Kiss of the Selkie: A Little Mermaid Retelling (Entangled with Fae)

This book came in great condition. When I tell you this series has been a breath of fresh air I mean like they have probably been my favorite series of 2023 I love fantasy and fairytales so the two combined were just perfection so excited to for her to release the limited edition of this book

Tessonja Odette's retellings have become some of my favorites over the last year. A richly developed world with Regency vibes, paired with Fae bargains & human interactions, sprinkled with original tale gems, reimagined into a story all of their own, with a touch of spice. Definitely upper YA/NA for mature subjects, etc.Kiss of the Selkie is a Little Mermaid retelling, 3rd in the Entangled with Fae series of standalone HEAs, but can be read out of order.Masie is an incognito fae princess with kleptomaniac tendencies, and a penchant for a bit of blubber on a physique. She's a bit of a loner, except for her fungus sprite crab, Podaxis and her theater friends, who were all so interesting with depth and fun. Maisie is keeping the deadly secret of her kiss close to her chest, especially since running away from wedding Prince Franco in The Raven Prince. Her goal is to stay off the radar from the Unseelie Queen of the Sea, who would use her as one of her assassins. Maisie, dressing like a boy, is hidden in a fae town that feels like a Bridgerton-esque Las Vegas. Bright and bustling, with dens of inequities, theater, music halls, and eateries; all a sheltered girl could want. Her rent is paid by bringing expensive baubles she "finds" to the theater owner that lets her a room.Maisie, AKA Pearl, while she loves her freedom and new experiences, longs for the sea, her family, and the sheltered life she once had. It's while hanging out & staring at the ocean that she comes across a burning shipwreck and rescues a handsome human, breaking the law by bringing him across their magicked border, but by request, makes sure Dorian is given sanctuary by the Church of Saint Lazaro, the heinous church that persecuted the fae we read about in Raven Prince.In the effort of becoming better liked, CoSL holds a bridal contest for the billionare, a highly conservative Bachelor if you will, in hopes of elevating their public opinion and finding him a fae bride so he can legally stay. Meanwhile Maisie is captured by the Unseelie Queen of the Sea, and in return for taking away her deadly kiss, she must partake in the bridal contest and kill Dorian, the one she can't get off her mind.Their relationship developed fairly easily and even when the truth came out, it was interesting to see how it was handled. The spice is on page, but not explicit, and at one point reminded me a bit of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.I can't wait to see the next books with the mysterious Huntsman and the orphan Briory Rose that were introduced. Odette always introduces upcoming characters for the next books, while having previous characters pop in.I enjoyed the storyline, the cameos of previous characters, the side characters, the world, the twists, and all the little Easter eggs from the Little Mermaid I know and love. I would have liked Dorian's POV in this one, not just what she was thinking, like in the Raven Prince. Overall, I'll read it again down the road.I requested an ARC and chose to leave an honest review.

I love the worldbuilding and the lore behind the story and the unique take on Little Mermaid with selkies. A lot of the characters are well written and complex and I love Maisie's cleverness.

This book is just so much fun, it's pure entertainment wrapped up in a bit of magic. The characters are very likeable, especially the seal princess main character. Unwilling assassin princess enters a gaudy dating contest to get closer to her target, but ends up falling in love. There's some humor, and it's a quick breezy read. Highly recommend it if you are looking for something comforting, upbeat and easy to read.

It’s really clear to see how the story of the little mermaid was incorporated into this retelling! Of course, this is strictly the Disney version and not the Hans Christian Anderson one. It’s a story about love; love its many forms, between friends, family and lovers. Of course, you also have a key element in here from The Selection.Odette did give us a grown-up take on the little mermaid; Maisie’s kiss can kill, and she has no idea why. She has a knack for lifting things out of pockets to sell and make money while living in self-imposed exile (while also adding pieces to her own collection). Maisie has a large number of siblings but has grown up closer to her brothers, and Podaxis. As she rescues the handsome stranger, she leaves not because she is shy but because it is the prudent thing to do. She competes for his hand and goes from the girl who was relieved to have just grown up among brothers, to someone who values all her friends. Like Ariel, she grows from someone very sheltered to someone who understands political games, even if she refuses to play them.I’ll admit this book started off really slow, and I was prepared to write it off. It’s only when we meet Maisie’s mother and understand the dynamics there that things really pick up. As we learn more about Queen Nimue, we slowly gain more sympathy and respect for her. She’s the real star of this book for me, and if Tessonja Odetta wanted to write more about her I’d be happy to read it. I do think Maisie was also far too quick in forgiving her father for what he had done to her mother (but we do need to know more about what was said to her), but I think that’s also us as children writing off our parents mistakes.I also loved Podaxis! While in the little mermaid, Sebastian is more of a hapless older relative or uncle, in this Podaxis is his brother in a way that we all didn’t know we needed. I’m glad that we will get a story about Britney Rose (I mean just the name made me realize that there would be something based on her), and I love how Maisie was tied into the previous book, and how we saw some characters again!

