Hello, and welcome back! Still raining here, but the tulips are blooming and the allium is beginning to open up as well, and those two always make me smile when I see them, rain or no rain.

This time out, I have the third book in Virginia Kantra's 'Children of the Sea' series, Sea Lord (Berkley). Conn ap Llyr is a selkie prince, ruling his kingdom and keeping himself under tight control in all areas of his life. But he's been having visions of a woman recently, and that means he has to give up a little bit of control. Lucy Hunter knows her family is a little bit odd: the woman her oldest brother married seemingly arrived out of nowhere, and her other brother hadn't been seen in years, but now he's married, too, to a woman from the small Maine island where Lucy grew up with a drunkard for a father. When Conn arrives, he's mysterious and sexy, and just a little bit frightening to a woman who's never really been able to leave home. When she realizes her family already knows him, it makes her curious, but their meeting excludes her, despite Conn's knowledge that, because of her selkie mother, she is necessary for his race to continue. He uses their attraction to take her away with him, to his home, and Lucy is definitely not pleased about that once she realizes what has happened to her. Displeased and decidedly angry, Lucy discovers there is more about herself she never dreamed. It's a lot for a schoolteacher to take in, learning that she isn't who she believed, and that her destiny is far different than the one she'd imagined. But no matter how annoyed she is with Conn, she can't deny her feelings for him, or the magic that starts to flow from her with very little effort. Her selkie heritage and abilities, however, seem to evade her, despite her best efforts. But the demons who have attacked her home already have bigger plans, both for her family and for Conn, and Lucy will have to decide exactly what she will do to protect her own. And that might mean leaving Conn, who's worked his way so far into her heart, she'll never be free, no matter where they are. Lucy is a great heroine, working hard to overcome her fears, while falling in love with a complicated, sexy man with responsibilities he cannot shirk for anyone, no matter the cost to himself. What's not to love? This one's earned four and a half of Cupid's five arrows. Fantastic!

Until next time, happy reading!