"Rising" by Holly Kelly

Rising by Holly Kelly is a lovely YA paranormal romance I recommend for readers who love mere-folk and mythology.





BLURB:

In a war between the humans and the inhabitants of the sea—humans will lose. Xanthus Dimitriou—the most lethal Dagonian to rise from the ocean—is on a mission to save mankind from annihilation. But first there’s one small thing he needs to do… kill a beautiful young woman in a wheelchair.

Killing her doesn’t start out as part of his plan. He entrenches himself deep in the human world. Aligning himself with his enemies, he prepares to send them to Triton to face their punishment. Then Sara Taylor rolls onto the scene. Xanthus knows at once she’s a criminal. And her crime? Being born. She’s a human/Dagonian half-breed, an abomination. Killing her should be an easy job. All he has to do is break into her apartment, slit her throat, and feed her body to the sharks. Simple, right? Wrong. If only she weren’t so beautiful, so innocent, so sweet...

Saving the world may have to wait. It appears Xanthus has a woman to save. But protecting her may cost him his own life.


AMAZON REVIEWS:

5-STARS - "Great Read!" by David Allred
Dagonians and Mermaids, how could you go wrong? I liked reading about a young woman who did not know her true identity and how important she really is. I read a lot of novels, and do not write many reviews because I'm not great at it. This time I had to let people know that it's not every day I get to read a book where I could not put it down! I was able to finish this in just a few hours and I'm left wanting more! I'm really looking forward to the next installment. Thanks Holly for the great read!


5-STARS - "Danger, Action, Clean Romance - all wrapped up in a contemporary mermaid tale" by lkm8
This is the first mermaid book I've read, and I loved it. I don't know that I'm hooked on the genre, but I'm hooked on Holly Kelly's writing. It was a delightful story that kept me reading long after my bedtime. I loved the romance. I loved the protective male. I loved the take on King Triton and the mermaids. I'm anxious to see how King Triton's meeting with Nicole plays out. Well done. I'm ready for book 2!


5-STARS - "Rising" by Linda
Sara Taylor thought her mom was crazy as she tossed her into the sea when she was five or six, but she guessed her screams touched Nicole and drove her sane enough to go down a cliff and rescue her. Nicole was very beautiful and stopped traffic wherever she went, but no husband could keep her for long as she had married three times. At twenty, Sara had had enough of her crazy mom and she left to live her own independent life. With her disability she shunned relationships and rented a tiny apartment in a seedier area of Hawaii, she floundered with her web design business................

Xanthus Dimitrou prided himself on his warrior skills, as an Dragonian enforcer, he took his orders seriously and never question orders. He had lived for over a thousand years and had been interested in humans so much that he had learned the language and was glad he did as he was all that stood against a war between Dragonians and humans who were polluting their sea and killing his kind, so when King Triton gave him one year to convince human's to cease their ways. He was given authority to kill any half-breds he discovered but to not interfere in lives of humans...............

OH NO SHE DIDN'T leave me hanging!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHH!! I was so caught up in the blight of Xanthus, Sara, and king Triton that I failed to see the cliff hanger coming as it said there was another six pages to go! I have to read the next book or I'll dieeeee...


4-STARS - "Imaginative Sweet Romance" by Michelle O'Leary
Rising is an imaginative sweet romance with satisfyingly heroic characters. The storyline is a nice twist on the usual mere-people plot with a very sweet, sympathetic heroine and a hero that hits all the right notes: strong, noble, protective, and loving.

Other reviewers have done an excellent job of describing this book so I'll just say I really enjoyed reading Rising. Some minor editing/grammatical issues snagged at me a bit and the flow could have used some polish, but otherwise this is a solid piece of work: interesting plot, plenty of action, and a lovely romance with nice touches of heat to spice up this YA read. If you've been on the fence about diving into this book, let me give you a push--read it already!


AUTHOR LINKS:

Goodreads Profile
Author's Blog, "Amazing Author Adventures"
Author's Facebook Page
Author's Publisher on Facebook "Clean Teen Publishing"