Customer Reviews

The Nymph King (Atlantis, Book 3)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Gena Showalter has become one of my favorite authors. The NYMPH KING is a delicious romp through fantasy. A wonderful mixture of fantasy, adventure, humor and sizzling romance.

Valerian, king of the nymphs, is tired of their nomadic existance. While the Dragons battle the humans he and his people conquor a minor abandoned city and decide to make it their home. While waiting for the female nymphs to arrive he and his men decide to kidnap some women from the above world. For a nymph must have sex in order to stay strong.

Shaye has watched her mom and dad go through numerous marriages, with numerous step-brothers and step-sisters. Early on she determined to keep her heart safe from the pain of loss. Every time she began to care for someone they were taken away from her. So she is not delighted to find herself captured by the man of her dreams. He is a nymph and she expects no loyalty or faithfullness from him.

This is a funny, witty, read with you pulling for Valerian to breech her defenses. She happens to be his mate and that means he will want no other woman, when a nymph finds his mate he is bound to her. This is a great adventure with a secondary romance that is cute too. Do not miss it.

I really liked this book. Yes, Valerian originally is a dog, mostly thinking of himself. Hey if you were a 600 year old mythical creature who was a king with enough sex drive to stop a mack truck, you might be as well. Shaye is delightfully original, taking the ice queen persona to the nth degree. And the love traingle that goes on between three of the secondary characters was very intriguing. I can't wait to find out what happens to one of them.

The bad guy is a little weak, a bored god with nothing better to do than torment the nymph's and bully the dragons.

But the tension between characters is what will continually have you flipping pages. I really liked our main couple as a couple. They were cute together, with their own little language and sending cards to one another like high schoolers.

Once again Showalters world of Atlantis is a hit for me. It's no epic romance for the ages, but it is delightful!

Seeing her mother's serial marriages has left Shaye Holling less than taken with the notion of love. In fact, she has parlayed her cynicism into a profitable business creating Anti-cards. Then, at her mother's sixth wedding, Shaye is introduced to the man who would be the one of her dreams, if she bothered to dream, that is. Valerian, King of the Nymphs, has brought his men ashore to claim human women as mates, to cure both their excessive passions and the weakness they feel when it is not sated. Most of the women, including those who have no business looking for men, such as the bride herself, are all too willing to return to Atlantis with the nymphs. However, Shaye and one other woman, Brenna, are so not going along with the plan. Of course, they are the two who catch the eyes of the most powerful warriors, including the King. Valerian must first fight for Shaye, then fight the woman herself to win her heart. She is completely immune to the spell his people can weave over ordinary women. Yet, he needs her and the strength she can give him, if only she will surrender, for there is a battle coming, one that could change everything.

**** If you imagine nymphs to be airy, ethereal young girls, such as fairies or mermaids, think again. The nymphs here are totally macho. Ms. Showalter has a vivid imagination she has shared with us. Atlantis and the people warring over it are incredible. This is a land that must be "seen" to be "believed," as it were. There are nymphs, dragons, and vampires, all living beneath the waves, but they are different from what you have encountered before. There is also a lovely secondary romance that could have stood on its own in a novel as well. You get two romances for the price of one. What a deal. ****

Amanda Killgore

Valerian, King of the Nymphs, needs to find something to satisfy his warriors. They have recently been fighting alongside the vampires in the war against the dragons. Without sex, they are weakened and they can't afford to be weak during this turbulent time. Unfortunately, their women have gone missing. Deciding that he must do something, Valerian has taken it upon himself to lead a party into the portal to the surface of earth to find women. Not the hardest thing to do; most women are captivated by nymphs. In all his six hundred years, Valerian never expected to find that the one woman who completes him, is the one woman who can ignore him like no other.

Shaye Holling needs to find something to save her from the wedding she is attending. She is doing her daughterly duty¾again¾for her mom, but this time she has had enough. Shaye has learned a lesson¾she doesn't want to get hurt so she refuses to get involved. It's why she started her anti-card business, designing cards with slogans like "I'm so miserable without you, it's almost like you're here". Life is perfect. Or it would be except for the sex god that emerges from the sea, kidnapping her and taking her back with him to Atlantis.

Shaye is undeniably drawn to Valerian, but she can't let him know that. She doesn't believe him when he says she is his mate. Valerian can see beneath her prickly exterior to the soft gentle woman inside. He doesn't understand why she continually denies him. He can't understand why he can defeat an army of demons, yet one single human woman has him tied up in knots.

There is more at stake for Valerian than simply convincing his mate that she belongs to him. Valerian is at war, and there are forces that would like nothing more than to see him destroyed. Can Shaye and Valerian survive what is about to come?

The Nymph King is quite simply stunning with its combination of tender romance, incredible heat, a fascinating world and enough action to keep one enthralled throughout. I loved Valerian, and Shaye was the perfect woman to take him down a peg or two. Their journey together was hilarious to read about; Gena Showalter has always captured my attention with her humorous dialogue, and The Nymph King delivers on that front. A host of appealing secondary characters add yet another layer to The Nymph King, and I found myself cheering on the others, especially Brenna. The Nymph King is an incredible tale, and a wonderful addition to Gena Showalter's Altantis series.

