At The Water's Edge was a great book as an introduction to Melanie Nilles. I can't say it's the best book, I won't do that until I've read a few more of her's. It's a great entertaining light read with some heart.
This book is touted as a Novella but it comes off more as a novel. The reason I say this is that though it has some of the hurry up and get there nature of a novella Melanie still delves enough into her characters to allow the reader to have feelings for them. I find in a lot of novella's that becomes difficult because of the short nature of a novella. Most time's the characters are the one that get short changed in the Science Fiction category.
But, this is not just a Science Fiction Fantasy this is a Romance and I would agree that it is first a romance and second Science Fiction. This is a romance between to seeming different species. It is also the story of people who have advanced genetic engineering. The science is never dealt with on a heavy level and is mostly ancillary to the characters and the romance.
I love Science Fiction and I enjoy Romance in my Science Fiction so this was no large stretch for me. And, though at the beginning it seemed like the character of Sara Adams was going to get shorted by the novella I think the author slowly developed a better liking for Sara as she went along and began to give her some more depth. All kidding aside Sara was well developed as an almost spoiled but wounded young lady who really wouldn't be doing what she was doing if she'd not been so wounded.
It's that wounded and vulnerable Sara that gets herself into trouble in no worse place than the Bermuda Triangle. Thinking she's about to drown she seems to give up only to discover she's safe on an Island. She's also alone and isolated and not sure how to survive.
Thankfully Darian is around. He has saved her and placed her on the island and is bringing her food. Since he doesn't speak English and Sara hasn't learned much of any other languages, there's a huge language boundary at the beginning. But, that pales to Sara's constant uncertainty that any of this is real. Perhaps that's a contributing factor to why Sara never seems to catch onto what the reader can easily discern is going on with Darian. Even before we get the larger reveal.
Suffice it to say, if I had any quibbles it would be that as bright as Sara is and has to be to have turned Darian's head in the first place, she should have figured some of this out, even if she didn't believe it. But, love has a ways to go and there's always the potential conflict with the mother-in-law to be.
I enjoyed the hint of a notion of travelers from far places being wise enough to know they must tweak the DNA to survive in new world. And, all I can say to that is, Melanie you have a lot of writing ahead of you while you examine all the different types of creatures they may have left throughout the vast universe.
Great Romance for romance lovers, but how would I know that? Good character development, which is always a plus. The bonus of Science Fiction that doesn't necessarily drive the story. And lastly, a good Young Adult fiction.
Thanks for the good read!
J.L. Dobias
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