Secrets of the Sea

Rating:
Summary: So awful I wish I could give zero stars
Review: I had the opportunity to meet Leslie and her husband Leland in Germany this year. This was the first book that I have read by Ms. Burbank, and I was completely swept away with the stories. Secret of the Sea is a novella duet that will totally enchant you, and make you believe in fairytales, and in the mystical and magical world of the mermaid.

Book One is Lady Syren, set in Scotland in the Hebrides 1513. In Lady Syren we meet Syren who is a mermaid. She makes a wish that she may one day find a human man, one that will love her. She gets her wish when Kieran "The Black McLeod" is stabbed and dumped overboard by his enemy Captain Stewart. Syren rescues Kieran and takes him back to her home along the coast of Scotland and nurses him back to health. Kieran is a pirate and has been given the option by King James IV of Scotland of a pardon if Kieran marries. Kieran feels that his best chance of marriage would be to the lovely Syren. Only problem is he does not realize that she is a mermaid. Syren is allowed to walk on land during the day by transforms at nightfall back into a mermaid. Syren agrees to Kieran's marriage proposal only if he will take her to Siren Isle where it is fabled that a necklace that will give immortality to a human will also give a mermaid the gift of mortality. Syren wants to be human in the worst way. A deal is made but neither Kieran nor Syren is sure that they can trust one another. They are both drawn to each other but there is much that they both keep secret from each other. Kieran has also had everyone that he has ever loved taken from him so he is not ready to give his heart yet again. Eventually Kieran finds out that Syren is a mermaid, and by this time he has fallen in love with the beautiful siren. He will only accept marriage to her if she loves in him return. Of course she does but these to lovers must first triumph over the evil Captain Stewart and then there is the dangerous trip to Siren Isle that must be overcome before there can be a happy ending for these two people. This was a great story set during one of my favorite time periods, you won't be able to put the book down before you read the ending of this one.

In book two Lord Nerus Theodora Redman aka Red is a reporter for The Tattler, and her job is to debunk all things mystical and magical. Red is sent to Scotland to find out if the myth of the Finn Man is true or fiction. In Red's opinion this does not even require a trip but since the paper is paying for it she is willing to go. On her way out to the outer islands that make up Scotland her ferry is overtaken by a squall and she is washed overboard. She is rescued by none other then Finn Man himself. Nerus is held by a curse that he must marry a mortal in order to have his race continue. The last time he had a mortal on his island she jumped to her death after finding out her man of her dreams was indeed a merman. He is not willing to take another chance on that; problem is he finds himself totally drawn to Red in ways he can't describe. Red on the other hand feels that she is not the stuff of romance, and that no man in his right mind will be taken with her. She is the ultimate tomboy. Imagine her surprise to find herself attracted to the very handsome Nerus. After these two finally realize that they can't run away from their attraction to each other and give in to the wonder of what they feel Red finds out that the one thing she did not believe in is the one person that she has fallen in love with. Nerus sends her away because he does not want the mortal population overrunning his island, but finds that he can't live without his Red. As a result he goes back to the human world and tries to get Red back before he dies. Will she be willing to give up everything mortal to live in his world? You must read the book to find out for yourself.

Like I stated before these are two wonderful stories and I can hardly wait to get started on the next book that I have by her, which is "To Tame A Viking". Thanks Leslie for a great read!

Rating:
Summary: A Magical Set Of Stories!!!
Review: I had the opportunity to meet Leslie and her husband Leland in Germany this year. This was the first book that I have read by Ms. Burbank, and I was completely swept away with the stories. Secret of the Sea is a novella duet that will totally enchant you, and make you believe in fairytales, and in the mystical and magical world of the mermaid.

Book One is Lady Syren, set in Scotland in the Hebrides 1513. In Lady Syren we meet Syren who is a mermaid. She makes a wish that she may one day find a human man, one that will love her. She gets her wish when Kieran "The Black McLeod" is stabbed and dumped overboard by his enemy Captain Stewart. Syren rescues Kieran and takes him back to her home along the coast of Scotland and nurses him back to health. Kieran is a pirate and has been given the option by King James IV of Scotland of a pardon if Kieran marries. Kieran feels that his best chance of marriage would be to the lovely Syren. Only problem is he does not realize that she is a mermaid. Syren is allowed to walk on land during the day by transforms at nightfall back into a mermaid. Syren agrees to Kieran's marriage proposal only if he will take her to Siren Isle where it is fabled that a necklace that will give immortality to a human will also give a mermaid the gift of mortality. Syren wants to be human in the worst way. A deal is made but neither Kieran nor Syren is sure that they can trust one another. They are both drawn to each other but there is much that they both keep secret from each other. Kieran has also had everyone that he has ever loved taken from him so he is not ready to give his heart yet again. Eventually Kieran finds out that Syren is a mermaid, and by this time he has fallen in love with the beautiful siren. He will only accept marriage to her if she loves in him return. Of course she does but these to lovers must first triumph over the evil Captain Stewart and then there is the dangerous trip to Siren Isle that must be overcome before there can be a happy ending for these two people. This was a great story set during one of my favorite time periods, you won't be able to put the book down before you read the ending of this one.

In book two Lord Nerus Theodora Redman aka Red is a reporter for The Tattler, and her job is to debunk all things mystical and magical. Red is sent to Scotland to find out if the myth of the Finn Man is true or fiction. In Red's opinion this does not even require a trip but since the paper is paying for it she is willing to go. On her way out to the outer islands that make up Scotland her ferry is overtaken by a squall and she is washed overboard. She is rescued by none other then Finn Man himself. Nerus is held by a curse that he must marry a mortal in order to have his race continue. The last time he had a mortal on his island she jumped to her death after finding out her man of her dreams was indeed a merman. He is not willing to take another chance on that; problem is he finds himself totally drawn to Red in ways he can't describe. Red on the other hand feels that she is not the stuff of romance, and that no man in his right mind will be taken with her. She is the ultimate tomboy. Imagine her surprise to find herself attracted to the very handsome Nerus. After these two finally realize that they can't run away from their attraction to each other and give in to the wonder of what they feel Red finds out that the one thing she did not believe in is the one person that she has fallen in love with. Nerus sends her away because he does not want the mortal population overrunning his island, but finds that he can't live without his Red. As a result he goes back to the human world and tries to get Red back before he dies. Will she be willing to give up everything mortal to live in his world? You must read the book to find out for yourself.

Like I stated before these are two wonderful stories and I can hardly wait to get started on the next book that I have by her, which is "To Tame A Viking". Thanks Leslie for a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: I thought this book was really horrible. Very predictible and not very well written. Too mushy for my taste.

Rating:
Summary: So awful I wish I could give zero stars
Review: This book contains two stories.

The first I read, but it was so poorly edited for both punctuation and grammar that I wanted to scream. Also, the story sounds great, but there are huge gaping holes in the plot from start to finish. The hero and heroine go from not being in love to madly in love and then the story is over. You don't get to find out what caused Kieran to fall in love with Syren nor is there any resolution. Yes, there is one great review. If you read it, you pretty much have read the book.

Because I was so frustrated and disgusted with the first story, I couldn't even try to read the second. I hate to give a bad review, but I would rather have been warned how bad the story was before buying something rather than only hearing it was great. Especially since the book wasn't cheap. SECRETS OF THE SEA is not worth its money.