Loosely based on the story of the little mermaid. More based on the plot of any of 'the bachelor' television series. Its a fun and light read

This was such a charming Little Mermaid retelling. Maisie is a selkie who discovers she has the power to kill with the touch of her lips, & if the Unseelie Witch Queen of the Sea discovers it she will try & claim Maisie as her newest assassin. To escape her clutches she decides to remove her Selkie form & hide out on land in a magical city of musicians & artists, becoming an expert pickpocket to help a struggling theatre she now calls home with her friends & adopted brother Podaxis. Maisie saves a drowning man & that’s when the real trouble begins. Dorian was never meant to survive the destruction of his ship, & when the Unseelie Queen discovers Maisie is the one who saved him she gives Maisie a choice, kill the man she saved within 10 days, or die herself. Maisie decides to infiltrate the bridal pageant meant to find Dorian the perfect bride, & she has little time to choose between herself or the mysterious man she rescued. Because it’s a retelling you of course know roughly where the story goes, but the twists & unique plot points Tessonja puts into the story makes it its own story without a doubt. Maisie was a fun protagonist who had a lot of spirit, cleverness & determination, not to mention her exemplary pickpocketing skills & love for baked treats. Despite putting herself in mortal peril she still did the right thing when it came down to it. Dorian felt a little flat to begin with but in the second half of the book you really started to see more of him & want to see where their relationship went. I absolutely loved Podaxis, he was a little bit of Sebastian from TLM & a little bit of Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio with the sweetness of Flounder. I love how with every book in this series of standalones set in the same world Tessonja continues to do exemplary world building, it’s like she’s cutting a diamond into the perfect shape, eventually every faucet will come together perfectly while still shining on its own. I was so excited to see two new characters who were easily hinted at to be the next ones to get their own stories & I cannot wait to read them! Bring on the next book! KotS releases end of December so make sure to preorder it while you can, you won’t regret it. Also can we all just take a moment to swoon over the beautiful artwork for this book? It’s just divine!

ARC review of “Kiss of the Selkie”.This has been described as an ‘A Little Mermaid’ retelling.’Kiss of the Selkie’ is so much bigger than the original tale. Maisie is such a ‘down-to-earth’ character for a fae, she just wants to live her own life on her own terms. She is put ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’ when her mother finds her and seeks to exploit her ‘killing kiss’- she must enter a hilariously staid version of ‘The Batchelor’ to carry out a heinous deed or forever be forced to be one of her mother’s assassins.Dorian our ship-wrecked prince is ‘Brother Dorian’ a member of the Church of Saint Lazaro – is he worth saving or is he as evil as others of that faith, as we have seen in ‘Heart of the Raven Prince’? We learn of his family’s history and the jury is well and truly ‘out’ for much of the tale, is he worth saving – can both he and Maisie ultimately survive?Podaxis, a fungus sprite helps Maisie in all her endeavors, he is her friend and side-kick, a brother and her conscience - but this story is also his, can he find a form in which to woo his heart’s desire?I thoroughly enjoyed “Kiss of the Selkie”, it is incredibly rich and satisfying – there are so many aspects of this view of the Faerwyvae world that are both relatable to our world and enchanting fantasy. Hopefully there are more tales of Faerwyvae to come!

I felt like this story had promise and there was a lot I liked about it, especially all the subtle nods to The Little Mermaid and the fact that the marriage pageant was basically a version of The Bachelor. However I felt like there was no real romance to the story or chemistry between the characters until the very end and regarding Dorian, we really didn’t get to see much of his personality for much of the book. He seemed to spend a lot of time scowling and smirking but not really much else so we had no insight into what he was thinking or feeling since this was just a one sided POV from Maisie. I did like her character; her independence and her relationship with Podaxis. I thought it would have been nice if her father had been introduced to the story at some point. Overall it was an okay read but not something I would rush to pick up again and I wasn’t induced into picking up the rest of the series.

was a present requested dont know