Flirt

April 9, 2014 by Pip

Title : Flirt

Author : Mina Kelly

Series : Under His Skin 2

Publisher : Loose Id (BUY HERE)

Genre : M/M, Paranormal

Length : 139 pages (e-book)

Published : January 21, 2014

Rating : ★★★★

Blurb:

Toby’s happy with his life in the small fishing village of Haggenby. At least, he thought he was. When he rescues a selkie who identifies himself as Flirt in sign language–not so much a name as a warning label, as Toby’s father notes–he’s forced to recognise he’s withdrawn from the world, and the world thinks it’s because he lost his hearing in his teens.

Stung, Toby takes Flirt out on a date, but that attracts the wrong kind of attention from the wrong kind of people: scientists keen to dissect Flirt and prove the existence of the supernatural. Flirt is kidnapped and Toby must attempt a daring rescue if he wants to keep his lover. He just hopes his lover wants to be kept.

Review:

Toby is taken aback when out on his fishing boat when he discovers someone stuck in the crab lines and in serious danger of drowning. When he rescues Flirt, armed with the legends of the sea that are prevalent around Britain, he quickly realises that he isn’t human at all but a selkie with a damaged seal skin.

As Flirt is badly cut from the crab lines, he needs urgent tending. Toby is deaf and whilst he is doing his best first aid he finds that Flirt can communicate in sign language and is learning it quickly. What follows is a sweet and enjoyable journey as Toby learns rapidly how Flirt got his name and becomes more social within his small town, they come to love each other as Toby tends to Flirts wounds and they attempt to avoid a duo of evil scientists keen to capture and dissect Flirt in order to prove the existence of selkies to the scientific community.

I loved reading this story. The characters were extremely well fleshed out, which always astonishes me in such a short story, the setting was beautifully written and I felt as though I was there almost from the get go. The premise was entirely believable and the reason selkies were believed to exist in the area felt entirely believable by the time the worry about Firt’s species being discovered became an issue due to the way I was sucked into the setting with its ambience and history so completely and the way the relationship between Toby and Flirt developed felt natural and sweet.

I definitely recommend Flirt for anyone who enjoys a quick, enjoyable read. It really is a fabulous story!

Rated 4 stars by Guest Reviewer, Sally