Title: A Stirring from the Depths
Author: Kait Waterhouse
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating: ★★★★★
Source: Lake Country Press (ARC)
Blurb: Iona, a Selkie, was brought forth from the ocean to protect seals from the evils of men. It’s a compulsion she cannot deny, and she’s lived a solitary life defined by her duty.
Cian is a Kelpie, a creature that can shift between a man and a horse. Born of the river, he must seduce and drown the women he loves in order to survive as he is— an immortal master of enchanted disguise. The two are trapped in a cycle of instinct and death, villains to the outside world and strangers to themselves.
Their fates become intertwined when Cian saves Iona’s life after she’s been shot by seal hunters. Cian vows to help find Iona’s lost coat and claim vengeance upon the men who murdered her kin and gravely wounded her. The two creatures couldn’t be more different from one another, but while journeying together they glimpse a different kind of life neither dared hope for themselves.
When Cian falls for Iona, the river demands he sacrifice her or else go mad and lose his magic. He refuses, and Iona finds him on the brink of insanity. She must navigate the human world to save him, even if it means losing everything she loves, including a new life with Cian.

Review: Holy shirtballs, this book! It is beautiful and terrible, full of rage and hate and love. I whizzed through it, breathless.
I’m not even sure where to start. Both Iona and Cian are deeply layered characters, with strengths and flaws, both incredibly drawn.
The story starts with Iona. Well, with her “birth” – the sea bringing forth a defender of the defenceless. She is single-minded in her protection of her seal clan, and there are some lovely moments with the pups. Some terrible ones as she exacts the sea’s revenge on the men who slaughter the seals.
Then there is Cian. He is much harder to love, both at first and after he saves Iona. He’s extremely self-centred and (seemingly) careless about the lives he takes. He does redeem himself, but it takes a good while. But would it be good character growth if it didn’t take time? Heck, no.
A Stirring from the Depths goes at great lengths to show how disparate Iona and Cian’s worlds are. They are truly star-crossed lovers. Theirs is a love story that shouldn’t work. Might not, had a witch not got involved. Then there is the stark contrast of their lives and the human ones.
And, oh, the mythology! This is a fully-realised world that makes you want to go to the shore and check for selkies. Readers are immersed and soaked (pun intended) in Iona and Cian’s lives, in their fight for survival in a world that fears them, and how two very different creatures find enough commonality to fall in love.
Exactly like I did this book.
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