Mermaids are half human and half animal and are fairly common in folklore from around the world, and the most popular of the aquatic hybrids. Many folklorists believe that stories or books about mythical mermaids date back to ancient sightings of dugongs, a marine mammal related to the manatee. According to their theory, sailors would tell tales about their dugong sightings at sea. Those stories would be told and retold again and again. Over time, stories about the dugong turned into stories about creatures that were half human, half fish.
The ancient Greek sirens were borne out of mermaid legends. Sirens are mythical mermaids that lure sailors into rocky waters with their beautiful songs because of the sirens. Mermaids began to be associated with dangers, like floods, storms, and shipwrecks.
Over time, that dangerous demeanor softened, and mermaids became known as peaceful creatures that brought good luck and could even fall in love with humans. This mermaid type became more common in the British Isles during the 19th century and was popularized by Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, which spawned a movie adaptation.
So romance books with mermaids are a myth, but that doesn’t mean they always were. Over the centuries, many people have reported seeing mermaids, including a few famous sightings while sailing through the Caribbean in 1493. Christopher Columbus reported seeing three female foams rise high out of the sea. Mermaids were less beautiful than he’d expected. If you are waiting to read an adult mermaid romance, follow me!
10 Mermaid Romance Books (Fairytale/Folklore)
The mermaid is from 1,000 BC, an old mythical creature. It goes back to ancient Syria and the fertility goddess, Atargatis. As a myth and fairytale reader, I always love reading adventurous books with mermaids, sirens, pirates, etc. When we read sea-myth, we find mermaids as the main or villain characters, and their romance is so passionate. I have an extensive book list that contains mermaids as the primary trope. So, I will discuss my 10 favorite mermaid romance books for you. Let’s go!
| Name | Key Focus | Review (Goodreads) |
|---|---|---|
| The Water Mirror | Two girls are trying to discover a magical river with an adventurous journey. | 3.8 |
| In Other Lands | A boy discovers a magical mermaid world where he also finds his love and friendship. | 4.3 |
| Alias Hook | A historical mermaid story with folklore and love. | 3.6 |
| Peter and the Starcatchers | In a pirate and mermaid background, you learn about Peter Pan in detail. | 4.0 |
| The Language of Thorns | A heavy mermaid romance story with 7 short stories. | 4.3 |
| Daughter of the Pirate King | A pirate girl is trying to discover some mystery where she also meets her love. | 3.5 |
| Between the Sea and Sky | A mermaid finds her missing sister, and she falls in love with a human. | 4.0 |
| Of Poseidon | In a mermaid kingdom, Poseidon (god of the sea) rules the sea, and romance also unfolds here. | 4.0 |
| The Siren | A human girl somehow turns into a mermaid and tries to solve it with other mermaids. | 3.7 |
| To Kill a Kingdom | A mermaid retelling with many rival situations and love. | 3.7 |
1. The Water Mirror (Merle-Zyklus)
Merle-Zyklus is a trilogy. I have only read the first book, The Water Mirror. This one is also a middle-grade. You can see a Mermaid Girl on the back. So it’s set in a city modeled after Venice, and it’s about two orphan girls who work for two different magical people across the way in Venice. One is a mirror maker, and one is a painter. They either get split up, stay together, and work for some guys.
The magical stone lions come to life in this city, and the police officers ride them around and then use mermaids. Then they ride them through Venice’s canals, which is terrible. So the mermaids are a loosely mentioned part here. The Water River is magical. The girls have discovered all these magical things with a mermaid love story.
Author: Kai Meyer
Narrator: Toby Longworth
Publisher: Listening Library
Tropes: Action, Adventure Fantasy, Gods-demons-angels
Number Of Pages: 250
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Audio CD
2. In Other Lands
In Other Lands is an LGBT mermaid romance with adventure and fantasy. The story is about a young boy named Elliot, who discovers magic. He gets sucked into a magical world, which is very different from other books because Elliot is unlikeable and a brat. He doesn’t make friends easily. But in this world, he’s cool, and they like him, which is very unusual.
Elliot gets the two best friends, which is excellent because he learns all these magical things about fairies, elves, and goblins, and he’s obsessed with finding mermaids. Also, he grows up throughout the book, and it is one of the most underrated books ever. The audiobook was fantastic. I enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it.
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Tropes: Mermaids, Adventure, Fantasy, Friendship
Number Of Pages: 437
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
3. Alias Hook
Alias Hook is an adult book on Hook’s back story and life. But it’s got a lot of fairy magic in here, a little tiny bit of mermaids, lots of detail into how Peter Pan and Captain Hook came to be and his whole back story. This one does take a little bit longer to get through. The story is a little bit richer in words and writing because it’s an adult book with a little sexual content. So keep that in mind if you have a younger age. Also, the book cover is excellent.
