Moody Boxfan Books, $3.99, ISBN 978-1733480390
Fantasy Romance, 2021
Joshua Ian’s Manchester Lake starts with an epilogue. Okay, is that just a fancy way of telling me that the next few chapters are going to be flashbacks?
This is a man-on-man version of the tale of that bloke that falls for a selkie, and Monty is heartbroken when the story begins. Oh dear, what happened? Guess I’ll find out with a flashback…
So I turn the page and I read that it takes place three years after the “epilogue”. Okay, did some confuse a prologue with an epilogue?
Anyway, let’s start again. Forget the “epilogue”!
It’s now 1910. Montgomery Singer comes back to his family home Dubaney House in Essex to join his brother Bishop, who tells him about a curious seal, walrus, or whatever living at the lake on the grounds. They both go to the lake and ooh.
The lovely brown creature seemed to be satisfied that it was being paid attention to and ceased with its bounding. It moved into something like a backstroke and then dipped under the surface. When it reappeared, it was but a few feet away and it swam towards Monty, where it paused just at the bank’s edge. It looked up at Monty, who smiled, and then it inhaled sharply. Staring back at Monty were two large brown eyes. But these were not the ordinary eyes of a horse or even an intelligent dog; these eyes seemed entirely too human to be believed. They did not shine with animal joy, but rather regarded him deeply. Regarded, that was the only word he could come up with to describe it to himself. It seemed that the creature was appraising him with quite a critical eye. But Monty felt no discomfort at this, instead, for some reason, he felt a great connection with the creature, some sort of recognition that was returned to him.
“Why, he’s marvelous,” said Monty.
Shall I look up to see whether bestiality is legal in Essex?
Fortunately, the seal can shift form into a hot guy, so I guess that any act of intimacy with him technically doesn’t count as shagging an actual seal.
This one is marketed as a romance, which I feel is a disservice to the story itself as I’d say it’s more of Monty’s story than a traditional romance. The author has two stories here, one of Monty’s past love affair and the one in the present day, and eventually the author will try to tie up the two stories together.
That tying up part is my biggest peeve with this story: it ends up being more of a convenient ass-pull than anything else, like something the author has come up at the last minute to close the story.
Also, there are pacing issues, as so much of the story takes place at a leisurely pace, only to have paranormal things popping up very late into the story to make me go, “Huh?”
One more thing: the romance in Monty’s past is far more interesting than the one with the selkie. That one has the exciting backdrop, interesting premise, pathos, and feels. The selkie one… meh, it’s just some love at horny first eye contact thing without much that is memorable or interesting about the whole relationship.
One the bright side, the author’s narrative style is lovely to read as always, as there is a vivid and evocative sideshow carnival vibe to the past romance that gives the story a far more magical vibe than the presence of the selkie. Sadly, that arc isn’t going to have a happy ending, with the selkie being the consolation prize true love for Monty.
In the end, this story is a case of 50-50. It’s a great read when it takes me to the past, and a forgettable one when it focuses on the present romance.
I suppose I’d always wish that the author had just developed the romance in the past into a complete, full-blown romance with happy ending and all, since the OTP turns out to be so meh.
