Between the Sea and Sky by Jaclyn Dolomore

I was telling my dear friend and podcast co-host Allison that I was in desperate need of some light, romantic fun after reading so many intense and dark books lately. She suggested that I read “Between the Sea & Sky” earlier than I had planned and I am SO glad she did! It was just what the doctor ordered. Cute, sweet, and full of magical fun!

Esmerine is a beautiful mermaid, who at the start of the book, is being inducted as a siren.
Sirens, in Dolamore’s mermaid society, are protectors of the mer people and a great honor. On the night of her induction ceremony, Dosia mentions that she has interacted with some human men and asks Esmerine to go meet them. Esmerine refuses and the next day, Dosia disappears. Fearing that her sister was kidnapped and forced to remain on land forever as a merwife, Esmerine goes on land in search of her, reconnecting with her childhood friend, Alandare, who is part of a winged species of people. They journey together to find her sister and by doing so, find something even more precious in each other.

This book is such a nice, light read! I love the world Ms. Dolamore has created with her mermaids. It adds an interesting element to the friendship of Alandare and Esmerine. Not only is one winged and one finned, but they also have to deal with prejudices at home. Alandare’s species, the Fandarsee, are a very intellectual people who look down on humans and mer people as less intelligent, silly creatures. The mer people tell tales of the dangers of the surface world and fear that which is different. They do not understand Esmerine’s love of reading and writing, which she learned for Alandare as a child. They see her as being different and she’s been ridiculed for it throughout her teenage years. I also really enjoyed that the three tiers of this world (sea, land, and sky) all connected and interacted. It added a really interested complexity to this simple romantic fairy tale.

This book is full of fun, light adventure and tender romance. It’s a whimsical story that I think any fairy tale or mermaid fan will enjoy.

Between the Sea and Sky is published by Bloomsbury and is scheduled to be released on October 25th. My friend Allison was gracious enough to loan me her ARC since I was too impatient to wait for it to arrive via the Good Choice Reading blog tour. We will be interviewing Ms. Dolamore soon for Authors are ROCKSTARS! Be sure to visit the website or subscribe via iTunes so you won’t miss it!

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

THANK YOU TRACY DEEBS. Let me tell you, as a girl who grew up during Disney’s revival, I lllllllllooooooooovvvvvveeeee mermaids (yes, the extra letters are necessary). I’ve been aching to find a mermaid book that clicked with me and Tracy Deebs delivered with “Tempest Rising”.

Tempest Maguire is an almost seventeen year old surfer gal who would be happy to just continue living her life the way it is - surfing day and night, dating her off-and-on slightly overprotective boyfriend, and taking care of her family. Unfortunately, that’s not her only option. Her seventeenth birthday is quickly approaching and she’ll soon be faced with an incredible life decision - to remain on land or answer the call of the ocean, like her mother did six years ago. That’s right. Tempest isn’t your average girl. She’s half mermaid and has grown up knowing this. It wasn’t such a big deal until her mom left six years ago, leaving her to take care of her two younger brothers and her heartbroken father. She left each of her children a note letting them know about the situation they’d each face someday. For Tempest though, this decision is even bigger than she could possibly imagine. There’s something out there in the ocean, calling to her. It wants her and she has no idea why. Then there is dark and sexy Kai, who mysteriously appears at the water’s edge one day and the connection between them is beyond anything she’s ever experienced. How is a girl to choose?

“Tempest Rising” is such a fun read! I read it in less than 24 hours. I just couldn’t stop. It’s addictive. The chemistry between the character crackles with electricity and boy oh boy, can Ms. Deebs write a good kissing scene. It does follow a lot of the traditional YA paranormal romance formula - life seems perfect, finds out life isn’t perfect when hottie appears, angsty love triangle ensues, then epic action, adventure, yadda yadda yadda. I know some of you may be sick of this, but you know, there is a reason this formula exists … because it works. Tracy Deebs takes it on and makes it her own with “Tempest Rising”. She creates two lovely worlds (the beaches of San Diego and the underwater world of the Pacific) that Tempest has to choose from. Each world have amazing things to offer her, but one world needs her and maybe she needs it too.

My only problem with this book, which seems to be the popular complaint, is the ending. There was so much tension and then it kinda went thump. I seriously had to do a double take and back track to make sure that I didn’t miss anything (I was reading this book FAST since I was dying to know what was going to happen to Tempest!). I’m happy to report, after browsing like a madwoman online, that I discovered this isn’t a standalone and there are going to be other books in this series. THANK YOU. I am dying to know what happens with Tempest after she makes her decision and how the world and the love she chooses is affected.

Okay. Enough rambling from this crazy blogger. If I say anymore, I am totally going to spoil it for you and I do not want to do that. If you’re like me and you like mermaids & paranormal romance, this is a must read. Why are you still here? Go out and buy a copy now! The author is doing a $75 gift certificate giveaway over on her blog! Tomorrow is the contest deadline. :)

I was provided with an ARC by the publisher (thank you!). “Tempest Rising” by Tracy Deebs is scheduled to be released on May 10th (today! Happy book birthday!). It is published by Walker Books for Children (Bloomsbury).

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

This book made me miss my mom. I know that seems a little strange, but my mother was a CASA worker and a long time foster mother (over 30 foster children, plus her own 4!). She would have enjoyed this interesting take on what happens to abused children.

Lost Voices is the first book in a series and to be honest, it sometimes feels like pieces are missing, making the plot a bit disjointed. The book follows the story of Luce (short for Lucette) who is a mild mannered, troubled young teen. Her father, who was a “diamond in the rough” type, has presumed dead after being lost at sea and now Luce lives with her alcoholic and bitter uncle. She is treated poorly by almost everyone in she encounters and has become a weak slip of a girl. After the abuse hits a breaking point, she transforms in this dark and mysterious way into a mermaid. In Ms. Porter's world, abused females turn into vengeful mermaids/sirens who take revenge on the human race for having wronged them in their past life.

Ms. Porter's mermaid lore is very interesting to read and I found it a nice twist from the romantic paranormal young adult books I've been reading as of late. While this book definitely falls into the paranormal category, it is a book that deals with real life issues including abuse (physical and sexual), revenge, the moral dilemma of right and wrong, etc. I really enjoyed seeing Luce's character develop from someone who has been beaten down for years to a strong young woman who follows her own moral code, which is different than the society she lives in. In addition to interesting character development, the writing style of Ms. Porter is incredibly exquisite. She definitely has a gift for using words as an artist as well as a storyteller. Lost Voices stimulates the imagination with absolutely gorgeous visual images. I do not think that I have ever saved so many passages from a fiction book to my clipboard on my Kindle. I just wanted to be able to re-read these visual passages again. They were like beautiful sweets to feed my imagination.

While I greatly enjoyed Ms. Porter's novel, it did have its downfalls. The plot seemed a bit disjointed at times and I wasn't sure where it was going. There was no real action. However, I'm eager to see how the second book develops. It might explain some of the questions I now have after completing Lost Voices.

Overall, it's a solid debut novel that takes an interesting real life topic and adds an unusual paranormal twist. Great job, Ms. Porter!

Lost Voices is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They provided me with an advanced reader's copy. It is scheduled to be released in July 2011.