Sea Fever (The Children of the Sea) [Mass Market Paperback]

I enjoyed Virginia Kantra's Sea Witch (Children of the Sea, Book 1) so much that I was counting down the days until Sea Fever (Children of the Sea, Book 2) was released and I was not disappointed.

If I were to debate the merits of the two, I could argue that Sea Witch (Children of the Sea, Book 1) had the better mystery, but on the other side, Sea Fever (Children of the Sea, Book 2) has a better romance (and that's saying something because I really enjoyed Caleb and Margred's romance) and better character development because the motivations of the characters felt very real and understandable.

Regina Barrone grew up on World's End. Due to circumstances, she returned to the island to work at her mother's restaurant and make a life for herself and her young son. But as any single parent can tell you, it gets lonely and Regina is no exception to that rule. So on one night, a slightly drunk Regina and not so drunk Dylan hook up.

It was a one night stand that had consequences that goes long past that night.

Dylan Hunter is the older brother of Caleb (Sea Witch's hero). He's also the sibling who pulled the selkie bloodline when he turned 13. As such, his mother and he disappeared into the sea. He's determined to remain a selkie, but his prince, Conn, has ordered him back to World's End, the island of his childhood, to find out why the demon world is interested in the goings on and if it has anything to do with a prophecy that involves Dylan's mother and their bloodline.

Once Dylan returns to the island, he finds himself drawn back to Regina and her life as he finds that Regina may be as much in danger as Margred before her. In spite of himself, he is drawn into the human world that he wants to run from but cannot.

The strength of Sea Fever (Children of the Sea, Book 2) isn't in the paranormal plotline. That's the flavoring, but not the meal of the story. The strength is in the characters. Regina is proud and prickly with every reason to be. Dylan has issues about his mother, his father, and his own identity conflict. Regina's mother Antonia is more strongwilled and stubborn than her daughter. Regina's son, Nick, loves his mother, wouldn't mind a father, but has reservation of his own as Dylan and Regina seem to grow closer. Add to that mix is the tenuous brotherly bonds between Dylan and Caleb as well as Dylan's difficulty in coming to terms with his father and you've got a story that doesn't completely rely on the novelty of the paranormal touches.

In fact, the paranormal touches are almost a distraction. Almost but not quite. Because the world of the selkie, the humans and the demon world are colliding and this installment of the series highlights that conflict that is coming.

What Kantra does well is that she balances the two elements: the characters interaction and the action. In Sea Fever (Children of the Sea, Book 2), the characters drove the action more than the action driving the characters and I really liked that.

Still, there was enough action and intrigue and questions still hanging in the air to set up for the next installment of the series, Sea Lord, which isn't due out until 2009.

As I did with Sea Fever (Children of the Sea, Book 2), I am looking forward to that book and read Lucy's story.

Regina Barone is lonely. She is a single mom raising her eight years old son Nick while working as a cook at her mom's lobster shack on the Maine barrier island World's End where she was born. She has no personal life at all and no hope for one in the future as she personally understands the name of her home.

While the town celebrates a wedding, a depressed Regina sneaks away to get drunk at the beach; she miserably thinks she has no one to share her bottle with. However that proves wrong because Dylan, brother to the groom police chief Caleb Hunter, is also on the beach getting away from the festivities. His ruler the Selkie Prince sent him here to investigate a demon existence. The human and the Selkie are attracted to one another, but neither see a long term relationship brewing between them until danger makes both reassess their priorities.

This direct sequel to SEA WITCH is a fantastic romantic fantasy as Virginia Kantra enables the readers to look deep into the souls of a lonely single human mom and a Selkie. The story line enables the reader as we did in previous Children of the Sea tales to believe in the existence of Selkie and half-breed Selkie. Fans will enjoy this fine thriller as Selkie are a commitment phobic species as Dylan keeps on reminding himself even while he suffers from SEA FEVER caused by his attraction to a surface dweller.

Harriet Klausner

I was LOVING the supernatural theme in this book. It was extremely well written, and though I don't usually like heroines that are moms already, it wasn't as much of a damper on the book as I thought it would be. The intimate scenes were so erotic, (more so than many of the other novels I've read). The author's usage of explicit language added the right touch to the story and kept me clinging on for more.

I see why this got 5 stars from everyone else. Tender, sincere, and deeply passionate. You will be impressed!