Goldilox and the Three Weres: Really Short Reviews: Fish Out of Water and Promise the Moon by Hailey Edwards

Fish Out of Water
(Gemini Novella)
Hailey Edwards
Release: September 18, 2016
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ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

Harlow Bevans was a changeling mermaid working as a diving consultant for the Earthen Conclave. Then he came along. Charybdis. A serial killer who possessed her body and wrecked her mind. Now she's an inmate—patient—at Edelweiss Mental Institution.

When a haunting song lures her to the scene of a brutal murder, the calm of the past few months is shattered. A fellow patient is dead, and Harlow is caught standing over his body by a mysterious guard who hides his own secrets behind a pair of aviator sunglasses her fingers itch to remove.

Unwilling to be a pawn in another psychopath's game, Harlow sets out to discover the real killer. What she uncovers makes her a prime target, and the next song she hears could be her last. Curiosity may not have killed the cat, but it just might fillet the mermaid.

Really Short Review:
Possibly the only place creepier than a mental hospital is a supernatural mental hospital where the patients all have magical powers. Fish Out of Water takes advantage of that creep factor with a really well done murder mystery. I enjoyed seeing Harlow from her own perspective and I really liked Carter, who helps her come out her shell and catch the killer.

I've loved seeing Edwards' twists on the Fae throughout both the Black Dog and Gemini series. Once again, she introduces interesting new fae and puts an original twist on a few old ones. She also reveals some new powers for Harlow as well as more about her history and her family.

You would not need to have read the Gemini series to pick up Fish Out of Water, but you'll find some pretty big spoilers. If you have read the series, you'll finally find out what happened to both Harlow and Bianca after being left at Eidelweiss. Unlike the time Cam spent there in the last Gemini book, which just felt like a big downer, I was happy with where we left Harlow at the end. I would still love it she made an appearance in the next spin off series, Lorimar Pack.

4 stars

Promise the Moon

(Lorimar Pack #1)

Hailey Edwards

Release: October 29, 2016

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ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

War is a constant threat on Dell Preston's horizon. As beta of the Lorimar pack, her job is to maintain the peace on the new border between Faerie and Earth at all costs. Even if that means playing nice with her ex, Isaac, the fae who savaged her wolf's soul, and Enzo Garza, the flirty witch who ought to be focused on building up their magical defenses instead of tearing down the walls around Dell's heart.

Butler, Tennessee is a pinprick on the map with a diverse population of supernaturals. It's also chockful of humans who are unaware of the magical rift bruising the sky or the otherworldly insurgents raining down into their zipcode.

A local fae's disappearance catches Dell's attention, but she dismisses it as an isolated event. Until it happens again. Unable to ignore the strange happenings in her town, she begins an investigation that uncovers so much more than a simple rash of kidnappings.

Now Dell finds herself at the sharp end of a pointed ultimatum. Find the missing and return them to their families or get ready for prime time. Botch this job, and forget coming soon. The war will become tomorrow's featured attraction instead.

Review:

In all of Edwards' books, one of my favorite things is seeing her unique take on the Fae. This one is no exception, introducing a few fun new creatures and twisting up some old favorites. It also brings back a few characters from earlier series: Thierry from Black Dog plays a big role in the story and several others are mentioned.

I loved Dell in the Gemini series, where she was Cord's right hand and Camille's BFF. Now they've left her to run the pack while they're away on conclave business, making her one stressed out Beta. All those responsibilities are complicated by the fact that she's heartbroken over the departure of her wolf's mate. Cord addressed the issue of the wargs' wolf half and their human half each accepting their mates in their own time in the previous series. Between Dell and her friend Zed, whose mate recently died, I felt beaten over the head with that point. It made the whole story kind of a downer for me.

Promise the Moon is set just before, or maybe at the same time as, Fish Out of Water so you could read either of them first as long as you've finished (or don't mind being spoiled for) the Gemini series. Although it could be read alone, the story is very much a continuation of that from Edwards' other series. I had kind of forgotten about the serial-like style of those books, maybe because Fish Out of Water was such a strong standalone, so the cliffhanger here took me by surprise. Fortunately, it's never a very long wait for the next book.

1/2

3 1/2 stars