"The Future Holds Many Surprises"

"It is a world of monsters and mutations, a post-apocalyptic future where people live in hidden caches, fearful of anything—or anyone—that they don't recognize.

Marielle is of the Mer, a race of people who live by the ocean and, Marielle believes, are direct descendants of the mermaids and mermen who people the treasures left for the Mer by long-dead ancestors. The free-spirited Mer are friends of the ocean-dwelling creatures, and as comfortable in the water as dolphins. But Marielle is unhappy. She's plagued by a need to see the world beyond the shores of her homeland, Ryda. And she dreams of a man she's never met...

Marielle sets out on a journey that none has ever bothered to take, and finds people as unlike the Mer as they could possibly be. Then she meets him. The man from her dreams. A dark-haired hero exploring the world just like she is. A man she is intensely attracted to from the first moment.

Matt is the product of a military-oriented society, the wandering son of a group whose ancestors retreated underground to avoid extermination. He alone of his clan has ventured above and into the sun—into what may have been possible death—and survived. When he meets the beautiful Marielle he is stunned and entranced. There's only one weird thing: Marielle actually believes that she's a mermaid!

Ms. Nour triumphs in this opening to her "Future Lost" series. The world that she paints is scary, intriguing, and very erotic. Marielle and Matt are wonderful characters built right from their own distinct societies. Their relationship is rotically charged yet completely believable. Of particular note is Nour's use of the Mer mutations/abilities in their mating practices—underwater lovemaking! The characters' explorations of the various factions that make up their world is engrossing and, in some places, very gruesome. Readers looking for a light read might enjoy the futuristic adventure that A MERMAID'S LONGING is at heart, but this book is best enjoyed by those who can enjoy the difficult—and painful—possibilities of today's uncertain future. Paired with the detailed world that Nour crafts, the story of two of its more adventurous denizens is truly exciting."

4 Roses! "Ms. Nour has created an amazingly complex, futuristic, sci-fi world that is peopled with a various hodgepodge of races, and twined this concept around a love story that is not only erotic and passionate, but also wildly adventurous. This is not a book for those just looking for a simple love story set in a futuristic setting. Ms. Nour’s FUTURE LOST world is frightening, stark, and even gory in places, and very reminiscent of the famed H.G. Well’s TIME MACHINE with the many mutant forms of life --- some deadly, some passive. The theme of survival, and prejudices against those different is prominent, and very well constructed. Fans of dark fantasy, stark futuristics will delight in losing themselves in this complex tale. Still, it is foremost an erotic love story, and well worth reading over several times --- just in case you missed something the first time around!"