3.5 stars I think is a fairer rating. 

Everything goes oh too well for our characters. Even the most evil event leaves (physically) only bruises and sore muscles. Not that I am complaining, mind you. 

Another minus for me is the unfinished business. Killjoy, Chacal, Spanish in general - those are still loose ends. I almost wish there was less talk and love making.... oh, who am I kidding!

3.5 stars. It's not the book, it's me.
Two MCs are thrown together for a month or so, sharing a cabin. I get claustrophobic :(

The ending seemed as tangled as Dewy's hair at one point, and was dealt with it the same way - cut short. But on the whole - pure magic. I loved it to pieces :) 
And yeah, Vegemite... @.@  lol

Peter is a stow-away on a boat. When the captain finds Peter, he throws him off the boat into the ocean. In the ocean, Peter meets Cuke, a sea-elf. Cuke saves Peter. They have great sex while surviving on a remote Caribbean Island. They make a baby. All is well. Good story.

*********************

On the plus side:

- Stranded/marooned/survival set-up. Robinson Crusoe, The Martian are my favorites. Definitely a plus.

- Gender-fluid sea-elf, interspecies. So, so cool! 'Cause Enemy Mine, people!!!! Three pluses in one :D

On the ...ahem ...other side:

CUKE, the sea-elf. Took me a few (dozen) pages to stop thinking about sea cucumbers :/ But only during the times when Peter and Cuke didn't have sex, cause:

- What century am I in? At first, for whatever reason, I assumed - present times. But then there are all kinds of mentions of a royal family. A historical, then? 75% into the book Cuke "heard the human surface craft land" - a sci-fi? Cause I have no clue what that "human surface craft" is - a Cessna? a space shuttle? an escape pod? a fisherman boat? a canoe? Noah's Arc? starship Enterprise? крейсер Аврора? what?

- What countr... forget country, what planet is Peter from? @.@ We are supposedly in the Caribbean. Yet Peter is an honest to god Prince. Peter and his brother Paul (names used exclusively by royals) are drinking alcohol at the tender age of 16 back home, wherever that is. Peter is also having all kinds of sex and making babies at that same age. Did Peter stow-awayed all the way from Luxembourg or United Kingdom? Belgium? No? Japan??

Here is a quiz for you.

Which country:
- still sports a royal family AND
- has the age of consent set at 16 AND
- has drinking age set at 16 (or possibly even younger)?
Don't know? Me neither. Must be a different planet.

- Star fruit. I read about it enough in the past day or so to be fed up with it for the next couple of years. Thank you very much *burp*.

Bottom line: Could have been a great story if executed better. 

1.5 stars.

I am totally in love with this book! Something about the lighthouses and the seaside and the merfolk appeals to me immensely.

My only complaint is that I couldn't get quite close to Merou, read more about his side of the story; there is still plenty of info to piece it together, just ...lacking somehow.

As for mansel in distress, oh well. There are boys in trouble out there, and I am sure lots of them can use some help. Being a man doesn't mean you must plow through life with a stoic face, unfazed by troubles. This particular setting in this particular book didn't bother me at all. 5 stars.

PS Delicious story, I might re-read it one day :)

Merou

Priddy

or maybe this is Priddy :)