Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown

Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown

Release Date: March 12, 2013
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Series: Lies Beneath, Book 2
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: Author
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Read my review of Lies Beneath HERE.

It's been thirty days, two hours, and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she's counting. And when Calder does return, it's not quite the reunion Lily hoped for. Especially after she lets her father in on a huge secret: he, like Calder, is a merman. Obsessed with his new identity, Lily's dad monopolizes Calder's time as the two of them spend every day in the water, leaving Lily behind.

Then dead bodies start washing ashore. Calder blames his mermaid sisters, but Lily fears her father has embraced the merman's natural need to kill. As the body count grows, everyone is pointing fingers. Lily doesn't know what to believe—only that whoever's responsible is sure to strike again...

After reading Lies Beneath last year, this became one of the sequels I was waiting on desperately! I love Anne Greenwood Brown's writing. Her words have a certain way of capturing you into the story– with romance, with mermaids and with legends.
This was an interesting turn as now we get to hear what happens in Lily's perspective! I really loved Lily's character in the last book and was excited to finally get to know her more.

I felt this book was a little slower compared to the first one. I loved it– but it lacked in that fast-pacedness that I adored in Lies Beneath. And of course, the lack of Calder made it drag on a little bit more.
I enjoyed the reappearance of some of the characters from the previous book. Granted, a lot had changed since then, but I mean, for instance, Jack's character has had some major character development... the wrong way. He's COMPLETELY different now, and it's kind of a creepy paranoid-ness that's taken over his life. Calder is pretty sparse throughout this whole book, as I mentioned previously, and this was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because Lily's character really flourished in this book and now I'm really loving her character, but bad because I mean: it's CALDER. Enough said.

Oh my gosh– the ending guys! Freaking awesome. Seriously pumped up to read the next book because there's so much to be answered and the way Deep Betrayal leaves off is just like, WOW. Firstly, because there's a fabulous twist in here, and secondly, mind. blown. Yeah, that's right, seriously grab this book when you can! Here's a little snippet:

❝One small step. My toes dug into the rocky precipice, feeling its pockmarked surface. The shiny lacquer of my toenails reflected a bird overhead. We made eye contact–the bird and I– he with a questioning expression, raising a feathered eyebrow.
One small step. Tensing, I leaned forward.
One small step. I closed my eyes and inhaled the perfumed air.

One small step.
And I was falling.
A rush
of adrenaline
surged from
my stomach
to my heart.❞

– p. 2-3 (ARC* edition)

*text is subject to change in the final copy

See what I mean about flawless descriptions and that enthralling tone of the story? This is one not to miss out.
Deep Betrayal was everything I could ask for in a sequel, and by the end had me saying: MORE PLEASE! Anne Greenwood Brown has proven once again her brilliant skill as an author and shall definitely be looking forward to the third instalment of this series, Promise Bound.

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Anne Greenwood Brown for providing an ARC copy for review and BTG2013! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• Of Poseidon by Anna Banks ● Goodreads
• City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster ● Goodreads
• Lost Voices by Sarah Porter ● Goodreads

Guest Post and Giveaway with Anne Greenwood Brown

Anne Greenwood Brown

Anne Greenwood Brown lives in Minnesota with her husband and three children. She has worked as a lawyer, a teacher, a bartender, a ski instructor, and a chicken farmer. More than anything, she loves to tell stories. Deep Betrayal is the sequel to Lies Beneath.

Books

Lies Beneath (2012)
◆ Goodreads ● Amazon ● The Book Depository ◆

Deep Betrayal (2013)
◆ Goodreads ● Amazon ● The Book Depository ◆

Find Anne

Website ● Twitter ● Facebook ● Goodreads

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

A DUMMY'S GUIDE TO MERMAIDS

by Anne Greenwood Brown

When Rabiah asked me to do a post on a DUMMY’S GUIDE TO MERMAIDS, I couldn’t resist. The fact is, we’re all dummies when it comes to mermaids. They’re not like vampires, where there is a public consensus that they drink blood, avoid sunlight, and drive Volvos. When it comes to mermaids, there are so many different “takes” on the breed that they keep us guessing. Maybe that’s the one consistency among them: mermaids are very hard to catch.

