Sandy M’s review of Catch of a Lifetime (Mer Series, Book 3) by Judi Fennell
Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 5 Jan 10

Judi Fennell’s fun, lighthearted series comes to an end with this book, and there’s a little more seriousness in this one than the previous two. I think that’s probably why it’s my favorite of the three. There’s still the whimsical aspect of life under the ocean, sea monsters and all, but when it comes to life and death in this book, it has a little more impact than its predecessors.

I think that has to do with the fact that a child is involved in this story. Children always seem to pull at the heart strings with their vulnerabilities but stiff upper lip facade, all the while their chin quivers as they hold back emotion. You can’t help but love them and hope all turns for the best. Michael is no different in this case.

But let’s start at the beginning. Angel is the sister of Rod and Reel (I still can’t help but chuckle a little when referring to those twin brothers), who are the heroes of the first two books. She’s always been fascinated with humans. But Rod, now High Councilman of Atlantis, won’t even give her an interview for the coalition he’s proposing to finally let humans know all about their existence, in hopes of cleaning up the planet of its pollutants. So she’s going to prove to him and the rest of the council she’s the woman for the job. What she doesn’t count on is Harry the Hammerhead.

Finding a beautiful, sleeping woman on his boat is the last thing Logan expects, his reaction to her the next least expected thing. As much as he’d like to explore that reaction, his six-year-old son is now living with him after being dumped by his mother, so he puts a damper on the libido and tries to get rid of the woman fast. That doesn’t quite work when Michael gets a look at her and she ends up being the boy’s babysitter. And working her way into Logan’s heart.

Having taken refuge on Logan’s boat when Harry spies her as a late-night snack, she immediately becomes quite smitten with Logan, the best specimen of a human she’s ever seen. And Michael works his magic on her too. But when Logan finds out Angel is Mer, his logic flies out the window and he demands she get out his life for good. With nowhere else to turn, Angel goes home to face the Council, knowing her fate is dim due to all of the laws she’s broken in associating with Logan and Michael.

But it’s Michael who can’t bear the loss of Angel and goes in search of her under the ocean with the help of a shark looking for dinner. Logan quickly follows to rescue his son, Angel intercepts him, taking the blame for the current circumstances, and they find themselves trapped by the ugliest monster from the sea’s depths. So they must work together to save the child, even though Angel knows their survival is slim to none.

I’m a sucker for father and son stories and Ms. Fennell does a good job of getting the roiling emotions running through both Logan and Michael as they learn about each other. Angel is the princess who’s gotten everything any girl could want, except what she wants most, or at least she thought so. Things change quickly for both Logan and Angel, ups and downs along the way, heading for their happily-ever-after.

This was an enjoyable series and Catch of a Lifetime tops it off quite well. The series doesn’t take itself too seriously, though. It’s to be read to take away the doldrums, not as a heavy, full-of-platitudes book you have to concentrate on. Take it for what it is and you’ll have fun with it.

Grade: B+

Read more about this series by following its tag here.

Summary:

She’s on a mission to save the planet…

Mermaid Angel Tritone has been researching humans from afar, hoping to find a way to convince them to stop polluting.

When she jumps into a boat to escape a shark attack, it’s her chance to pursue her mission, but she has to keep her identity a total secret…

When he finds out what she really is, they’re both in mortal danger…

For Logan Hardington, finding a beautiful woman on his boat is surely not a problem—until he discovers she’s a mermaid, and suddenly his life is on the line…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

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:

Sandy M’s review of In Over Her Head (Mer Series, Book 1) by Judi Fennell
Paranormal Romance released by Sourcebooks Casablanca 1 Jun 09

I have to say after our Duck Chat with Judi Fennell where we learned she’s afraid of the ocean and, therefore, went with that idea and gave her heroine the same fear, I wanted to read this book to see what she did with it all. What I got was a light, fun, and quirky read that put a smile on my face.

I have a feeling this book might not be for everyone, however. Ms. Fennell takes our colloquialisms and gives them a new look and sound that fits perfectly in Erica and Reel’s under-the-sea world. “Hello? Sea to Reel” and son-of-a-Mer as a couple of quick examples. And there’s other little cutesie things, like Reel’s brother’s name is Rod. Come on, you have to laugh at that. It’s fun and it’s light-hearted. Don’t go looking for anything dark with morals or anything like that.

Though the Mers do have a time with sea monsters and the usual predators swimming around at such deep depths. After Reel turns Erica into a water-breathing half-breed of sorts, they’re sent by the Atlantis council to retrieve stolen diamonds from Ceto, the ostracized mother of Medusa, who sends out scavengers when a ship goes down. Thinking they’ll be able to waltz in and out, diamonds in hand, because he’s dealt with her once before, Reel is in for a huge surprise when Ceto reveals her demand for their release.

Able to escape with their lives and little else, Ceto’s son, a true sea monster, chases them across the ocean floor, cornering them on a deserted island where their attraction for one another finally hits its pinnacle. Reel is delighted to be with Erica and has thought of her daily since he saw years ago as a child, a time that scarred her both inside and out. Erica now has to come to grips with the fact she may never live on land again and will have to call the one place she fears home.

I enjoyed Reel’s character quite a bit. He’s the spare, as in heir and a spare. He’s never gotten along with his father due to his father’s disappointment in him. So over the years he’s given his father and the council a lot of grief. We learn near the end of the book that not all is as it seems regarding father and son, and that was really my only disappointment of the book. I wanted to see these two together, feel their emotion when they finally face each other concerning their history.

Erica’s character was just okay for me. She does come up to snuff when the chips are down, saving Reel a time or two when he needs it. But I didn’t like her attitude of not accepting Reel for who and what he is. She tries, but she always falls back on his with/without a tail business and that just didn’t seem true to her character. She knows what it’s like to have everyone talk about her or believe certain things about her because of her fears, so I thought she could have been much more accepting. She does eventually take him like he is, but it’s almost too late.

There are a number of fun sea characters roaming about who give a lot of comic relief. I also enjoyed Reel’s relationship with his mother and sisters. Erica has a good relationship with her family, but we see that only in her remembrances of them. All in all, if you’re looking for a fun time after reading a lot of suspense or thrillers, this is the book to pick up. Take it for what it is and just enjoy yourself!

Grade: B

Summary:

When Erica Peck, one terrified-of-the-ocean marina owner, finds herself at the bottom of the sea conversing with a Mer man named Reel, she thinks she’s died and gone to her own version of Hell. When the Oceanic Council demands she and Reel retrieve a lost cache of diamonds from the resident sea monster in return for their lives, she knows she’s died and gone to Hell.

When they escape the monster and end up on a deserted island, she amends her opinion – she’s died and gone to Heaven.

But when Reel sacrifices himself to allow her to return to her world, she realizes that, Heaven or Hell, with Reel, she’s In Over Her Head.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: