Blog Tour Stop: Everblue by Brenda Pandos

Everblue

(Mer Tales, #1)

Written by Brenda Pandos
Published by Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Released July 30, 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

"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."

My Thoughts:

I will say up front that I am a HUGE fan of all of Brenda's work and my expectations were high going into this book.  Needless to say, I was not disappointed!  Recently there have been quite a few mermaid themed YA books released, but Everblue tops the charts! The story was absolutely captivating!  The characters were so engaging and well developed.  Brenda consistently does a great job creating characters that you can connect with and love (especially the guys!- Go Brenda!)  Speaking of that.... my favorite character by far was Fin.  He was absolutely adorable!    He is the twin brother of Ash's best friend Tatchi and also her secret crush.  Unfortunately, she doesn't know he harbors those same feelings for her.  Under normal circumstances acting upon their feelings wouldn't be a big deal, but Fin and Tatchi's family is far from normal and they are hiding a secret that Ash would never imagine!  They are from different worlds but the pull they feel for each other will force Fin to make difficult choices where Ash is concerned.  Choices that could have far reaching consequences.  I also liked Ash's character.  She was the 'all american' high school student- smart, nice, and captain of the swim team (hello... perfect match for Fin!).  She also shows tremendous loyalty to her friends.  Once she realizes that Tatchi and Fin have disappeared, she stops at nothing to find them.  The story also introduced us to other characters that I enjoyed.  Tatchi was awesome!  I loved her strong will and readiness to go against the grain to choose her own path in place of one being chosen for her by the Mer and their politics.


Brenda also did an incredible job creating the worlds both above and below the ground.  Her attention to detail enables the reader to form vivid images of the settings as they read and that really helps draw you into the story.  The Mer's world (Natatoria) was so mystical and majestic.  It's beauty radiated off the pages.  I feel that the story perfectly combines typical teen angst with the fantasy mermaid/merman portion.  The ending was also good and it left me very eager to get my hands on the next installment in the Mer Tales series!  I throughly enjoyed reading this and I am so proud to be able to call Brenda Pandos a friend!  Make sure to check out the rest of the tour stops and go out and get this book.  You won't be disappointed!

OK.... So My Comeback Was Delayed!!

Well I had all intentions of getting my blog back on track a few weeks back but unfortunately that didn't happen!  I promise I am coming back- I actually have a review of an amazing book posting tomorrow!!!  I have, however, hit another snag.  Man, I can't catch a break!  My MacBook (which I work on my blog with) was given to me by the school that I have been teaching at and I had to move to another school this school year and they don't provide teachers with laptops there :(  I was hoping to hold on to it for awhile since the start of the school year is always hectic- especially this one- but I got the call today that I have to return it on Monday.  I am totally bummed!  My husband has a desktop PC but I am a Mac girl 100% and I have a very hard time navigating and creating blog posts like I am used to on the PC.  I also have to fight my hubby for a spot in front of the computer!  I am still going to get the blog going again- but I can't promise the posts will look perfect!!  Anyway... thanks for your patience and for sticking with me!  Please stop by tomorrow and check out my stop on the Blog Tour for Brenda Pandos' new book (and new series!) Everblue!

I'm Back!!! I Hope You Are Still There!!!

Hi guys!
I know I have been seriously MIA for quite awhile, but I decided to take a much needed break from all things blog/book/review and recharge my batteries!  I have really enjoyed my summer but now it is time to get the blog back on track!  I also want to apologize to anyone that may have tried to contact me via email at my yahoo address.  My account got hacked and I have been locked out of it until this week.  I am changing my contact email to extremereaderbookreviews@gmail.com and plan on closing my yahoo account at some point.  I have so much to catch up on and I hope that my wonderful followers are still hanging around!  I plan on making up my absence with an EPIC contest!  You seriously do not want to miss this one!  I plan on having it up by the end of the week.  I also have some reviews to post and a really cool video from a cast member from The Nine Lives of Chloe King answering a question I posed.  So stay tuned!  I am sooo glad to be back and I really missed all of my bloggie buddies!!