Sandy M’s review of Wild Blue Under (Mer Series, Book 2) by Judi Fennell
Contemporary Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 3 Nov 09

The fun and the intrigue continue in this second book in the Mer series by Ms. Fennell. This time, however, most of the action is inland instead of under the sea. I actually like this book a tad better than In Over Her Head. There’s still a slight lack of the family connection/emotion that I also wanted in the first book, but overall I was highly entertained throughout the story.

Instead of fish as secondary characters, this time around we get birds. From seagulls to sparrows, there’s a variety of avian represented by either helping Rod and Valerie or working against them as they race toward the ocean to save the earth, or so Rod has been told by the Atlantis Council. It’s Livingston the Seagull who steals the show most of the time. He’s the head of security for sea creatures and he loves food, especially human food, salty French fries being a favorite.

Rod has been sent to find Valerie, the half-human/half-Mer woman who is pivotal in The Prophecy and has no idea she’s not all human. He has to figure out a way to get her to the ocean, where the Council and the Gods will take over, but in the middle of his attempts to get Val to their destination, the coup to bring down the current royal family hits hard, leaving Rod, Valerie, and Livingston on their own, fighting off a contingent of fish-bomb carrying birds, among others, lead by a revenge-seeking JR, a seagull intent on teaching Rod’s father a thing or two.

Valerie is only along for the ride to take possession of the inheritance her no-good father left her, thereby saving the ocean-themed souvenir shop her mother started on the open plains of Kansas. She’s always been restless, moving around looking for something she can’t name, but when Valerie’s mother passes away, she realizes that little shop is home and where she needs to be. Saving it from the tax man suddenly seems easy when Rod shows up spouting news about her father, a man she’s glad she never knew.

Through the many dangers that blocks their way, the antics of a talking seagull, and the intrigue of what they’ll find at the end of their journey, Rod and Valerie try to fight their growing attraction. But when Rod is denied his tail when finally back home in the water, when it becomes clear who wants him dead, he realizes for the first time he hasn’t really been living his life in preparing to become High Councilman. His life is the woman who stuck by him through thick and thin, to hell with everything else. But will the gods agree and let him walk away to spend a normal life with Valerie?

I really liked how Valerie adapted to every situation that came at them on the road, choosing to stay instead of run like she’s done all of her life. There’s a couple of female sparrows, Maybelle and Adele, who are so cute, and they do their part in helping keep Rod and Valerie safe.

Similar to what happened in the first book, what I didn’t get was a meeting between the brothers, Rod and Reel, when it’s Rod’s guilt over a situation with Reel that has guided him through his life so far. I realize it’s Valerie’s love and his own realizations that help him on that score, but the added emotion that could have come from such scenes with the brothers would have been very welcome.

But this is still a light-hearted book that keeps the fun and smiles coming just as its predecessor did. It’s different and it’s entertaining. I mean, who wouldn’t want a Mer man if he showed up at their door out of the blue? Fanciful fantasy to the very end.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Rod Tritone, heir to the throne of the undersea world, needs a queen capable of ruling the oldest kingdom on earth. Someone regal, learned and of noble birth. Problem is, the only eligible noble-born Mer princess is half-Human – and she doesn’t have a clue about the non-Human part.

Valerie Dumere has screwed up her life at every turn, so when her mother dies and leaves her the family business, Val realizes it’s up to her to buckle down and get her life on track. No more excuses.

So when a guy shows up claiming to be her destiny, she scoffs. No way. She isn’t running away from her responsibilities ever again – no matter how good the guy looks without a shirt.

But Rod isn’t going away. He can’t claim his inheritance without her – and Val will lose hers if she goes with him.

It’s going to take one whale of a tale to get her to chuck it all and follow him off into the wild blue under…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: