(Blog Tour) Everblue (Mer Tales #1) by Brenda Pandos (Review+Giveaway)

Genre:	Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Romance
Publication.Date	July 30th 2011
Pages:	305
Published By:	Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Website	Brenda Pandos |
	Everblue - Goodreads
My review copy:	Provided by the author (thank you!)
Where to get:	Barnes and Noble | Amazon      | Book Depository

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.

(goodreads.com)

Please note:  Quotes are from an ARC and will be verified against a published copy.

Her whole life flashed before me. The kiss I desired to give her would change everything - her dreams, her life with her family, her future.. Innocent and trusting, she closed her eyes and tilted her head upward in anticipation anyway.

The world slowed down as his words fluttered into my ears and the door flew open at the same time. Lucy huffed and perched her hands dramatically on her hips.

“She’s on the phone!” she barked down the hall

I blinked at my sister and clenched the phone, my hand shaking. The little brat. I made a “knock-it-off” motion by slicing my finger across my throat and fervently pointed for her to leave.

His eyes, deep and coo, sucked me into a watery vortex I wanted to sick into and look at forever. My mind and muscles went numb, like the time I secretly drank Uncle Roger’s beer in the cellar on a bet at the annual family reunion six years ago.

Like an oversized seal, he came out of the water and dragged a giant fin where his legs should have been.

  

     Deliciously sweet and dangerously seductive, Everblue by Brenda Pandos is an absolutely and indisputably fantabulous beginning to a new awesome Young Adult series that will win you over in a blink of an eye! This book is the definition of AWESOME. It’s lively, intriguing, beautiful, and it has everything a good YA book should have. Brenda Pandos did it! With her exquisite storytelling she crafted an outstanding fairy tale that will enchant you. There is no escaping it, prepare to fall in love! 

     Aaaah, mermaids! Stunningly beautiful creatures capable of stealing your heart and enchanting your soul with a single kiss. Alluring, charming, innocent and pure-hearted, mermaids can also be quite unpredictable and dangerous. Ashlyn Lanski, our lovely red-head protagonist, is about to get sucked into a story straight from a fairy-tale book. There’s a whole fantastic world hidden underneath the Tahoe Lake area where Ashlyn lives. A magical, mesmerizing world, filled with gorgeous mystical creatures she never thought existed. The merfolk are leading a peaceful and undisturbed existence in the underground waters all around the world. They’re forbidden to mingle with humans, as it’s considered to be dangerous. They rarely visit the surface and when they do, it’s mostly to acquire a special item requested by one of the elders. Other than that, merwomen and mermen are not allowed to leave their wonderful underground kingdom of Natatoria. To ensure that no one breaks the rule, the gates to their world are guarded and monitored at all times. The Lake Tahoe’s gate to Natatoria is protected by Tatiana’s and Finley’s father, an important member of the mer council. Thanks to that they’re one of the very few mer people who get to live on the land. 

     Although being fiends with humans is strictly forbidden, Tatiana’s best friend is no one else but Ash. These two are very tight and they even made plans to go to a college together. For Tatchi this would mean willingly giving up her fin and becoming a human. She made up her mind, she doesn’t want to be “owned” by the mer king, she craves freedom and control over her own life.  Most of all, she doesn’t want to get anywhere near Natatoria, because of the king’s son, Azor, who recently has become a little bit too “friendly”.  Her plans all come tumbling down when, together with her bother and parents, she is summoned by the king to a meeting in Natatoria. With their father sent away on a dangerous assignment, the siblings are forced to stay in the mer kingdom and follow the king’s orders. Everything gets even more complicated when Fin saves Ashlyn’s life by performing mouth-to-mouth. This seemingly innocent and good-wiled action will change their lives forever. 

     Sweetly addictive and beautifully written, Everblue stole my heart! I have no idea how in the world am I going to endure the long wait for the sequel. This is one of the most brilliant gems in the YA treasure box, easily the best mermaid book I have ever read. Brenda is a phenomenal storyteller. It was actually the first of Brenda’s many books that I had the pleasure of reading, but will surely not be the last. I am totally in love with Brenda’s writing style. 

     She did a fantastic thing in Everblue – she told the story from two different POVs –both being first-person’s narratives. What an ingenious move that was! I so enjoyed seeing the world through Ashlyn’s and Finley’s eyes, it made it much easier to follow the plot and connect with them. Everblue has so much depth! The story is action packed and wonderfully detailed, every word of it is full of flavor. Brenda describes  people and places in a way that feels almost as if you’re looking at a picture – she paints with words! Her characters are just fabulous – so lively, loveable and three-dimensional.  

     The world building is simply amazing. I really liked how well thought-out it was. I love the idea of mermaids being promised to mermen with a single kiss – it’s fascinating and extremely sexy! The bond between the promised mer people is strong, unbreakable and magical. I found it very mesmerizing to read about it! 

     Brenda Pandos wrote a charming, extremely enjoyable romantic story filled with magic and beauty. Full of mystery, delightful settings and sparkling dialogue, it’s a must read for every mermaid fan out there!

This review is posted as a part of Everblue Book Blog Tour: 

Make sure to check out all the other tour stops!

August 15 - Heather - Proud Book Nerd = Review

August 16 - Kristie Cook - Author = Review

August 17 - Emily D - Red House Books = Review

August 18 - Steph - Fangs, Wands and Fairydust = Review

August 19 - Jessica Estep - Confessions of a Bookaholic = Review + Giveaway

August 22 - Jaime Arnold - Two Chicks On Books = Review

August 23 - Kate Leger - Yzhabella's Bookshelf = Review

August 24 - Jennifer Clodfelter - Extreme Reader = Review

August 25 - Katie - Katie's Book Blog = Review

August 26 - Yara - Once Upon a Twilight = Review + Giveaway

August 29 - Inga - Me and Reading = Review

August 30 - Cynthia - Book Reader Addicts = Review

August 31 - Melissa - Were Vamps Romance = Review

AND on August 31st as well - Meghann - Absconditas = Review

September 1 - Heather - Nightly Reading = Review

September 2 - Lauren - Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf = Review + Giveaway

September 5 - Kelsey - The Book Scout = Review

September 6 - Jessica - Hopeless Bibliophile = Review

September 7 - Nicole - Books Complete Me = Review

September 8 - Anna Tee - The Bursting Bookshelf = Review

September 9 - Evie - Bookish = Review + Giveaway

AND on the 9th as well - Alyssa - The Book Blog Experience = Review

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Thanks to the wonderful Brenda Pandos I have a copy of Everblue to give away!

Rules:

Open to US/Canada

Ends: Friday, September 23rd

*Mandatory entry: be a GFC follower of my blog and leave a comment with your email address.

*Extra entries: 

+1 Follow me on Twitter @SeoEvie

+5 Follow Brenda Pandos on Twitter @BrendaPandos

+5 Follow Brenda's blog @HERE

+5 Like my Facebook Blog account (the LIKE box is in the right sidebar)

+10 Tweet about this giveaway using @SeoEvie and @BrendaPandos