Sunday, May 13, 2012

Goddess of the Sea by P.C. Cast



Book Description:

On the night of her twenty-fifth birthday, alone in her apartment, Air Force Sergeant Christine Canady wished for one thing: a little magic in her life. After drinking way too much champagne, she performed, of all crazy things, a goddess-summoning ritual, hoping that it would somehow make her life a little less ordinary...but she never believed the spell would actually work.

When her military plane crashes into the ocean, CC's mission overseas takes an unexpected turn. She awakens to find herself in a legendary time and place where magic rules the land—occupying the body of the mythic mermaid Undine. But there is danger in the waters and the goddess Gaea turns this modern, military gal into a beautiful damsel so that she can seek shelter on land.

CC is soon rescued (literally) by a knight in shining armor. She should he falling in love with this dream-come-true, but instead she aches for the sea and Dylan, the sexy merman who has stolen her heart.


Quickie Review:
This is the second novel in the Goddess Summoning Series that I've read, though this one is the first in the series.  Not as good as Goddess of Spring, but it wasn't half bad telling the story of a girl that becomes a mermaid and finds true love that cannot be.  The story is in three parts.  Part I sets us up introducing the reader to CC, a female air force sergeant who wants some magic in her life.  Heading out to the middle east, she embarks on the plane taking her there and meets a handsome and considerate air force pilot who catches her eye.  He changes seats with her because of her fear of flying and the next thing she knows the plain crashes over the Mediterranean, mortally wounding the nice pilot and CC nearly drowns herself by trying to retrieve his body.  She is stricken by what has happened to him because he changed seats with her.  In the nick of time, instead of drowning, she finds herself trading places with a mermaid princess Undine, who's fleeing the unwanted advances of her creepy merman half-brother.  

Part II is when we follow CC's journey as a mermaid and the deal she makes with her counterpart's mother, the goddess Gaea who agrees to let her be a woman on land if she can get someone to fall in love with her so she can permanantly remain a woman.  The catch is, CC must return to the water every two days or else... Wouldn't you know it, as soon as CC gets to dry land, she meets Dylan, a handsome merman whom she is intrinsically drawn to on her nights when she must return to the sea.  Her time with Dylan is special and she falls in love with him and he teaches her how mermaids and mermen make love (okay, it was a bit far-fetched, but this is a fantasy afterall and suspension of disbelief is needed.) CC's life becomes ever much more complicated.  Not only has she become a mermaid, but she has gone back in time as well to the 11th century, living a double life living in a Welsh abbey monastary as a guest, pretending she is a princess with amnesia.  But the misogynistic abbot is suspicious of her and the noble knight who "saved" her from drowning remains a puzzle to her.  His changing moods from gentleman to sex fiend cause her to realize he is possessed by the spirit of her evil merman half brother who is relentless in his desire to have her.  As CC and Dylan spend more and more time together, CC realizes she wants to remain a mermaid with him, but her brother is stronger than Dylan and when he finds out about their affair he will kill Dylan - what can they do?

Part III, as you might have guessed, deals with the aftermath of all that happens to CC when she is no longer a mermaid and she is back in the United States recovering from her plane crash.  Did she imagine everything?  What happened to Dylan?  What happened to the nice pilot who gave his life for her?  You'll have to read the book to find out.  Goddess of the Sea is a poignant tale and overall I enjoyed it, although some parts dragged at the monastery.  Keep in mind it's a fantasy romance/paranormal as well and much of the book takes place under water. :). Still, I liked it and I will continue with the rest of the series.

3.5/5

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