Synopsis

A cursed town, a kidnapped selkie…what will happen when love is on the line?

Powerful selkie warrior Ronan must negotiate with a group of local sirens before war breaks out. The last thing he needs is a desperate human who steals his sealskin, intent on forcing him to help her. He decides to seduce her, get his skin back, and fulfill his mission. But finding out she’s his True Mate changes everything…

Widow Una MacCallan is determined to save her small Scottish fishing town from the curse that fell over it twenty-four years ago, even if it means blackmailing the fierce selkie. Though she knows he is the key to breaking the spell, she doesn’t anticipate the attraction between them. She can’t afford the distraction, and she doesn’t trust that his interest is anything more than a manipulation, a bid for freedom. But she keeps finding herself tempted…

Together, they must race against time to break the curse. But as the two get closer, they find themselves asking: can they give up love to save those around them? What is the price for their newfound passion?

Stealing the Selkie’s Heart is an exciting enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance and the first book in The Selkie Seas series by Ella Rose. Let it steal your heart today!

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Praise Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose

“A fun novel with a great HEA. I am looking forward to finishing the prequel. More fun awaits!”– John P., Amazon

“Stealing the Selkie’s Heart is a cute love story between a fisherman’s widow and a selkie warrior. One of the funniest utilizations of romance novel “logic” we’ve read in a while. It’s also fun to read along with the “whodunnit” portion of the book. If you like your PNR on the short, cute, & sweet side, this is a fun one to read.”– Meg Richmond, Reedsy Discovery

Praise Losing the Selkie’s Skin (Prequel)

“This was a really neat story about Selkies and the twists and turns they have to go through to help the Selkie Prince with his skin. I enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to reading more of the Author Ella Rose’s books.”– Jacquetta Harvey, Goodreads

“ Mythology and folklore tales are highly intriguing on their own. These stories are filled with mystique, adventure, and a sense of intrigue and fantasy that is unique to the genre. But take mythology and folklore and intertwine that with paranormal romance and you’ve got yourself a book that is difficult to put down.
This book is wonderfully written and from the start, the reader will be drawn into the story, wanting and needing more. The author writes in a way that makes you feel for the characters, yearning for them to just finally get together. The reader cannot help but fall for the main characters as they journey through the book.
Losing the Selkie’s Skin is a wonderful start to a thrilling series, in so many ways. I highly recommend this book for lovers of paranormal romance, mythology and folklore stories.”– Kristin, Goodreads 

Guest Post

Thank you for graciously hosting me today. As you know, my latest paranormal romance novel, Stealing the Selkie’s Heart (The Selkie Seas, Book 1), revolves around selkies and other water creatures. But the number one question that’s on most people’s minds is: “What is a selkie?” And if that was your question, too, don’t worry—nobody has to know.

Based on Scottish folklore, selkies are seal shapeshifters who shrug out of their sealskin when changing to their human form—to remove the sealskin, they must unfasten tiny hooks that run the length of the stomach. To change into their sealform from human, they drape the sealskin around their shoulders, refasten the hooks, and curl into the change at will.

My selkies exist as their own race and keep well away from humans when possible. For, all mythological accounts can agree, once a human gains possession of the sealskin, the selkie is bound to that human until (s)he regains ownership of the skin.

But selkies aren’t the only creatures that exist in the Selkie Seas world: there are mermaids, sirens, and humans to contend with.

Humans are the closest to selkies, genetically, since selkies can change into human form and pass, for the most, as anybody else. They can intermingle and breed like any human, though the offspring are born with a question mark: if the parents are in selkie form when they conceive, the offspring will be selkie as well. But if the parents conceive in human form, the offspring will appear as human until their 22^nd birthday, when they may try on a sealskin and attempt to change. Not all such offspring are lucky enough to access their sealform.

But mermaids and sirens are merely humanoid. In Stealing the Selkie’s Heart, my male MC, Ronan, points out that mermaids are vile creatures: “Like lampreys in the vague shape of human women. We kill them when we can.”

And sirens are dark scaled creatures, with noseless faces and talons, who move awkwardly out of water. Unlike mermaids, who lack the vocal cords to make speech possible, sirens can and do speak the same language as the selkies and humans. In Stealing the Selkie’s Heart, there is reference to a war that has been going on behind the scenes, and it’s not until reading the Selkie Seas prequel novella, Losing the Selkie’s Skin, that you learn more about the reason for the selkie-siren war.

Regarding social structure, in my Selkie Seas world, selkies and sirens live in migratory clans, though they spend much of their time on the Isle of Selbane, a fictional island in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. Both groups are governed by a king and queen, but only selkies are protected by Anchors, selkie warriors pledged to the safety of the clan.

Among the selkies, there is the myth of the True Mate, a metaphysical bond that ties them to their fated mate, whoever that may be. They get some sense of the bond during intercourse, but it’s only through simultaneous climax that the bond cements itself in place. Once bonded, the mates can experience mood shifts and emotions through the bond, though they cannot read minds.

As you can see, a lot went into the selkie mythology, and I tried to stay as respectful of the origins as I could, while still making my mark on the lore. As always, if you have selkie questions or curiosities about The Selkie Seas world, email me! You can always catch me at email.

Best,

Ella Rose

© Ella Rose

Guest Review by Nora

“Una froze in amazement. She knew the lore, probably better than most of the island having learned it all from her father, but to see a selkie in real life…It was incredible.”

I wish my errands could end this well! In ‘Stealing the Selkie’s Heart,’ the main heroine, Una, accidentally sees a selkie change into its human form and makes a decision that will alter not only her life but the life of her entire island forever.

The selkie is Ronan, a warrior in his clan who has come to shore only to meet with a siren emissary about the war that has been going on between their clans. When he realizes that his selkie skin has been stolen, Ronan is understandably angered.

Una intends to hold the skin hostage until Ronan helps her understand and stop the curse that has been put on her island, but Ronan insists that just because he is a magical being doesn’t mean he knows anything about curses. Still, he agrees to help her, assuming that he will be able to seduce her and retrieve his seal skin faster than she wants to let it go.

However, both of their plans are thrown into turmoil when they begin to fall for each other, and Ronan realizes that this woman—this infuriating, human woman—is actually his true mate.

Ella Rose is not an author that I have read before, but I will definitely be adding her to my list to keep an eye out for new releases. This was a dazzling novel that had everything I look for in a paranormal romance and more! Even the setting of the Hebrides Islands in Scotland created a scintillating atmosphere that pulled me in and wrapped me up in the story.

About the Author

Ella Rose is a paranormal romance author who loves kink, ink, and cake, and hopes you do too. She is a bi-sexual author writing through a Bi-Polar Disorder lens and thinks representation and mental health matter. She is the author of The Selkie Seas series, which includes Losing the Selkie’s Skin and Stealing the Selkie’s Heart.

Her latest selkie short stories will appear in Dark Rose Press’s Worlds Apart and Dragon Soul Press’s Beyond Atlantis anthologies. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Paranormal Romance Guild.

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Giveaway

This giveaway is for 2 print or ebook copies.

Print is open to Canada and the U.S. only, and the ebook is open worldwide.

This giveaway ends on November 24, 2022 midnight, pacific time.

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