Fishy Reads!

Fishy Reads! 

Okay, so I promised some mermaid tales this week! We have already reviewed some mermaid shenanigans, but here's a few more to flip your fins to!

These three books are a selection of different tastes. From mature content, teenage lurrrrve, and belly laughing fun, they've all be chosen to suit certain readers. For anyone looking for recommendations, just keep an open mind with these three. They're all different, but all about love, mermaids and of course, those damn amazing heroines! 

My Mermaid Reading List: 

Goddess of the Sea, by P.C Cast. 

Paitkus Cover

On the night of her twenty-fifth birthday, alone in her apartment, Air Force Sergeant Christine Canady wished for one thing: a little magic in her life. After drinking way too much champagne, she performed, of all crazy things, a goddess-summoning ritual, hoping that it would somehow make her life a little less ordinary...but she never believed the spell would actually work.

When her military plane crashes into the ocean, CC's mission overseas takes an unexpected turn. She awakens to find herself in a legendary time and place where magic rules the land—occupying the body of the mythic mermaid Undine. But there is danger in the waters and the goddess Gaea turns this modern, military gal into a beautiful damsel so that she can seek shelter on land.

CC is soon rescued (literally) by a knight in shining armor. She should be falling in love with this dream-come-true, but instead she aches for the sea and Dylan, the sexy merman who has stolen her heart.

Rating: Mature for content, whole lotta flapping around in the water, annoying knights, sly monks. 

                                                                       

Of Poseidon, (The Syrena Legacy #1) by Anna Banks.

Square Fish, 2013

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom...

Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.     

Rating: T for Tweeny love, cute mer-boys, fun and engaging characters, no-fuss reading!

Sleeping with the Fishes, (Fred the Mermaid, #1), by Mary Janice Davidson. 

Paitkus Books, 2011. 

Fred is not your ordinary mermaid. She's not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is blue. While volunteering at the New England Aquarium, Fred learns that there are weird levels of toxins in the local seawater. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her merperson ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You'd think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again. 

Rating: M for language, chic-lit, Witty and lovable characters, chortling belly laugh read, all about da mermaids, love triangle (but actually a good one!) 

Mer Out! 

Mermaids, Mermaids and Mermaids

Mermaids, Mermaids, and More Mermaids...

Can I tell you a secret?

I have an obsession.

Mermaids.

I absolutely adore mermaids. Specifically mermaids who own lighthouses. Honestly, its my dream to be a mermaid, living on a remote island managing a lighthouse and occasionally dipping in the nippy ocean to get my fins wet. Ah, the life.

Signet Eclipse Books, 2010

  Why am I talking about this you might ask? I'm mentioning my love of mermaids because after a drought of weeks without reading anything sea-related, I was in the mood for some mermaid shenanigans of the deep-sea rarity - if you get my meaning. So I plundered the depths of both Amazon and Goodreads, in search of a brooding lighthouse keeper and fin-inclined friends when I stumbled across the out of print Siren's Call by Devyn Quinn. After reading the blurb, fangirling over the beautiful cover and then tracking down UK sellers, I bought the entire trilogy.

Blurb:

A new paranormal romance series that follows desire into the depths of the ocean 

Lighthouse keeper Tessa Lonike savors her solitude on Little Mer, an island off the coast of Maine, guarding her true identity as a mermaid. But when Tessa spots a man thrashing around in the ice cold waters during a storm, she must use her ability as a mermaid to pull him to shore. And a year later, when Kenneth meets her again, he's determined not to let Tessa slip away. But when Tessa'a archaeologist ex-lover comes back to town with a clue to her heritage, she may be forced to leave her happiness behind...

