REVIEW: River Tale by Jau N.

JayneB+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readsf/f romance / Fairy / Fairy-Tales / LGBTQIA romance / naiad / short-story2 Comments

Bakwa’s uncle is king. He is also under the curse of a wizard and to save him, Bakwa must venture deep into a magical forest to locate the rare flower that can save him. When she is set a series of tasks by the guardians fairies of the forest, a river spirit offers to help her complete them—for a price.

Dear Jau N,

I will admit it was #coverlove that caught my eye but fairy tale that got me to stay and try this short story. I also liked that it was the strong and brave female lead who gathered her courage and saved the day.

An Epic Quest is the heart of the story with Princess Bawka as the heroine. She must venture into the deep wood in search of a magic flower and bring it back as part of a journey which others before her have failed to complete. Bawka has read up on fairies and journeys though and knows that she will have to be careful around the magic folk. She is also honest, modest and knowledgeable about the rituals fairy folk prefer. And give her name to them or carry iron? Nope, not going to do either of those things.

After encountering a naiad and contritely apologizing for drinking from her river without permission, Bawka has made a friend who will assist her with the seemingly impossible – at least for human folk – tasks set for her. As Bawka and Sequana work together, a relationship develops. But Bawka’s greatest test is still to come. Can she be as honest as her feelings for Sequana demand and deserve?

I like that the relationship between Bawka and Sequana feels easy and natural. Also that Sequana never demands anything from Bawka that the human princess is not willing to give. There is a lovely evocation of all forms of human and natural love – past, present and future – that is part of the second task Bawka must accomplish and her actions will lead to a renewal of part of the forest even the fairies thought lost. In the end, Bawka has to make the greatest effort of all, true honesty with someone you love, in order to find her way. I would have graded this slightly higher except for a few typos but it’s a lovely story I enjoyed very much. B+

~Jayne

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Jayne

Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there's no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.

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