Title:  Everblue (Mer Tales #1)
Author:  Brenda Pandos
Release date:  July 30, 2011
Publisher:  Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Pages:  305 (in the ARC)
Source:  Author

Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana’s twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn’s life forever.

Brenda Pandos is now, officially, one of my favorite authors.  I loved the first two books in her Talisman series so I was excited to check this one out but I did not think that I would like this one as much as her others.  I am not a big fan of mermaid tales (pun totally intended) but this one was unique enough that I fell in love with it.  The ending totally threw me and I am now eagerly waiting for the sequel to come out.

First off, this is not your typical mermaid story, especially seeing as the mermaid it is about isn’t a mermaid at all.  He is a merman.  I have never read a book written from the point-of-view of a merman and it was very refreshing.  Seeing the underwater life through the eyes of a guy is not something I thought I would enjoy but it was really interesting.  I liked seeing what life was like not only for mermaids but also the mermen.  And things were not at all what expected, for either gender.  The mermaid land, Natatoria, was beautiful but the people who lived there were definitely not.  There was something strange going on and I could not figure out what.  I really liked the mystery of not knowing what was going to happen next and who to trust.

Also, the story is told in alternating points-of-view so you don’t just get Fin’s POV but also Ashlyn, his sister’s best friend and the girl he is secretly in love with.  At first I wasn’t sure how things were going to tie together with Fin being under the sea and Ashlyn being on land but eventually things did tie together and the story was even more gripping after that.

The plot was very suspenseful, like Brenda Pandos’ other books.  From the very beginning you know something is going on in Natatoria but you don’t know what or why.  There isn’t a lot of action at the beginning but just trying to figure everything out kept me intrigued enough to continue reading and get to the really good part.  And by really good part I mean action not just in the terms of fighting but also in some very steamy scenes between Fin and Ash.  =)

Overall, Everblue is a fantastic start to the Mer Tales series and I can’t recommend it enough.  I was hooked with the story but add in the fabulous characters, wonderful writing, and that ending, and I loved it!  Brenda Pandos definitely has another winner with this one!

First line:  “So, tell me everything, Ash.”

Rating:  A

Cover:  A