Katherine Irons

NOT WORTH READING.

This is not just a bad book, it is outright harmful in its depiction of a paraplegic woman. It fails two of the three dimensions of The Fries Test on disability representation in our culture. Perhaps the most disappointing point is that Irons centers her story on a disabled character who miraculously turns out to be disability-free by the end of the book. Thus what at first appears to be a deliberate attempt at inclusion of people with disabilities in fiction turns out to be just another move to remove "disability" from public view.

As a fantasy novel, the worldbuilding is painfully deficient. Other reviewers have pointed out major flaws: here's a review by Allyson Orr posted on Goodreads in which she gives a brief summary of major flaws.:
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Typical PNR fluff. Sadly lacking in worldbuilding. If you're going to write a story about people who live underwater, at least put a little thought into how their lives might be different from ours. They would probably not eat soup or drink wine from goblets. They certainly wouldn't have fountains in the courtyard. If you think about that one too long your brain will explode.
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Irons has given no thought to this undersea world, and the lack of logic makes it hard to visualize any of the scenes described and hard to engage with any of it.

As a romance novel, the love between the two major characters had no basis, so there was nothing emotionally satisfying in reading about it. The sex scenes were titillating at times, if repetitive; Irons quickly runs out of ideas on how to describe the characters and sex between them. Here's an example of the kind of repetition I'm talking about:

>p.43 "the room smelled of salt and sand and rolling waves"

p.44 "She could taste Morgan's lips, his sweet breath mingled with hers, smell the clean, salty scent of his skin."

p.151 "She gripped him tightly, running her fingers through his hair, inhaling the scent that was his alone, all brine and sea and virile male."

p.204 "He tasted of salt and sea and virile male."

As a novel, there are way too many sub-plots that add nothing to the story. They clutter up this book. See Chris' review on Goodreads for an idea of how many ridiculous sub-plots have been included (spoiler alert):

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Claire is in a wheelchair due to a boating accident. Morgan is an Atlantean (think mer-man) and lives in the ocean.

Isn't that enough? Couldn't that be enough of a story, romance, trouble, etc.

***SPOILER ALLERT***

Apparently the author doesn't think so. She adds:
-A crazy ex-husband who is a sex addict, deals in drugs and a murderer
-A controlling adoptive father (who turns out to be her real father) who won't trust her despite the fact that she is a rich, intelligent, 30 year old woman.
-The king of Atlantis that hates humans.
-One of the kings wives who hates Morgan.
-A plot to kill the king.
-The devil of the underworld and his minions who suck the life out of humans.
-A human child who is turned into an Atlantean.

OMG - it goes on and on. I can't believe how much crap the author threw into this book.

The parts with Claire and Morgan were good. The rest was crap.
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Such a useless waste of paper. The space could have been put to better use in character development and allowing the relationship between the romantic leads to develop. I suspect some of it is intended to re-surface in later books in this series, and that leaves me feeling that the sequels will be equally cluttered and lacking in development.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

~bint… (meer)

This is a unique story that is charming and has you wanting the hero Morgan to succeed. The underwater world that Katherine Irons creates is an interesting fantasy world that you want to spend time getting to know. I did think some of the scenes with Justin were unnecessary and distracted from the story. We could have gotten just how depraved Justine was without some of the scenes being played out for us. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series. On my Nook this book had 282 pages.

Enter the realm of Seaborne. . .and the achingly romantic world of Katherine Irons, a new talent who will break your heart and heal it all at the same time. . .

Take Me Away

Shrouded in mist, the hidden shoreline near her family's Maine estate is a place of refuge for Claire Bishop. There, she can forget the physical limitations imposed by a tragic accident and escape judgment.… (meer)