It's not often that I buy a Kindle book and then read it immediately (mostly because I am otherwise occupied with paper library books), but the tagline and summary for Rising piqued my interest so much that I plowed through it in about a day immediately after I bought it. And I am glad I did! Rising is a fast-moving adventure full of romance, vibrant characters--some lovable and some despicable--and secrets, all the while free of the dirty sex scenes that are commonplace in most romance novels nowadays. There was occasional nakedness (kind of necessary when your characters' lower bodies turn into fishtails), but nothing descriptive or even suggestive. AND I don't even think I recall finding a single swear word between its covers, which is a feat all by itself.
So, the plot: Sara is a web designer who lives in Hawaii, confined to a wheelchair by a deformity in her legs that she won't let anyone see. (We later find out she has a mermaid-style tailfin--no wonder she hides it!) Xanthus is of a seafaring race of people called the Dagonians, who look similar to mermaids and mermen but are definitely not the same and hate being mistaken for merpeople. After thousands of his people are killed by an irresponsible corporation dumping toxins into the ocean, Xanthus ventures onto land (which is normally forbidden to Dagonians) with the permission of the sea god Triton to bring the culprits to justice and work toward preventing future incidents like it. While in Hawaii he encounters Sara and immediately knows that she is not just any human because she smells like a Dagonian. He later ambushes her in her apartment intending to kill her for the crime of trespassing on land, but can't bring himself to do it and instead inserts himself into her life as a protector.
Of course, the two of them fall in love. One thing I loved about the romance in Rising is that though Xanthus was very protective of Sara, he didn't smother her or try to take away her choices as in some fictional relationships. *cough* I'm looking at YOU, Twilight! *cough* Sara is a very independent young woman, and for the most part Xanthus lets her be even though he is used to Dagonian women who obey the men and don't generally express their own opinions. (Not to mention that he is so much physically stronger than Sara that he could force her to go along with what he wanted if he so wished.)
Obviously, there wouldn't be much of a story if there were no obstacles in the way of Sara's and Xanthus' romance. Xanthus' brother Gael hates humans, so when he discovers their relationship he tries to kill Sara. During the conflict, secrets are revealed that were hinted at earlier in the book and which end up leading to a resolution I didn't expect but which felt right when I got to it. I was very impressed by the planning that went into the plot. The solution was put in place by details in the early chapters of the book, which to me is the mark of an author who knows how to craft a compelling, exciting plot without writing herself into a corner when it comes time to solve the characters' problems.
My only complaint about Rising (and it is a very minor one) was the occasional grammar and usage mistakes. A few repeat offenders I noticed included confusion between "counsel" and "council," "retched" and "wretched," and using apostrophes to make plurals where they shouldn't have been. Mostly these just made me chuckle as I noticed them, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. I am looking forward to the upcoming release of the second book, Descending!
Review also seen on GoodReads.
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