What Caz Read

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙣 by Venessa Vida Kelley is an historical fantasy romance set in New York around the early 1900s.

Puerto Rican immigrant Benny is a blacksmith tasked with building a tank to house the latest exhibit in Coney Island’s Luna Park, a merman. After the merman is safely housed in the tank Benny is offered a job working on the exhibits at Luna Park where he is befriended by the company of Morgan’s Menagerie of Human Oddities.

Over the course of several weeks Benny and Rio build a friendship which develops into a romance as their emotional bond deepens. Eventually Benny must decide what to do; if Rio stays in his tank he’ll die, but if Benny returns him to the sea then he’ll lose him, neither option is an easy choice to make.

I loved the slow burn between Benny and Rio as it allowed their romance to develop naturally and tenderly without feeling rushed. I also appreciate the amount of backstory that we got as it showed the homophobia and racism that Benny had to deal with on a regular basis interspersed with moments of kindness as well as the richness of Rio’s mer-culture.

I enjoyed the diverse characters in this book and loved the found family aspect of the story. They may have had their differences but they definitely had each other’s backs and these beautifully fleshed-out characters really had a sense of community.

The writing in When the Tides Held the Moon was charming and atmospheric. It’s a beautiful queer romance about love, family and being true to yourself. I was completely immersed in the story from beginning to end and recommend this to anyone who celebrates diversity and believes in the power of love.

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Publisher: Erewhon Books
Format: Ebook
ASIN: B0DDFHS7LF

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Here’s the Synopsis

Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds everyone, especially the eccentric side-show proprietor who commissioned it. Benny’s work earns him an invitation to join the show’s eclectic crew of performers—his first welcome in the city—and share in their astonishing secret: the tank Benny built is a cage for their newest exhibit, a living, breathing, in-the-flesh merman stolen from the banks of the East River under a gleaming full moon. 

The merman is more than a mythic marvel, though. Benny comes to know Río as a clever philosopher, an observant traveler, and a kindred spirit more beautiful and compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own. 

A cage is no place for a merman to survive. Though releasing Río means betraying his new family, bankrupting their home, and losing his soulmate forever, Benny must look within for the courage to do what’s right, and find a love strong enough to free them both.