Customer Reviews

In Over Her Head

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Find a shady spot near something watery and dive into this great summer romance. I won't spend time recapping what other reviewers have already said about the plot. Judi is a mistress of being both hilariously funny and ratcheting up the tension (on all levels!)

The internal conflicts of both the hero and heroine are believeable and genuine, as is their attraction to one another, and their reasons for shying away from that attraction. The external conflicts (yes, there's more than one!) are also believable and well-executed. She creates a complete world, with rules, traditions, language and history, and "peoples" it with characters both hilarious and villainous. The characters are "relatable", even one of the villains, for whom one can feel a measure of sympathy.

The sexual tension is sensual and breathtaking. The heroine is courageous and bold, and the hero, though he outwardly has a cavalier attitude, is a deep, thoughtful, troubled (and very sexy!)creature. The epilogue made me laugh out loud!

More accurately I would rate this a 3.5 stars.

This was my first time reading a book about mermen or mermaids and it was a great initiation into the under water world. Reel cracked me up although he was so full of himself sometimes you do want to smack him. From the beginning you feel the chemistry flowing between he and Erica. Not only do you have romance, sea monsters and talking sea creatures but this book also was filled with humor. At first the names of the characters seemed a bit campy, I mean come on a merman named Reel with a brother named Rod? As you meet more and more sea creatures with those ridiculous names you have to laugh. This book also does a great job portraying what sea creatures might actually be saying about humans if we could only understand them.

The ending did surprise me. I figured there were two pretty obvious possible outcomes but it wasn't the one I was expecting. The story is fast paced and keeps you going until the end.

Reel Tritone is the son of royalty but even being the son of royalty can't help him from receiving slack about being born with legs instead of a tail. Just his luck, Reel is the only mer-person to be gifted with legs instead of a tail. Reel has lost count how many times he has wished to be normal. The only thing that has kept Reel's mind off of the issue is...her. Ever since Reel first laided eyes on her as a little girl, he hasn't been able to get her off his mind. He thinks about her all the time.

Erica Peck vowed she would never set foot in the ocean again. Especially not after "The incident" that happened to her when she was a little girl. That was also the last time she was in the water. Now years later Erica finds herself facing her dears head on but not be her choice. Erica's ex-boyfriend Joseph Domenic Camparo has lost some diamonds at the bottom of the ocean. Diamonds that he needs to get back otherwise some very bad men will be after his hide. Being the big macho man that he is, Joey forces Erica at gunpoint to dive down and retrieve them or become shark food. When things go from bad to worse very quickly, Reel comes to Erica's aid but by doing so he puts all of the mer-people at risk.

Come take a splash with Reel and Erica in In Over Her Head. Judi Fennell's debut novel. I loved this book. You know when you are looking for something cool and refreshing that hits you in all the right places? Well that is exactly what Mrs. Fennell did for me. Reel and Erica are the updated version of one of the most famous couples...Eric and Ariel from The Little Mermaid. So if you loved The Little Mermaid then you will really enjoy this book. Plus it doesn't hurt that Reel is very good looking or that he and Erica have really good chemistry together.

I loved the idea of this story and was really looking forward to a great adventure/paranormal romance. Unfortunately, I just couldn't take any of it seriously. I understand that it is paranormal, again I love that type of book, but I have to be able to respect the characters and "believe" the situations in order to really get into the story. "In Over Her Head" was in many ways too typical, and at other times too contrived.

Another problem is that the book lacked a maturity that sets adult romance novels apart from teen adventure novels. The only difference was the love scenes, but even those were made goofy by the fact that Mer people in this story call breasts "shell fillers" and the male part "gono". "His gono was responding." "She had great shell fillers" Etc. Throughout the story, the Mer people actually spoke with the sarcasm and slang of human teens. The hero, a Mer man, was in his mid-thirties but he spent his days playing pranks on the sea people around him because he was mad that his dad didn't take him seriously. (Gee, wonder why Dad doesn't respect him?) The heroine, a human, spent her time being bratty towards the hero (after he risked his life to save hers) because she had hang- ups over the fact that her brothers used to treat her like a child... (Can she blame them?)

