Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

Title: Tempest Rising

Author: Tracy Deebs

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary:

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her-and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

My Thoughts:

Tempest Rising is a fantastic and original addition to the paranormal market. Deebs created a world and story that is believable and magical at the same time.

I was expecting a semi-cliche mermaid romance but Tempest Rising is far from that. It was nice to read about a character that KNOWS about mermaids, rather than spending half of a novel waiting for her to figure it out. Because of that, more of the novel was spent on developing the world and I loved that. The setting was easily my favorite thing about the novel. Deebs did so well at describing everything clearly without overdescribing and I really felt transported into the world.

I also loved that there was a love triangle where both of the guys were decent. There was no tall, dark, and broody boy in this story, which was a nice change. The romance doesn't overtake the story but it adds nicely to it.

Deebs took this story to places that I did not expect it to go. There were a few moments where I went "No, that won't actually be real" but then it WAS. I love when novels surprise me like that!

Overall, I really enjoyed Tempest Rising and I highly recommend it. I am hoping for a sequel sometime soon!