Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Mermaid's Ransom-Joey W. Hill

A Mermaid's Ransom
Joey W. Hill
Berkley, Dec 2009, $15.00
ISBN: 9780425230688

Alexis has grown up in clam serene waters. The daughter of Jonah the angel and Anna the mermaid (see A Mermaid’s Kiss) decides to go to college. However, she begins having dark dreams that frighten the innocent mer-angel.

Dante the Dark One vampire rules the Underground although he prefers to escape his destiny. His scheme is to kidnap the beautiful mer-angel daughter of the enemy’s military leader. However, when he snatches the Prime Legion Commander’s daughter he is stunned by the purity of her soul reaching out to his tortured mind. She makes him believe even he has goodness. Before he turns, Dante realizes he must rid himself of Alexis, but cannot as she not just brought back his soul, she also owns it.

The latest Daughters of Arianne oceanic-urban romantic fantasy (see A Witches Beauty) is much darker than the previous entries as Dante appears evil through much of the first part of the book. His potential transition from total darkness comes at a cost to Alexis who has lived a warm loving life until the dreams assault her followed by his appearance; as he has brought malevolent shadows into her previous 100% light. He is a hybrid too; the offspring of hellish violence between a vampire and a Dark One, Dante knows abuse and loathing domination fuel existence until he meets Alexis. Readers will be spellbound as the prize in the battle between good and evil is the soul of the loser as one of them must turn.

Harriet Klausner

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