Product Description

National bestselling author Joey W. Hill “stands out in a genre known for its out-of-the- ordinary love play.”(The Romance Studio)

The angelic Jonah has been battling the Dark Ones for centuries. But his noble spirit has begun to tire with the weight of war—allowing a Dark One to strike a blow that severs his wings and knocks him into the sea.

Anna is a Daughter of Arianne—a direct descendant of the mermaid of legend. Anna’s longing for love compels her to risk her very life to protect and hide the fallen Jonah. And the longer Jonah delays his return to the heavens, the more Anna’s secret passions are tempted.

But as she falls more in love with him, Anna wonders if she’s destined to lose her heart and her dreams to save Jonah’s soul…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #572590 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425223802
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Joey W. Hill has written numerous titles for Ellora’s Cave, which have won many awards, nominations, and five-star reviews from erotic romance review sites. She is also a Romance & Beyond magazine Grand Prize winner.

Customer Reviews

At least it's hilariously bad...
This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Its only redeeming value is that it is often hilariously awful. I'm sorry, but having sex with a mermaid in her cloaca in a hot tub? Then catching her on fire? And a road trip through Nevada? I giggled aloud at several of the serious parts of this book.

Also, the description on this book doesn't mention that the relationship is BDSM. I had no desire to read about that. I'm sure that many people enjoy it, but it's not to my taste and I wish there had been some warning (of course, I picked it up in a bookstore and I didn't have Amazon reviews handy).

I suppose the writing is alright, but none of it was in the least bit interesting to me. The plot seemed padded within an inch of its life. I just kept reading because of the unintentionally hilarious bits and pieces.

I'd recommend this book for a good laugh, but it wasn't even remotely engaging or titillating for me.

Lovin' Me Some Mermaids
Joey W. Hill proves herself to be a master storyteller in 'A Mermaid's Kiss'. Her lyrical prose is nothing short of magical in it's ability to be both superbly dark and richly erotic while retaining it's fairy tale essence. As a long time fan of the Disney version of 'The Little Mermaid', I've also been aware that the true tale foretells a much more tragic ending whereby the mermaid doesn't marry her prince but instead perishes cursed and broken-hearted. Ms. Hill expands upon this darker original with tragedy destined to fall upon all descendants of Arianne.

Jonah, Angel and Prime Legion Commander of the Goddess, has lived a long life drenched in destruction, death, and blood. Having survived a war-torn millennia, Jonah's soul has slowly tarnished with the very darkness he's been fighting and thereby corrupting his faith and love in the Lady. After being mortally wounded in battle, Jonah plunges into the ocean with a sigh of relief; grateful that he can finally find some peace in death. His hopes are thwarted though by a brave and beautiful little mermaid.

Anna, a Daughter of Arianne and therefore doomed to tragedy, is still a woman of hope and love. Cursed with the ability to shapeshift into a human, she's lived the life as a being with no true place in the world, an outcast, but one capable of compassionate love and fierce loyalty. Unlike the female ancestors before her, Anna accepts her fate in life to live without reciprocal love while at the same time yearning for it above all else. Given her self-sacrificing nature, it is no surprise that she risks her life from the very beginning for an angel bent on his own destruction.

Despite having lived for a 1000 years, Jonah has never truly sought to understand his own soul. The consuming thoughts of war have blotted out the light of the Lady, leaving his heart to ponder and question his own existence and role in the universe. Humans, the Lady's to protect and therefore Jonah's to protect, cease to be nothing other then rats destroying everything in their path. The evil doings of humans call to the Dark Ones, thus rising the armies of angels; guarding them despite the fact that it's this very evil, festering within the human soul, that makes the Dark Ones very existence possible. Jonah is tired of fighting for those that continue to call to the Dark Ones and suffer the inevitable deaths of his sons for the guilt of their loss weighs heavily upon his conscience. He has lost all hope and all reason to fight and to exist.

Recognizing the darkness within Jonah, Anna makes the decision to help him at any cost, even her own death. She enlists the help of the seawitch, Mina, and with her guiding visions, Anna convinces Jonah to embark on a journey that will lead her further and further away from her beloved ocean.

