Today's Special - - Virginia Kantra

You may have guessed from reviews that Gannon and I have posted that we're huge fans of Virginia Kantra's Children of the Sea series.  (Click here to read Gannon's review of Virginia's current release, Forgotten Sea.)  We love these stories and apparently we aren't the only ones as two of her 2010 works, Immortal Sea and "Shifting Sea" are finalists for the 2011 RITA awards (winners to be announced July 1st at the RWA National Conference in NYC) Congratulations, Virginia!  

Please join us in welcoming Virginia back to The Romance Dish as she blogs about star-crossed lovers.




My husband and I were only seventeen when we met, an Italian steelworker from Ohio, the first of his family to go to college, and an English professor’s daughter from the Main Line. Our friends were confused. Our parents were dismayed.

Even I had doubts, though Italian Guy says he never did. But I was an English major. I’d read Romeo and Juliet. I thought then that what Juliet really needed was a Sassy Gay Friend. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch this now. Really. I’ll wait.)

“What, what, what are you doing?” Romeo and Juliet are too different, too impulsive, too young to fall in love. They barely know each other. They should have listened when their families and friends warned them they were headed for trouble.

Of course, they don’t, with disastrous consequences.

All those doubts boiled back when I started writing Forgotten Sea. There are always good reasons in a romance novel why the hero and heroine cannot fall in love. But the obstacles and the stakes felt higher in this book.

Fallen angel Lara Rho, is a Seeker—one called to rescue other lost children of air before they’re hunted down by the demonic children of fire. She thinks she’s found her latest charge in sailor Justin Miller. But Justin is no angel...and no ordinary mortal, either. He remembers nothing of his life before the day he was plucked from a shipwreck seven years ago. The two are so different, in temperament, in background, in their values and outlooks on life. Lara’s fierce attraction to Justin and her determination to do the right thing pits her against her own kind and puts them one step ahead of the pursuing demons. On the road—because of course it just had to be a road romance, too, with its shortened time frame and added danger—Lara and Justin must work together to discover his true identity before what they don't know kills them both. With so much at risk, the last thing they should do is fall in love.

Star-crossed? You bet.
Reckless? Oh yeah.
Would they be safer if they’d never met? Definitely.

Writing Lara and Justin’s story reminded me how it feels when your world upends and spins into a heart-pounding new orbit. When you challenge everything you know and leave everything you love behind.



What, what, what was I thinking? But when I look at my husband, I know that lovers can make their own happy ending, against all odds.

I hope you’ll join Lara and Justin on their journey of discovery, share their adventure and feel those feelings again--the passionate attraction, the reckless commitment, and the breathless tumble into love. (And, of course, the happy ending!)

What’s your favorite story of star-crossed lovers? Does it end happily or unhappily? And, if there’s someone special in your life, do you come from the same or very different backgrounds?

One randomly selected person leaving a comment today will win a signed copy of Forgotten Sea. (U.S./Canadian addresses only)


For more information about Virginia, please visit her website and "like" her author page on facebook. 

Review -- Forgotten Sea

Forgotten Sea
The Children of the Sea, Book 5
By Virginia Kantra
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Release Date: June 7, 2011








Lara Rho is a fallen angel, one of the nephilim, and she is called to use her gift as a Seeker. It is her job to rescue other fallen angels, often called children of the air, before they are destroyed by the children of fire, the demons. Her senses lead her to Justin Miller, a sailor who goes wherever the wind or his mood takes him. Much to Lara's shock, she discovers that Justin is not a fallen angel, but she senses that he is not quite human either.

Justin has no memories of his life prior to the day he was rescued from a shipwreck seven years ago. When pretty Lara shows up, he can't help but find himself attracted to her, but Justin makes it a point never to get seriously involved with any woman. And Lara looks like the long-term-relationship type. Who knew that a quick drink in a bar would lead to Justin coming to Lara's aide when she's attacked in an alley. He's seriously injured and Lara feels responsible for him, so she takes him with her to Rockhaven School, her only home she's known since early childhood and the home and sanctuary of other nephilim. While Lara may feel that Justin should find refuge there, her fellow nephilim do not. No one knows who or what Justin is, so they treat him more as a prisoner than a guest.

Justin beseeches Lara to help him escape, and though it puts her in direct opposition of her friends, she agrees. She feels a connection to Justin that she cannot explain, and she wants to help him discover his identity. Now they are being followed by Lara's fellow fallen angels and stalked by demons. Through their mysterious, yet powerful connection, Justin begins to recall bits and pieces of his past; he remembers that his name is Iestyn and he is a selkie, one of the children of the sea. When Iestyn finds his merfolk family, will Lara find a place among them or will this fallen angel and her selkie drift apart?

I've been captivated by Virginia Kantra's Children of the Sea series from the very beginning. Selkies, finfolk, mystery, and romance---it's impossible not to get caught up in each story and eagerly await the next. Forgotten Sea is another fascinating and sensual addition to this keeper of a series. Justin (Iestyn) and Lara are two lost souls who at first glance shouldn't be a match, but they couldn't be more perfect for each other.


Tenderness and impatience tangled within her.

This wasn't about her. Not only about her, not anymore. This journey they were on together was taking her farther and farther from the person she had been. But she would not beg. And she would not take the next step alone.

She turned his question back on him. "What do you want?"

"You," he answered simply. "I feel like I've spent my whole life waiting for you."

Her eyes blurred. As easily as that, he restored her confidence and destroyed her defenses.

She smiled at him through the mist. "Then take me."


A romance to make you sigh, passion that smolders, and a hero and heroine that are lost until they find their sanctuary in the arms of one another. While this is the fifth book in this series, it can be read alone. But if you're a stickler like me and like to start a series at the beginning, the books should be read in this order: Sea Witch, Sea Fever, Sea Lord, Immortal Sea, and Forgotten Sea. It's a perfect read on a sunny summer day or a hot summer night.

~ Gannon


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