Author: Lisa Jensen
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Tropes: Folklore, Historical, Adventure
Number Of Pages: 368
Dimensions: 5.69 x 1.25 x 8.51 inches
Available: Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
4. Peter and the Starcatchers
Peter and the Starcatchers is a middle-grade series that won Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award. It reminds me of Peter Pan in Harry Potter form. It’s a five-book series. The first three especially are exceptional. This is about Peter and the Star Catchers, and it’s all about Peter Pan, how he became Peter Pan, how Neverland came about, and the Lost Boys. The plot is magical, adventurous, and fun, with a mermaid romance. This book is one of my all-time favorite book series.
Author: Dave Barry
Narrator: Jim Dale
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Tropes: Magic, Travel, Pirates
Number Of Pages: 452
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
5. The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (Grishaverse)
The Language of Thorns is folklore set in the Grisha world, like Shadow And Bone and Six Crows. So, it is the perfect book for Mermaid Marathon because there are seven short stories. The art is beautiful, and there is a mermaid story called When Water Sing Fire at the very end. It’s a mermaid fairy tale with a love story which is excellent. If you still need to read the Grisha World and are waiting for a heavy mermaid theme, try the whole Grishaverse series.
Author: Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson
Narrator: Jim Dale
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Tropes: Fairy Tales, Anthologies
Number Of Pages: 452
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
6. Daughter of the Pirate King
Daughter of the Pirate King and Daughter of the Siren queen won Evergreen Teen Book Award Nominee. This duology, specifically the first book, is very loose on mermaids, as a very loose mention and talking around it. The second one is a bit heavier, but not that heavy. It’s more pirate and nautical-based. We follow our lead character, Eliza, a pirate king’s daughter, and she’s on a mission. The narrator was good enough so try the audiobook. Overall, the author shows pirates and adventure, and grand romance, which is fun.
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Publisher: Square Fish (Reprint Edition)
Tropes: Enemies-to-lovers, Slow-burn, Historical Fiction
Number Of Pages: 336
Grade level: 7 – 9
Item Weight: 9.6 ounces
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
7. Between the Sea and Sky
Between the Sea and Sky is a great one for Mermaid Marathon because it’s only 220 pages and very easy to get through. This has a historical vibe to it. There are two sister mermaids in here. They have belts, and if a man steals your belt, you become a human, and you can also choose to give him your belt and give up your mermaid life. One of the sisters goes missing.
So the other one chooses to go on land to go and find her. She has a friend that was a fairy boy. This book has a lot of magical elements in here. It’s a very romantic and very classic historical mermaid story. The hardcover has some negative issues, but the paperback is good enough for font size, color, binding, cover, and page quality.
Author: Donna M. Binkiewicz
Publisher: Independently Published
Tropes: Supernatural, Folklore, Arc
Number Of Pages: 235
Available: Paperback
8. Of Poseidon (The Syrena Legacy)
The Syrena Legacy is a popular do mermaids in trilogies that won Gateway Readers Award Nominee. Our lead character has some draw to the water, and there’s a lot of romance in here, and you learn a lot about an underwater mermaid kingdom and all that stuff. It’s more dramatic and intense than the other books that I remember. If you love mermaid books with myth retellings, then you’ll love it.
Author: Anna Banks
Publisher: Square Fish
Tropes: Dystopian, Myth
Number Of Pages: 384
Reading age: 13 – 18 years
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
9. The Siren
The Siren is a mythical romance with a mermaid. The book is about girls who have been turned into mermaids, whose job is to sink ships, feed the ocean, and take care of the ocean. The ocean is a mother figure. She talks to them, tells them what to do, and helps them out. The audiobook didn’t help, either. But it’s still worth reading because I liked the book’s love story and writing style.
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Tropes: Friendship, YA Fantasy
Number Of Pages: 352
Reading age: 13 – 17 years
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Pocket Book | Audio CD
10. To Kill a Kingdom
To Kill a Kingdom is an adventure mermaid’s retelling. I loved it more because of how beautiful it is and the mermaids than how I enjoyed it. I had a hard time getting through, and something about it didn’t live up to the hype. This is a straight-up Little Mermaid retelling, and it’s about a siren princess. It kills princes for their hearts, and she uses them for magic. Then the prince tries to hunt the Siren. It was advertised as a brutal, dark mermaid tale. I have read many mermaid books, but it’s not that dark and brutal.
You might like it fast to get through. There are magic and ghosts, witches, demons, and other creatures. It reminds me of a Disney movie by Disney Hyperion and Jennifer Donnelly. It has excellent side characters and pets and has a lot of fun with drama.
Author: Alexandra Christo
Tropes: Sword & Sorcery Fantasy, Rivals-to-lovers, Morally-grey, Dark
Number Of Pages: 368
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
Those are my best mermaid romance novels recommendation. Let me know if you want to read them. Also, let me know if you plan to read them for Mermaid Marathon.
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