The Mermaid's Pendant by LeAnn Neal Reailly

To see the synopsis and my initial thoughts you can view my mini review

My thoughts:  There have been several occasions upon finishing a book that I've wondered "what happens next?"  Did they in fact live "Happily Ever After" having worked so hard to get together?  The Mermaid's Pendant answers that question about the popular fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". 

I mentioned in my mini review that The Mermaid's Pendant is a long story. While it is not officially broken up into two parts, there is an obvious division. The first part of the story is the retelling of "The Little Mermaid".  In this part of the story John and Tamarind's relationship is built and revealed slowly. We get to know each of them as individuals along with the people that influence their relationship.  A lot of time was spent on this part of the story which I know some readers found tedious because we know that they get together.  I felt like this was necessary in order to get to know the characters, and the process revealed the intricacies of the relationship. 

The second part of the book is what happens after the "Happily Ever After".   Life is no longer a fairy tale for John and Tamarind.  I'm sure each one of us knows a couple whose situation resembles that of John and Tamarind.  Once the honeymoon is over things change and the real work marriage begins. 

There were some twists and turns in the second part of the book that I didn't expect.  The author explored some of the relationships surrounding John and Tamarind further demonstrating who they were as people and how their own relationship was faltering. 

Even though the book took longer for me to get through than I'd planned on, I enjoyed it.  Reading it reminded me that we all can have the fairy tale if we are willing to put in a little work.   

A Big Thank you to Lisa at TLC and the publisher for sending me a copy of The Mermaid's Pendant to review.