If I could only recommend one book this month, Guarding the Mermaid would be it. I loved it, and I’ll confess I was predisposed to dislike this book.
Mermaids are not my thing. I see “mermaids,” and I’m not interested. Becky, the heroine, came across as dingaling in book 1 (A Nurse for the Wolfman). I didn’t like her in the previous book. Hero Jett is the kind of alpha-hole you find in dark romance. Definitely not my thing. But those elements put together in this story—Wow!
Becky is no dingaling. She’s a nurse in search of a scoop that will allow her to become an investigative reporter (somebody should have told her there’s more money in nursing than in journalism). But the clock is ticking. She’s terminally ill. After she’s attacked by a strange patient at the hospital where she works, she’s offered a job at remote, top-secret medical clinic. She figures out something fishy is going on, and the clinic and its brilliant Dr. Chimera might be her big break.
While Becky is suspicious of the doctor and his experiments; he’s suspicious of her, and orders his henchman Jett to key an eye on her and eliminate her if she becomes a problem. Jett is an amoral enforcer with no compunction about killing somebody if the job calls for it.
But despite himself, he begins to care for Becky. However, as her terminal illness progresses, she wonders if one of Dr. Chimera’s experiments might offer her a miracle cure. However, those experiments come with huge risk—a horrific, painful death or something much, much worse.
How far will she go to try to save her life? How far will Jett go?
Guarding the mermaid offers a tantalizing concoction of medical sci-fi, paranormal, dark romance, and a touch of horror that makes for a page-turning, compelling read. Highly recommend.