Meriel Byrne had big plans to impress Ronan Burbank that she was a real asset to his family’s corporate empire. Instead she fell off a cliff on Ronan’s property, and died in the ocean below. That tragedy was not the end of Meriel, she returned to life as a selkie, a magical creature who takes the form of a seal. Though Iona, another selkie, taught her to survive the dangers of the sea, she considers her existence hopeless and cursed because her ancestor unknowingly harmed a selkie.

Ronan Burbank lost his fortune after the media made a circus out of Meriel’s unfortunate demise. After losing his business piece by piece, he returned to the real world of working with his hands. Luckily, he loves building the boats that are his only way of making a living. Some part of him still blames the woman whose death changed his life forever.

When Ronan drowns after a boating accident, Meriel is angry and desperate. She struggles to drag his lifeless body to shore, then cries out to the sea to have mercy and let him live. Her request is granted in the form of a magical amulet that enables Ronan to survive, and gives her a single day to try regaining her human existence. For that to happen, Ronan must fall in love with her. She decides to do whatever she can to make this single day count before she must return to her life in the sea.

This is a wonderfully crafted and magically enchanting love story. Real human pain and joy are skillfully intertwined with the elements of fantasy and magic. The pace moves swiftly from Ronan’s desire to punish the woman took his past life away from him, to tender admiration for someone who saved his life and touched his heart. Meriel is anxious to feel every emotion and sensation that her time in a human body has to offer. She had admired Ronan from afar, but now he is the one man she desperately desires. A man who can give her all the joys of human contact before she returns to the cold waters of the North Atlantic. Fueled by destiny, the passion rises between them, and they can’t help answering its siren call. Their destiny lies with each other, but it will take another miracle to show them that truth. When Meriel’s existence is threatened, Ronan realizes that some things are worth saving, even if you lose everything in the process. Heart of the Sea is a beautiful read that had the power to touch my heart, and will touch yours too.

Reviewed by: Lee Ann