition to the story. These two really have the worst time communicating! Levrith has terrible self-esteem and watching Ceto moon after the captain for years hasn’t exactly helped. It’s a case of the two of them suffering from unrequited love for years. When Levrith takes care of Ceto for weeks on Levrith’s home island, it seems like MAYBE they might have the opportunity to finally get together – but neither are feeling confident to voice their really feelings and desires. It’s kind of adorable, albeit frustrating, to witness them both having feelings and not being able to be honest with each other. Their assumptions cause them to end up as ships passing in the night over and over. Levrith’s interpretations of Ceto’s motives and actions when they return to the ship after their idyllic time on the island further push them apart. I was heartbroken multiple times for Levrith and was so happy when things finally worked out for them. This whole series is sweet and steamy and I recommend them to fans of historical fantasy.
RATING: 
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