Sea and Sky by Heather Crews

Disclaimer: Heather is my friend.

I'm a sucker for arranged marriage plots and I've never read a book about mermaids that I really liked, so when Heather offered me a copy of this to beta-read, obviously I was on that like white on rice.

Fantasy romances aren't usually my thing but I really enjoyed this one. The writing is gorgeous and the world-building is done in that charming, old-fashioned way that was so pervasive in the 80s and 90s, like Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series, say, or Diana Wynne Jones's more romantic efforts. I'd compare this to Sarah J. Maas's works, but I really don't like Sarah J. Maas's works, and she can't really write sex scenes besides. Heather, on the other hand, can. And she does it well.

*wink wink nudge nudge*

This book is bound to appeal to fantasy romance aficionados. It's not my go-to genre of choice, but I really enjoyed this book despite that, which says a lot in its favor. The heroine was vulnerable but strong. The hero is good and hot. There's a sweet secondary romance that's perhaps even better than the primary one, and a hot bad guy and a scheming queen mother, you know, just to keep things interesting. If you're a fan of fantasy, I think you'll probably love this.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - if Heather keeps writing books, I'll keep reading them. <3

3 out of 5 stars