Now, I have to point out one thing. I'm studying Archaeology. Some would call me an archaeologist. Some would not. But one thing is certain: Tessa Lonike's ex-bae is not an archaeologist. He's a crack pot. If he was real, he'd be one of those select few that like to call themselves 'archaeologists' but actually are those khaki wearing, whip wielding, treasure-hunting nighthawks chasing the dream of finding Atlantis or the colony of lizardmen in mainstream society. Then they cry out in rage because they're not being recognized by the community. For good reason. 

In this instance, I hope to the goddess that Devyn Quinn knew what she was doing when writing Jake (the fanatic). Whenever I pick up a book and blurb describes a protagonist or secondary character as an 'archaeologist' and the writer has never studied said profession, a cold shiver runs through me. Another Indiana Jones-esque take on the archaeological record. Of course, sometimes I'm utterly wrong and sometimes, the stories are fun and exciting. However, I have to admit for Siren's Call I did not enjoy this take. In fact it had me shouting most of the time. Specifically the bit when they opened a supposed tomb without recording it first! Come on guys, rule one! 

Another thing this book praised was the typical gender roles. Now, of course in some romance novels fantasy overwhelms us and we get caught up in the typical hero/heroine dynamic. However, this one just went too far for me. One of the main character's reasons for not getting into a relationship was that she could not cook sufficiently enough for a man to want her! Blerrrrgh. Unfortunately that was a complete mind-numbing moment for me. One in which I grunted loudly and closed the book immediately. Suffice to say, I took break from reading on.

Also, the love triangle between Tessa, Kenneth and Jake was also something that needed some work. At times I felt like it was utterly forced. I didn't see any character development that allowed Jake to get a look in again. Instead, there was a jump forward of a six weeks and then one line:

'As the expedition had come together, she'd found Jake's company more tolerable."

Hmm. Well, that settles it right?!

It really didn't flow well with the story in some ways. Jake was more of a plot device than anything and you really knew it from the beginning. He doesn't really arrive until the last 3/4 of the book and then it's not even a subtle plot movement. It's like a sledge hammer driving its way through the pages; "Move outta the way, everyone! MAJOR PLOT TWIST COMING! Shoo!"

On a lighter note, there were some elements of the story I did like. I liked the cool scaly tattoos the mer-sisters had which were a physical representation of their tails on land. That was pretty bad-ass. I also liked the idea of the mermaids being created alongside male humans to breed - although they didn't really give a reason for the creation of females... they're obviously not important! I mean, we're taking mermaids here, right? The creation of an elite unknown society of mermaids that humans had no idea about was pretty original and somewhat exciting. Rebellions are always a good part of a plot, however, it was over within the gap between two chapters and nothing along the lines of fighting actually happened. I swear, three 'good' mermaids died in the process and nothing was mentioned about them expect their carcasses were bloodied on the floor. Poof! Like that, insignificant.

I think my main issue with this first book is that I didn't feel anything for the characters. Zero feels. Which is very unusual for me. They mostly just got on my nerves. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it as a good introduction into the land or sea of mermaids. I've read countless mermaid fictions which I would recommend to you in a heartbeat over Siren's Call. I think if it wasn't for that beautiful cover, I probably wouldn't remember the story at all! I'll probably read the next two and maybe review them, depending on how much they wind me up or not, so I'll keep you guys posted!

With that massive come-down, I'm going to leave my verdict here:

Rating: M - for adult context, sex, sea-frolicking and crappy archaeologist-wannabes.

Post Feels: Thank god for that!

The Goddess Series!

The Good, the Bad, and the Goddess

Harlequin UK, 2011.

I'm BACK! And I'm really excited to talk about all the lovely romance books I've been reading this summer. Firstly, I wanted to start with the "Goddess Series" by Aimée Carter. I picked this little series because I was really craving some Ancient Greek God action, and it seemed to deliver. On the cover, it had all of the ingredients for a seriously good teen fic, including some romance, some angst, some muscular gods and some crazy plot lines. So here, have the blurb from "The Goddess Test":

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying.

Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

See what I mean? It's got everything, it seems. Action, romance, teenage angst. And it starts off like most YA novels tend to: new girl, new school, really hot guy. However, this wasn't just the typical YA adult romance novel. I did feel like there was something different about this. Not just because it had a deeper themes to it, such as loss and acceptance, but the writing didn't make the story cliche or even repetitive. Overall, I really enjoyed the storyline. It was a good, engaging story that you wanted to read all the way through. I mean, I got through the three books during exam time (probably a bad decision) and in about a week. So my procrastination was obviously in full swing! And, that may or may not have been the reason why I enjoyed the series so much.

Mind you, there was some disappointments with the series too. For instance, the first novel, is all about how Kate is faced with so many tests in order to achieve the goddess status, while all the time trying to avoid perhaps certain death. However, she doesn't actually know when and where the tests happen. So, there's not much action on that front and it was slightly disappointing. But, there is action throughout the book, just not in the way you would expect.

As for the characters, Kate, to me, was quite an interesting character, even though she was totally fine with some random magical man, known as Henry, coming to her door with a supposed 'butler' and make her agree to potentially becoming his wife... you know, after her mother was taken into hospital... totally normal, right? Anyway, the character are indeed lovable, if sometimes quite aggravating with their decisions and motivations. However, ultimately, the connection between Henry and Kate is actually quite touching. He himself has issues with any relationships due to his ex-wife Persephone cheating on him and ultimately not loving him, and in turn that creates issues for Kate as the next potential Queen of the Underworld.

I really loved the landscape of the Underworld and the godly realms that Aimee Carter created. I thought they were equally fascinating. The idea that the Gods were created, but were not biological siblings, did slightly confuse me as it was never really mentioned other than a few times when Henry would insist that no God/Goddess was related to each other - even though, they shared the same adoptive parents, they could still marry and procreate with each other. Slightly confusing for me. Then again, that could have been because I was up to my eyeballs in exams. Who knows?!

To conclude, if there's any mythology lovers out there, this is a really good series to pick up and read in your spare time. It's light, fun and engaging - which sometimes I find, is better than some of the heavy 800 page reads!

Rating: YA, romance, mythology, sexy Hades (always a good shout)!

Post Feels: Content, happy, would read more if it involved more interactions with Henry and Kate.

Is it a bit late to say 'Happy New Year'?

So far, my schedule has been humped and I haven't had too much time to write reviews until now! Luckily, I have been able to read in the time I've been away and I have two lovely, heart-warming books on the line up for you. These two came in a 3 for £10 bundle on Amazon, which have some seriously feelgood fiction up for grabs right now. Click here to see the full range!

Firstly, we have The Vintage Girl by Hester Brown. 

Quercus UK cover, 2014

Rating: M - chit-lit, light and happy

Post feels - Content with life

Blurb:

When Evie Nicholson is asked to visit Kettlesheer Castle in Scotland to archive the family heirlooms, she jumps at the

chance. Evie's passion for antiques means that, for her, the castle is a treasure trove of mysteries just waiting to be uncovered.
But in each heirloom lies a story, and in the course of her investigations Evie stumbles upon some long-buried family secrets. Add handsome, gloomy heir Robert McAndrew and a traditional candlelit gala to the mix, and Evie's heart is sent reeling with an enthusiasm that may just extend beyond the
Kettlesheer silver...  

Now, I'm pretty sure this has been published under 'Swept Off Her Feet' too, however, I just bought my copy and the seemingly new cover and name seems to be a change of publisher. The picture on the left is the most recent publication. The change is understandable if you read the book. In my opinion, the old cover doesn't really relate to the story, as most of the dancing is nearer the end. 

