My life changed forever the day my father's oil rig crashed into the ocean. Now, three men want answers I don't have, and they'll do whatever it takes to get them.
Jax, Morgan, and Blake want to destroy me, but I know their secret.
I’m questioning everything I knew to be true. Especially when the truth about them leads to discovering a deep, long-hidden secret about myself.
They aren't who they appear to be... but neither am I.
*Surge is a paranormal enemies-to-lovers romance where the heroine does not have to choose. There are adult situations and light/medium bullying happens in book 1 only. Series is complete.
Gahhhh this heroine was so maddeningly annoying I want to throttle her. Not to mention her ridiculous and out of control hormones which she really should see a Dr about. I’m not sure what the true definition of a ninny is, but this heroine for sure is one. Supposedly she’s part siren yet she’s not the one luring in the guys, rather she’s dry humping them and losing her mind going gaga over them while they literally destroy her life. She’s constantly thinking to herself what assholes they are yet rather than even having a breakdown or revenge she’s making out with one of them (3 I think). And boy are they assholes in almost every way possible. Their language is so crude and unsexy I could not believe how normal they tried to make some of their conversations when it all just came off gross.
The guys are also huge manwhores, funnily enough they’ve made their way through the school and haven’t even been on land, let alone in school for the last however many years. I really could not stand them and their behaviors all because her daddy built an oil rig. Because two wrongs always make a right, am I right? Smh. This whole fucking drama doesn’t even really concern the heroine and so their determination to bring her down just enrages me. The guys are on a mission to find her father by any means necessary. Their qualms are with him. She has no relationship with him, hasn’t seen him since she was 1 but still they systematically destroy her life. What I don’t get is how she doesn’t lose her shit. Everytime they’re around she’s in the fucking clouds and I just don’t get it.
In the end they legitimately kidnap her and drug her bringing her to their evil mermaid ruler father or whatever. As much as I want retribution I know she’ll be a sniveling ninny 🤣 over them again in no time. She does herself and women everywhere a disservice 😔 Oh and the plot…. I mean it was ok. Not really original and everyone pissed me off but I’m trying to remain positive. Not exactly the underwater mermaid RH I was hoping for, I’m for sure not rooting for anyone here!!
I’m such a believer in protecting the ocean, getting rid of oil etc., but this book just brought out so many negative emotions in me I couldn’t even try to side with the guys, or her for that matter, for a second. My only actual hope here is for the ocean 😐 This is where I start moping because I bought the series audiobook so now I’m committed to seeing it through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Typically, I’m not really into bully-romance. But since I love Maya Nicoles other books, I decided to give it a try, and I was blown away. I was able to really connect and feel for Rylie. She has everything happen to her all at one time, with hardly any room to really recover from before the next thing happens to her. And it’s all because of who her father is. The story is a roller coaster of a ride as Rylie tries to figure out why the Triton boys are picking on her, why they want her to contact her father, where her mother is, her feelings and emotions revolving around the Triton boys. Sooo good. And that cliffhanger 😭😱 can’t wait for the next book!!
This book was suggested to me in a Facebook group and I decided to read it because the blurb got me intrigued. It’s not that the book itself is bad but the reason this didn’t turn into a 4-5 stars read for me was that Riley gave me so much whiplash from hating then liking the guys and there wasn’t much drama as I hoped.
The plot is rather predictable: the books starts with a flashback from the past with a young 7yo Riley, the MC, at the beach with her mom making sand castles all happy then almost drowning after getting caught in a rip current, only to be saved by a sea blue creature with feline eyes. Back to 2020: it’s Riley’s senior year and she tries to blend in and live the year unscathed as the news of a huge oil spill is all over the country, and she is the daughter of the man behind that. Of course, no one knows they are estranged and haven’t seen each other since she was a child, but she and her mom live off his money so it’s no wonder someone would think to use her to get to him. Enter Jay, Blake and Morgan aka the Tritons aka Salinity Cove High School’s top swimmers. They are hot, rich and popular since they win every competition bringing the school to the limelight and out of the blue, they all corner Riley to give her an ultimatum: she has 72h to tell them where her father is hiding or else... Time‘s up and she obviously can’t tell them what she doesn’t know so The Tritons begin to bully her in order to make her see that they mean business: from crashing all her school and even dance classes to breaking into her home. Riley can only count on her school friends, Ivy and Aiden, to help her make do what’s going on (and even support her financially) since her mom, who was supposedly on vacation abroad, has gone MIA. It’s clear that the whole situation revolves around the boys and their sudden interest so Riley has no choice but to follow them in order to find out more. What she wasn’t expecting was to discover they are not human and to top things off, neither can shake the lure and attraction they feel alone together.
