Hook's Pan by Marie Hall

Title: Hook's Pan (Kingdom #5)
Editor: Marie Hall
Format: egalley edition
Pub. Date: April 25th 2013
Source: Netgalley & Marie Hall Publishing

★★★★★

Five sizzling, swashbuckling stars.

Captain James Hook has fueled legends here on earth. A scoundrel, a bastard who thrives on only one thing: capturing and ending the life of that perpetual child that we know so well- Peter Pan. But there's more to him than meets the eye, and fairy godmother Danika knows it. One of her "bad boys", she's vowed to help him find love again after he lost the love of his life, the beautiful mermaid Talia. Only, the woman she chooses, Trishelle, wants no part of this. Cold from her life experiences, she wants nothing to do with love, or Hook. Three days is all they get to fall in love, but with her old soul and Hook's misunderstood ways..... Will they find love together?

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I could honestly fangirl over the Kingdom series forever. I love these twists on the fairy tales we all love and adore. Marie Hall uses her own imagination to give depth to characters, make them more adult, and create new worlds to fall in love with. Hook's Pan is no exception.

+Captain Hook is completely swoon worthy. An attractive, smoldering man in this tale, he is brutish but also very smooth and charming. It is no question why women are drawn to his plundering ways. He is crass to the point of sexy, and has an amazing sex appeal. Not to mention the fact that he calls Trishelle "little bird", and I think that's just darling. It wasn't long before I, like Trish, was developing an attachment to this rebellious scalliwag.

+And then there's Trish. It's not very often that I enjoy females in adult/erotica themed books. But I adore Trish. She's very blunt and sassy, and isn't the type to just lay down and let things happen. She wants control of her own life, to hell with everyone else. Whereas I believe in love, I think these are semi-admirable traits, and are a nice change from the slew of damsels in distress that I've read about lately.

+The scenery of these fairy tale realms are simply beautiful. Marie Hall takes the reader to the bottom of the ocean to frolic with seahorses and dine with mermaids, and then lifts them up to sail the air currents to see a cave of glowfish. I am drawn to these fantastical places, and I wouldn't want to leave them, not one bit. I felt utterly lost in them- this book is a great escape.

+The sex scenes are passionate, detailed, and well paced without coming off as overly crude or redundant. The steam level is through the roof, and they definitely will satisfy a naughtier palate.

My issues with this book were few: occasional choppy, incomplete sentences and sparing instances were Trish sounded a bit porn star-esque during sex. Neither of these things were enough to hinder my reading to the point where it gets anything less than five stars.

If you are a fan of fairy tales and erotica, or even just pirates, then this short read is a must. Don't forget to check out the rest of the series! If sex isn't your thing- don't read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Marie Hall Publishing for my electronic copy.

Makai Queen by Tara Fairfield

Title: Makai Queen
Author: Tara Fairfield
Format: Paperback, 207 pages
Pub. Date: February 7th 2013
Source: Diane Estrella's blog

★★★

Three indifferent stars.

Tessa is a girl who doesn't really have a proper place on Earth anymore, in a life changed after her parents' death. Contemplating her life and what's happened in it while walking along the beaches of Lanai, she is kidnapped by a man she had intended to save from drowning. He drags her into a new world, Moku-ola, a place beneath the sea that serves to protect all of the ocean's creatures. But life under the sea is torn as brothers feud, and when Tessa is called upon to be the new queen, she must decide if she wants the life the Creator has chosen for her, and who she wants to be.

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First, and I cannot stress this enough: I am not the intended demographic for this book. I did not realize that this book was Christian fiction when I picked it up. That is my fault, and I'm not going to rip this book to pieces because I don't follow the same spiritual path. That being said, this review is going to be very short and to the point.

+The scenery/setting of this book is beautiful. I want to be on these beaches or under the waves, looking at all of the sea creatures and eating all of the ripe fruits that Hawaii has to offer. Tara Fairfield successfully created a world that I wouldn't mind seeing, and has made me decide that I definitely need to visit Hawaii before I die.

+The cover reflects this landscape. It's bright, aquatic, and the bright flower above the title is rather striking.