Jonah decides to accompany Anna and her pursuit of the healing powers of a human shaman not because he wishes to eradicate the poison within him, but because he has found some measure of contentment with Anna. Jonah, though an angel, is not noble. Selfishly, he chooses to drift along on this journey with a self-sacrificing little mermaid because it relieves him of having to think beyond the now. Anna provides for him a route of escapism and monetary respite for his ugly thoughts. He truly feels that a shaman, a human no less, can not heal his rotted soul and there are several points throughout the journey where Jonah tries to drive Anna away from him and their mission. Some readers may a bit put off by Jonah's evil and the pain he inflicts upon Anna without apology. Yet, what readers must remember is that Jonah is existing in the darkest time of his life. He's the most cynical of cynics. He is a man lost and resolved to never put forth the effort to find his way back into the arms of light and love. When considering his dry well of love filled with bitterness, one can only expect him to lash out and protect his already wounded soul. Jonah no longer holds the belief of goodness and it's Anna's complete embodiment of that which he now shields himself from in any way possible without completely loosing his view of her. Instead he'll follow along with Anna because what's a week to his thousand year existence in which he can put off his own demise? It is this that makes Jonah the anti-hero, but a hero none the less.

Conversely, Anna has already conquered the blood of the past and the terms of her Fate. She stands before Jonah untainted and pure of light and love. Her hope for future love is not crushed on the weight of her predestined fate. Anna is by far the most self-sacrificing creature in Hill's world. She gives repeatedly of herself to Jonah in an unflagging hope that he'll once again see how important and how needed his is on Earth and in Heaven. Anna believes in Jonah so much that she literally gifts her heart to him in a very literal sense. By sacrificing her essence, her blood, and ultimately her heart to Jonah, she in turn gives him back his reason to be and live once again. Now that's love.

I feel it's necessary to point out that 'A Mermaid's Kiss' features a variety of sex scenes that call for an openmindness within the reader. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about the scene involving Jonah making love to Anna in her mermaid form but Hill pulls it off with such vital realism that it just comes across as natural for the characters to experience that activity in that way. There is also very light BDSM. Not with regards to the whips and chains version but more in the way Jonah and Anna address one another. Jonah is constantly "my lord" while Anna is "little one". I interpreted this as Anna giving Jonah the respect that his Dominant position called for while her being dubbed "little one" a reminder of her submissive role. There was also the fact that Anna became aroused when Jonah demanded she do something a certain way underlying once again the D/s relationship. Again though, these were the only references to Hill's revered BDSM knowledge.

'A Mermaid's Kiss' is definitely my first favorite of 2009. It's a shining example of Ms. Hill's amazing talent and I look forward to picking up it's sequel 'A Witch's Beauty'.

Sexy paranormal romance with a story of hope and faith
Half-human, half-mermaid, kind-hearted Anna has never belonged anywhere. Shunned by mermaid society, she doesn't really blame the others for their unwillingness to befriend her when she suffers from the same curse that afflicts all of the women in her line.

When she finds an injured angel, it is that magnanimous heart that compels her to stifle the overwhelming fear wrought by his enemies and help the handsome Jonah - even when he tries to push her away.

After centuries of loss and heartache, Jonah has succumbed to a debilitating despair that threatens his very soul. Anna's innocent hopefulness stir feelings in him he thought long gone. But will her light be enough to save this war-weary angel?

Oh my. As big a fan as I am of Joey W. Hill's work, I really didn't expect A MERMAID'S KISS. In fact, I'll go on the record right now saying I believe this to be her best work yet. Fans used to her sexy brand of romance will be more than thrilled with that element in this book, but this story is so much more than that. The author has crafted a tale that inspires hope and faith along with love and romance.

Truly, A MERMAID'S KISS has a depth to it that touches the soul along with the heart, inciting the reader to embrace their own faith in a benevolent higher power.

Jonah is just heart-breaking. His despair is so intense it makes one wonder just how he will be able to find his way out of the darkness that engulfs him. Yet along the way, we see glimpses of his heart that tell us he isn't completely lost, even if he himself doesn't realize it.

Anna sees it, though. With her effervescent personality and her ability to find joy in the smallest of things, she is the perfect foil for his darkness, warming Jonah with a heart that is absolutely pure.

For a compelling story of faith and redemption infused with plenty of searing romance, pick up a copy of Joey W. Hill's A MERMAID'S KISS!

**Courtesy of Wild on Books**

Series Order:
A Mermaid's Kiss (Berkley Sensation)
A Witch's Beauty