'Til Death Do Us Part (an adult retelling of The Little Mermaid)

By Dianna Hardy

"The day you get married, is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. Dreams are made of such things. But I forgot. I could blame the witch if I wanted to – in fact I did, for quite a while after – but the fault can only lie with me. Being with him made me so happy – so very, very happy – that I chose to forget. I chose amnesia. If I had had any foresight into how my flippant choice would ruin him, I would have saved him the heartbreak. I would have forfeited my knowing him, my own selfishness, lived forever in the pain of unfulfillment, if it meant he could be spared...."

When you love someone so much that your heart aches without them in your life, would you give up everything you've ever known to be with them? Would you give up your identity?

This is exactly what Aria did. But her sacrifice comes at a great cost, with startling consequences. With no memory of her previous life, she's forgotten what she really is, and who she's left behind: a jealous, possessive God, who's finally found her, and will stop at nothing to keep her heart from ever straying again.

In this dark and passionate retelling of The Little Mermaid, can a love founded on humanity, stand the passing of time, an angry sea-God, and even death itself?

Length: Novelette (over 10,000 words)

External Reviews:

"....a beautiful yet tragic story of true love and sacrifice." - Bitten By Paranormal Romance, 5 Stars, an Alpha Howl!

"....happily sad ... a story of love, sacrifice, and choices." - Romance Novel Junkies, 4 Stars

"The elements of this story weave seamlessly together, creating a touching, truly beautiful world I would personally love to visit .... I would highly recommend this story to anyone who has ever been in love before." - Night Owl Reviews, 4.25 Stars

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bitten Fruit Books / Satin Smoke Press
• Release date: Nov 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465742261

Dianna Hardy

Dianna Hardy is an international bestselling author of (cross-genre) fantasy fiction, most notable for her dark paranormal fantasy and the raw, intense Eye of the Storm series. But her heart-warming Once Times Thrice series proves she thrives in the light as much as the dark. Whatever your poison, what she loves most is to bring you stories that are action-packed, fast-paced and not short of heat, with the focus on character development, relationship dynamics, and the plot. She writes full-length novels and short fiction.Although quite active online, Dianna prefers the quiet company of nature and animals to the hustle and bustle of people. She loves anything paranormal (she doesn't really consider it "para"), organic food, walking barefoot, the smell of the woods after rain, and summer days. However, she is also sustained by coffee, chocolate and the occasional vodka.Having graduated from Richmond Drama School (London) in '98, she spent the next few years in a multitude of jobs (both acting and non-acting), studying anything that fascinated her, searching her soul, and finally found her passion where it had always been: at the end of a pen.She currently lives in South Hampshire (United Kingdom) with her fiancé and their daughter, where she writes full-time.

Book preview

'Til Death Do Us Part

(an adult retelling of The Little Mermaid)

by Dianna Hardy

'Til Death Do Us Part (an adult retelling of The Little Mermaid)

copyright © 2011, Dianna Hardy

Published by Satin Smoke Press, November, 2011

This version updated August, 2023

Satin Smoke Press is an imprint of Bitten Fruit Books.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

In this work of fiction, the characters, places and events are either the product of the author's imagination, or they are used entirely fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means or in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations embodied in literary articles or reviews.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This story was inspired by the story, Den Lille Havfrue, by Hans Christian Anderson, published in 1837.

Cover photo © Dmitry Laudin | Shutterstock.com

Cover design by Bitten Fruit Books

Satin Smoke Press

Hampshire, UK

http://www.satinsmoke.com

His eyes were the softest hazel. They always reminded me of sunshine and warm autumn days, when the leaves change from green to orange, then to brown. It was autumn when we got married. Autumn holds a kind of magic that humans take for granted … or maybe the magic was his. I guess if I had never known any better, I would not be missing him now, with an ache that kills me every day, over and over again....

The day you get married, is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. Dreams are made of such things. But I forgot. I could blame the witch if I wanted to – in fact I did, for quite a while after – but the fault can only lie with me. Being with him made me so happy – so very, very happy – that I chose to forget. I chose amnesia. If I had had any foresight into how my flippant choice would ruin him, I would have saved him the heartbreak. I would have forfeited my knowing him, my own selfishness, lived forever in the pain of unfulfillment, if it meant he could be spared....

'Til Death Do Us Part

(an adult retelling of The Little Mermaid)

I do, I utter, trying hard to keep the tremble out of my voice, locking my eyes with his and using that earthly gaze as my lifeline. I swear, that sometimes, his eyes are solely responsible for keeping me upright, as if they save me again and again – what from, I couldn't tell you.

He slips the gold band onto my finger. The etching on the inside of the ring matches the one on his own and reads, Simon and Aria. It glides on as if it