Member Reviews

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review..

I was a bit lost reading this book, but I love mermaids so I muddled through; I didn't realize until afterwards that this story was actually a companion to an established series which makes so much sense. I wish I had read the series first. That being said, there is a good story in this book and it feels different than other mermaid stories I've read before which is always nice. I did feel like the story jumped around a lot though in time. Overall, I liked this and I will probably check out the series this novella came from.

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I voluntarily reviewed an Reader Copy of this book which I received through
Netgalley. I really liked this story but I would loved it if it was longer!

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I recently finished reading Seafire by NC Parker. So, I was revived to read more female sea captain stories. So, reading this book, my expectations were very high. This book started out ok but after several chapters in, I was almost ready to be done with the book. Than I did some research and found out that this book is part of a series. One that I have not read any of the books in the Aermian Feuds series. So, this kind of explained my confusion and instant connection with the characters or the storyline. Unless you are already an established reader of this series, I would not recommend starting this book. It is not really meant as a stand alone but more of a companion read. Although, once I did get further into the storyline; I did find my groove with this book.

Lilja's is a good sea captain but I felt she could have been stronger. Yes, it was nice that she had a soft spot in saving Hayjen; even if she didn't have to. Yet, I still felt like she was wishy washy at times and never could commit. There wasn't anything that interesting about Hayjen. Now, this is where my lack of the prior novels comes in. These characters may have been introduced and their character development explained in more detail with the prior novels but I didn't think Hayjen was much of a love interest in mind. Overall, those a nice read.

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I did not realize this was a companion novella to an established series when I requested the ARC, though I am now curious to read more of the series. If you haven't read the other books, then reading this one is a bit difficult at first. You do get your bearings a few chapters in, but it essentially revolves around two characters: Lilja and Hayjen. Lilja is a pirate captain who saves slaves, one of them being Hayjen, who has experienced terrible things.

This book (and series, presumably) plays with the myths of sirens and their magic. Lilja is capable of attracting men after being in the water, which was an interesting feature. I honestly haven't encountered many books with sirens, or even female pirates. I really need more of them.

My only complaints, beyond the fact that I was a bit lost due to my lack of familiarity with the series, would be the overuse of adjectives sometimes (the first chapter was particularly killer) and the fact that the narration skipped time suddenly between chapters, which was extremely jarring and confusing.

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After doing this research this book serves as a prequel to Frost Kay's Aermian Feud series and it was apparent from the beginning. We are thrown into a world with very little information and it's hard to figure out what is going on for a majority of the book. This is further complicated by the fact that Kay seems to skip around in time during the course of the novella. It took a while to figure out the timeline because one minute the main character, Lilja, would be on her ship and the next she would suddenly be unconscious. While there are some interesting elements such as slavery and the Sirenidae race, it was not developed enough to really capture my attention. However, these promising features did make me want to read the main books in the series but I'm concerned that I will find the same confusing nonlinear storytelling and little worldbuilding that was present in this novella.

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*Will edit this later to be sync with my Goodreads and blog review posts.

This is my first time to read a female pirate-themed novel so I was not familiar or that they may be similiar to male pirates. This is a novella set before the first book, and it told the story of 2 persons: a slave hero and a female pirate. I like how the author uses emotions to describe the slave hero, Hayjen. I easily connect to him in terms of being the eldest sibling and that instinct to protect. Lilja, the female pirate and the captain of her ship is mysterious, but that was resolved in the later part of the book which explains the whole novella. The writing style is very descriptive and easy to understand that why I breezed through this.

I highly recommned this to those who are still looking for a sea adventure themed novels that talk about pirates and mermaids.

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This was a quick read, being a novella for another series, I went into this without knowing what the rest of the books were about. But this was a lovely story about how two of the charcters meet. I liked that it had a magical feel with the sirens and how they could lure people to their watery grave with their abilities, and it wasn't just singing, but the fact that they smell nice when in water and more!
I would definitely like to know what the rest of the series is about now, and I've already got book one on my TBR to begin reading here soon!
Maybe once I have read some of the rest of the series, I will then be able to appreciate this novella even more because I will be more connected to the characters in this short story and have more knowledge of the importance of their meeting. It would have been nice to know this going into reading this novella, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

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Mermaid, sirens, pirates, I was like sign me up for this.
I went into this as a stand alone having not read the other books in the series.
I was disappointed, it didn't delve much into the world and was more character driven,
which if you have read the series is probably what you want, but to me it was a something I wanted more of explanations and about this wonderful world,
rather than more information about them that didn't make a lot a sense since I didn't have the full picture.
I loved Lilja, she was badass and really cool, sadly Hayjen character fell flat.
Overall, I really liked the world, and the story, but I was left wanting more information to be able to connect.
Though this is said to be okay to read as a stand alone, I would recommend reading the other books to enjoy it even more than I did and to it's full potential.
Ps: I received this book in exchange of an honest review.
-Bookarina

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I’m a cover whore. And this cover was giving me life. I wish the book followed thru tho. I don’t know if it’s cause I haven’t read the other books, but I just couldn’t seem to dive into this one. … get it, it’s about mermaids and I just made a dive joke. *winces* Yeah that went over as good as this book did. I might try reading the other stories first and then come back to this novella to see if I can get into it better,

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2.5 stars

***ARC received in exchange of an honest opinion***


Despite its being said that Siren's Lure can be read as a standalone it left me completely confused.

But then the main reason for it isn't because of the backstory, but because the story is told back and foeth without no warning. So I never knew if the characters were dreaming, if things were real or if the formatting was wrong and pages were put at the wrong places.

I only figured, almost at the end, that it was supposed to be a then and now thing. So for me this book lacks good editing.

The story is short, but it is interesting, I wish it was a full length novel, so I could have enjoyed it more. As it is, nothing reall makes sense and it was very hard to connect with the characters and the story.

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When I requested this book on NetGalley I was unaware it was a novella and also that it is part of a series. That being said, overall it was a quick read and I liked it. What I DIDN'T like was that there wasn't enough description/world-building. You don't get a good description of the "Leviathan" ..are they dolphins? Are they sharks? Also, the "Lure"....i get the idea of it...but all anyone keeps saying when it's activated is " You smell so good"...it's just strange.
I felt like everything was pretty "neat" in this book...everyone just accepts what happens and just deals. There isn't any real character development.

This was an ok novella but I'm not sure if I would read the series that it goes with.

*I received a free e-arc from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.*

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I'm a huge fan of mermaid, sirens, sea creature tales so I was excited to give this series a try with this short novella. Sadly, i didn't get much of the creature world in this short it was more about the meeting and connecting of two of the characters. Their meeting was riddled with mistrust, backed with a bleak history, and mythical tales. Lilja, is a Sirenidae (hiding her true race) and she smell amazing when wet, the book says so. It's some defense but I'm not sure how that would work to save her. I did enjoy getting to know her and the brief look at her mission. Hayjen, the man she rescues, was, I don't know I didn't really get his character or is back story enough to get him. He had a connection to a little girl that was intense and I believed till the end when... His character has some big holes. This was just a novella to a series already published that I know nothing about so I don't expect to get it all. Will I read the series ? I'm not sure, this wasn't written as an introduction to the world/series it was a relationship peek. I could see fans of this series really loving this look at their beloved characters.

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In a world of siren's and dragons, Siren's Lure tells the story of a kidnapped male slave named Hayjen, his ward Mer and their rescuer the pirate Lilja. After being taken as a slave on an enemy's ship, Hayjen dedicates himself to protecting the women with him, and the small child named Mer from the abuse of their captors. Taking their punishments and beatings, he becomes their hero. One day, while being whipped, the ship their on gets taken over by a team of pirates. To his relief, these pirates have a moral compass. They save the slaves, and that is where he meets Lilja, the beautiful pirate captain with some odd behaviours. Lilja is a siren, but she hides it to protect herself and her people. Together, Lilja and Hayden will fight to protect the slave women and get them home safely.
The formatting of this book was a mess. It would sporadically jump from the present to the future with no notification or clarification to the readers. It was incredibly confusing and uncomfortable to read. It felt like the chapters of the story were accidentally mixed up and then it was mistakenly published like this. I could not STAND the random jumping back and forth. It ruined my reading experience. If it were rearranged I would have probably enjoyed this novel 100 times more. Other then that, the story was fine. Just fine. I give Siren's Lure the rating of TWO AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

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A refreshing story about a siren who has become a pirate in order to free her people. Well-written, well developed characters & great story.
I loved diving into the life of Hayjen and Lilja.
I look forward to reading the rest of this story, because this one was truly captivating!

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Lilja is a pirate but one who rescues the slaves that the Scythians have captured. She is a Sirenidae and will not be able to go home due to choosing to bring down the Scythians that have caused harm to those that challenge them. When Lilja rescues the slaves, there is a small girl called Mer and a male slave called Hayjen who cares for her. When Mer's parents who are Sirenidae come for her, Hayjen believes that Lilia has thrown her overboard to die. He doesn't understand that Mer is Sirenidae,.also. He promises to kill Lilia when he is able. Will Lilia ever be able to go home and will Hayjen kill Lilja? How will they overthrow the Scythians and make the lands safe again? It is an ongoing battle. Great book. Loved the characters and the storyline. Can't wait to read all the books in this series. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation otherwise.

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