Mermaids In Romance?

I'm not hallucinating about pirate ships today, (lol) but while laying on the beach I started staring at a rocky knoll peeking up from the ocean and got to thinking it would be a nice spot for a mermaid to surface and sun herself. Mermaids have always held a certain fascination for me, maybe it is their link with mysticism and magic and who really knows what sort of creatures hide undiscovered in the ocean's depths?

My initial exposure to mermaids in literature was as a child reading the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale “The Little Mermaid”, first published in 1837. The fable tells the story of a young mermaid who lives in an underwater kingdom with her father, the sea king; her grandmother; and her five elder sisters. The Little Mermaid is allowed to swim to the surface to observe the world above when she turns 15 and falls in love with her prince when she sees him aboard a ship. She then saves him from near drowning when he is thrown into the sea during a storm. The Little Mermaid’s grandmother offers her a potion that gives her legs in exchange for her voice that is like a sirens song. It is a sad tale with no HEA for The Little Mermaid but has provided the foundation for many stories in romance.

Years later I became enthralled with Greek mythology and read Homer’s “Iliad and The Odyssey”, which in part tells the story of Ulysses and the Sirens who were three dangerous bird women that lured nearby sailors with their enchanting, seductive songs to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. The Sirens of Greek mythology have evolved over time and are occasionally portrayed as fully aquatic mermaid like creatures.

Mythical mermaids in today's erotic paranormal, and in paranormal romance, are characterized as sensual, beautiful and willowy creatures who can change to human form on land. In many stories they can only exist for a short period of time before having to return to the sea. Relating back to the sirens of Greek mythology, they often have beautiful lyrical voices when speaking, and singing. The heroes of romance stories are inexorably drawn to a mermaid’s inherent sensuality and grace and I think these mystical creatures make for great characters in romance, scribed by a good author’s imaginative pen. Certainly there is plenty of conflict to work with. How would a human and a mermaid coexist in our world and build a relationship?

I did some digging with respect to “mermaids in romance”, and found, that many of the stories are about human women posing as mermaids, not about an actual human/mermaid or merman relationship. However, more recently Joey W. Hill has written a series of novels, “The Daughters of Arianne”, which includes “A Mermaid’s Kiss”, “A Witch’s Beauty”, and “A Mermaid’s Ransom.” Hill creates a world of protagonist mermaids and angels and antagonist ‘dark ones’ integrating a sub-plot of a never ending war in her signature unusual romances. Joey W. Hill is known for her rich prose and BDSM themes and her mermaid series is no exception. I’ve read the first two stories in this series and found the relationships she crafts between the angelic warrior heroes and mermaid heroines quite spellbinding.

Some readers express difficulty with explicit sexual intimacy regarding mermaids, and certainly many of us have “walls” in erotic literature. Admittedly there is something about ‘fish sex’ that might cause a reader’s "squee-o-meter" to hit the red zone. However if you are comfortable with a light BDSM theme in erotic romance, IMHO it is fitting within the context of Joey W. Hill’s series, considering the H&H are mythical paranormal creatures. In addition, I felt, Hill crafted the intimate scenes extremely well.

In August 2010, Devyn Quinn’s first novel in her “Dark Tides”, series will be released entitled “Siren’s Call”. Quinn builds a world where mermaids as a species are on the verge of extinction and the few that are left are assimilating with humans, having learned early to hide their abilities from the world’s probing eyes. Coupled with their anonymity mermaids have lost memories of their culture and ability to wield considerable magic. The feisty mermaid heroine of "Siren's Call", rescues a human who is bent on his own destruction from the certain death in the sea. This brings about a series of surprising events, and sets the stage for the future books in the series. Devyn Quinn’s prose and graphic imagery is lush and beautifully crafted.

What about you? Do you like mermaid stories in romance? If yes, any particularly memorable ones that come to mind? What about mermen, any stories that you have read and enjoyed? How about a m/m romance with mermen?

References used for this post: Siren - Monster of the week by Chris Disario.
Romance Novels - Mermaid Page
Wikipedia: Sirens

Tori and I are back for the last day of our visit to DIK tomorrow and if you have a moment stop by for a peek at what for me was a fun post. ;)

Have a great day everyone! I’m enjoying an excellent read and a cold drink with a little umbrella stuck in it. What are those umbrellas for anyway?