Believed

Written by Michael James Emberger

Narrated by Kristina Rothe

Kelsea Jones is like a lot of girls at the University of Northern Minnesota. She has a boyfriend, she works at a coffee shop, and she’s on the swim team. But she’s not a girl. She’s a mermaid.

Trouble brews when star hockey player Chad Andersen takes an interest in her. She tries to avoid him, but he won’t leave her alone. A son of wealth and privilege, he takes what he wants, and he gets away with it. He wants Kelsea, she says no, and so he rapes her. Kelsea stands on a tail and two fins to fight the most painful trial of her life. Despite her trauma and a crisis of faith, she speaks the truth of what Chad did, but will she be believed?

A note from the author:

1 out of 4 college girls experiences rape or sexual assault. That breaks my heart. It’s a crime that has affected people I love, and it has to stop. This novel is my way of raising awareness and showing survivors that someone hears them.

Believed is a product of my friendship with a survivor who is an author and advocate. She opened my eyes to a world of trauma and PTSD that had been largely invisible to me before I met her, and it was life-changing. I needed to share that with others. The burden on my heart was too great to not say something, and fiction is the method I know best to convey the thoughts, truths, pains, and struggles that I see.

Sexual assault is not my story. I haven’t experienced it, I don’t live with the resulting trauma, and I do not wish to profit from the pain of survivors. This is a book for them. It’s a book for those who love them. It’s a book to encourage readers to think and to empathize and to consider the realities of so many whose lives have been affected by this crime. If you would like to listen or read for free, audiobook and e-book files are available at my website: www.michaeljamesemberger.com/believed

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael James Emberger
• Release date: May 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669643678

Reviews for Believed

[Meli M · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Due to subject matter, chapter 52 contains a trigger warning for the book. I recommend listening to that chapter alone first.
Overall it's a good read and tackles this traumatic topic with dignity

[Bonnie Powell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As someone who has worked with victims of abuse this book shared so many of the thoughts I have encountered when working with them. Tears flow as I think of those out there who fear to tell their story due to the worry of not being believed and being made to believe that it never happened they way they told it.

[Westley Derringer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Strange concept, hard to visualize mermaids walking around on land