+I really like the idea of an oceanic shifter. The fact that Kupua can change forms into a seahorse, an octopus, or even a whale is a really refreshing change from bats, werewolves and cats that have been trending lately, especially in young adult literature.

+- I really liked the integration of Hawaiian language in this book. There's even a Pidgen glossary in the back. However, I would have liked a glossary for the italicized words too. If you're going to stress that they're non-English, than they should be elaborated by more than context clues.

-Instant connection/love. It doesn't matter what genre or age bracket, nine times out of ten it will make me have a disconnect from the story line. This novel is one of those nine.

-I found the sentences to be a bit short and choppy, making the narrative hard to get into. Similarly, I had issues with the pacing. I don't know if it's supposed to be the draw of the Creator/God figure that inspires this, but Tessa comes to terms with this new world awful quickly. She doesn't put up much of a fight, and she admits to being weak and unworthy. Now I know that this humility is good and such, but I just found her kind of whiny, and I didn't really care if she found her place.

At the end of the day, it's simple: Other people will enjoy this more than I did. This book is an adequately written piece of fantasy with strong Christian themes. It's clean with romance, adventure, and really cool "gifts" from the Creator like shifting or communicating with animals. It also includes a few discussion/book club questions at the end. I strongly recommend this to Christian young adults. If you, like me, roll your eyes at Christian fiction, pass it up.

Thank you to both Tara Fairfield and Diane Estrella for my autographed copy.

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

Title: Fathomless (Fairytale Retellings #3)
Author: Jackson Pearce
Format: ARC
Pub. Date: September 4th 2012
Source: Jen Ryland and YA Romantics

★★

Two stars.

Lo is no longer human. Her identity gone with the waves, she knows only what the angel and her sisters under the sea have told her. Her new life has started in the ocean, and will continue until the angel comes back to take her away. A mermaid, the ocean is now her home.

Celia is a human triplet, with a special gift. She can see into peoples' pasts, just by touching their skin. Her and her sisters, both gifted as well, keep this a secret between themselves. After all, who would believe them anyway?

Naida no longer exists, save for in the mind of Lo. Naida is what she was once called, before the ocean claimed her. She fights the mermaid Lo, forcing her to remember her human life, no matter the cost or the pain that it puts them through.

When a boy, Jude, falls off of the pier, Celia and Lo are there to save him. When Celia accidentally touches Lo, she sees into her past, learning her human name, Naida, and hears a blood curdling scream... And then everything is black. Lo wants to remember her humanity, wants to claim it back. But the only way to do this is to make a human boy love her- then steal his soul. Perhaps Jude is not as safe as he believes....

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I am full of so much disappointment after reading this. I had never read any of these retellings, and was super excited when I got the chance to read about mermaids. But overall, this book just fell flat for me.

+ The chapters alternate between Lo, her human personality Naida, and Celia. This makes for a well rounded story perspective.

+ It's an interesting twist to the mermaid lore, taking away their humanity completely.

- It was very odd reading about a mermaid who pretty much has multiple personality disorder. Lo is everything oceanic and mermaid. Naida is her human self. Both are in the same body, and one voice often interrupts the other. It was interesting, but didn't quite work for me.

- I was disappointed by the lack of... Well... Mermaidness. This is a darker version then, say, Disney's The Little Mermaid, and I'm fine with that. But, the only real difference (physically) between them and humans is their skin color.

- And on that note, when Lo walks on shore, blood oozes from her feet. I understand this is to show the pain she's willing to go through to learn about herself. But, I couldn't help but to want her dead. She's a mermaid. On shore..... No thanks.

- The triplets all have powers. While necessary for the plot, I couldn't help but to feel that it's a little much when combined with a story that already contains mermaids.

- I felt a disconnect and dislike for all of the female characters. Celia came across as antisocial and awkward, and Lo has that whole personality conflict that made it hard to follow at times, and it didn't really make me cheer for her to be human, the way I think the author intended.

Over all this book felt clumsy and anticlimactic. I didn't care what happened to either leading lady, and I feel that's just a bit important in a good book. If you're gung-ho into mermaids and fairy tales, maybe you'll enjoy this book. But for me, it's a pass.

Thank you to Jen Ryland and YA Romantics for my copy of this book.