Swimming without a Net (Fred the Mermaid, Book 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

MaryJanice Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2007 | Series: Fred the Mermaid (Book 2)

As Fred the Mermaid tries to fit in with her own kind, she finds herself hooked on both Artur, the High Prince of the undersea realm, and Thomas, a hunky marine biologist. She's also caught between two factions of merfolk: those happy with swimming under the radar-and those who want to bring their existence to the surface.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Delightful, wicked fun' Christine Feehan" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

MaryJanice Davidson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Undead novels featuring Betsy Taylor; Derik's Bane, and the new young adult novels featuring Jennifer Scales, written with her husband, Anthony Alongi, among other titles.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 281 pages
• Publisher: Jove (November 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515143812
• ISBN-13: 978-0515143812
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #306,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MaryJanice Davidson has been credited with starting paranormal chick lit. The New York Times bestselling author of the Undead series, she lives in Minnesota. Please visit her on the Web at www.maryjanicedavidson.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Meh., March 6, 2008

By 

M. Cactus (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swimming without a Net (Fred the Mermaid, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

While I enjoyed the first Fred the Mermaid novel, this was a disappointment. The author herself essentially gives the reader a warning before you begin. The plot is obviously contrived and the 'love triangle' promised never really appears. Fred's attraction to the merman is perplexing (all he does is look sexy and take her swimming) and vague jealousy pangs are the extent of her feelings for the scientist. Fred's best friend and boss appear randomly at the super-secret meeting and no one complains. And the unfinished (and almost completely non-sequitor) subplot with the abused foster child bugged me. This book badly needed another rewrite.

I've enjoyed some of her other books, so I'm not about to write Davidson off my list, but I don't know if I'll be back for Fred's third installment.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing Fluff, January 10, 2008

By 

J. Glenn (South Coast, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swimming without a Net (Fred the Mermaid, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Simplistic plot contrivances abound in this fluff of a book about a modern, urban mermaid who is summoned to a big merfolk convention in which the decision will be made whether to "come out" to humans or not.

The characters are paper-thin and the writing uninspired and unimaginative. I didn't expect a whole lot when I picked it up, given the size of the typeface and the number of pages, but I was still disappointed at how little of anything substantial there actually was in this book. There are much better written paranormal romances out there, keep looking, dear reader.

I gave this book one star because I got a genuine laugh out of King Mekkam's 'biped dialect' that he learns from watching DVDs, and one star just because it was about mermaids and I enjoy mermaid stories. This was the first book I've read by Davidson and I do not think I will be picking up a second.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Everything Is A Mermaid That Dives Into The Water - Russian Proverb, December 3, 2007

By 

Cherise Everhard (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Swimming without a Net (Fred the Mermaid, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the second 'tail' in the Fred the Mermaid Series.

Only a year ago was Fred's world turned upside down when she met for the first time another Merperson, Artur, Prince of the Undersea Folk. Until that time only her mother and her best friend Jonas knew of her scaly secret. Fred helped Artur with a little pollution problem and in the meantime bewitched both he and Thomas, her co-worker, both of them falling for her, head over fins.

But it's been a year, and since then Fred hasn't heard from either one of them. She's been living her life as normal while forced to watch as her best friend and boss swoon over each other. Fred is getting crankier by the day, which thankfully equals big laughs for us readers.

Then one day she is visited by two more of her fellow Merpeople asking her to make a journey to the Caymans for some special meeting known as a Pelagic. Reluctantly Fred agrees and soon she and Jonas are in the Cayman Islands, at a private resort, with none other than Artur, Thomas and a ton of merpeople.

I don't know what it is about MaryJanice Davidson's writing I like the best, the witty dialogue, her sassy characters, her humor, or her vivid imagination. All I do know is book after book she has me laughing out loud and all consumed in the worlds she has created.

This was a wonderful follow up to the first book Sleeping with the Fishes (Fred the Mermaid, Book 1) and Fred is just as fierce and funny as before. Fred learns a little about her past and people, while making the usual waves in the wake of her abrasive but fascinating personality. MaryJanice Davidson makes Fred and her underwater world seem so natural and real, this is a book you can easily enjoy.