FOUR DAYS OF GARR DAY TWO!!!!

Welcome back to the Four Days of Garr day Two!!!

Today we are reviewing

Betrayal: Book 2 of The Syrenka Series

by Amber Garr

 

Amber has graciously included excerpts from this book, and don't forget that you have another chance to enter to win SIGNED PAPERBACKS of The Syrenka Series! I loooove GIVEAWAYS!!!

Life as a mermaid can be suffocating.
Eviana Dumahl has returned home as a clan leader, an
orphan, and a heartbroken teenage girl.  Her parents are
dead and her boyfriend, Brendan, has decided that he needs
some time away.  While battling her inner turmoil, Eviana
is forced into the war that Lucian Sutherland has incited
amongst her own kind.  With the help of Kain, her friend
and formally betrothed, the two work together to prove that
they deserve their birthrights as young merfolk leaders.
When The Council requests a demonstration of Eviana’s
mermaid powers, she finds herself with an opportunity to
win back Brendan’s heart.  But her orders to train with a
repulsive merman and the presence of an attractive new
suitor challenges Eviana to embrace her leadership and
resist temptation. Lucian is after her, and no one seems to
understand why.  Loyalties are tested as the casualties
increase, showing Eviana that sometimes it is impossible
to delineate between friends and enemies.

Okay, So I'm seriously hating Amber right now.  The Syrenka Series has quickly become one of those books that you are dying to talk about, but you cant because you don't want to ruin the book for everyone.... but holy flipping monkeys! I want to talk about Betrayal soooo freaking badly!

 

Betrayal was non stop action, heartache, death and betrayals (good title ;) ) with moments of sweetness and heart warming moments that were quickly thrown against the outcropping by the tidal wave of devastation (hey now, its a mermaid book, have to use sea metaphors)

 

Since I can't blab about everything that threw me for a loop, I figured that I could do it in a roundabout way via

Moments from the Vault of What-The-Ef-ery!

 

I like him, but I  like the other one two, but I'm really rooting for the new one! I think they'd be fabulous together *happy dance*

 

Ha! You flipping bast*rd!

 

Omg did they seriously just send her back to that psycho? are they flipping crazy?

 

WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT SH*T!!!

 

Okay, do not use mastiffs as a description of something that ferocious and terrifying... I love those doggies *pouts*

 

YES! Kiss her you fool!

 

HOLY FLIPPING MONKEYS!

 

Are you blind! She needs to go to stop it and I hope she kills the b*stard!

 

Awwwwww I can't believe he left :( But maybe now she can get with (someone whom I'm not going to name)

 

ahhhhh! I want to kill him! Yet I want there to be a happy ending with him! But I want to KILL HIM!

 

No. Flipping. Way.

 

WHAAAAAAAT!?!?

 

So yes, this book has been fun! And I'm still biting my tongue and trying my damnedest not to type EVERYTHING that is running through my mind about this book because I can't spoil it for people. *bangs head against keyboard*

So this review is really really hard to write.

 

Okay, now with the relationships between the characters and the sort-of love triangle, lets just say that everything has become ten types of f*cked up... and I LOVE IT!

 

Kain may still be in love with Eviana... but he also may hate her.  Eviana may have feelings for Kain that she doesn't want to admit to, and she may keep trying to hold onto Brendan, even though it may be futile. Plus, lets throw in a new character! (whom I love thank you very much! Very cocky and roguish with a healthy dose of 'boy I don't know whether to laugh or slap you or kiss you... maybe a combo of the three).

 

Eviana's strength of character truly grows in leaps and bounds.  Gone are the days when she wishes and tries to hide from the injustice and cruelties of life.  She's becoming a true leader and refuses to back down, only hoping to save her 'family' and those who are cruelly used and abused.  Seeking a way to peace has never looked so hard, especially when the road is littered with blood and heartbreak.  But still, she may show moments of weakness (as anyone in their right mind would do. Hello! Holding everything in and never allowing a mental and emotional break is not only psychologically damaging, but physically as well and leads to complete and total psychological break, which can not only cause severe harm to a psyche, but can cause the person to cause harm to others as well.... sorry, was a psychology student ;) ) but she quickly moves on when her emotional release is finished and gets back to the business at hand. I'm seriously loving her character more and more.

 

There were many what-the-ef moments and tons of b*tch slapping twists. Unfortunately, this falls into the red area of 'spoilers', thus I can't talk about it...*sighs* ya'll are just going to have to read it and then we can have a book discussion. Trust me, you'll want to talk about it.

 

So, since that's all I can safely say about the book, lets move on to the EXCERPTS!