I'm disappointed. The book wasn't at all what I was hoping for.

I loved the Virginia Kantra Selkie series so I had high hopes for this one--and I loved the look of the cover. The blurb on the back sounded great. Then I started reading. What a let-down! Talking fish named Chum and Vincent, an annoying heroine and strange metaphors about her ex waving the gun "like an effeminate fashion designer"...I put it down in shock. Tried it again later and it only got sillier.

I am going to give the next one in the series a chance, but I can't see how this got published, even as a comedy. I know others liked it but it just wasn't for me.

I am a straight guy who never reads romance books. But I made an exception for this one, and Im glad I did. Oh sure, it has a sexy heroine, and some guy with muscles and stuff, and yes, they do feel an immense attraction, and fall in love, but there is so much more to this book. It is witty, clever, surprising, suspenseful, truly moving, exciting, and just lots of fun. Fennell creates a world with a combination of reality (she knows her marine biology) and fantasy that requires surprisingly little suspension of disbelief. You will love the characters, you will finish the book too soon, and then you will eagerly await the film version and wonder who will play the leads.
I would love to throw in some examples of the parts of the book that had me laughing out loud, but why spoil it. I will just say that Fennell has a way with naming things, and with every new character you will have a thrill. So, anyway, if this is romance writing these days, maybe I should hang out more in the Romance section. After all, I like being a fish out of water. (Sorry).

Brilliant! Best summer read - a bit of fairytale, hot sex and great humor makes this book an exciting, wonderful adventure for adults! Great story with imagination abound! I highly recommend this wonderful story - and I can't wait for more!
READ THIS AT THE BEACH!!

I am SO with the reviewer "Alyce In Wonderland "The Looking Glass". I know that this is a paranormal story, but, the characters and their reaction to their situations must be realistic for me to latch on to the story. I have to be able to imagine myself in the situations and understanding the reaction of the characters, whether I agree with them personally, or not. I did not find this with this story.

What disappointed me the most is that I have been a fan or mermaids since childhood and expected to walk into a treat. But, instead, I read undeveloped characters, a storyline that is mediocre at best and found myself basically annoyed. So annoyed, in fact, that I decided to return my Kindle version rather than torture myself any further.

An unfortunate encounter with her ex leaves Erica dying in the ocean, but she finds herself rescued by Reel Tritone, the black sheep son of the Mer King. He changes her into a mer to save her life. When she awakens she thinks she's in her own kind of hell, because suddenly she can converse with the fish and breathe under water. From this moment on a whole new life starts for her, but what she doesn't know, is that her life is still in danger, because the mer aren't allowed to change humans and the Oceanic council isn't happy about it. Reel and Erica are sent on a mission, one that might be deadly. Will they find a way for a happy future?

IN OVER HER HEAD is a wonderful and captivating under water adventure, which will keep you glued to the pages. I was really sad when I reached the last page, because I didn't want the story to end. Ms Fennell takes her readers on an emotional rollercoaster ride. If you like tortured heroes you will fall in love with Reel, he is the black sheep of his family because he's a mer without fins. For his whole life he's felt more like an outsider and not loved, it is only when he meets Erica he finds a reason for his life.

I can only congratulate Ms. Fennell for the idea to create this wonderful series in the undersea world. If you liked Disney's Little Mermaid, you will love this book. She is definitely a fast rising star in the world of romance and for me she is the new romance author of 2009.

Also keep an eye out for the upcoming Mer books WILD BLUE UNDER (November 2009) and CATCH OF A LIFETIME (February 2010).

Courtesy of Loveromances and More!

I'm a guy. Not a big fan of romance novels. I've only read a few, usually under duress.

But, I will say to the other guys out there that this was quite an impressive romp though the Deep. Fun characters, good plot, and clever twists. I quite enjoyed it and almost forgot it was a romance novel.

Some steamy scenes as well that are well written and did not make me skip forward.