Back of Book: 

Fish are mysteriously disappearing, starving the people in Angie Song’s Alaskan hometown. Angie, a snarky, guarded aspiring marine biologist and dock worker, enthusiastically joins the hunt to find out where the fish are gathering. When her family and the villagers discover that merfolk are responsible, they vow to destroy every last one. In the midst of the conflict, Angie faces off with a merman and fails to pull the trigger.

Inquisitive Mer-Prince Kaden is just as snarky as Angie, but he’s willing to talk and stop the brutal massacring of his people. The two form a cautious alliance to broker peace between the humans and mer before any more of them die.

Angie’s family becomes suspicious of her time near the water and threatens her future career. If the Mer-King and Queen learn of Kaden fleeing to the surface from an engagement he doesn’t want and falling for a landwalker, he’ll be exiled.

As tensions clash in this modern-day Romeo and Juliet meets The Little Mermaid, no one is safe in the desperate fight to control the sea’s resources. Despite the risks, Angie and Kaden’s forbidden relationship ignites. And as she learns about the mer’s mysterious world and the reason why the fish are gone, Angie starts to question who the true monster is, and where her loyalties lie. Taking the wrong side means choosing between family and her job, or the man she’s fallen for and the merfolk she’s come to respect—or losing it all. 

Book Number: One 

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

A war between merfolk and humans is about to go down in this Asian "Romeo & Juliet" meets "The Little Mermaid" start to a spicy romantasy series. 

The fish that give life to Angie Song's home village in remote Alaska are starting to disappear. As an aspiring marine biologist who is spending the summer working at her father's docks, Angie is more than willing to help investigate just what is happening to the wildlife. What she never would have guessed is that the merfolk are behind the lack of fish. Now that the dock workers know the culprit to their conundrum, they declare war on the merfolk. Angie is reluctant to accept that violence is the only answer especially after she has a run in with a merman by the name of Kaden. He wished her no harm, and Angie soon finds herself meeting up for secret trysts with Kaden. As the war progresses, Angie begins to question what side is truly in the wrong and fears that no matter what she does, it will harm those that she loves most. 

I kept seeing this one around Instagram and I was very intrigued by it. "Romeo & Juliet" meets "The Little Mermaid" greatly caught my interest, and I've been keeping my eye out for a chance to snag a copy of this one for some time now. I managed to win a generous giveaway and was gifted a copy from the author, C.W. Rose, so that was insanely cool. 

My expectations for this one were torn to shreds almost immediately. For some reason, my brain thought this would be a romantic YA novel with a touch of angst, but in reality, it's a spicy adult romantasy that features a bloody war. And warning, almost everybody dies! This isn't exactly a bad thing; I just should have had a totally different mindset going into this one. 

Angie and Kaden are both likable main characters. Angie is a bit snarky and isn't afraid to stand up to men who are being idiots. Kaden is more of a cinnamon roll of a guy, so they complement each other nicely. Their relationship suffers immensely from instalove, but "Romeo & Juliet" as well as "The Little Mermaid" are both built heavily off that trope, so not unexpected. These two spare little time before they get into bed with one another, which wasn't exactly my cup of tea either. I did appreciate the emotional connection that these two eventually forge, it just sort of happens with little to back it up. 

The magic that these versions of mermaids possess is pretty cool. They have the ability to breathe their magic into humans that allows them to breathe and move around underwater uninhibited for twenty-four hours. This made it a lot easier for Kaden and Angie to be with each other physically as well as allowed for the human side of the relationship to explore the merkingdom. 

The war aspect of this book wasn't my favorite, though it brings up many valuable points. People are constantly getting drowned, speared, and murdered. Mermaids consistently get kidnapped, tortured, and strung up in display. It's certainly a dark book, and I wasn't one hundred percent prepared for that. However, the war brings up great messages surrounding conservation of wildlife as well as showcasing the fact that people aren't so different from one another deep down. 

Toxic masculinity is also on full display in this one. One of the characters, Nick, is a prime example of this. He treats all women like trash and speaks of all the mermaids as though they are nothing more than brainless animals. Nick is truly a prime example of a disgusting human being. There are also a few instances of dockworkers harassing and berating female mermaids, as well as Angie herself. There's definitely some triggering stuff, so be careful. 

The war does manage to wrap itself up before the end of this book, so I'm curious to discover what book two will entail. There was an ominous occurrence at the end of this book, but I really couldn't make heads or tails of it one way or the other. 

Overall, "Oceansong" is an intriguing spicy romantasy that features mermaids front and center. It is a tale of forbidden love, war, and ocean conservation. This book ended up being way darker than I first anticipated, but going into the second one knowing the tone will make for way less of a shock. The romance was super instalove, but all in all, Kaden and Angie don't make a terrible couple. I enjoyed this one, though I was shocked by many of the jarring elements. I look forward to checking out "Midnightsong" and seeing where else this series goes! 

Back of Book: 

Mer-Queen Serapha has been murdered. The already fragile human-merfolk truce is shattered. And as Angie and Kaden find themselves on opposite sides of a rapidly escalating conflict, their loyalties to their families, their people, and each other will be tested.

When news of the merfolk become widespread in Angie’s Pacific Northwest town, she fights to protect the mer from those who wish them harm. But as vicious seas consume coastal cities and tragedy strikes her town and her family, she’ll need to decide whether to save her family and her people, or her relationship with Kaden and the mer.

In Mer-Prince Kaden’s queendom, an unlikely family member takes the throne, sowing dissent among the already fractured queendom and further straining their deteriorating relationship with humans. Branded a traitor for loving a human, he must make a choice between letting his family plunge the mer into all-out war, or fighting for the throne to unite his people, but leave Angie behind, as he can never take a human queen.

A cataclysmic war between humans and mer looms, and if Angie and Kaden cannot find a way to bring peace between their people, they’ll find their truce shattered beyond repair, and the sea-crossed lovers will find themselves separated forever.

Unless the mer drown the world in their rage and sorrow, first. 

Book Number: Two

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: ?