Evergreen by Brenda Pandos

Synopsis:
Ash and Fin’s only desire is to be together and dive into their happily ever after, though their conflicting worlds work to pull them apart. Neither is ready to convert to the other’s life: become a human or a mer. Little do they know that somewhere in Natatoria a secret holds the fine fabric of everyone’s lives together. If the truth is discovered, Ash and Fin will no longer have the luxury of waiting. They’ll be forced to choose. But will it be for loyalty or love? Or will someone else make the choice for them if they can’t decide?
Review:
While I enjoyed this one, I think I liked the first book a little more. This book picks up where the last book ended. Fin and Ash are separated. Fin is on the run with his parents and Ash is attempting to live her normal high school life. They have to deal with their separation with minimal contact. I got a little frustrated with all the secrets. I mean, if you’re supposed to be so in love shouldn’t you trust your partner with anything? I guess it’s just to add some tension, but it did bother me.

I kind of thought the middle started to drag; with them being apart and having to deal with distractions. I thought it was well written and kept me interested, but the middle felt pretty uneventful. With about 80% left it started to get more exciting and there were some fun twists I didn’t see coming. I think it kind of suffered from Middle Book Syndrome, not a lot happening until the end when there is a bunch of stuff that leaves you wanting to read the next book. I still really like the characters and story and will read Everlost when it comes out next February.

Content: Clean, a bit of swearing and some violence.

Mer Tales Reading Order:
Book One: Everblue
Book Two: Evergreen
Book Three: Everlost

Everblue by Brenda Pandos

GoodReads Synopsis: 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 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.

Kathy’s Review: I really enjoyed this. It was a fun escape and a really fun mermaid story. I haven’t read too many mermaid books, but this one is probably my favorite. I really liked Fin, he was a fun character and the mer world he lives in was fun to read about. Ashlyn was also a good character. I also really liked the supporting characters, especially Fin’s sister Tatiana. I kind of hope the next book is from her perspective, she was feisty and with how this book ends it will be interesting to see what happens next. I thought this was a really fun read.

Bookworm Rating: 4

Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: July 2011
One Word Review: Fun
Author Website: www.brendapandos.blogspot.com

Reading Order:
Book One: Everblue
Book Two:
Book Three:

The Sapphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos

GoodReads Synopsis: With the local vampire coven decimated, Julia and Nicholas try to begin a somewhat normal life together. Bound by secrecy from a shape shifter determined to see Julia’s world-saving prediction come to fruition, Julia isn’t allowed to tell Nicholas the leader survived, ransacking her happiness with guilt. When Alora returns, bent on revenge, the reunion forces Nicholas and Julia to choose what they are willing to live and die for.

Kathy’s Review: I enjoyed this one much more than the first. The relationship between Julia and Nicholas is a lot more believable, maybe because going into it their already in an established relationship. A love triangle does develop during the story, which ended up making Julia seem kind of fickle. But there is a fun twist in their relationship that keeps them apart and makes you wonder what their future will hold. There is a lot more action and a few new characters as well as some old favorites. I’m glad I decided to keep with the series, it’s a fun break.

I also really like how clean these books are, and especially that Julia makes a point of “waiting for marriage”, it’s refreshing to see a YA character have morals. While there is vampire violence the books are pretty clean.

Bookworm Rating: 4

Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: December 2010
One Word Review: Good
Author Website: www.brendapandos.blogspot.com

Reading Order:
Book One: The Emerald Talisman
Book Two: The Sapphire Talisman
Book Three: The Onyx Talisman

The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos

GoodReads Synopsis: To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier - an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.

Kathy’s Review: I guess I enjoyed this one. I’m still wavering between my rating. I really wanted to like it, and for the most part I did. I guess the one thing that bothered me most was the relationship between Julia and Nicholas. It just wasn’t that believable for me. I just can’t believe Julie would be so into a guy that she only interacted with for about an hour. They kind of had a conversation and the rest of the book we hear about how much she wants to be with him and only him. Even with her special abilities it was hard to believe. But, if I overlook the “love-at-first-sight” angle, I did enjoy the story. I liked the different take on vampires and their origins. After reading reviews for the next two books I’m actually pretty curious to see what happens. I thought it was pretty well written, but felt the dialog at times was a little lacking. I guess any vampire book nowadays is really going to remind me of Twilight. If you like vampire stories then you will probably enjoy this one.

Bookworm Rating: 3.5

Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: March 2010
One Word Review: Good
Author Website: www.brendapandos.blogspot.com

Reading Order:
Book One: The Emerald Talisman
Book Two: The Sapphire Talisman
Book Three: The Onyx Talisman