The Nymph King - Gena Showalter

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of The Nymph King by Gena Showalter. After reading it, I have to say that I can definitely see why it hit both the USA Today Bestseller list and the extended NYT list.

First of all - that cover is not false advertising. Valerian, the hero, is hot! Sizzling hot. Makes-you-glad-to-be-a-woman hot. Um, okay, moving on from Valerian's hotness...(though I'd rather not *grin*).

The Nymph King is set in Gena's version of Atlantis, which is filled with not only nymphs, but also dragons, vampires and demons among others. The setting itself is almost a character because it's so different and intriguing. It definitely sucked me in.

The heroine, Shaye, is a human who's abducted away to Atlantis by the nymphs - because they need women and since women absolutely adore them and the pleasure they can give, the nymphs see no problem with the whole abduction thing. They haven't counted on Shaye, who only only doesn't fall under their spell, but is determined to return to the surface.

Valerian, King of the Nymphs, isn't having any of that - because Shaye is his mate. And when a nymph mates, it's for life. Now he has to convince her of that. The back and forth between a determined-to-seduce, Valerian, and an equally determined-to-resist, Shaye, is very passionate and the tension just keeps rising. Then there are the sweet moments that made me smile. (I don't know how Gena does it but she manages to get in her trademark humor without losing the intensity of the story). By the time I reached the end, I believed that these two would make it. Happy sigh. :)

Overall, The Nymph King is exotic, highly sensual and plain old fun. Check it out if you like hot nymphs (and here all this time I thought of nymphs as female. Not any more. Nope. Now I think of them as male sensuality personified...which leads me back to Valerian *g*). Go forth and read!!