Promise Bound by Anne Greenwood Brown (Lies Beneath book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read the first two books in the trilogy, Lies Beneath and Deep Betrayal, Stop! I don't want to ruin Calder and Lily's story for you.

Lily continues to struggle with her newfound family identity, being part mermaid. Her father took to the water naturally, but the change is still physically difficult for her. Calder loves being accepted as a part of the Hancock family but with Jason Hancock teaching college and his family, he and Lily have decided to stay north with them rather than head to the warm waters of the Bahamas for the winter months. With the entire Hancock family coping with their new family dynamics, Calder beings to wonder what the spring migration will bring to his family, both new and old when Maris and Pavati come back to Lake Michigan.

Lily wears the sea glass pendant that once belonged to her grandmother. She has dreams in which she is reliving important moments in Nadia's life. Calder believes it is just stress but Lily insists that they are real and it drives them apart. When Maris and Pavati arrive back at the lake, Lily and Calder worst fears are realized. Daniel was able to father a child with Pavati, a boy. Initially, he is not willing to accept the possibility of raising a child for a year and then giving him back to Pavati, but Daniel becomes instantly smitten with his son. Pavati is heartbroken to have to leave him behind. Lily and Calder fear that history may repeat itself when Jason Hancock wasn't returned to his mother, Nadia, by his father. Before diving back into the lake, Pavati whispers to Lily if she got her letter. She acknowledges that she did but fears that Calder has overheard their conversation.

Why is Lily seeing Nadia's past through her dreams? Is Lily's sister, Sophie, also able to transform into a mermaid? Will Daniel be able to return their son to Pavati? And if not, what would it mean for everyone? What was in Pavati's letter to Lily? Will Lily ever be able to change her form without the physical pain? Can all of the menfolk coexist peacefully? Do Calder and Lily have their happily ever after?

Visit Anne Greenwood Brown’s website.

Deep Betrayl by Anne Greenwood Brown (Lies Beneath book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Lies Beneath, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“It’s been thirty days, two hours and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she’s counting.”

Lily Hancock isn’t counting until her high school graduation but the time since she last saw Calder White. She was sent back to Minneapolis to finish high school after the tragic events at the family’s house on Laker Superior. Reunited with both her family and Calder at her graduation, Lily is determined to let her father know about his true identity. Trying to talk her out of it, Calder thinks it is a bad idea. Shocked and confused, Calder agrees to show Jason Hancock the ways of being a merman.

With her father monopolizing all of Calder’s time, Lily finds the draw to the water too irresistible to ignore. Seeing if she has any mermaid characteristics, Lily spends time in the lake and discovers she can hold her breath for longer than normal periods of time and hear voices under the water. Not heeding Calder’s warnings to stay out of the water, her continued existence is soon discovered by Maris and Pavati. When they learn of Talluah’s death, Maris is devastated. With his sisters grieving, Calder fears not only for the Hancock family’s safety, but for anyone that enters the water.

Jason Hancock spends most of his time now in the water and begins to ignore his family. Maris and Pavati seem to be in hiding. Jack Pettit is telling everyone that there are mermaids in the lake. No one really believes him and thinks he is crazy. The reports of boaters and swimmers encountering rip currents begin to surface. Calder and Lily suspect a mermaid is behind it. Soon bodies are found in the area. The race to stop the killings is on before someone begins to believe Jack’s ramblings and begins searching the lake.

Who is behind the killings; Maris and Pavati, Jason Hancock or someone else? Is Lily beginning to transform into a mermaid? Can Jason Hancock find his way back to his family? What will happen if someone begins to take Jack Pettit seriously?

Lily and Calder’s story will conclude in Promise Bound in 2014.

Visit Anne Greenwood Brown’s website.

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Years earlier, Tom Hancock almost succumbed to a boating accident on Lake Superior but was saved by a mermaid. Needing his life force to sustain herself, she agrees to trade Tom’s life for that of his infant son, Jason. The townsfolk thought Tom’s mermaid tale was just crazy talk and the Hancock family soon splintered and abandoned their lakeside home. Now years later and the recent death of Tom, Jason decides to move back to the Lake Superior house with his wife and two daughters for a less stressful life. It turns out Tom wasn’t crazy and danger lurks for the Hancock family in the form of the mermaid’s vengeful children.

Calder White has been tied to his “sisters” since he fell from his parents’ sailboat on Lake Superior when he was three years old. With their mother’s death, Calder can only be set free from the bonds of his murderous merfolk family by his “sister” Maris, now head of the family. If Calder helps them collect the long standing debt of Jason Hancock’s life, Maris will set him free. All Calder needs to do is use one of Jason’s daughters to lure him to the water where he will meet Calder’s sisters. What Calder doesn’t count on is falling for Lily Hancock or the fact that she doesn’t fall for his mermaid charms. It seems that Lily may believe her grandfather’s crazy talk about killer mermaids after all.

Will Calder’s sisters finally get the revenge for their mother’s death they have been seeking? Can Calder fulfill his part of the plan and earn his freedom? Does Calder convince Lily that there are no monsters in Lake Superior? And what happens when Calder falls for Lily Hancock?

It seems that mermaids may be the new vampires. I adored the rom-com Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, but I was completely surprised by the ending of Lies Beneath. I cannot wait to see how Calder’s story plays out with Deep Betrayal in 2013.

Visit Anne Greenwood Brown’s website.