Synopsis
from back of book: Fred
the mermaid has taken the bait and chosen Artur, High 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 the job, but not for when her real father
surfaces and his presence complicates matters even more.
As
civil war threatens to sink the merfolk, Fred can't stop thinking
about the landlubber she left behind...
Stats
for my copy:
Mass market paperback, a Jove Book published by The Berkley
Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2008;
received through Paperback Swap
in 2011.
My
thoughts: It's
been awhile since I read the first two books in this series, and at
first I was thinking I might need to reread them in order to follow
along. But it didn't take long to get my bearings and get engrossed
(plus the author included a one and a half page “The Story So Far”
which helped).
Not
a whole lot actually happens in this book. Fred is reluctantly
renting a four bedroom house on the beach in Florida (“And what do
I need four bedrooms for? You know what that'll mean for me? Drop-in
guests.” pg. 3), and acting as an ambassador for the Undersea Folk,
who came out to the world in the previous book. Sure enough, one by
one those extra three bedrooms start to fill up as Jonas, Thomas, Dr.
Barb, and – surprise, surprise! - Fred's biological father show up
on her doorstep.
In
between Jonas dragging her around town to cake tastings and fittings
for his wedding to Dr. Barb, Fred becomes engaged to Prince Artur,
gets to know her dad a little, moons over Thomas (who I much
preferred to Artur), finds herself liking Tennian the mermaid even
while resenting her for stealing away Thomas, and meets Tennian's
friend Wend who she can't quite figure out.
Then
the king comes to her home to ask Thomas to ask his retired Naval
captain father for help – many merfolk have disappeared over the
past year, and he (diplomatically) suspects the government might be
involved somehow. And
when we found out who was behind the disappearance of the merfolk –
well I'll just say I did not see it coming and was just as shocked as
Fred and her friends.
I
love Fred. She's sarcastic and argumentative and funny. Jonas is also
very funny. Really, I love just about everybody in these books. I
especially liked the chapter with Thomas' father, who I was prepared
to dislike due to their almost non-existent father/son relationship.
And I love the gorgeous covers on all three books.
 |
| Sleeping With the Fishes |
 |
| Swimming Without a Net |
FISH
OUT OF WATER was a fun, quick read, and I really wish there was a
fourth book. Queen Betsy of the Undead and... books has gotten
somewhere like 15 books (I've only read up to around book 9 or so),
but Fred has so much more substance to her than Betsy, I'd much
rather have more Fred.
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