Author: Kelly Reno

ISBN: 1891437011

The following review was contributed by:  Andrea Wren & CLICK TO VIEW Andrea Wren's Reviews

If you're looking for a chunky, holiday novel to get to grips with - and are bored of risqué Hollywood love affairs (and other such over done genres pertaining to be the next summer blockbuster) - then you've picked up the right book. Misadventures and Merfolk is full of fairy tale action in an easy to read style, perfect for the beach or by the pool, particularly as much of its focus is at the seaside, and sun-heated heads won't be too challenged by it. Feisty and fast, it picks up pace after the first chapter or so and is the tale of an arrogant American travel writer (not a realistic stereotype, surely?) stuck in the British Isles with more action than he bargained for (and a thorough soaking in sea spray).

Brendan James (the obnoxious-couldn't-you-just-smack-him-in-the-mouth main character) is attempting to get a hit with another book after his last major flop. However, he has a serious case of writer's block and lands up in Heather Bay as a desperate last stop in the search for inspiration. James underestimates the amount of material that this blip of a village on the Isle of Man can provide for him, until strange things start happening wherever he goes (mainly involving amorous sea creatures and mad villagers with a penchant for wearing pig masks). James lies about why he's staying in the resort and when chaos ensues, he assumes the inhabitants are setting him up to provide enough action for him to write home about.

What follows for James is a number of escapades in his quest for discovering the 'truth' of the village - he wants to expose the residents for their great staging ability before he himself is rendered insane and needs to escape. After Brendan James, mermaids and mermen are the focal points of the story, and the leading man doesn't believe these sea folk exist for most of the book, though he has lots of 'fun' in discovering otherwise. Amidst all this, the book is a love story at heart, with a mix of characters that seem oddly put together yet a result that gives a need to read on. The mystery did unfold for the reader very early (or was easily worked out), whereas James didn't have a clue about what was going on until a lot later, though he is a resistant and cynical old Bar Steward! A little more suspense might have worked in favour of the book, though this didn't detract from the ultimate enjoyment of it.

Although not in great depth, the fantasy in this novel makes you imagine it were real - and you end up wishing there were an element of truth in the tale. I did want to learn more about the merfolk, and felt deprived of further exploration of their underwater, otherworld lives - like I wanted to peek in and find out more, but the book didn't allow it. However, I was greatly entertained by the story and did find myself wanting to forge ahead in my reading, rather than preferring to put the book down.

All in all, Kelly Reno manages to pack a lot of 'umph' into an effortless read and writes a fantasy tale with an eclectic range of characters and a brash, bolshy style. Good fun and recommended.