Still, I have come to know a few things over the last couple years since LIES BENEATH, and now DEEP BETRAYAL, have been released. Here is what I’ve learned from talking to marine biologists, studying cave paintings, and watching Animal Planet:

1. Real mermaids do not have gills and do not wear bikinis.

2. Nearly every country/ every culture has a tradition of mermaid sightings and legends.

3. There is no scientific evidence that mermaids can walk on land, but there are quite a few literary examples of that being so.

4. Human free divers have been clocked at holding their breath for over 19 minutes--giving credence to the theory that humans and mermaids share a common ancestor.

5. In China, mermaids are said to smell like happiness.

6. Alexander the Great’s sister was reincarnated as a mermaid.

7. Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson was intrigued by mermaids, wrote poems about them, and took one on a seaside picnic that ended badly.

8. Mermaids reproduce by mating with human men. While there have been cases of mermen reproducing with human women, the offspring of those unions are not well documented and require further study.

9. Mermaids are not as well known for their singing as Sirens, but they have been known to participate in local karaoke nights, with statistics showing that they are most drawn to Queen’s Greatest Hits and the occasional Bruno Mars ballad.

10. Mermaid winter migrations have been caught on Sonar by Massachusetts fishing fleets, and and the annual event is currently being pitched to NBC as a reality t.v. show (working title, School of Legends).*

* NBC executives could not be reached for comment prior to this posting.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Thank you so much to Anne for the hilarious guide for our Books That Glow 2013 event! I really love her books, and you should TOTALLY check out Deep Betrayal. Here's a little bit about it (WARNING! Contain spoilers if you haven't read Lies Beneath):

It's been thirty days, two hours, and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she's counting. And when Calder does return, it's not quite the reunion Lily hoped for. Especially after she lets her father in on a huge secret: he, like Calder, is a merman. Obsessed with his new identity, Lily's dad monopolizes Calder's time as the two of them spend every day in the water, leaving Lily behind.

Then dead bodies start washing ashore. Calder blames his mermaid sisters, but Lily fears her father has embraced the merman's natural need to kill. As the body count grows, everyone is pointing fingers. Lily doesn't know what to believe—only that whoever's responsible is sure to strike again. . . . 

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Thanks to the amazing Anne Greenwood Brown, you all have the chance to win:

A SIGNED COPY OF DEEP BETRAYAL

+

A bookmark!

The Rules:

• Open Internationally!
• This giveaway ends on the 25th of April, 2013.
• The winner has 48 hours to respond to the email, or another winner shall be chosen.
• We and the author are not responsible for any lost/damaged packages.

Enter in the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Series: Lies Beneath, Book 1
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death.

It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love--just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty.

I fell in love with this book just by looking at it's cover. Knowing that it was about mermaids (or rather merfolk) I was determined to get my hands on it. When I did, I was taken away by the incredible descriptions and character developments throughout this novel. The plot captivated me from start to finish– it was one book I was sorry to put down, so thank goodness this is a series so I can get my hands on the sequel!

It's unfortunately rare to find a male protagonist in young adult books these days, and I was swept away by Calder. I wouldn't care if he was plotting to kill me– his descriptions drove me (insanely) crazy in love. I was falling for him every time he practically spoke. I totally get why his sisters would use him to seduce Lily... every move would drive a girl crazy.
Lily was a great love interest as well. She's really sweet, and even though I was tearing my hair out over her "hard-to-get-ness", practically screaming at her "WHY WON'T YOU JUST KISS HIM ALREADY?!", she who's really different from others... she kind of reminded me of Lena from Beautiful Creatures because of her love for that gothic feel (poetry in this case). Her sister Sophie was adorable as well.
Speaking of sisters, Calder's totally freaked me out. They're just so dang creepy. These are mermaids, but ladies and gentlemen, these mermaids don't sing "Part of Your World"... unless it's to end up killing the guy. They reminded me a lot of the killer mermaids in Lost Voices, and it even got to the point where I was having nightmares of swimming after reading this book.

There's definitely an interesting twist at the end of this book, and it's really interesting to see how this all ties up. I'm definitely pumped for book 2, Deep Betrayal!
Lies Beneath is a gorgeous novel. It was beautifully written, and enthralled me with every step of the way. Anne Greenwood Brown sure knows how to write a novel with dangerous mermaids, shocking twists, and an extremely hot guy which I couldn't stop drooling over. Seriously– look no further, because this book has got everything a reader could want.

If you like this, try...

• Of Poseidon by Anna Banks ● Goodreads
• Lost Voices by Sarah Porter ● Goodreads

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