Review: Swimming Without A Net (Fred the Mermaid, #2) by MaryJanice Davidson

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5 (Maybe 4)

Publisher: Penguin (Jove Books)

Spoilers?: Some; for first book.

Goodreads Synopsis:

As Fred the Mermaid tries to fit in with her own kind, she finds herself hooked on both Artur, the High Prince of the undersea realm, and Thomas, a hunky marine biologist. She's also caught between two factions of merfolk: those happy with swimming under the radar-and those who want to bring their existence to the surface.

Review:

I am really enjoying this series. I like Davidson's writing, which makes it really easy to get through each book. And I like the characters, which also helps. And now I really want the next one, since it's the last and I want to know how it ends.

In this one, Fred goes to the Cayman Islands for a mermaid meet up thing because some mermaid want the world to know about them while others do not, bringing Jonas with her. She doesn't want to, but is kind of forced into it. While there, she gets closer to Artur, but Thomas is also there, since Artur didn't want it to be unfair for only him to be with her as Thomas is also working to get in her favors (which is awesome of him). She also finds out that her father tried to take the thrown from Artur's father, and has thus been banished and made a traitor, and everyone is avoiding Fred because of it.
I still like Jonas, but am not feeling as good about his relationship with Dr. Barb. I feel that they're moving a bit too fast. There's mention of Fred doing something about the girl that her parents are taking care of, maybe adopting,'s father, which I am especially hoping to see in the next book. I also liked the mermaids that we met. Artur's father was cool, and especially entertaining because of how he thinks surface dwellers talk. Tennian was very interesting, and I liked her.

I like the conclusion that the mermaids come to about coming out of the closet (even if it was done maybe not as well as it could have been, with how sudden Fred came to the idea and the King deciding to go with it), and I liked Fred's feelings on the matter, and totally agreed with her. I am excited to see what happens with it in the next book. Also, with her father. Since they're not really sure that he's dead, and I believe that he's going to show up in the next one. That is sure to be interesting.

The big thing that happened, though, was with Fred's love life. Thomas made kind of a dick move, what with getting feelings for someone else, which proved that he was more fascinated with Fred's being a mermaid than Fred herself. But I do like Artur, and am excited to see what happens with them next, since she decided to go back with him to his home. I was a little unsure of my feelings for him at first, but warmed up to it rather quickly, surprisingly so, and am now just looking forward to it.

I just want to read the next one now, and am hoping my local bookstore gets it in soon so that I can. I hope it's good.