An Under the Sea Paranormal Romance That Will Leave You Breathless in Anticipation!
Whispers of the Deep
Deep Waters (Book 1)
Science Fiction Romance, Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance
Independently Published
January 7, 2024
ebook
381
One of the many engineers that keeps Beta, the city under the sea, running, Mira only wants to make her family proud and to prove herself worthy. She knows the mysterious city better than anyone and it’s her dream to help it flourish.
But then, on a solo job in an abandoned section of the city, she encounters a monster of legend. An undine. A dangerous merman from an ancient civilization, long forgotten.
Arges has fought his entire life for his people. With deadly creatures under his control, he plans to eradicate Beta once and for all to protect his kind and their peaceful way of life. But when a human woman saves him, she unknowingly creates a bond between them, one he can’t ignore. Even though her flaming red hair haunts his dreams, he needs her for information on the undine’s enemies.
So he steals her. Keeps her. Feeds her. Only to realize their bond is far deeper than captor and captive. He cannot let her go—but he cannot keep her under the sea. In a battle to determine if love can survive a war beneath the waves, it will be their decision that changes the tides.
She’d ruined everything, that little sea nymph who had stared back at him with too much bravery.
Emma Hamm is quite the gifted storyteller. Whispers of the Deep left me on the edge of my seat for the entirety of story. Even with the suspension of belief, and the hilarious but appreciated Author’s Note at the beginning, I loved getting to know both Mira and Arges.
In the underwater city of Beta, Mira is an engineer. She’s all that’s left of her family. Being underwater in an enclosed city is lonely to begin with, but without family, Mira is a character that I immediately admired her gumption as well as her inner fire. She also managed to catch the notice of a particularly prickly undine (the word for mer-people). After an attempted attack on a weakened chamber by Arges, Mira’s interest is piqued.
He’d never fluttered in his life. Aries had always known his gills to remain flat and unaffected, no matter what female was around him. And yet, this one made him shake like a child. Like he’d never had a woman touch him before.
Arges, the leader of the undine, has been tasked to lead an attack on the achromos (their word for humans) who deplete their seas with their metal and machines. He admired the red-haired female who stood up to him after his attack. His plans to continue his attack are waylaid when he sees her (foolishly) on the outside of Beta attempting to fix a broken section of the achromos city. In a snap decision, he kidnaps her, and ultimately ends up in a cave with her.
Mira is unfortunately at the mercy of Arges, unable to communicate and unable to leave the cave. With only the relics of sea exploration with her in the cave, Mira decides to make the best of a poor situation. While Arges brings more metal objects to Mira, she discovers an exploratory droid and uses it to fashion translator pieces for herself and for Arges.
She was every temptation he’d ever had all wrapped up in a body he should hate and a mind that was far too devious. Mira was dangerous, he knew that. And yet, some part of him still wanted to keep her as his own.
I so enjoyed Mira and Arges unlikely partnership and their slow descent from adversaries to friends and finally to lovers. I admired how Arges worked his way through the politics of his family and clan with their demand to see an end to the humans. I also admired Mira’s tenacity in the near hopelessness of her situation. Their romance in Whispers of the Deep felt like a fated mates, but with a Beauty and the Beast kind of storyline. The elements of danger, and what-ifs made me unable to put this beautiful story down.
Whispers of the Deep is a gorgeously written romance, and I admired the monster romance aspect (obviously), but I was equally enchanted by the entire world that was build within the pages. Emma Hamm is an eloquent author and one with a keen eye for details. I cannot wait for more stories within this world!
Jes is a self-proclaimed bookworm, who recently moved from the PNW back to the Midwest. When her nose isn’t in a book, she’s spending time with her husband, two kids, and her three fur babies, or exploring the globe. She also firmly believes that you should start the day with coffee, and end the day in bed with a good book.
