Pink Dolphin, You Are the Father! by Marilyn Barr

 

Many believe the concept of animal shifters was first documented in The Hobbit when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about bear shifters, but this is not the case. In ancient Amazon river mythology lives a pink dolphin by day and man by night – Boto Encantado. From the Portuguese word for “enchanted”, Boto Encantado was as sexy as the shirtless shifters on today’s paranormal romance novels. Here’s a snippet from my next paranormal romance release, Smoother Than Spumoni where Susie Larkin describes the legend of Encantado:

“Seagrass Island shifters need water like humans need air. Not just my family but almost every member of the Seagrass shifter pack can be traced back to one ancestor: Boto Encantado the Dolphin Shifter. Our pack’s greatest achievement is burying him in South American mythology with no records of his descendants. We are hidden in plain view.

Boto lived in the Amazon river basin as an outcast from a native tribe for his ability to shift into a dolphin. He had various lovers due to his irresistible looks and charm, one of which migrated to Seagrass Island Florida, birthing our pack. The shifter genes are dominant in every offspring so every pack member linked genetically to him can shift into a dolphin, including my family and Jean.”

(pre-order sale for $1.99 on Amazon and iTunes for release on 8/23/2021)

While the descendants in Smoother Than Spumoni have emigrated to Seagrass Island (modeled after Anna Maria Island FL) to live in saltwater Tampa Bay, the original Encantado myth describes an underwater kingdom of dolphin shifters. On certain nights, the male shifters would be in human form and join festivals, parties, or unsuspecting women on the riverbanks. Oozing charm, sensuality, and musical talent, their victims were easily seduced and impregnated. When the offspring reached maturity, they would be kidnapped by the shifters to be tested. If they had the magical abilities of an Encantado shifter, they were taken to live in the underground city. (by the gods dot net)

How was a woman to ensure her date wasn’t Encantado? Legend has it his blowhole was present in both forms. He is always shown wearing a hat to cover it. She must check under his hat before he suspects she’s onto him because telepathy and hypnosis are some of his magical powers. Yikes!

(Photo from Mermaid Wiki, Artist Unknown)

I know you are hoping I don’t show you a frightening cave drawing of a pink dolphin, but these river dolphins exist today. They not only live in the Amazon river but can also be found in its tributaries, flooded forests, and lakes of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Peru. They are unique because they bite and chew their food as we do. They are grey at birth and turn pinker as they mature. (US dot whales dot org)

(Photo from us.whales.org)

Since Boto Encantado’s descendants undergo at least a thousand year’s evolution before Smoother Than Spumoni, I blended the pink river dolphin with the bottle-nosed dolphins of Tampa Bay FL. In Smoother Than Spumoni, the dolphins hear by sensing waves with their jaws, check for other animals by sending electromagnetic pulses, survive in saltwater, and are a blush color of grey like the dolphins of Florida. However, they have telepathy abilities in dolphin form but only with each other as Susie finds out when she tries to link with Frank. Here’s another snippet from Smoother Than Spumoni:

“I send out pulses to check for predators. Relieved to find only the manatees and the singular hammerhead shark, I redirect my energy to connecting with Frank. I try to link our thoughts.

No signature.

I try again pushing my hardest to find his frequency.

Nothing.

I guess having two different origins makes us as different from each other as we are from humans. Perhaps we can connect if he shifts into his wolf form. Sure, I can teach him how to swim and drag him through the ocean as I am now, but you can either link minds or you cannot. Can I bond with someone who doesn’t have this capability, or will I feel incomplete?”

 Susie and Frank have more than their inability to speak in each other’s minds. A mysterious Red Tide is killing the wildlife and destroying the bay. Then there’s the pesky shifter smell test sending female members of the Seagrass pack into Frank’s path to be sniffed. Susie doesn’t want anything to do with either phenomenon, just a relaxing summer before she returns inland for graduate school. She has her whole life planned until a werewolf on the beach proves to be…Smoother Than Spumoni. 

Smoother Than Spumoni is on pre-order sale for $1.99 on Amazon and iTunes for release on 8/23/2021 as part of The Wild Rose Press’s One Scoop Or Two book series. ($3.99 on Barnes & noble)

Here’s the back of the Book Blurb:

Susie Larkin is a dolphin shifter and heir to the humble Larkin’s Dairy Dip on Seagrass Island, FL. Pedaling ice cream from bicycle carts on the beach is just a stepping-stone for this future CEO of a frozen confection empire—or so she hopes.

 Frank Paulino Jr. receives his first taste of freedom from Strawberry, KY in a summer internship at Bart’s Oyster bar. His pasta creations save the restaurant when red tide poisons the fresh fish of the bay, making him the most popular werewolf on Seagrass island.

 Frank and Susie uncover a conspiracy that threatens not only the wildlife of the area but also their lives. Can these two shifters put their ambitions aside long enough to give their relationship a chance, or will Frank pay the ultimate price to protect Susie and the island she loves?