Back of Book: 

Kai

As a siren, I have always been taught to have an aversion to men. Any relationship with one could ultimately end in his demise. But then I meet Aarni, he is sweet, amazing and maybe just a little obsessed with me. When I start to fall for the tall, handsome kraken, how can I deny myself?

Aarni

Most women just want to hook up with me for the novelty of it, then they promptly ghost me. I crave a long-term relationship, a partner I can spend my life with, not just a night. When I meet a siren at my work, it turns my life upside down. She is everything I could want in a partner, but does she want the same?

Date with a Kraken is a short and spicy opposites-attract stand alone novella that will be part of a larger series in the same world.

Book Number: Companion Novelette

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance | Erotica | LGBTQIA+ 

Review: 🌟🌟

A spicy novelette that features a siren and a kraken who are forbidden to date one another. 

Kai has been taught to avoid men as much as possible. As a siren, she is just as likely to eat a man when she gets turned on as she is to achieve a successful orgasm. Aarni is sick of women only wanting to hook up with him for the tentacle treatment. When Kai and Aarni run into each other at a coffeeshop, they both learn that they may have a chance at a relationship that's stronger than a one night stand. 

I’m always willing to try out a monster romance, so when this one floated across my feed on Instagram, I entered a giveaway for it. The author reached out and sent me a free copy to read after the giveaway ended, so thank you so much Jane Everard for the gifted ebook of this one! 

From the start, it was easy to tell this one wasn’t going to be a phenomenal read. The writing was a tad clunky and often repetitive, as in the author used the same phrasing/descriptions in a single paragraph. There are times where I had to reread it just to deduce what was going on as it skips important transition words more than is optimal. 

What this one really suffers from is lack of editing. The thing that stuck out to me the most is not having proper breaks in dialogue. For example, there were so many paragraphs in which several characters talked, which made it hard for my brain to follow who was saying what. There are also quite a few missing apostrophes, random breaks in the middle of sentences, and other such minor grammar issues. These things made it a tad difficult for me to focus on the story at times. 

On top of all the technical stuff, I just didn’t like the characters or the plot all that much. Kai and Aarni are both rather typical characters, though I did find their names to be rather unique. Their relationship is a tad superficial, though I didn’t mind that at first because they were choosing to be friends with benefits. Unfortunately, a mate bond occurs and the two seem to be instantly infatuated with each other, which I always struggle with. 

After the first bit, this story evolved into almost pure erotica. For such a short story, a good portion of it is sex scenes. I found them to be lacking some emotional depth, which is pretty much the only way I enjoy intimate scenes. 

Finally, I feel the ending was so abrupt. I read the last page and was shocked it was over. I didn’t care much about any of the characters, so I was okay with not having to read more about them, but I’d figured there’d at least be an on page scene in which they sealed their mate bond. Unless all they had to do was have sex in their true forms? I dunno. 

Overall, I wasn’t a fan of “Date with a Kraken.” I fear it would have been a better read if it would have gone through another round of proofreading, but alas. I can’t say I was a huge fan of Kai or Aarni, but I was willing to give their story a try due to the fact they were both water monsters. I can’t say I’m very interested in checking out more of the author’s work, but I’m always keeping my eye out for more monster romances to read, so you never know.