Novel Review: Fish Out of Water (Fred the Mermaid, #3) by MaryJanice Davidson

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Penguin (Berkley/Jove)

Spoilers?: Yes.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Fred the Mermaid has taken the bait and chosen to date Artur, Prince of the Black Sea, over human marine biologist Thomas. And just in time. The existence of the Undersea Folk is no longer a secret, and someone needs to keep them from floundering in the media spotlight. Fred has all the right skills for that job, but has a hard time when her real father surfaces and tries to overthrow Artur's regime.

Available on Amazon.

Review:

This is my favorite series by Davidson that I’ve read so far. I am sad that it’s over, but I do have a lot of other books by her that I haven’t gotten to yet.

Now that the big secret is out and everyone knows about the existence of mermaids, Fred is getting all kinds of attention that she doesn’t want. Also, she quit her job and is moving into a huge house, even though her boss won’t let her go and she doesn’t want the extra rooms for guests. She also gets engaged to Artur.

Now, I thought that she’d chosen Artur and it was a done deal, so I could move on with accepting him. That she was going to work out her problems with him, they were going to grow as a couple. But a little into the book, I had high suspicions that that was not the case, and maybe, probably less than, half-way through, I realized I was wrong. She was still in love with Thomas, and so of course they end up together.

I’m not upset about that, though. I rather like Thomas, and Fred does fit with him better.

We also get to meet Fred’s father in this book (well, and Thomas’ military dad). Like everyone else in this book, I totally believed him, but still wasn’t too surprised when he turned on them. I did quite like how everyone handled it, as well. And how everyone handled Fred and Thomas.

This was a really good ending to this series. I enjoyed it all the way through, it’s a quick read, and now I just want more of Davidson’s books. It’s been a while since I last read one, and I hope to get another soon.

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.

Review: Sleeping with the Fishes (Fred the Mermaid, #1), by MaryJanice Davidson

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Penguin (Jove Books)

Spoilers?: Only for the basic plot.

Amazon Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I've been on a kick lately with these types of book (you know, the adult romances, that take very little time to read because they don't have too much substance?) and I'm not sure why (also, I'm not sure if I'm going to review very many, if any more at all. I'm kind of surprised I'm reviewing this one in the first place). They're really easy to read, and I just like reading something easy, romantic, and happy a lot of the time, and so these are what I go to. (Plus, there's a used book store in the town that I live, where they are really easy to find, for not much money.)

I was kind of surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, though. I read one of her short story collection a while ago, and so I had a got a few others of hers and had them on my shelf but hadn't gotten around to actually reading it until a couple of weekends ago, when I read one of her stories in an anthology, that I really liked (the anthology was Valentine's Day Is Killing Me). From there I decided to read the two books of hers that I had (that other one was Derik's Bane), and now have more waiting to be read.

The book is about Fredrika, a mermaid who works at an aquarium (where the fish are on a strike because of the music), doesn't enjoy swimming in the ocean, and has never met another like her. She's got a hard edge, focuses a bit more on herself than other people, and has a witty tongue. Things get complicated when a mer-prince, Artur, shows up, as well as a marine biologist named Thomas, both trying to find out what is messing up the water in her area, and falling for Fred in the process.

I liked all of the characters. Fred is fun, and I genuinely like both Artur and Thomas, to the point that I'm unsure which one I want her to choose (I think I'm leaning a bit more toward Thomas, but that could change). There was chemistry between her and both of them, even if I think their falling in love came a little too fast. And I especially like how the boys got along with each other. They weren't mean, even helped each other out when it was needed, while keeping it obvious that they want her, and don't want to share, at the same time. (Honestly, they could pull an Anita Blake, become a three-some, and I wouldn't mind. Although that would be a bit of a cop-out.)

I also liked Fred's girly best friend who's not gay, Jonas, and his relationship with... someone, who I won't name.

The story-line for the book moved along fine, and I found it interesting, while mostly enjoying the characters and their relationships. I actually wasn't expecting the love part of it not to come to a conclusion by the end of the book (since I've read a couple others of hers, and they usually do, but I guess this is a series with the same character all the way through...) and so I was eager to get the next one. (And now that I have it, a bit eager to read it.)

This is an adult book, but there wasn't too many sexual parts of it. Only kissing. Which I didn't mind, and works just fine because of the way the triangle is. I'm hoping for a bit more in the following books, and expecting more to come because what her other books entail, but just kissing is good for now.

I'm not sure if I'll be reviewing the next one when I finish it, but I just might. Not sure when that will be, either. Davidson's books are fairly easy to get through, though. They're light, with fast-moving dialogue, and a little, um, random or something? I'm not sure how to describe what I mean, but it's a good thing.