Title: FANGS & FINS A Paranormal Romance (Blood, Bloom, & Water Book 1)
Author: Amy McNulty
Pub. Date: May 1, 2018
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 330
Find it: Amazon, Goodreads
A dapper vampire. A sullen merman. Two heirs to a great conflict—and each needs to claim a beloved to become his kindred’s champion.
High school senior Ember Goodwin never had a sister, but after her mom’s remarriage, she now has two. The eldest is no stranger to her—Ivy is a witty girl in her grade who’s almost never spoken to the shy bookworm before—but she’s surprised to find the popular girl quite amiable. Their burgeoning friendship is tested, however, when Dean Horne, a pale, besuited charmer, shows interest in them both and plans to reveal his appetite for blood to the one who’ll stand by his side.
Seventeen-year- old Ivy Sheppard is tired of splitting her time between her dad’s and her mom’s, particularly when her dad uproots their lives to move them in with his new wife and step-daughter. Used to rolling with her parents’ whims, she tries to make the best of it and befriend her nerdy new step-sister. Her hectic life grows more unwieldy when she catches the eye of junior Calder Poole, whom she swears she sees swap well-toned legs for a pair of fins during a dip in a lake. Now she’s fending off suitors left and right, all while trying to get to the bottom of the strange happenings in her town.
The first book in the Blood, Bloom, & Water series sets family against family and friend against friend as an epic, ancient war comes to a head in a supposedly sleepy suburb.
My Review:
After reading a few underwhelming YA fantasy books from my school library, I was desperate for something to get me out of an impending reading slump. Fangs & Fins was definitely what I was looking for.
Ivy is a rather social girl, and Ember is her more reserved brand new stepsister. She has to get used to having a sister around her own age, especially one who isn’t as outgoing as she is. They don’t go through the petty fights that several step-siblings go through as they try to adjust. Instead, they try to make the best of an awkward situation and adjust to the new living arrangements. It just so happens that she goes into the woods after going to a party, and sees Calder jump into a lake and grow a pair of fins. Then she goes with her brand new sister into the woods.
Ember is a shy girl who has lived with just her mother for quite a while. She was not used to having one sister, much less two, and has a lot of things to get used to. She meets a strange boy named Dean when he comes to move boxes at her house, but then she meets him again at school. He is rather strange because he always wears a suit, used outdated words and phrases, and often did things that seemed straight out of an old film. She goes with her sister into the forest, and her life changes forever.
The pacing of this book was amazing. There were no points where the story died at all. The storyline was also addictive, and the characters were all unique. I have nothing to complain about. Even the romance was enjoyable! This was the best YA fantasy book that incorporates two different magical entities that I have read in a while. There were no editing errors, even though I had the advanced copy rather than the final one, and paragraphs seemed to flow so well. The book has about 33 chapters, and even the chapters were split evenly so that the story felt smooth.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new, addictive YA fantasy novel.
Overall Rating: 6/5
About Amy:
Amy McNulty is an editor and author of books that run the gamut from YA speculative fiction to contemporary romance. A lifelong fiction fanatic, she fangirls over books, anime, manga, comics, movies, games, and TV shows from her home state of Wisconsin. When not reviewing anime professionally or editing her clients’ novels, she’s busy fulfilling her dream by crafting fantastical worlds of her own.
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1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
4/30/2018- BookHounds YA– Interview
5/1/2018- Book Bite Reviews– Review
5/2/2018- Bri’s Book Nook– Review
5/3/2018- Book Briefs– Review
5/4/2018- Two Chicks on Books– Excerpt
Week Two:
5/7/2018- RhythmicBooktrovert- Review
5/8/2018- Don’t Judge, Read– Review
5/9/2018- Brandi’s Book Reviews– Review
5/10/2018- A Backwards Story– Guest Post
5/11/2018- Eating Between The Lines Inc– Review