Blog Tour: Tempest Rising + Giveaway

Hey! I'm super excited to bring you another review and contest. Today is actually the release date of Tempest Rising if you want to go get a copy soon, so I'm glad to be here celebrating. Congratulations to Tracy Deebs for her release!

Author: Tracy Deebs

From: Publisher

Release: May 10th, 2011 TODAY

Summary: (from

goodreads) Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her—and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

Review: Whoa! I will admit that this became my first mermaid book even though there have been many released recently. I didn't really know what to expect, but because a book on mermaids sounded awesome, I decided I really wanted to try it.

I was completely immersed in the ocean and its beauty through the entire story! It was such a constant presence for obvious reasons, but it felt so real, like a was feet from it instead of miles and the way it was described was wonderful. The settings in general were really vivid, and made me wish all the more for sun, sun, sun!

The colors were very vibrantly described such as the tattoos on the the main character and also her mother's brilliant green. The imagery used in portraying the different sea creatures and then the action was clear and focused, bringing fantasy to life.

Although the characters were a bit flat (most were hardcore surfers) for my taste, I loved the story overall and what has stayed the most with me is the underwater world Deebs successfully created. Never has a fight scene been so easy to imagine either since I knew where each of the characters was and who was moving where. I'm glad that the main character managed to grow as a person because she was grating in the beginning, but the ending was satisfying in that she saw the way things had appeared through her mother's eyes. Overall, it was very enjoyable.

Rating: 1 2 3 3.5 4 5

Giveaway Rules:

-Only US addresses (sorry!). And no PO Boxes please.

-You must fill out the form below to enter :)

-Contest ends June 9th (YES I will be an official high school graduate by this point!).

Good luck and thanks for reading!