Our Mermaid isn't called Ariel in this one, she's called Laire, and she is a sort of Mermaid who lives in a separate kingdom in which her father isn't King (except for his successful business called King Triton ;)) but he still is very respected in the small island she lives in. Some special traits have made Corey Island even more isolated than the other small islands around them which made their culture old fashioned with a special dialect from their original Scottish ancestry hundreds of years ago. Yet Laire has bigger dreams than the people around her, she wants to go to college and study fashion and design. She have been making clothes for the people of Corey Island for years now. But the old fashioned family who lovingly surrounds her can't understand her longing. Her father and sisters wants her to get married and start having kids, maybe open a small shop to sell the clothes she makes. College? no way.. even though her mother (who died when she was a little girl) DID go to college for two years, she did that while abiding most of the other Islander rules. For Laire it's even more than that, she doesn't want to stay at Corey, she wants to see the big world, see and go places, experience new things (are you singing "Part of your world" yet?).
Her path changes from fiction to reality when she delivers crabs to a small town beyond Corey Island. That's the first time she meets Erik, but it's also her chance for making more money (so she'll be able to leave for college sooner), it's where she is offered a job in a small restaurant by Ms Sebastian. I LOVED the fact that the Sebastian from the movie turned into a woman who treats her like the mother she lost (and still miss terribly). Judith Sebastian might have started as her boss, but she became much more than that in the years to follow.
She got her father's acceptance for working off island with a little bit of a twisted truth, enabling her to keep the job and also start meeting Erik after-hours where no one knows her and can report back her activities. They shared a magical summer together. But once the summer was over lies and deceptions tore them apart.
Erik is the governor's son, but truthfully, he would have loved being just a regular guy. Though he has his loving sister and two best friends Val and Pete, everything else in his life is pre-designed by his parents and not in a way that has ANYTHING to do with what HE wants. Even the day he and Laire meet for the first time, it's his 21st birthday party catering to public figures his parents wants to impress, and has actually nothing to do with HIM, maybe their aspirations for him to go to politics like his father, but still Erik felt sort of left out at the occasion (and not for the first time..). Laire is so different from anything he has ever known. She is genuine. Even though it's obvious they come from VERY different worlds they still connect. The both want to be something totally different than their family wants them to be, but they are still captured enough by them not to be able to break out of the chains. Their stolen moments this summer is a sort of promise for a better future neither of them can really act upon. They want eternity together, they want to make their own rules, but in the end, when the summer is over, they find themselves each heartbroken and alone.
This is where the first part ends and the second begins. I have to say something here.. the main reason for them breaking is a turf I TOTALLY dislike in books. It's the sort of thing that when happens I slap my brow with annoyance of NOT AGAIN.. and yet, when it happened I told myself - hold your horses! Give this book a real chance! and I did just that, which is why, very unexpectedly my general feel of the book and my review doesn't reflect my usual opinion. Between the first and second half, there's a short heart breaking interlude which somehow makes it all better. It worked for me that way and it moves the plot along and brought us and the MCs to a different place - physically and mentally.
The plot continues a few years later where even though Erik and Laire are apart, hurting for what they had to suffer, they still in their hearts long for what they lost, for WHO they lost. So when they re-meet but accident they need to have a long conversation about what happened back then. Actually it's more than one conversation because even though there's a spark between them, lighting up the love they shared, they both need time to digest the reality of what happened.
I loved the little nuances to The Little Mermaid movie (including the malicious Ursula), the way both Laire and Erik grew up and changed throughout the years, their path going so differently from what they expected and yet they both did what they needed to do to survive. When they find each other again, Laire isn't the little innocent girl Erik met years before, she is a successful woman who knows what she wants in life and has her priorities straight. He might still be the governor's son, but he hasn't really made his parents happy with his decisions. The way both Laire and Erik had to push their families was heartbreaking. Laire might have had more hope than Erik but she was also realistic. They both stepped out of their chains and there's a price to be paid for that.
I could go on for MUCH more, but I'll stop here. I don't want to spoiler anything and ruin the book for you. It was beautifully written in the best modern fairy tale way possible. If you are a fan of fairy-tales, of The Little Mermaid specifically you MUST read this book. It's has a more sugary feel than the "usual" romantic novel because of the fairy tale theme, but it's also what makes this book so perfect. LOVED IT! <3
Pre-Order this book through B&N | iBooks | Kobo up until 25th of February 2017.
From 27 February the book will be available exclusively on Amazon (including KU).
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Rating:
★★★★★ |
E-Book
Edition |
350
pages
|
Read on:
17-19 Feb-2017
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ABOUT THIS SERIES
A Modern Fairytale is a Contemporary Romance series by Katy Regnery.
Each novel is a stand alone one re-telling a Fairytale in our modern
times. The novels are sweet and yet heart breaking, as you remember your
childhood fairy-tales happy ending - yeah, but always a journey before
they can get there. I love Katy's writing, also love that though the
road is long, the final note is special and beautiful.
All of these are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. There is no connection between the books character / plot - wise, only connection being the idea behind them - a modern fairytale. My absolute favorite and one of THE BEST books I've ever read would be the third one - "Ginger's Heart" and yet "Don't Speak" puts up quite the fight against it.
All of these are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. There is no connection between the books character / plot - wise, only connection being the idea behind them - a modern fairytale. My absolute favorite and one of THE BEST books I've ever read would be the third one - "Ginger's Heart" and yet "Don't Speak" puts up quite the fight against it.
For
my own reasons I'm no sure I'm going to continue reading this series.
Currently there is just the Aladdin based novella ("At First Sight") and
as I understand there will be one last novel about The Ugly Duckling
called Swan Song - but it's been postponed for quite a while now.
Books:
1. The Vixen and the Vet [Beauty & the Beast] [Savannah Carmichael & Asher Lee] (Published 15 June 2014) ★★★★★
2. Never Let You Go [Hansel & Gretel] [Griselda Schroeder & Holden Croft] (Published 12 June 2015) ★★★★
3. Ginger's Heart [Little Red Riding Hood] [Ginger McHuid & Cain Wolfram / Josiah Woodman] (Published 22 March 2016) ★★★★★
4. Dark Sexy Knight [Camelot] [Colt Lane & Verity Gwynn] (Published 5 June 2016) ★★★★
5. Don't Speak [The Little Mermaid] [Laire & Erik] (Published 25 February 2017) ★★★★★
6. Shear Heaven [Rapunzel] [Bella Capelli & Prince Nico De'Medici] (Published 3 December 2017) ★★★★½
7. Fragments of Ash [Cinderella] [Ashley Ellis & Julian Ducharmes] (Published 1 October 2018) ★★★★★
Books:
1. The Vixen and the Vet [Beauty & the Beast] [Savannah Carmichael & Asher Lee] (Published 15 June 2014) ★★★★★
2. Never Let You Go [Hansel & Gretel] [Griselda Schroeder & Holden Croft] (Published 12 June 2015) ★★★★
3. Ginger's Heart [Little Red Riding Hood] [Ginger McHuid & Cain Wolfram / Josiah Woodman] (Published 22 March 2016) ★★★★★
4. Dark Sexy Knight [Camelot] [Colt Lane & Verity Gwynn] (Published 5 June 2016) ★★★★
5. Don't Speak [The Little Mermaid] [Laire & Erik] (Published 25 February 2017) ★★★★★
6. Shear Heaven [Rapunzel] [Bella Capelli & Prince Nico De'Medici] (Published 3 December 2017) ★★★★½
7. Fragments of Ash [Cinderella] [Ashley Ellis & Julian Ducharmes] (Published 1 October 2018) ★★★★★
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