 



Excerpt 1
I wanted to punch him in the face.
For at least the hundredth time today, I swung my fist towards his infuriating smirk.  He
easily dodged it, of course, and proceeded to look down at me like a child.  “You’re getting
closer,” he teased.
Throwing my arms down in frustration, I shook my head.  “How am I supposed to learn if
you won’t even let me get a hit in?”
He laughed and resumed a fighter’s stance.  “How are you supposed to learn if I just stand
still and let you pummel me?  That’s not ever going to happen in the real world.  Now, try with
your legs.”
I rolled my eyes and shifted my feet so that my stronger right leg was in front.  Ideally, I’d
be having this battle underwater where my legs were not an issue.
“Protect your face,” he yelled at me and I lifted my fists up to nose level.  I could do this. 
He’d taught me how to incapacitate my enemies.  Just go for the knee. 
I faked a few smaller kicks, pretending to hesitate.  Then, like a ninja, I struck.  The
underside of my right foot was directly on target and I expected it to land a perfect hit to the side
of his left knee.  Only it didn’t happen.
Out of nowhere, he grabbed my ankle and I was suddenly airborne.  The world spun
around me once before I landed with a thud on my back, effectively knocking the air from my
lungs.  I even saw some stars floating by.  My training sessions were getting harder every day,
and after this debacle, I decided that it was time to quit.
A shadow moved above me and I used my hand to block out the rest of the sun.  Looking
up at his ominous figure I said, “I’m done.”
I heard another laugh rumble through my trainer’s chest as he reached down and grabbed
my arm.  In one swift motion, he pulled me up off the ground. 
“You would have broken my knee with that kick, Eviana.  I had to stop you.”  I glared at
him.  “What?” he continued.  “I’m not going to let you hurt me.  But you did well.  I knew that
you’d learn eventually.”
I jumped towards him as fast as I could, intending to get him in a choke hold.  My arms
slipped around his neck, but my body kept rolling over him as he bent forward and used my
momentum to toss me towards the ground.  In less than two seconds, I was on my back again
with a forearm pressing against my throat and my pride seeping away into the dirt.
“Ahh!” I screamed in frustration.  The annoying grin on his face told me that I would never
beat him in a fair fight.  Palmer was my cousin, my trainer, and also one of the numerous
protectors now living at my house.  We’d been practicing for the past two weeks and although I
couldn’t hurt him yet, Palmer reassured me that I was improving.

Excerpt 2
“Try that one next,” Daniel mumbled through a mouth full of bagel.
“Stop pointing!” I warned him.  The three of us were sitting on one of the benches in
Bennett’s Park that surrounded the largest playground area.  We probably looked young enough
that this wasn’t creepy, otherwise the adults would wonder why we stared and laughed at their
kids all morning.  I felt kind of bad but it was the only way I could practice.  “What should I
do?”
Daniel tilted his head in thought, and I could see the moment he got some demented idea. 
“Make him do the chicken dance!”  Kain snorted and I agreed with his sentiment.
“Daniel…,” I groaned.  “Really?”
“Yes, it’s genius because no one would be suspicious if an adult is dancing for a kid.  Plus,
you can try to give the command to just one person,” he pointed out.
“Okay, let’s see.”  I did my best to block out all background noises and focused in on one
of the few fathers who braved the playground scene today.  It wasn’t like I could find his mind
per se, but that’s what I was trying to do.  The more I practiced, the easier it was for me to
visualize every individual’s consciousness.  I directed my power towards the jumble of thoughts
that I figured belonged to the man and pushed the music into his head along with the command
to dance.  A wave of confusion swept over his face and he stopped fiddling with his daughter’s
coat.  He stood up and began to sway from side to side.
“It’s working!” Daniel squealed.  The man smiled down at his daughter and brought his
hands up to his ribs.  Flapping his elbows up and down like a bird, he began the chicken dance.  I
was so excited, I continued to push the command out towards him without realizing that I
touched a few other minds as well.  Nearly twenty parents and their children began dancing the
choreographed steps and I totally lost my concentration.
“Oh crap,” I moaned.  Kain and Daniel laughed beside me and I elbowed them both. 
“Humans are too easy.”  I was learning that the power of suggestion on a human’s mind was way
more potent than I could handle at this point.  Pushing out one command to one person with a
little too much force indirectly affected all of those around him.  Now half of the playground was
wiggling and twisting to an inaudible tune, and Daniel was in hysterics.
“Keep going.  This is too good,” he sputtered out in between giggles.  I ignored him and
yelled Stop! in my head to erase their urge to continue dancing. 
Within a few seconds, everyone stopped and looked around in confusion.  My friends were
laughing loudly and several parents glanced in our direction.  But they soon went back to their
normal business as though they hadn’t just been part of a flash mob.  Mermaid compulsion: got
to love it.
“Oh, you’re no fun,” Daniel chided.
I rolled my eyes at him and slumped back against the bench.  Sipping the latte we grabbed
on the way to the park, I looked around the rest of the scenery and tried to think about nothing. 
Not an easy task. 
“You try it,” Daniel said.  At first I thought he was talking to me, but was surprised to see
him looking at Kain.
“I don’t think so,” Kain said with an edge.
“No, he’s right.  You need to practice too,” I added.  Kain had the ability as well, although
for some reason mine had jumped from zero to extreme in one evening.  His power repertoire
was building slowly but he still had the skills necessary to manipulate minds. 
“You’re the one they want to see demonstrate,” Kain reminded me.
“So?  You’re a leader, too and the more control you have, the more people will respect
you.”

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