I will say while those making out scenes are hot, most of the time they gave me major whiplashes and roll eyes moments either prior or afterwards. I know they are in high school but ugh it’s so annoying how they go from 0 to 60 and there’s little character building, except for the few pov chapters from the boys in which you can see they are struggling with the mission ordered by Jax’s father, one of their people’s admiral, not to mention why Jax is the most contrary of them: his sister is dying from being exposed to the oil spill. In that scene in particular she goes to finding him crying to ended up being dry humped 🤦🏻♀️
The book suddenly picks up in the end and ends up with a little cliffy as you can expect from a trilogy. Weirdly enough I am curious to read book 2 to see if it gets better and how deep and complex Maya will go with the story but sadly the story didn’t captivated me enough to consider it a must read I’m afraid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I freaking loved this story!!! I literally stayed up just to finish it. This story is so so good!!! Can I have book 2 like now!! Story does end on a cliffhanger so just a heads up. Definitely a slow burn. But oh the storyline is fantastic. Maya Nicole is a freaking amazing author. Loved this story and the characters so much. I cannot wait to read what happens next!!!! Highly recommend reading this.
The plot tries to justify Riley’s demented attraction to her bullies by blaming it on their supernatural side. I could believe that if the relationship with the men was less… caustic, but there’s a point where logic should override magical instinct. The moment a man pays someone to beat you up, attraction should have gone out of the window, regardless of magic or how very hot the men are (something this book loves to remind us of).
It’s not even the worst thing they do and she still lets them touch her at every opportunity, despite the fact they don’t ever really apologize for their actions and just. Keep. Hurting her. The frustration from it all is made worse by the fact that we’re expected to believe Riley is, somehow, really smart despite 90% of her actions constantly indicating the opposite.
My one hope for the series is the disclaimer that the bullying stops after the first book. Not that I expect the writing quality to improve enough I will feel that forcing myself through the first one was worth it, but maybe I will find it in me to hate everyone a bit less once the alleged heroes stop being the main source of conflict.
Regarding the audiobook performances… they were fine. I hate the fact Bridget Bordeaux is unable to pronounce “Nguyen”, but I guess lack of interest in proper pronunciation of non-Anglo names is about the least offensive thing I found in this book.
ETA:
Well, I finished the trilogy.
The whole thing has a very YA sheen to it that makes me uncomfortable, because I don’t like reading sex scenes with characters that seem too immature for it. Therefore, the book will stay fixedly in the “never to be mentioned again” pile. However, I will say that despite all my complaints, I am willing to try other series by this author – hopefully one with adults as the main characters, and without the bullying. Fingers crossed Salinity Cove was simply an unfortunate mix of elements that I was never going to enjoy, and a drastic change in setting is all it’ll take for me to like this author's writing.
PS: The covers with the guys in triton form were infinitely better than the generic ‘wet people kissing’ ones.
Stopped reading when rich black boy was pulled over for being black. I gave this book a try cause mer. Bully sounded unique. I said ok to the big bad oil company killing the whales and so forth . Accepted that a extremely rich oil man would bail and run from a clean up. Pretended that of course the worse the mer. Ocean living men would ever do bully wise to her was a little mind scare and oily fish to push home their demands.... The theme here is preachy and pushes a one sided story we read in news everyday.if this is what the writer was going for the story needed to be better ...cause it was not. It took a platform,soap box and started shouting from the roof tops. But had to go further than bad oil killing the ocean and put in racism. ..yep we went there. If I wanted to read about this I wouldn't be reading fiction. This got good reviews and if had been more interesting and twisted it might have pulled it off for me . But making the boys slightly bullies to make it fit your ocean good oil bad kinda just pissed me off .Then you made one of the mer. Boys a bigger victim of being black and bad cop ( being a news theme today) treating him unfairly cause of color just did it in for me. I am family with close mixed races ( one being my two granddaughters) and to add the cop scene was just pure inflammatory. Will not be reading anymore of these .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
It's kind of funny, what I had wanted to do is read a couple of chapters make sure this was something that I wanted to read and then put it on my reading list. However, that is not what happened. I started reading, read a couple chapters, and I realized oh my god the book is done. I read the whole book and just a couple of hours lOL. And that's because I had to take a lot of break to pee.
It is a cute book. Very very slow burn. Off to read the next 1.
Killing me with that ending there!!! Okay... I don't even know how to wrap my head around this beautiful new world Maya has brought us too. The cover is absolutely stunning and the whole concept is uniquely captivating. Riley is my soul sister. She loves school supplies, reading and staying out of the drama. Unfortunately, the drama finds her. The Tritons are the three hottest, richest, and best swimmers at school. They have a secret though, and they want Riley to pay for her Father's crimes. Things start to unravel for her... And Riley being awesome and a smart heroine actually goes to the proper resources. She calls her mom. She reports the bullying at school. She filed a police report. She calls the police multiple times. Unfortunately...it doesn't matter but I applaud her for trying. There are a lot of secrets that we are uncovering with Riley as she puts things together.
The Tritons consist of Jax, Blake and Morgan. They are the typical Playboy, rich boy who can get any girl, discards them often and doesn't follow rules. They are not sure what to think of Riley. They are hearing one thing and seeing another and the two do not match up. Some sexual tension as well.
There is ballroom dancing, swim meets, good friends, and yearbook. There are also mean girls, bullies and loneliness. There is even racial profiling and I felt the emotions put into that section. It was heart breaking, but an unfortunate reality. I appreciate the significance though of putting that there. It needs to be felt so maybe it will help people see differently.
