About this book:
“She is under a vow to never marry. He is engaged. Knowing that, they can be friends, without assumptions or rumors… Can’t they?
Maristella Westen would have been the star of every ball with no shortage of suitors, but she has a secret, something that is only known to her and her parents. The secret makes marriage impossible. To avoid inspiring false hopes in young men, as well as forming an unwanted attachment herself, Maristella keeps away from social gatherings. Used to solitude, she finds joy in simple pleasures like reading, taking walks in the garden, riding her horse, and occasionally fishing — something her strict parents frown upon.
When the wealthy Lord Shelberton comes for a visit, bringing with him his three sons, Maristella is told to stay away. This time, she is not even allowed to meet the visitors. However, the lord’s eldest son happens to bump into her in the garden. Described as “impossibly handsome” by Maristella’s sister, Kalvistan is engaged to be married, so he would be “safe”, Maristella safe from falling for her. She should be safe as well, knowing that he is pledged to another. Kalvistan seems to share the sentiment. Having been promptly informed that Maristella is under a vow not to marry, he sees nothing wrong with becoming good friends with her and enjoying each other’s company.
Will the friendship last? Is it as safe as they think? And why does the mysterious fountain that seems to favor some people pick Maristella and Kalvistan?”
Series: Part of the “Love Stories of Elves, Merfolk, and Men” series. I could not tell if it is connected to the other books in the series.
Spiritual Content- Prayers; Praising & Thanking God; Most ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Many mentions of nuns, monks, monasteries, serving God, & vows; Mentions of God & His will; Mentions of prayers & answered prayers; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of faiths;
*Note: While there is no “magic” shown or mentioned in this book, there are mentions of merfolk & legends about them; *Major Spoilers* At the end, it is revealed that there are people who marry merfolk and when they are married, one transforms to match the other (such as a human turns into a merfolk and a merfolk would turn into a human); The children of such unions sometimes become humans who have scales (called a “Elmion”) & can only have biological children with others like them *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of a fountain that has legends about granting wishes or giving blessings (and appears to grant them; *Major Spoiler* It is actually connected to merfolk and seems to grant the wishes of those connected to the merfolk *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of luck & being lucky.
Negative Content- Some eye rolling; A few lies & secrets (including Maristella keeping a few secrets from her parents about her friendship with Kalvistan); Self-defense, Seeing a fight, & Injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths (including from a shipwreck; for parents); Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of the possibility of being robbed or kidnapped; A few mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding; A few mentions of taverns (no alcohol is mentioned); A couple mentions of wanting to murder someone who harmed another; A couple mentions of a drunk; A couple mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of possible disobedience to one’s parents (due to a secret); A mention of gambling;
*Note: Mentions of a character’s “deformity” (*Major Spoiler* Which is actually due to the character’s biological parents and a well-kept secret involving one parent being a merfolk *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of things being “unfair” (based on one’s gender and what is considered to be proper).
Sexual Content- a hand kiss; A few touches, embraces, flutters, & nearness (not considered cheating; barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Maristella feels like Kalvistan is a “safe friend” as she has a vow not to marry and he is engaged to another woman; After being friends, she starts to fall for him, but tries to ignore those feelings as she believe they will go away (she tells no one about them and treats him the same as before); *Major Spoilers* Maristella is told that Kalvistan is in an arranged marriage and does not love the young woman (this is not said by him, but by a family member); Maristella is concerned that she could be viewed as a threat to Kalvistan’s marriage and no longer feels like he is a “safe friend” because of it; Kalvistan’s father tells Maristella that he arranged Kalvistan’s engagement because the young woman said she fell for Kalvistan, but when she found out he couldn’t have children and wouldn’t inherit a title, she wanted to cancel their wedding; Kalvistan’s father has paid the young woman’s family to keep the engagement, but Kalvistan does not know this detail; Kalvistan does not act on his feelings for Maristella until he finds out the truth from his father; He plans to go to the young woman and confirm she wants to break the engagement, but has not by the time he confesses to Maristella (it’s implied his father will pay the young woman’s family to break the engagement) *End of Spoilers*; Maristella’s sister teases her about a married man staring at her (which makes Maristella uncomfortable); Mentions of a young woman being after a man who is engaged (he pays her no attention); Mentions of flirting & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of broken hearts; Mentions of handsome men; A couple mentions of young men physically fighting over a young woman; A mention of a woman possibly being violated; Very light love, falling in love, trying to ignore those feelings, & the emotions;
*Note: Maristella has made a vow not to marry, but only her parents know why (*Spoilers* Because of the vow, she does not plan to get married or have children; *Major Spoilers* This is because of a “deformity” she has that is actually connected to her biological parents *End of Spoilers*); Maristella goes swimming in a lake in her chemise and is seen by a man (not sexual and no details); Mentions of women’s figures; Mentions of a side character wearing low-cut gowns and receiving attention from young men because of it (it’s said that her dress’ neckline could be called a “breast-line” instead because of how much it reveals; Other women show dislike for the young woman’s clothing and actions; It’s noted that two married men do not pay attention to the woman & that the mothers of the young men paying her attention receive veiled lectures and punishments); A few mentions of being unable to have biological children.
-Maristella Westen
P.O.V. mostly of Maristella, but also of her sister a few times
135 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
This ended up being a bit different than I was expecting! Our main character, Maristella, was such a good and decent girl, so because of her, I enjoyed this story. I was really impressed with Maristella’s answers and thoughtfulness—she had a very good head on her shoulders and handled things well. She was diplomatic, but also sincere at the same time, but made her an interesting character and one I enjoyed reading.
When the author first contacted me about possibly reviewing this book, I was I concerned about the possibility of emotional cheating in this story—because Maristella’s new male friend is engaged to another woman—but the author let me know some details and after reading the whole book, I can say there technically wasn’t and their friendship was handled very carefully. We do not get his POV, which makes a big difference in that regard, but they are truly friends first. Maristella starts to have some romantic feelings for him towards the end, but she does her best to nip it in the bud and ask questions about his fiancée. I would have liked a couple changes at the end regarding this, but it was decent enough. *Spoilers* I would have preferred to have Kalvistan to go the young woman he is engaged to and break the engagement liked he planned rather than him taking his father’s word that it can be canceled and going ahead and confessing his feelings for Maristella. It’s a slight difference, but I think that would have removed any possible angle of cheating because he was technically still engaged to the other woman when he confesses to Maristella. He didn’t love the other woman and she didn’t truly love him, so it worked out for Kalvistan and Maristella to be together, but having it be a little clearer in that regard would have been better, in my opinion. *End of Spoiler*.
There were a few formatting elements and typos that caught by eye, but nothing major that distracted me from the story. Because Maristella is often kept at home during this book, there is a lot of telling what has happened—usually by her two sisters. I would have enjoyed seeing more of the events on-page, rather than just being told about it, but it made sense for Maristella’s situation.
This book was very clean, but I’m still going to suggest ages 14+ for it due to mentions of a side character wearing low-cut gowns and flaunting herself to different men. It’s definitely shown as distasteful, but she still does receive attention from most of those men that encourages her actions and lack of clothing in the neckline area.
I was really enjoying this book until some parts at the end; I had honestly forgotten that there were mermaids/merfolk in this world besides a couple comments about them at the beginning, so the ending caught me by surprise with more mentions of them and them apparently being real. I thought it was just talk/rumors. It wasn’t my favorite element as the rest of the book and world’s setting felt like just a medieval, non-magical fantasy book. Honestly, though, there was an “and they lived happily ever after” vibe to the ending to this story that I want for all my fictional couples, so I can’t complain. 😉
See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
