""Breakwater (The Mer Chronicles, Book 2)" by Errin Stevens

Author: Errin Stevens

Narrator: Sean Posvistak

Length: 8 hours and 37 minutes

Publisher: Errin Stevens⎮2017

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

Series: The Mer Chronicles, Book 2

Release date: Jul. 17, 2017

The sirens of Griffins Bay are in trouble, and the recent slew of royal suicides looks to be the least of their worries. For one, unless a blood relative of the queen shows up, no one's around to staff the monarchy. Well, except for a whack-job bureaucrat and he seriously won't do. Worse is the community unrest threatening siren society, a problem caused by too many humans in the pool, which means Simon and his off-limit girlfriend will have to run and hide if they want to make more of their flirtation... The solution doesn’t inspire confidence at first, but the Blakes have everything at hand to set their world to rights - namely, a hidden queen, a dead prince, and a facility for human manipulation. Once they find their sea legs, they'll restore order, distribute smart phones, and drive that conniving bureaucrat to a grisly, satisfying end.

Buy on Amazon⎮Audible

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Errin Stevens. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

This was a cute, unique story made almost unfollowable by a narrator who provided no distinction between characters. Young, old, male, or female--they all sounded EXACTLY the same, making it quite difficult to discern who was speaking at any given time. I found myself having to back up and relisten to scenes just to figure out who was involved, which was fairly aggravating.

The beginning of this one was a bit confusing and time seems to move inconsistently. However, once everything gets going, it’s easier to follow. The character development is nicely paced and I liked most of them once I figured out who was who and where they fit into the big picture. I liked the world the author built and the detail was interesting, though some of the control the merfolk had over regular old mortals was a little...intense in places.

I won’t say I hated the narrator, because he has a nice voice, but he was not a good choice for this story. A female reader might have made a big difference to my enjoyment, especially considering how many of the characters we follow are female. I’d have liked Sean Posvistak better if he’d been able to differentiate characters better for his listener, or if the story had fewer characters for him to play. I think I’ll be reading the sequel to this one in print. Sorry, Sean.

Bottom line: This story was unique and interesting oncei t got going, but the narrator choice was a flop. If you’re looking for a paranormal romance that doesn’t center around the worn-out zombies, vampires, and werewolves, you should give The Mer Chronicles a try.

Errin Stevens writes paranormal romantic suspense stories from her home in Minnesota. When not wrestling with unruly narrative - or reading literary and commercial fiction like a fiend - you’ll find her poring over seed catalogues (winter) or gardening (the other three days of the year).