I really enjoyed this quick read with likeable and real characters. I'm always drawn to books with quirky settings and people to match and The Vintage Girl certainly delivered. The story itself is all about Evie and her obsession with all things old, tatty and historical. She particularly likes coffee stained photographs of lacy weddings and the lives which they represent, much to her antique dealer boss's dismay. At the beginning of the novel, we meet Evie who's job is already in jeopardy and when the opportunity to go to Kettlesheer Castle in the Scottish borders, she jumps at the chance. Imagine the historical possibilities! And Evie does imagine...a lot. She has an overactive imagination. From fancying unattainable men my favourite past time to recreating the steps and actions of the old Lady of the Manor, Violet, Evie is certainly a likeable character. 

However, this book is jam-packed with them: Alice, Evie's over-organized, control-freak of a sister, Fraser, Alice's lovely and dutiful tweed wearing boyfriend and Evie's secret crush, but also the people of Kettlesheer, from the nosy neighbours to the debt ridden owners of the castle and their anti-clutter son, Robert... 

Browne really gets it right with the spirit of the community and family in this book which really gets your feeling warm and fuzzing just thinking of it. Of course, its not a book for long drawn out plot lines, instead its short and snappy, aiming to give the reader as much satisfaction that it's 352 pages can offer. There's romance, history, nosy neighbours, and handsome heroes - everything you need from a chic-lit book. So, how about you grab that cup of coco and sit with your feet up and dive into the world of Hester Browne and see how you like it?

I promise you won't regret it.

 

Next up! 

 

It's The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas. 

Headline Review, 2014

Rating: M - sea, rain and warm fuzzing feeling! y

Post feels - "Where's my passport, I'm off to Galway!"

Blurb:
Dooleybridge, County Galway. Population: 482 (or thereabouts). The last place Fiona Clutterbuck expects to end up, alone, on her wedding night. But after the words 'I do' have barely left her mouth, that's exactly where she is - with only her sequined shoes and a crashed camper van for company.

One thing is certain: Fi can't go back. So when the opportunity arises to work for Sean Thornton, the local oyster farmer, she jumps at the chance. Now Fi must navigate suspicious locals, jealous rivals and a wild, unpredictable boss if she's to find a new life, and love, on the Irish coast. And nothing - not even a chronic fear of water - is going to hold her back.

Join Fi on her romantic, unpredictable adventure as she learns the rules of the ocean - and picks up a few pearls of Irish       wisdom along the way...


Now, I have literally just finished this book just last night and lets just say, I slept like a milk-filled baby. I felt so warm and happy after reading The Oyster Catcher that I'm actually considering blowing everything off and running away to Galway! You know when a book comes along and you just instinctively know that you're going to love every minute of it? Yes? Well, that was me with The Oyster Catcher. I knew instantly. That, my friends, is what we call 'the book of love' don't kill me because of that terrible pun!. Anyhoo, it was just what I needed on a cold, snowy Glaswegian night to cheer me up and transport me to a happy place in my head. 

The Oyster Catcher follows Fiona Clutterbuck, a.k.a Fi English, who after having the worst wedding of the century, she jumps into the first car she can find and manages to end up crashing it in a small oyster farming town, Dooleybridge. Like any off-the-beaton-track town, it's slightly rundown due to the lack of oyster farming in the area and full of nosy locals wondering who and why this mysterious women in a jumper and tatty gown has just landed on their doorstep. I was honestly surprised that for a bunch of loveable but inquisitive bunch they weren't more suspicious of Fi and her arrival in town, but perhaps for the sake of a story, the locals were tamed slightly. Enter Sean Thornton, local oyster farmer looking for an out of town blow in to be a Girl Friday. With no money and no home, Fi takes the job and begins working for the tempestuous oyster farmer. However, there is one hiccup - Fi is terrified of water. So with nosy locals, oyster pirates, jealous rivals and a two love sick donkeys to contend with its a miracle Fi even finds her footing, let alone love. 
 

I would definitely give this book a shot if you happen to see it. It's not only written precisely and easily, but the story is lovely and utterly heartwarming. I know it's going on my bookshelf, waiting for those cold, winter nights when I need a cozy story to get me through the night.