Ripples of Smoke and Water
von Lotus Oakes
Less Than Three Press

Cover:
magical mystical underwater cover

Review:
"I will keep you until your bones are ash, and even after that you will still be mine."
"On the day of their wedding, Adara's fiancé and hero of the realm, Prince Rafael, is stolen away by the fairy of the lake and given up for lost. But while Adara doesn't love Rafael, she does owe him, and so in spite of scorn and dismissal she sets out to save him."
What would you do if your fiancé disappears. You do not feel love for him but a kind of commitment. What would you do if you spent 3 years of your life as a dragon? Adara develops slowly in the course of the book. When reading the book one feels its distance to everything and the inner stupefaction. But Adara begins to feel slow, to live and slowly gives up her distance. Emotions come to her that she never wanted to allow. Adara goes her own way but it is still open, even if you are intimidated that there will be a great love, this part remains open. Although the dragon has long been dead, his mind still has power over Adara, after all, she lived with him for 3 years. Adara never completely hates the dragon when she thinks about it, though she is happy to be free. But sometimes she behaves like a dragon. The supporting characters were not treated as well as Adara, but good enough to understand them and give depth to the book. The sea fairy easily makes the reader doubt, do you love her or not? You do not learn much about her, she cries a lot and is emotional, loves people and wants to experience love herself. Especially when she reacts shyly in certain situations, the reader is absolutely entranced by her. I loved the mood in this book, it felt like reading in the middle of a fairytale.
I want and want to know more, know what's going on and am really looking forward to the second book in this series.
I really liked it! You should read it! 4/5 stars
I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.