Kate is a mermaid and is the last. She buried her (mermaid) family decades ago. She lives as a human, collecting beach glass to sell, and hasn't been in the water for a 100 years. Cooper was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He opted to move back to his childhood home. He notices Kate on the beach. This was nice, short and sweet. The epilogue was important, otherwise I would have thought this had a completely different ending. A little more explanation would have been nice, but considering the length, didn't happen.

This book has a unique premise as well as a new spin on old school monsters. The world/character developments were surprisingly rich while the actual writing was run of the mill Meh. The Steampunk aspect was explored more here than most books I have read that claim to be in the Steampunk genre these days. The actual steam driven mechanical aspects were great for background ambiance and interesting footnotes but weren't key factors in the story, something I would have given more stars for. It was a super quick read and did leave me wanting...though wanting what was an enigma. I believe this is due to the fact that it felt rushed and thin instead of having slow(ish) to boil, suspensefuly percolating, nail biting, robust foundation and plot twists. I know that's a lot to ask for but for me an unforeseen plot twist/ pivot, or intricate weaving of character depth vs. trials vs. inventive ways of achieving success are what sets a book above the rest and therefore deserve 4-5 stars. Should you read it??? In hindsight I would have skipped it and unsurprisingly, I am foregoing any future books in the series.

To Each His Own: A Falling in Deep Colle... Jinny Fairchild has lost her father who was really her last family member. But she does have her Uncle who is kin to him through her mother being adopted. Once she reach there she find she really liker her Uncle but his wife and son are another matter. His son is constantly trying to hurt her and rape her. On one of these tries Douglass McGrail sees them and stops her cousin from hurting her. Douglas finds that the lady he help is the same one he saw a few weeks ago. Douglas is a shape shiftier and ech-00shkya so when he first saw Jinny he was in his horse form. Think she would not know him because of this he feels okay to talk to her. Once they start talking Jinny does realize what he is...this does not stop their growing love. This is a different kind of love story but one that I really enjoyed!

*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

Even though other mer's who have done their drywalking say the humans are kind, Ink hates them for the death she's seen them bring to her world. She wishes she could let loose the banished siren song on the fisherman killing and harming her sea. But now, she must take her exiled year of drywalking, on human land. Hal a Nagual, a rare human-animal shifter, visits King Creon as he's breaking the accord that was put in place by Ink's deceased father. Creon is infuriated and sends Hal to the shallow waters. Ink knows the Shallow Waters will kill Hal, so she does what she believes her father would have wanted and she knows is right. In doing so she learns news of a new war coming to her people.

Kristin once again is an outstanding voice actress. The determined personality of Ink is solid in her voice. She does many male voice tones along with females in this vast world, again making it easy for us to listen and differentiate the characters. And I really like when Ink thinks something, Kristin makes it sound as though it's vibrating in her head, this way we know she's thinking it and not actually saying the words. Though the reaction would be strong if others heard what she thinks from time to time.

Melanie once again hits the ground running in the first chapter. It's packed full with feelings of Ink on humans, her ruling Uncle, father and mother, and implying her thoughts on her dry walking starting tonight. However, I think it might have been a bit to fast.

This is a short story and a tremendous amount of story and world packed into it. Melanie has done an amazing job of bringing a whole world to us. But at times I felt like the story was to short for the size of the world and characters created. I would have loved a few more moments with them in some parts of the story. And other moments there was so much happening at the same time, all the connections in one spot firing away. It might have been only a few words that connected outside things to this one event, but they were there.

Aaah, the characters... Ink is a strong woman. She does what she must for her people to survive. The waters of the world are poisoned by pollution and the mer-folk are affected by it. The mer-people are also at odds with others of their kind. To try and help her people and live in peace, she's agreed to marry a man she would rather hate. But! Before she is betrothed she meets a stunning man that she feels drawn to from the first moment their eyes meet. He's a Nagaul. Nagauls are other shifters that live on land. Hal's animal form is an alligator. Dangerous! Just the type of animal he is sends the shivers down my spine.

Hal has come to talk to the king of the Atlantic mers. He has a treaty with the previous king, Ink's father, but King Creon is not of the same standing as his brother was. Hal does get to warn Ink, in a quick moment, that a new war is coming. And in this moment Ink realizes she's drawn to him, as she's never been drawn to a man before, so she shares the deepest secret she has and has never shared with another. That she sings the siren song.

It seems there are those who have their own plans for Ink and how they are going to use her. But Ink has her own plans and placement of honor. She will do as she needs to for her people. Ink learns all the truths of her parents and the plans that some have for her.

Quick romance story to enjoy. I haven't read mermaids in a while and it was fun to read/listen to this one.