There were so many great quotes and references that I laughed a lot, teared up, smiled and even felt the despair. That is the sign of a great writer and a great story. I loved everything, even the ending though it makes me want to scream out! Why are you still reading this? Go and grab this book now!!! Multiple POVs. Mild steam.
This book's cover is one of the best covers I have ever seen. It made me want to dig into this book. I will say it took me all of about 3 hours to read this entire book, because I could not put it down. I was not sure what I was getting into with this book, besides reverse harem and a bit of bully. Honestly I do not think the boys bullied her too much. Riley is a very strong character. I love how she did not back down at all in the book. This book does have a very tough cliff hanger. Thankfully the next book with be out in September and I will not have to wait another year for the next installment. The way Maya makes these characters come to life is amazing. Each character felt like a person you could have gone to school with. They had depth that some authors can never get with their writing. Maya is quickly becoming one of my top five authors to read.
How does this have 4 stars. Why am I still going to read the second book. Truthfully no one knows. Spoilers ahead.
Alright so let's get into it. Here's what I really didn't like: is this a bully romance? Are they bullies? They do nothing to redeem themselves which is a core component of a bully romance. In the end they just blindly follow orders and don't care about her? Doesn't sound great to me. Why are they in high school? Was it convenience for the author? Why not just have them be freshmen in college with the amount of "spice" she she eventually wants in the series it makes more sense.
The concept is there. The plot could be saved, but to be honest I don't think it will be. This book was incredibly repetitive in a way I think the author was striving for angst and it did not come off well.
Since discovering Maya last year, I've eagerly awaited each new release. I get so invested in every character and by the end of every series, I'm sad to say goodbye to them. Riley, Jax, Morgan and Blake are no different although I wasn't a fan of Jax in the beginning but by the end of the book had been won over. I like the sea theme of this book, its a nice change from the usual wolf shifter and vampire books I've been reading recently and I'm eager to find out more about the tritons. This book ends on a cliffhanger and the next in the series can't come soon enough@
I bought this on a whim from a facebook ad. It sounded interesting. I was not prepared for how much I loved it. I started and finished it the day it came in the mail. I loved the story and the characters. I was worried that every page was going to be dripping in sex, and was thankful it wasn't. Don't get me wrong there was plenty of sexy, but there was also a wonderful foundation. A story that I wanted to read, not just filler between sexy scenes. I immediately bought books 2 and 3. I can't wait!
Riley, a high school senior's life falls apart as she is bullied, her mom disappears, and she finds out the world is not what she thinks it is. While trying to prove her 3 bullies are the problem, she discovers their secret (they are mermen) and some things about herself as well. She finds herself attracted all three as she tries to figure out why they won't leave her alone.
The story is mature and I did enjoy the characters, especially her best friends. Each chapter alternates between a different characters POV.
Actually maybe I shouldn’t call dibs on anyone at this point. If history repeats itself then I will probably have different favorites by the end. You never know what this author will come up with and she does it so effortlessly it feels like. Jax is currently my least favorite but he might very well pull in the lead once he stops being torn and commit to our girl Riley! It is an amazing series starter and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
This book was crazy good! My emotions were all over the place. I cant wait for the next book this book left off with a big cliffhanger. Riley and the stuff shes going through is insane. And don't get me started on the boys, I don't know if I hate them or love them maybe a little of both...leaning towards the love them if I'm honest.😁
Left on a cliffhanger!!! Not Fair Maya!! I am not a fan of High School reverse harem story...but Maya never disappoints and I will read anything she writes. I am loving and hating these mermen but hopefully they can redeem themselves...Can't wait for the next book...I am at a loss...I was so engrossed and they she went and threw me off a cliff. Definitely recommend this read.😁😁😁😁
I am not a fan of high school bully romances and held off on reading this for a bit because of it. I am so glad I decided to read it; I devoured it in one sitting and can’t wait for the next book. I love the premise of the book and think the author will take this to great heights, or depths if you will.
Seriously this book was really good! From the prologue on I was intrigued. I’m pissed at Jax’s sexy ass though. We shall see what happens now but book two could not come out sooner.
I don't usually read high school or bully books, but my friend recommended it, so I decided to give it a go. I could not put this down. And I don't even know why. I absolutely need the next book, though!!
Bought this on the off chance and I am glad I did. Really enjoyed the plot and the charaters progression through the book. Only downside is now waiting for the next book to see what happens. I will be buying the next one in the series
This book was amazing. The story line kept me enthralled the whole time. Getting to know these characters is going to be amazing. Can't wait for the next book to come out.
Seeing the book dedicated to baby sharks I knew I'd like it. Seriously though it was a great read.. a cliffhanger leaving you wanting the next book now.
I’m liking the series so far, can’t believe the ending though oh my goodness! You could have left us with a little bit more I can’t wait to read the next book.
5/5 i don't normally read paranormal romances but i just decided to pick this one up and i don't regret that choice at all. i ate all the angst up in this novel. also the sexual tension is THICC.