This was a sweet love story about a selkie woman who sheds her seal skin in order to spend time among humans. Nerissa runs into trouble when he hidden seal skin goes missing and she can't return to the sea. Meeting Lorelei introduces her to new experiences and feelings and both women find their lives change. I enjoyed finding out both of their stories and thought the author managed to accomplish a great deal in such a short time.
I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Less Than Three press in return for an honest review.

Lost and Found by J. Holland was a wonderful little story, a sweetly romantic fairy tale that really opened my eyes to the beauty of being asexual, and yet wonderfully romantic.

Nerissa is a selkie who, having grown up on her grandmother's stories, is fascinated with humans. So much so, in fact, that she has taken a part-time job at the library in order to earn enough money to buy herself sweets, clothes, and other human conveniences. Lorelei is a human whose fascination is with the sweets of her bakery, leaving her with a few extra pounds and some sadly all-too-familiar body image issues.

The relationship between these two women is delightful, a true case of love-at-first-sight. Despite her initial attraction, Lorelei only invites Nerissa into her home as an act of well-meaning charity, never knowing that her beach discover is the reason the young woman cannot go home. The two form an almost immediate bond, even as Nerissa's innocent desire for a warm embrace tests Lorelei's restraint.

What makes this story work is Lorelei's acceptance of her lover's asexual nature. Never once does she try to pressure her or make her feel guilty for how she demonstrates her affections. Should Nerissa ever feel ready, she would be eager to take their love to a different place, but she is very much okay with that never happening. Instead, they sleep in each other's arms, watch TV in each other's arms, and share loving embraces wherever and whenever they can. At the same time, while she may be asexual, Nerissa does a wonderful job of helping Lorelei with her body image, making her understand just how beautiful she is, and allowing her to see the strength and the power beneath those extra pounds.

Like any fairy tale, Lost and Found does have a happy ending, but only after their love is tested. For such a short tale, I was surprised at how emotionally invested I became. These are wonderful characters in a unique story that never bows to convention, and never betrays their identities. I loved it.

This book is a beautiful short story. Lorelei, is an overweight baker with a kind heart and has a lot of compassion. Nerissa is an asexaul Selkie. She returns to the sea and she has a chest with her skin in it.

A misunderstanding occurs between the two women leaving Nerissa stranded on land. The two women meet and develop a relationship.

The two form a relationship and have a challenging situation as a secret is revealed.

The story is beautifully written.

<i>*I received this book from NetGalley, and Less Than Three in return for a fair review.*</i>

I'd probably have to check my asexual shelf to be sure, but, even without doing so, I am fairly certain that this is the best asexual fiction short story that I have read. I just loved it, I did. The characters were well constructed - mostly the two mains, though there was some meat on the bones that made up the side characters, the story was solid, the descriptions were sound. Lovely story.

An overweight woman, Lorelei, finds herself bent over gasping and seriously considering that she might be dying. She isn't overweight in a 'thin woman looking in a mirror "my ass is so large"' but overweight in a woman acknowledging that she's, at least according to the BMI (Body Mass Index). She's the owner of a bakery and she's put on the pounds testing food and getting her shop up and running. Running - that's what she had been attempting to do - run.

I have, in fact, read stories that involved people dying fairly early into the story (or, it turns out, they had been in the process of dying, and the story was the rapid firing, albeit last, of neurons in the brain). But no, this is not that type of story.

She did find herself on the sand though. And as she was wiggling, her hand wacked something painfully. Driftwood. She has driftwood furniture. She likes driftwood. Eagerly she pounces on the wood and . . . wait, no, this is an actual treasure chest. Buried in the sand. She eagerly digs it up and flees with it.

Meanwhile a woman named Nerissa is rushing to her job - a job she's almost late for. She works at the library and it is a 'make work' type job. She works a few hours there - I just about said much stuff, but, I'll let others read, eh?

Nerissa, at the end of her work day, returns to her favorite beach. She's horrified to discover that her chest had been stolen. How will she return home? Her skin was in there - the one that allows her, a Selkie, to turn into a seal and swim in the ocean.

One thing leads to another and Nerissa and Lorelei encounter each other and grow close.

Lovely story.

Rating: 5+

March 24 2017