Shannon
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Valerian, King of the Nymphs, is coveted by any female who lays eyes on him. The air of sensuality that surrounds nymphs allows them to seduce anyone, a useful ability for creatures who thrive on sex. And never has this sensuality been more potent than with Valerian. But the king has more on his mind than just bedding women. First off, all the female nymphs are missing, which means that his men weaken daily without sex to strengthen them. Secondly, he's recently acquired a dragon castle, which the creatures in question desperately want back. And third, much as he doesn't want to, he fears he'll have to take his men through a portal to the surface world to find human women to satisfy their needs and provide the strength they need for the fight ahead. It is begrudgingly that Valerian leads his men through the portal. But what he finds in the surface world makes the trip worthwhile.

Shaye Holling is attending her mother's sixth wedding when a group of the most beautiful men she's ever seen come striding out of the ocean. The men grab all the single women from her mother's wedding, and take them into the ocean and to Atlantis. Their leader, and the most handsome, chooses Shaye for himself. But he doesn't realize that Shaye is no meek and mild lady to bend to his will. No, she is sarcastic, smart-mouthed, and packs a mean punch, which she is more than happy to show Valerian. As the king of the nymphs tries to seduce her, this hard-headed woman fights him the entire way. And the results were hilarious.

This book is the third in the Atlantis series, and the first I've read by Gena Showalter. I didn't think it was great, but I enjoyed its humorous tone and had more than a couple of laugh-out-loud moments. I really liked the Shaye character. It was nice not to have a heroine who falls instantly in love with the first brawny warrior who touches her, and the fact that she kept giving him a hard time was entertaining. As for Valerian, I liked him in theory, but felt he could have been more developed. This criticism might not be warranted, however, since I haven't read the first two books in the series. All in all, I liked this book. I probably wouldn't read it again, but if you're in the mood for a laugh, this comedic paranormal romance will do the trick.

Call me unenlightened, but men who are so alluring that women become mindlessly full of lust that they beg, crawl and totally debase themselves for sexual favors really doesn't really do it for me. The fact that Nymph men can't help being a walking, talking aphrodisiac, and need sex for strength and healing (to the point that they steal women from their homes and families) doesn't particularly help, either. Removing conscious choice is rape, whether caused by violent physical force, drugs, or mind (hormonal) control. (BTW, that is not my personal opinion, that's the legal definition). Of course, we're in Atlantis, so the same rules apparently don't apply.

I do appreciate that two women in this novel tried desperately to resist the sexual lure of the nymphs (initially), but the only reason they could was that they were both emotionally crippled by incidents in their personal history. Normal, mentally healthy women don't stand a chance against male nymphs, will line up like party favors for the men to choose, then happily go off with any unknown stud who crooks an arrogant finger in their direction. Is this a good thing? Is this really the ultimate woman's fantasy? From the number of best selling novels with similar themes, I'm guessing it must be for a great number of readers. Oh, yeah, we've come a long way, baby.

I know there was a plot inserted somewhere in this story, but to be honest, the whole premise of the book felt so slimy about halfway through, I didn't seriously look for it. There may even be a hidden jewel of profound literary genius between the pages, anything is possible, but I`ll never know. For the rest of the book I skimmed, skipped whole chapters, then finally read the epilog and called it done.

THE GOOD: Valerian, the main character is a hunky, alpha male warlord, who loves em all in the beginning; he even loves the plain ones, which immediately made me warm to him. There's a good conflict and plot as well as a good Atlantis-like setting. I thought the humorous, fast-paced dialogue and the setting were the stand-out features of this book. Good, sexy cover is a plus.

THE BAD: It took a little too long to get through Shaye's change to her new self in an alternate world in the early part of the book. Her refusal of Valerian became repetitive and a bit irritating because there wasn't enough of a reason keeping them apart after a while. The story might've worked better if the book had been shorter and tighter.

THE SEX: Not enough of it and sexual tension was lacking. Valerian is a sexy alpha male though and I loved that he was so fixated on Shaye.

THE DECISION: A fun read. An author I'd try again.

Ok, I only gave this book 4 stars because it took me a while to get into it. It was only when I was about to give up and did the ol' Amazon search on the author's name that I realized that it was part of a series. And not even the FIRST in the series. So, my word of warning is: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK TIL YOU'VE READ THE OTHERS IN THE SERIES FIRST. There are some parts of the book where assumptions are made that you know/understand what's been covered already that were a bit confusing, and I think that's why I couldn't get into it at first (at least, that's what I'm hoping.) I will go back and re-read the book after I read the first 2 in the series and will then either edit this review or write a new one telling that I did/did not like it when I understand the world.

This was the second of Gena's books I'd read, and I LOVED the first one (Playing With Fire.) I'm hoping that this one will go up to 5 stars after I read the rest.

Ghostdancer

I thought the characters were great. Very sexy men and intelligent, strong, and passionate women, but I felt Showalter was a bit lacking on plot. There was no strong conflict or climax. Women taken through the portal, king finds his mate, dragons come, vampires come, live happily ever after. There was nothing for the reader to worry about or wonder about. The herione's resistence to falling in love wasn't a strong enough problem and there was not a strong enough reason for her to hold back her affections.

I still enjoyed the fact that there was yet another installment to the Atlantian's saga. I'm still hoping there will be some relief for the poor vampire king. We'll have to wait and see.

the book came right away and it was great.
Mary C Hinson