Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, in which we take a look at upcoming releases we’re super excited about.
Today’s selection and book I’m excitedly awaiting is:
When the Tides Held the Moon
by Venessa Vida Kelley
Adult Fiction – Fantasy – Historical – LGBTQIA+
April 22nd, 2025
Goodreads
With lush illustrations and buoyant prose, Venessa Vida Kelley blends historical fantasy with epic romance at the turn of the 20th century in this unforgettable New York fairytale of queer identity and found family.
Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds everyone, especially the eccentric sideshow proprietor who commissioned it. Benny’s work earns him an invitation to join the show’s eclectic crew of performers—his first welcome in the city—and share in their astonishing secret: the tank Benny built is a cage for their newest exhibit, a living, breathing, in-the-flesh merman stolen from the banks of the East River under a gleaming full moon.
The merman is more than a mythic marvel, though. Benny comes to know Río as a clever philosopher, an observant traveler, and a kindred spirit more beautiful and compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.
A cage is no place for a merman to survive. Though releasing Río means betraying his new family, bankrupting their home, and losing his soulmate forever, Benny must look within for the courage to do what’s right, and find a love strong enough to free them both.
I’ve been following Venessa Vida Kelley’s amazing fanart on social media for years. And now she has her own (illustrated!!) book? And it’s about a human falling for a merman? I’m so obsessed with this one already…
Tell Me:
Will you be reading this book?
I don’t know that author but now I want to read that book! The art is amazing!
This sounds so beautiful, and that cover – so dreamy!