Customer Reviews

Alice at Heart (Waterlilies) (Waterlilies Series)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Alice Riley has always been different from everyone else. She has special abilities and traits she needs to keep secret, for no one from her small town in Georgia could ever understand. She has unusual webbed toes and hair which grows exceptionally fact, requiring cutting every day. In addition, she is an incredible swimmer, extremely fast, able to "sing" underwater similar to what dolphins do, to see her way, and she is able to breathe underwater for hours at a time.

Alice never knew her parents, her mother dying when Alice was a baby and never knowing whom the father was. Her aunt raised her and hated her, considering Alice a freak of nature, as did the entire town. She had been good at keeping her special talents secret, until now, when two things happened. She had a vision of a man dying in a scuba diving accident and rescues him from across the ocean, with only her mind. The very same day, Alice rescued the Governor's granddaughter from drowning after hearing the child fall in the lake, from several miles away.

Griffin Randolph is a professional treasure hunter. He is in Spain working a job, when one of his men gets trapped in the debris of a WWII ship, still holding live ammunition. He gets his friend free but is caught in an explosion as he is leaving the ship, almost dying. The only thing that kept him alive was a vision of a beautiful woman, known only as Alice, who tells him to breathe underwater.

Lilith Bonavendier reads in the paper of the rescue of the young child, realizing Alice is her long lost half-sister, thought to have died at birth. Lilith and her other two sisters, Pearl and Mara go after Alice to bring her back to the family home at Sainte's Point Island, off the coast of Georgia. Now Alice finds out about her legacy, learning she is descended from one of the Old Ones, ancient Water People, commonly known as mermaids.

Griffin, it turns out, is a distant cousin, also one of the Water People, who returns home to prove that the Bonavendier sisters killed his parents 25 years ago. Long buried secrets must now be revealed, if everyone is to be happy and Griffin and Alice are to be together.

This was a delightful story and the beginning of what is sure to be a wonderful series by Ms. Smith. One feels Alice's pain at how she is treated by her aunt and the people of her town. All she cares about is being left alone after years of abuse from everyone. Her shock at finding her family she never knew existed is well portrayed, as is her adaptation to her new lifestyle. Lilith and her sisters are exotic and fascinating, loved by almost everyone who comes in contact with them. The history of the merpeople that is used by Ms. Smith is different from past stories used and is fascinating. One can almost believe they are real. And who says they aren't?

There is one thing about the book that can be a problem, though. The switching back and forth between first person and third person storytelling is disconcerting and confusing. It is apparent, the reason behind that is to have the story told completely from Alice's point of view, but there are a few scenes that don't fit with what appears to by the idea of the author. There are a few scenes that should have been told in first person perspective but aren't, based on the way the rest of the book is written. That tended to knock this reviewer out of the story, making it difficult to get back into the correct stream for reading.

Alice has never fit in. She was raised by her mother's family, who treated her as a chore, and not a family member. Alice has spent most of her life in and around the water, because that's where she feels most happy and at home. She can't explain why she can spend long periods of time underwater, and why she can swim better and faster than anyone else. She just knows it's what makes her happy.

In one day, the quiet existence she prefers is brought to public attention when she rescues the young daughter of the governor. Suddenly her abilities are questioned...but the publicity also brings her to the attention of the family she never knew she had, her father's family...water people, or what us landers would call them...mermaids.

This is not just a romance, it's a story of learning who you really are and accepting that. There's also a mystery from the past, and lots of old loves to be reunited. For those who have read Deborah Smith's books in the past, you know she always delivers an unbelievably wonderful read. She does not disappoint in this book either. Her writing is lyrical and magical and brings to life the underwater world of the water people. It made me a believer. This is supposed to be the first in the Waterlilies series, and I for one am looking forward to future books hinted at in this story.

I know Deborah Smith professionally, but we're not intimates, and this is entirely unsolicited. I picked up ALICE AT HEART last night, pretty much at random. This book just knocked me out. Absolutely magical and, in my mind, a real masterpiece. Kudos to D.S. for producing something so fresh and so perfect.

Alice at Heart is one of my all time favorite books! Alice starts out as this rather unkempt, lost, lonely young woman with a mysterious and odd lineage; a woman who has never truly fit in. After she is 'rescued' by her aunts, she slowly emerges as a beautiful, confident, magnificent woman. The great thing about this book is she doesn't really get a makeover, but the odd things about her suddenly fit in with where she is supposed to be, and she is beautiful because of those things. My favorite thing about this book was how fantastically vivid all of the colors, tastes, sounds, and feelings are! I couldn't put it down because I felt like I was there, living that wonderfully odd and beautiful life. I am not a huge fan of romances, but this book was actually romantic, fun, and centered on the independence of the heroines of the story. I also loved the sequel to this book entitled "Diary of a Radical Mermaid" and I am eagerly awaiting another installment!

Alice is a young woman living in North Georgia. An orphan, and disliked by her relatives, she finds solace in the cold waters of a mountain lake. When she saves a girl from drowning, her unusual abilities bring her attention--both good and bad, and start her on a jorney of discovering her unusual parentage.

This is a fantasy romance novel with a wonderfully enthusiastic concept of mermaids. The romance conventions predominate, populating the novel with much melodrama and predictable plot.

The excessive melodrama combine with likable charecters and enticing magic to yield a moderately pleasant novel.
--inotherworlds.com

This book does a great job of straddling the line between regular fiction and fantasy fiction. You're never quite sure if the characters are what they say they are--descended from mermaids--but they do have some unexplainable talents and it's really fascinating to think of there being a secret society of "Water People" among us. The setting is wonderful and Southern (the Georgia coast) and the three older sisters in the book are like something out of "Designing Women" the way they talk to each other. Plus the main character, Alice, is wonderful and vivid, and the romance with Griffin Randolph is very powerful. I look forward to book two in the series. Also, I read Alice At Heart as an e-book last spring and this paperback edition is different--it has new sections and other things that weren't in the e-book. I love the mythology about Water People in the back of the book.

How fortunate I was to download a free kindle copy of this sweet coming of age and love story.
About mermaids.
I see it's the start of a series and might be coaxed into downloading further books, depending on the price.
Other reviewers have written a great deal about the story line...so I won't however I do want to comment on character development, which I consider fairly poorly done and not up to Smiths other writings. I felt like this book was a Clifts Notes overview of the series, introducing the 4 sisters and their heritage, a sort of surface plot about accepting who or what one is, and a sort of sad ending.
If you're totally into fantasy action, this might not be a good novel for you as things move slowly through the water in this tale ?(tail) with just a couple of very brief plot questions, which I correctly determined the answer to 2/3 of the way thru the book.
however, right now it's free and I can't complain loudly about a good free novel for a rainy March day......it's a quick read also.

I've always been a Deborah Smith fan. So when Alice At Heart popped up on the Kindle best seller list, I had to download and read it. As always with Ms. Smith's books, I was transported. She has a way with language and characters that makes me forget everything else but finishing her books. It is a delightful fantasy. Now I'm off to see if there are more books in this series.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Great, fast read where you didn't have to think about the story. It's not high literature, but it is delightful!

I'm not really sure what it is about this book that compelled me to read the entire thing. There's not really any grand sweeping romance to it, no nail-biting suspense, no pulse-pounding thrills. Even the title character wasn't all that interesting. Most fascinating for me were her three half-sisters. This was a nice read, but I found myself always wishing for a little more - of everything.